Valorant Patch 1.07: Killjoy and Sage Nerfs

• Valorant patch 1.07 notes released in a huge update
• Significant changes to agents including huge Killjoy and Sage nerfs, as well as viper and breach buffs
• “Hit-reg” update, that should fix the confusing and false animation issues
• General shotgun nerf: price increases and range reduction
• Vandal buff: increased fire rate and damage

After a couple of tiny patches we finally have something to talk about, with huge buffs and nerfs for both agents and weapons. Most significant are the Killjoy nerf we predicted (reduced damage from nanoswarm and a delay before it activates) and reduced healing from Sage. For weapons we also see a reduction in the strength of shotguns generally and an increase in the damage and rate of fire for the Vandal.

Basically, this is a huge balancing update, withe the goal to increase the use of the less popular agents, get more pros to pick up the vandal and reduce the OP strength of the Killjoy afterplant. So let’s get into the details!

Killjoy Nerf

As we argued a while back, Killjoy is absurdly OP in a number of contexts and destructive for the game meta. We predicted a fast nerf and that nerf is here. First up we have a reduction in the strength of nanoswarm (60 dps to 40 dps) as well as increased visibility and a windup before it activates to give players a chance to destroy it or escape. 

This is great for the game as it once again shows Riot’s commitment to improving gameplay and responding to players complaints and concerns . Will it be enough to fix the one-sided afterplant meta? Quite possibly, but we will have to wait and see.

It’s worth noting they’ve also made the turret marginally stronger (now invisible to Sova’s recon bolt and shooting better at an enemy’s last known location). If you read the last article you’ll remember that my main problems with Killjoy were that the turret intoduces AI kills to as FPS game and that it can kill you after everyone else is dead. This is still stupid and I’m still amazed it found its way into the game at all… 

Sage Nerf

The Sage nerf is actually really interesting. The Slow Orb has had its area reduced (which I’m not really interested in), but Sage’s teammate heal has been reduced from 100 to 60 over 5 seconds and the her self-heal (right-click) has been reduced to 60 and takes 10 seconds to complete. Also important is that Sage’s barrier Orb has been reduced in price to 300 from 400 and has only half-strength for the first 3 seconds making it easier to destroy.

This is a hugely positive change. The barrier orb was too expensive to consistently buy, so this now makes Sage a more viable character in more situations, but the strength reduction for the first 3 seconds means it can be more quickly destroyed. That’s going to speed up gameplay too. But the heal reduction is the most important change as it signals the direction Valorant are taking the game. You might remember Hiko’s concern that with the introduction of more damage characters that more healers would be introduced, taking the game away from its pure FPS, low RNG characterisation. This is a move back in the right direction, equalising the agents and better balancing the game.

Vandal buff and shotgun nerfs

Shotguns have been given a general extended nerf that Valorant warned us was likely coming. All shotguns will have reduced aimpunch when hitting enemy heads, and tagging at distances over 10m will result in a reduced movement penalty. The shorty has been made more of a short range weapon with falloff range reduced from 9m to 7m, and headhsot damage multiplier reduced to 2 from 3. Judge has has price increased by 100 from 1500 to 1600.

Perhaps the biggest change for the weapons and by far the most significant is the increase of the Vandal firerate from 9.25 to 9.75 and damage increased from 39 to 40. This is clearly a reaction to pros low usage of the Vandal. Admittedly these are little tweaks but it shows the dev teams desire to balance weapons and make them usable, but it also shows they are going to make small sensible changes rather than huge meta-exploders (like Killjoys…).

“Hit-reg” and animation VXF updates 

Finally we have the promised hit “reg-reg” updates and these shold finally remedy most of the complaints regarding hit-reg. As we explained all of the way back in June, most of what appeared to be hit-reg issues were in fact crappy animations, false blood/hit animations and minor latency and not hit-reg issues. These have been fixed now by making the hit/tracer VFX for headshots slightly smaller and all hit animations activate on the part of the body that was hit rather than the air in front of where the player was hit. 

Bringing this all together this is a hugely positive update for the game, showing the devs are moving in the right direction, making small positive tweaks, balancing agents and weapons, and responding to community feedback. Nice work! There are a few more minor changes, so if you want to make sure you’re up to date on everything, we’ve listed them below.