plain Skye Needs a Buff, and Fast

One less-utilized agent in the game Valorant urgently requires an upgrade, primarily due to a significant factor that lies beyond their team’s influence.

In recent times, there’s been some significant changes to the standard strategy (meta) in Valorant. Besides introducing two new characters, Tejo and Waylay, Riot Games has also adjusted the already available agents.

Nearly every agent has experienced some kind of transformation. Notably, Cypher’s selection rate surged for the first time in a while, prompting a series of adjustments in patch 9.10. This has resulted in Cypher regaining a balanced position within the game’s meta.

Conversely, it’s worth noting that Clove is receiving a lot of attention lately. The reduction of two seconds from her ‘Not Dead Yet’ ability’s kill time has made her a popular choice as the Controller in Valorant, often being chosen over others.

Skye’s pick rate helped by Bind, but Bind is going

Skye hasn’t received much attention lately. The Initiator, who I’ve been using since 2020 and was one of my main characters, didn’t see any updates after 9.04. It wasn’t until version 10.03 that she finally got some attention for the first time in a while, if we exclude bug fixes.

In that area, the power of her characters (Seekers) was increased to make enemy dashes slower. Yet, the frequency with which she is chosen (pick rate) remains average. According to Tracker.GG, the Aussie has a usage rate of 2.4%, ranking her as the 20th most popular character. It’s surprising that she isn’t more widely used.

It’s been noted by players that the situation will likely worsen following the elimination of Bind from Competitive play. In Masters Bangkok, Skye was chosen for 43% of games on that map. However, during the entire event, her selection rate was roughly 7%.

It’s unhealthy for any agent to rely too heavily on a single resource, particularly when that resource is becoming scarce or vanishing.

To address that issue, increasing her flash’s potency might be beneficial. The Guiding Light ability could either become rechargeable or its cost could be adjusted to match with her healing skill. Although flashes were too intense previously, adjusting their duration while making them rechargeable would strike a balance.

Another suggestion from some players is to lower the expense associated with her final ability, making it more powerful compared to a regular Tejo drone, as one of them put it.

In recent Ranked matches, Clove has been performing exceptionally well, which prompted Riot to make changes in patch 10.04 to keep her in a balanced state. Meanwhile, Skye’s decline is an issue that needs attention, and if not addressed quickly, she might become as scarce as Bind used to be.

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2025-03-10 14:52