1st March 2022

Valorant Patch Notes 4.04

After 3 very thin patches, the patch 4.04 of Valorant comes to shake things up! It must be said that this is the launch patch for Act 2 of Episode 4 and that, while it doesn't bring a new Agent or a new map, it does bring the long-awaited changes to Yoru and Icebox, as well as nerfs to Astra. Suffice to say that the meta will be particularly shaken up.

Key points to remember of Patch 4.04:

Yoru's rework is finally here!
Nerfs for Astra
Balancing of controllers
Update of the map selection
Big changes to Icebox

Yoru's rework is finally here!

Valorant Patch Notes 4.04 - Yoru Portrait -

We've been talking about it for a long time, but here it is! The Yoru's rework arrives as planned with this patch 4.02. Even if the abilities keep the same names and have the same objectives, this rework changes their functionning in depth.

Fakeout

Yoru now sends a clone of himself running straight ahead. From the point of view of the enemies, the clone is in every way similar to Yoru, both visually and in the sounds it makes. When an enemy shoots at the clone, the clone turns towards the enemy and explodes, blinding all opponents in a large cone.

Number of charges: 2 > 1
Clone's HP: 150

Gatecrash

Yoru can now deceive his enemies by simulating the use of the teleporter by pressing F. Enemies will then hear the sound of the teleportation and can even see its visual animation, but without Yoru being teleported. A fake teleportation still destroys the beacon and leaves a mark on the ground to let the enemies know they have been tricked.

Number of charges: 1 > 2
Cost: 200 credits
Cooldown ~~40 seconds~~ > 2 kills
Beacon speed: ~~675~~ > 800
Teleport time: ~~1.5s~~ > 0.5 seconds
Teleport beacon's audio while traveling: ~~22.5m~~ > 12.5m
Duration of the small decal on the floor after a fake teleport: 30 seconds

Dimensional Drift

Yoru's dimensional drift changes drastically. When used, Yoru now becomes invisible to his opponents. However, his footsteps can be heard. Yoru can now use all of his skills during Dimensional Drift, which means he can send flashes out of anywhere from the opponents' perspective.

Duration: 8s > 10 seconds
Unequip delay time : 0.6> 1.2 seconds

Nerfs for Astra

Valorant Patch Notes 4.04 - Astra Portrait -

We will talk about the changes that all controllers undergo, but first it seemed wise to isolate the case of Astra. The latter has dominated the meta since her release one year ago to the day.

In order that she no longer overshadows Omen and Brimstone, Astra's strengths are enhanced, but so are her weaknesses. Players who juggle her stars will be the most harmed, as her cooldowns are increased.

Stars

Max stars: 5 > 4
Cooldown on retrieving a star: ~~14s~~ > 25 seconds
Max distance of star placement: ~~10000~~ > 30000
Astra can now pick up placed Stars during the Buy Phase to refund their charge immediately.

Gravity Well

Cooldown: ~~25s~~ > 45 seconds
Gravity Well size: 525 > 475
Gravity Well no longer affects anyone fully underneath.

Nova Pulse

Cooldown: ~~25s~~ > 45 seconds
Nova Pulse no longer affects anyone fully underneath.

Nebula

Cooldown: ~~14s~~ > 45 seconds
Nebula cooldowns are ~~simultaneous~~ > sequential
Nebula size: ~~410~~ > 475

Astral Form

The ergonomy of the astral form has been improved in many ways. Its use is clearer and the placement of the stars more precise. Some bugs related to the positioning of the crosshair in this mode have also been corrected.

Balancing of Controllers

Astra's dominant position was overshadowing Omen and the other Valorant controllers. The changes to Astra are not enough, however, and Riot Games wants to make the other smokers more attractive to players.

Omen

Omen was dominating Valorant before Astra's coronation. In order to restore his reputation, Riot Games decided to undo the nerfs he had suffered long ago, to make him a more reliable agent.

Dark Cover

Cost: ~~100~~ > 150 credits
Projectile speed: ~~2800~~ > 6400
Cooldown: ~~40s~~ > 30 seconds

Shrouded Step

Cost: ~~150~~ > 100
Pre-teleport delay: 1s > 0.7 seconds

Paranoia

The skill no longer starts directly from Omen, but a little further forward to avoid it affecting the players next to him.

Brimstone

While Brimstone is not a bad agent per se, the elements that make him original are not pronounced enough for the developers to justify his selection.

Sky Smoke

Deploy time: 2s > 1 second
Deploy readius: ~~5000~~ > 5500
Smoke height increased to match other Controllers.

Stim Beacon

Now also applies a 15% speed boost in addition to RapidFire.

Viper

Viper has been a long time sorely missed Agent, but has become indispensable in the last few maps of the game. She is balanced for better control of her poison, at the cost of more pronounced periods of vulnerability.

Fuel

Fuel drain increased 50% when Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud are both active.
Viper’s fuel bar now turns red when she does not have enough fuel to activate her abilities.

Toxic Screen

Cooldown: 6s > 8 seconds
Deactivation delay: 1s > 0.8 seconds
Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.
Toxic Screen now has yellow lights that indicate when it is on cooldown.

Poison Cloud

Cooldown: 6s > 8 seconds
Deactivation delay: 1s > 0.8 seconds
Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.
Poison Orb now has a yellow light to indicate when it is on cooldown.

Snake Bite

Duration: ~~6.5s~~ > 5.5 seconds

Update of the map selection

Before moving on to the Icebox changes, let's talk about map selection in ranked games. The selection formula will soon change and will be based on 3 steps:

The system analyses the last 5 maps played by the 10 players in competitive mode.
The system removes from the selection all maps that a player has played at least twice in the last 5 games.
- If all maps have been deleted at this stage, they all come back into play.
The system then chooses the least played map of all 10 players.

Initially, there is a strong chance that the system will force players to replay maps ignoring rule 2 (the most important one). But in the medium to long term, this selection system should balance itself out.

Big changes to Icebox

Riot Games continues to update its maps. After the redesign of the Breeze sites, this time it's Icebox that is undergoing major changes that will undoubtedly change the game. The common point of all these changes is to make the map less cramped.