## What changed
**Neon** — Jumping with High Gear active no longer grants speed bonuses while airborne; air sprint speed now matches melee speed instead
**Neon** — Fuel regeneration on kills only occurs when her ultimate is active; passive fuel regeneration remains unchanged
**Neon** — Improved visual effects for her slide to clarify direction and origin
**Neon** — Fixed exploit involving Fast Lane and NVIDIA graphics settings that affected competitive integrity
**Chamber** — Fixed animation bug where ADS-ing while firing Headhunter covered too much of the screen
**Jett** — Fixed Tailwind first-person animations not playing correctly with left-handed setting enabled
**Jett** — Fixed performance drops caused by using Drift
**Sage** — Fixed bug allowing full health Sage to use Healing Orb on herself while affected by Decay, which would waste the ability
**Sova** — Fixed Recon Bolt and Chamber's Trademark not being affected by nearsightedness in Viper's Pit
**Vyse** — Fixed possessable drones (Sova's Owl Drone, Skye's Trailblazer, Tejo's Stealth Drone) triggering arming audio on her wall
**Omen** — Updated Harmonize tooltip description
**Gekko** — Fixed ultimate preview cone not displaying unless ability was fully equipped
**Chamber** — Fixed Guided Salvo equip idle sound playing indefinitely after cast
**Chamber** — Updated Curveball tooltip description
## Balance
**All shotguns** — Accuracy significantly reduced while moving (run, walk, crouch-walk, jump now standardized across all shotguns)
**All shotguns** — Crouch now provides
Jumping with High Gear active no longer provides any speed bonus while Neon is airborne. Instead, Neon’s air speed while sprinting will match melee speed.
Fuel will only regenerate with a kill when Neon's ultimate is active
Fuel will still regenerate passively
Improved VFX to more clearly communicate the direction and origin of her slide
We’re testing MMR changes for modes other than Competitive, Unrated, and Swiftplay. These changes should result in better, more consistent matches. We’ll use what we learn to improve Competitive, Unrated, and Swiftplay in the future.
Fixed a bug where ADS-ing while firing Chamber’s Headhunter created an animation that covers too much of the screen
Fixed a visual bug where Jett's Tailwind was not playing the intended first-person animations when left-handed setting is enabled
Fixed a bug where using Jett's Drift caused performance drops
Updated tooltip description of Harmonize.
Fixed bug where the preview cone for his ultimate would not show unless the ability was fully equipped
Fixed an issue where a full health Sage could use Healing Orb on herself while affected by Decay, because she is not actually losing any health. This would consume the ability needlessly, since her health returns to normal once Decay wears off.
Fixed issue where the Guided Salvo’s equip idle sound kept playing long after cast.
Fixed a bug where Sova's Recon Bolt and Chamber's Trademark were not affected by nearsightedness in Viper's Pit
Fixed a bug where possessable drones (Sova's Owl Drone, Skye's Trailblazer, Tejo's Stealth Drone) would trigger the arming audio of Vyse's wall
We've improved our Riot Text Evaluation system to better detect and apply penalties for text comms abuse in the following languages: Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Chinese.
All shotguns are now less accurate when moving
Run, walk, crouch-walk, and jump accuracy has been standardized across all shotguns
Crouching now provides a 15% accuracy multiplier for shotguns, matching rifles
Bucky: crouch accuracy modifier increased from 10 >>> 15%
Judge/Shorty: crouch accuracy modifier decreased from 25 >>> 15%
Shotguns are now much less accurate while using ropes
Your shotgun spread will increase significantly when you're on a rope, especially if you're moving:
Standing still: Accuracy reduced (spread increased from 0.075 >>> 0.75)
Walking: Accuracy reduced (spread increased from 0.09 >>> 1.5)
Running: Accuracy reduced (spread increased from 0.1 >>> 3.0)
Bucky pellet damage in the 0-8m range decreased
Minimum spread increased from 2.6 >>> 3.0
Walking spread increased from 0.075 >>> 1
Running spread increased from .1 >>> 2
Crouch-walk spread increased from .05 >>> .5
Jump spread increased from 1.25 >>> 4
Minimum spread increased from 2.25 >>> 2.5
Note: this will only apply to PC for now- this spread change will apply to console in Patch 12.11
Walking spread increased from .075 >>> 1
Running spread increased from 0.75 >>> 2
Crouch-walk spread increased from .05 >>> .5
Jump spread increased from 2.25 >>> 4
Fire rate decreased from 3.33 >>> 3.0
Walking spread increased from .075 >>> 1
Running spread increased from 0.1 >>> 2
Crouch-walk spread increased from .05 >>> .5
Jump spread increased from 1.25 >>> 4
Fixed an exploit with her Fast Lane where using specific NVIDIA graphics settings impacted competitive integrity. Neon has returned to the game.
