The first patch of VALORANT’s Act five has released, bringing much-needed character changes, bug fixes, and quality-of-life improvements. Here is everything in the VALORANT 5.01 Patch Notes.
[Related: Riot’s Ongoing Struggle with Tricky VALORANT Yoru Players Continues]
AGENTS
PHOENIX
The changes to Phoenix are a huge buff, which was needed. Currently, Phoenix hasn’t seen play in a single VCT match. Other duelists can do what he does, but better. Riot has responded by buffing his curveball, a flash that can round corners. Now, Phoenix’s curveball will flash enemies for longer and trigger faster. Phoenix also received some other small buffs regarding his other abilities.
Curveball (Q)
- Flash Max duration increased 1.1s >>> 1.5s
- Flash Windup decreased .7s >>> .5s
Blaze (C)
- Phoenix will now equip his weapon earlier if he stops bending his wall
Run it Back (X)
- Phoenix will now spawn at the marker with the amount of shields he had when the ability was cast
YORU
VALORANT has decided to throw Yoru players a bone and tweak his ultimate, Dimensional Drift. The change is a step back, towards his old ultimate. While the dreaded “Yorty” combo still isn’t back (a gimmick that involved popping out of invisibility with a shotgun), Yoru’s ult reduced the unequip time, extended its duration, and fixed a couple of bugs with it.
Dimensional Drift (X)
- Increased duration of ultimate 10s >>> 12s
- Reduced unequip time 1.2s >>> 0.8s
KAY/O
KAY/O had been left alone for a while, since he was in a fairly balanced spot already. However, he has been towards the bottom of the pick rates in competitive play, so a quality of life update is much appreciated.
FRAG/ment (C)
- Zone diameter reduced 10m >>> 8m
- Damage now applies without needing line of sight
NULL/cmd (X)
- Now, only allies will hear the full channel audio of reviving KAY/O, while downed
- Enemies will only hear a short audio cue when the revive has started, matching a similar gameplay pattern to playing around ultimate orbs or tapping the bomb
GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS
- New Smurf Detection functionality (North America)
- This addition to our smurf detection systems is designed to make sure that new players (that means all new accounts) are matched up with players of the correct skill level, much faster than before.
- We’re testing this change in North America first, to make sure everything is working correctly before a global rollout.
- Testing begins the week of July 11th, 2022
- Improved collision behavior when walking next to or behind another player.
- This should heavily reduce the amount of jitteriness experienced when moving close to your allies (rushing a site as a group or moving out of spawn should feel better!).
GAMEMODES
- Twin Hunters in Spike Rush will now damage destructible walls
BUGS
PERFORMANCE
- Fixed an issue where having the Raw Input Buffer setting enabled caused scrolling in chat or friends list to go directly to the top or bottom
YORU
- Fixed a bug with Dimensional Drift where the invulnerability kicked in later than intended after it was cast
SOVA
- Fixed issue with Sova’s Shock Bolt not damaging enemy traps and other game objects (other than players)
FADE
- Fixed issue where Fade’s Haunt would sometimes reveal enemies that were on the other side of a thin wall
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