Valorant 12.09 patch notes bring Neon nerfs and shotgun overhaul

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The creators of Valorant have announced upcoming adjustments to the character Neon, who was temporarily removed from the game because of a glitch. They’re also planning some updates to shotguns.

Riot Games has occasionally had to temporarily remove agents from the game. They first did this with Omen last summer, and most recently with Neon on May 7, 2026.

As a Neon player, I was really bummed to hear she’s been taken out of the game for now. Apparently, some people with Nvidia graphics cards were able to exploit a glitch with her Fast Lane ability – they could see through the wall it creates, even though other players saw it normally. It gave them a big unfair advantage, so Riot had to disable her while they fix it. It’s frustrating, but hopefully she’ll be back soon!

Riot Games announced that the Agent would be back in the 12.09 update, after adjusting some of her abilities that were considered too strong. They’ve now shared the details of those adjustments.

Neon changes in 12.09 update

According to a statement on May 7th, the character Neon is challenging the team’s established ideas about how combat and agent gameplay should work. They believe Neon needs support from teammates to be effective, and should be at a disadvantage when playing alone.

Now, when Neon jumps, her High Gear ability won’t give her any extra speed. Also, while her ultimate is active, she’ll regain fuel both by getting kills and automatically over time.

The animation of her slide will be enhanced to make it easier to see where she’s going and where she started.

The specific numbers behind these changes will be released with the 12.09 update.

12.09 patch brings overhaul to Valorant’s shotguns

As a player, I’m really glad Riot is finally looking at shotguns! They’re making a change where all shotguns will be a bit less accurate if you’re moving, which seems like a good way to balance them out.

The developers explained that shotguns haven’t been performing as strategically or skillfully as they’d hoped for the future of the game. They noted that players have become very skilled at exploiting overly powerful aspects of shotguns, particularly when combined with character movement abilities. As a live service game, they’re constantly adjusting based on player behavior.

We’ve made aiming with shotguns more consistent for all actions – running, walking, crouching, and jumping. Now, crouching gives you a 15% boost to accuracy.

The shotgun update had been slated for late June and update 13.00, but it will now ship in 12.09.

Instead, patch 13.00 will focus on Initiator cooldowns and Sentinel buffs. 

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2026-05-08 13:19