Fixed issue where dailies shown while hovering over the icon did not match the dailies in the End of Game screen.
Updated tooltip description of Curveball
Skirmish 2v2: Ascension and Skirmish 1v1: Ascension - Timer is stuck at 00.50 sec in Overtime phase
Skirmish 2v2: Ascension and Skirmish 1v1: Ascension - Agent abilities do not show up on the Combat Report in the following round after affecting enemies
## What changed
- **Skirmish: Ascension** — New experimental ranked mode with separate competitive leaderboards for 1v1 and 2v2 matches on the FTW site
- **Map pool** — **Ascent** added to Competitive and Deathmatch queues; **Bind** removed from both queues
- **Premier** — Returning to PC only
## New Content
- **Skirmish: Ascension** — Limited-time mode where players choose from 14 agents, each with one ability from their kit
- **Weapon escalation system** — No economy; weapons progress through stages: Rounds 1-4 use **Bandit** and **Sheriff**, Rounds 5-8 use **Guardian** and **Bulldog**, Round 9+ use **Vandal** and **Phantom**
- **Match formats** — 1v1 and 2v2 with separate matchmaking; first to 10 rounds wins
- **Leaderboards** — Segmented by server, region, and platform with independent 1v1 and 2v2 rankings
- **Rewards** — **Combat Ready** player card (3 matches completed), **Trade Me** player card (15 matches completed), and titles based on highest rank (**Skirmish Competitor**, **Skirmish Expert**, **Skirmish Legend**)
## Bug Fixes
- **Miks' Bassquake** — Fixed minimap cone blinking on use
- **Veto's Chokehold** — Fixed ability detecting enemies behind rotating doors on Lotus
- **KAY/O's ability VFX** — Fixed not appearing when used right after NULL/cmd
- **Neon's High
Skirmish: Ascension - a new, experimental ranked experience with its own competitive leaderboard on our FTW site
Ascent is in, Bind is out
[PC only] Premier is back!
ASCENT is IN the Competitive and Deathmatch queues.
BIND is OUT of the Competitive and Deathmatch queues.
NEW LIMITED TIME MODE
Choose from 14 Agents, each with one ability from their kit
No economy. Weapons escalate through stages as the match progresses
Rounds 1-4: Pistols (Bandit, Sheriff)
Rounds 5-8: Low-tier rifles (Guardian, Bulldog)
Round 9+: Vandal and Phantom
1v1 and 2v2 with separate matchmaking
First to 10 rounds wins
Competitive leaderboard segmented by server, region, and platform
Separate leaderboards for 1v1 and 2v2, tracked independently
Combat Ready player card: Complete 3 Skirmish: Ascension matches
Trade Me player card: Complete 15 Skirmish: Ascension matches
Titles awarded by highest rank achieved on either ladder
Skirmish Competitor: Gold to Platinum
Skirmish Expert: Diamond to Immortal
Skirmish Legend: Radiant
Fixed a bug where using Miks’ Bassquake would cause the minimap cone to blink on use.
Fixed a bug where Veto’s Chokehold could detect enemies behind rotating doors on Lotus.
Fixed a bug where KAY/O’s ability VFX were not appearing if used right after KAY/O casts NULL/cmd.
Fixed a bug where Neon’s High Gear slide was not playing SFX for moving across different surface types.
