Valorant Episode 4 Act II: Yoru Rework and Controller Adjustments
Published: Mar 2, 2022
The long-awaited Episode 4 Act II is finally dropping and it brings a ton of changes to Valorant. Yoru is finally getting a rework, which will hopefully make him competitive in the current Valorant esports scene and on par with other top Duelist agents.
There are several Controller agent changes, mainly to Astra, Omen, Viper, and Brimstone. The new 4.04 Valorant patch addresses these agents, toning some down while buffing others.
And lastly, there’s an update to the popular Icebox map. These are some of the highlights of the new Valorant patch, but there’s even more! Let’s take a look at all the changes coming to the game.
Yoru Rework
Yoru has been one of the most interesting agents in Valorant ever since he was first revealed. Sadly, he never got his moment in the spotlight as other Duelist agents such as Jett, Reyna, and Raze always kept one step ahead of him.
The new Episode 4 Act II patch finally introduces his agent overhaul. His Fakeout, Gatecrash, and Dimensional Rift abilities received substantial buffs. The overall theme of Yoru is focused on deceiving and confusing the enemies, while simultaneously creating pressure and openings for his team. He certainly looks interesting.
His new toolkit is strong, but we still don’t know how well he’ll fit into the current Valorant esports meta. We’ll have to wait until the best Valorant players properly test him.
Controller Agent Changes
If you’ve been following the Valorant Champions Tour, you’re well aware how strong and popular Astra currently is. Her control of the battlefield is second to none. That is why she’s the first agent to receive such heavy nerfs in this Valorant patch.
Astra’s massive utility has been toned down and her ability cooldowns have been significantly increased. She’ll still be an excellent agent that will get picked, but this will create some space for Omen and Brimstone, the two agents that were also buffed in this patch.
Omen’s Dark Cover will be much stronger now. While the ability cost went from 100 to 150, the cooldown was reduced drastically and the projectile speed was nearly tripled. Additionally, Shrouded Step will now cost less and have a smaller delay, which will make the ability much more responsive.
Brimstone was an agent that was in a “healthy spot overall” according to Riot Games, but they still decided to give him some love and buff his Sky Smoke and Stim Beacon. If you were a fan of Brimstone already, you’ll just like him even more now.
And finally, we have Viper. Sadly, there’s only nerfs for Viper across the board. She has been an insta-pick agent for quite some time, and she was so efficient at what she does that she easily took on a dual-role in certain scenarios. She’s still strong, but just not overpowered.
Map Updates
Icebox, the popular Valorant map, received a complete revamp of the B site and several quality of life changes. You’ll notice how several spots on the maps changed drastically. We still don’t know what impact these changes will have in Valorant esports, but once the pros fully test it out we’ll have the final verdict.
Community Battlepass
The new Battlepass will have quite a lot of surprises for the players. Not only can you expect some good-looking skins, but there’s quite a few sprays and gun buddies to boot.
Riot Games put a heavy focus on the community this time. This is how they envisioned the new Battlepass:
“When planning for this Battlepass, we wanted to create items that would resonate with our global players. So we worked with our regional VALORANT teams to come up with items that reflect their popular local memes, traditions, and callouts.”
This is just the icing on the cake and just a nice little extra for all the fans of Valorant. Overall, the patch looks incredible and we certainly hope we get more of these in the future.
