Yesterday was a momentous day for Valorant, as Riot Games confirmed it would finally be making changes to Neon. Everyone cheered, happy tears were shed, and the world finally began to heal. Okay, that’s my headcanon, but the news was nonetheless very good. Now, the studio has lifted the lid on how said tweaks will materialize, and it looks like it isn’t only Neon herself that’s being tuned down. Shotguns have been a key component in the Neon-equals-busted equation, and they haven’t gotten off scot-free.
As shared by Valorant Lead Agent Designer Dan ‘penguin’ Hardison and Agents & Live Product Manager Tiffy ‘TiffyMunchsnax’ Tsay in an extensive rundown, Neon’s been “breaking our dev philosophy on what combat should be, as well as how intentionally agents have to play.” Yesterday, when I reported that the FPS game’s equivalent of the Duracell bunny had been disabled due to a graphical exploit, I noted that Neon’s movement had fewer limitations than other Duelists like Jett and Raze. Her bunnyhop slide in particular has proven particularly troublesome, and the pair say this has “allowed her to take more space thoughtlessly than we think is appropriate for the tactical loop.”
While I suggested that Neon’s weapon ready time after using High Gear could be increased to give players a chance to react, Riot’s had other, and unsurprisingly better, ideas on how to succinctly tackle her toxic shotgun loop. In Patch 12.09, jumping with High Gear active will no longer provide any sort of speed boost, and her mid-air pace will “match melee speed.” Additionally, while Neon’s fuel will still passively regenerate, the extra juice she previously got from all kills will now only apply to those scored with her ultimate active. This makes her much less frenetic in one specific interaction, and brings her mobility back in line with other agents while maintaining her unique slide-shooting proficiency.
Of course, this is only part of the solution. Though I thought Riot would leave shotguns alone based on the semantics of yesterday’s post, the weapon class is being retuned – Neon isn’t the only beneficiary, after all. The devs say that, because we’ve collectively gotten better at “abusing the parts of shotguns that were tuned too generously, especially when they’re paired with agent mobility tools,” they’ve had to have a rethink.
Now, all shotguns are less accurate when moving, while movement inaccuracy has been standardized across the board. Ratty shotgun players aren’t exempt, either, as all shotties now have a flat 15% crouched accuracy multiplier – a nerf to the Judge and Shorty, but a buff to the Bucky. The changelist continues, as the Bucky and Judge’s minimum pellet spread are both being increased, and the Bucky’s pellet damage up to eight meters has also been reduced. Stop, they’re already dead. Well, not dead, but definitely less potent than before.
One of the macro solutions to the Neon conundrum I previously highlighted involved buffing the Sentinel class, though this would likely switch-up the meta entirely. Well, this is now looking like an eventuality. TiffyMunchsnax and penguin reveal that Sentinel buffs are coming in Patch 13.0, acknowledging that they currently feel “weak in their ability to punish and play against Neon and other aggressive Duelists.”
Initiators are getting some love, too. “High Initiator cooldowns at 60 seconds have been hard for players to plan around,” the duo notes, “which further shrinks incentives around slower strategic play or adapting in later-round states where there are large gaps in information.” As such, we could see these long timers brought down a notch when 13.0 rolls around.
As for why all of the above hasn’t been actioned in one fell swoop, the Rioters say that doing so would make it “very easy to overswing and reverse the meta state.” It’s therefore dividing them up across the two patches. This makes sense, seeing as players will need time to adjust to the Neon and shotgun changes, and the meta may shift enough so that these upcoming class-wide adjustments won’t need to be as drastic. The double Duelist era may soon be coming to an end, and I for one welcome its conclusion.
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