Patch notes 5.00 of Valorant

The patch 4.11 was the last patch of Episode 4, and while it brought few changes to Valorant, this is not the case with this new 5.00 update. Episode 5 is off to a great start, as this first patch offers several new contents, including the famous eighth map entitled Pearl and the Ascendant rank.

Below are the most important elements of this patch 5.00.

Key points to remember about this 5.00 patch:

• Pearl will be the eighth card of Valorant
• Temporary withdrawal from Split
• The new Ascendant rank

Pearl, the new card from Valorant

This episode 5 marks the arrival of Pearl, the eighth and newest map of Valorant. The latter offers a never-before-seen setting, as it is located on the seabed, under a polycarbonate dome, infused with Radianite. It features 2 sites, particularly spaced out, ofa complex and dense midfield, this is a mix of a central plaza and many corridors, and elevated and underground areas. This mix should result in some intense fighting and surprise kills, no doubt!

Find out more about the different parts of the map, see our presentation of Pearl.

In order to test the map, it will be possible to join a dedicated match search, available for 2 weeks. After this period, the map will automatically enter the map pool of the competitive mode.

The withdrawal of Split

The Split card will be temporarily removed from the map selection, in competitive mode, but also in unrated. This decision is obviously motivated, but we don't have any more details at the moment. Nevertheless, since it is a voluntary withdrawal and not related to a bug, we can imagine that changes to the map are in preparation.

Riot Games has spoken out about the reasons behind the withdrawal of Split. You can find all the information on the official website, in the article Changes to the cards available on Valorant.

The new Ascendant rank

The addition of a new rank in ranked games is not a random choice. As the developers explain, the main reason for this addition is the overcrowding of the lower ranks, especially in Bronze and Silver. In order to overcome this problem, it was considered to take out some players, to place them higher in the ranking; which would have resulted in the same problem in the Platinum and Diamond ranks.

This new rank, called Ascendant, which is based on a new concept of the game, favours this redistribution of players in the different ranks, while maintaining the prestige of the highest ranks. This ninth rank will therefore be just above the Diamond rank and below the Immortal rank..

The addition of the Ascendant rank implies some changes:

• The MMR totals, which determine the tiers of each rank, have been lowered. This means that players below the Ascendant rank will be sent to the higher ranks to fill that new rank. With this in mind, the rank reset will be less severe at the launch of Act 1, but will return to normal from Act 2 onwards.
• The highest possible rank obtained from placement matches has now been raised to Ascendant 1, instead of Diamond 3.

There will be further changes in relation to this rank, including restrictions and penalties related to the group of players :

• Regarding groups with an Ascendant player. Players can be 3 ranks above or below the Ascending rank.
• Penalties for groups of 5, i.e. 25% of RR, now appear at Immortal 1 (previously Diamond 3).
• Previously, players of Diamond rank 3 or higher could only play solo, duo or group of 5. This restriction now starts at Immortal 1. With this point, the developers explain that they want to make players of Immortal rank and higher more responsible for their rank. This is due to the fact that these are the ranks involved in the leaderboard.

A final change was made with the introduction of the Ascendant rank. Because of the name of this new rank, the title of the Tier 8 Sage contract has been renamed to Dauntless. According to the developers, this change was not easy, but ultimately brings more personality to the Agent.

If you want to know more, the official website of Valorant offers the complete patch notes 5.00.

Patch 5.00 will be deployed on the night of Tuesday 21st to Wednesday 22nd June 2022.