Fixed a bug where Tejo’s agent select animation would sometimes cut off the smoke from the explosion.
Fixed a bug where Gekko’s Dizzy would only target an enemy if their head was visible.
Fixed a bug where during Dimensional Drift Yoru could not see invisible abilities like Vyse’s Shear or Cypher’s Trapwire even if he was close enough to them.
Fixed a bug where Viper's Toxic Screen SFX would activate repeatedly when Veto walked into it with Evolution active
Fixed a bug where players resurrected by Sage inside of Viper’s Decaying abilities would not gain Decay.
Fixed a bug where Tejo’s Armageddon would sometimes cast targeting spawn instead of the intended location.
Welcome to Stage V26A3! Matches start on May 6.
Contender and Invite Division schedule changes:
There are only 6 weeks of matches this stage – the matches are still each Saturday from May 9 - June 13.
Playoffs now take place across multiple days.
The first round of playoffs takes place on June 20.
Teams that advance from the first round return on June 21 for their next matchup.
Make sure to check the schedule in the client for round start times for your zone!
Fixed an issue in settings where audio sliders weren’t moving correctly
Fixed an issue where trying to exit the client while a replay was paused wasn’t working
Skirmish 2v2: Ascension and Skirmish 1v1: Ascension - Timer is stuck at 00.50 sec when during Overtime phase.
Skirmish 2v2: Ascension and Skirmish 1v1: Ascension - Agent abilities do not show up on the Combat Report in the following round after affecting enemies
## What changed
- **Scope reticles** — updated **Kuronami Marshal**, **EX.O Marshal**, **Nocturnum Marshal**, **Araxys Outlaw**, and **Operator** skins to make their center-range reticles more consistent with the base scope reticle
- **Settings screens** — revamped with improved functionality and visual clarity, including parent-child associations for related settings
- **General settings reorganization** — settings previously under General - Other split into three new sections: **User Interface**, **Content Filtering**, and **Network**
- **Discord integration** — added ability to see which Discord friends play VALORANT and join parties faster
## Bug Fixes
- **Gun buddy purchasing** — fixed clipping issues at purchase confirm step
- **Purchase confirm screen** — fixed header text coloring
- **Bundle detail buttons** — fixed inconsistencies across interface
- **Spray previews** — fixed darkened appearance when previewing in purchase flow
- **Gifting** — resolved discoloration of offer tiles while gifting a flex
- **Friends list performance** — resolved lag caused by large friends lists
## Visual Updates
- **Gifting ineligibility screen** — now extends full width
- **Bundle carousels** — standardized height across all purchase flow points
- **Owned bundle tiles** — removed icon from feared bundle tiles when already owned
## Overall
Valorant improved reticle consistency across Marshal and Operator skins, restructured Settings screens for better organization and faster adjustment during gameplay, and fixed various UI and performance issues in the purchase and social systems.
[PC only] Updated Settings screens to improve functionality and visual clarity
We’ve made some updates to several scope reticles to make them more consistent in the center range of view with the base scope reticle. Here is the list of updated skins: Kuronami Marshal, EX.O Marshal, Nocturnum Marshal, Araxys Outlaw and Operator. Thanks to Grimm for the feedback!
Gifting ineligibility screen now extends the full width of the screen.
Fixed various clipping issues when at the purchase confirm step while purchasing a gun buddy.
Fixed header text coloring on purchase confirm screen.
Fixed various inconsistencies with bundle detail buttons.
Fixed issue that caused sprays to appear darkened when previewing in the purchase flow.
Bundle carousels are now a consistent height across all points of the purchase flow.
Removed icon from feared bundle tile while bundle is owned.
Resolved discoloration of offer tile while gifting a flex.
Resolved performance issue where having a large friends list was causing slight lag.
The settings screens have been revamped to improve functionality and visual clarity
Added parent-child association for related settings
Settings previously under General - Other are broken into 3 sections: User Interface, Content Filtering, Network
We understand some of you quickly adjust settings during games, and we didn’t want to jeopardize that experience. The experience should largely feel the same but with improved QOL.
See which of your Discord friends play VALORANT and jump into parties faster.