Ever since the very beginning of Valorant’s launch, the Operator sniper rifle has been a nightmare to deal with in the hands of players wielding it with proficiency. It hits like a bulldozer, has extreme effective range, and was easy to pick up after a few rounds if you were doing well. Valorant Patch 1.09 has dropped and, while changes are apparent across the board, it’s a heavy aim at reducing the sheer snowball potential of the Operator. We’ve got the full patch notes here.
Valorant update 1.09 patch notes
There are changes affecting a lot of different gameplay in Valorant Patch 1.09, but by far, the Operator took the brunt of the nerfs in this update.
Valorant’s update 1.09 patch has some fixes for several operators, weapons, and mechanics. Dropping on September 29, 2020, the update dropped on the Valorant website buffed Viper further, nerfed Reyna and Jett, and adjusted some visuals on Omen. It nerfed accuracy on weapons across the board when firing after landing from a jump. That said, the biggest adjustment was definitely to the Operator. A beast since Valorant’s launch, this weapon has been nerfed front to back to provide better counterplay and higher consequence should a player die with it. You can find the full patch notes just below.
Omen
Paranoia
Updated projectile VFX to better represent its hitbox, especially when it is traveling towards your POV
Jett
Blade Storm (Burst Fire)
The time between consecutive Burst Fire use has increased from 0.33 seconds >>> 0.45 seconds
Daggers thrown in Burst now have a damage falloff that begins at 12 meters and drops steadily (to 35 damage) at max falloff
Headshot multiplier on Burst Fire reduced from 3x >>> 2x
Viper
Fuel
Viper now starts the round at 100 fuel (previously 50)
Snake Bite
Vulnerable debuff applied from Snake Bite now lingers for 2 seconds after leaving Viper’s acid
Viper’s Pit
Move speed doubled while casting
Viper now fast equips her weapon after casting, re-equip times vary per gun—but on average will reduce her weapon down time by .4 seconds
Reyna
Empress
Fire rate bonus decreased from 25% >>> 15%
Brimstone
Stim Beacon
Fire rate bonus increased from 10% >>> 15%
Weapon Updates
Operator
Increased price from 4500 >>> 5000
Decreased scoped movement speed from 76% >>> 72%
Adjusted weapon deadzone from becoming inaccurate at 30% movement speed >>> 15% (become inaccurate sooner, become accurate later when stopping)
Firing rate reduced from .75 >>> .6
Instant equip time adjusted from 0.3 >>> 0.5 (instant equip plays after tapping orb, bomb defuse/plant tap, Jett Cloud Burst, and Phoenix Curveball)
Leg shot damage decreased from 127 >>> 120
All Weapons
Jump land inaccuracy state changed from gradual >>> binary
Jump land inaccuracy duration increased from .2 >>> .225
Jump land inaccuracy value increased from 5.0 >>> 7.0 (more inaccurate for .225s after a land)
Competitive Updates
During this patch, the chances of being in an hour+ queue should be notably reduced
Social Updates
Riot ID Reviews: Players that have been reported for inappropriate Riot IDs will now be reviewed automatically after the match has ended. If their name is flagged as inappropriate, they will be forced to change their Riot ID the next time they log in to the Riot Client.
Removed Multi-line Breaks in Chat: Some sneaky people were impersonating system messages to troll others into quitting a match. Enough!
Changes to party push to talk settings will now take effect immediately
The chat window can now be pinned to stay open across menus
Social Panel Sorting Logic
Sorting algorithm for the social panel has been updated to make it more intuitive for players as they interact with it.
Bug Fixes
Fixed issue where Sova’s hitbox was incorrect while using his Owl Drone
Fixed bug where Omen’s glowing eyes weren’t properly removed when he cancelled his ult
Fixed a bug where Custom Game preferences would be wiped after navigating away from the Custom Game lobby
With the latest patch taking heavy aim at reducing the overwhelming power and utility of the Operator, it will be interesting to see how strategies and metas move in the game. Stay tuned to Shacknews for further Valorant coverage and keep up to date on previous patch notes and changes to the game.