VALORANT‘s upcoming 8.11 patch, set to arrive in early June, will focus primarily on drastically increasing the diversity of the duelist role, via a plethora of buffs and nerfs the devs hope will better balance the agents in that role.
Notably, Raze will receive some nerfs that are “focused on her satchel ability,” as she’s been “an overly dominant pick in this space,” according to product manager Coleman Palm in the latest VALORANT dev diary.
The team is also targeting three duelist agents to receive buffs in the next patch: Iso, Neon, and somewhat surprisingly, Reyna. For Iso and Neon, the focus will be on “what makes them unique,” meaning Iso’s Shield Paradigm and Neon’s Slide will receive adjustments in the way of a buff, with each agent also set to receive some small other tweaks.
Reyna, already considered a strong ranked agent, apparently struggled in “coordinated teamplay” environments, such as Premier and pro play. Reyna’s changes in 8.11 will focus on improving her viability in teamplay while reducing her strength as a solo ranked agent.
The specific buffs and nerfs for each duelist agent are yet to be determined, but the dev team promises these will be the last significant changes to the game before VALORANT Champions 2024, which ends in the final week of August. Some “larger balance changes” and changes to modes are currently in the works for after Champions.
Patch 8.11 will also feature some long-awaited changes to the map pool.
