VALORANT: More shot and less power? 11 agents will receive changes in 7.04

A update 7.04 will mark the beginning of Episode 7, Act 2 in VALORANT and will arrive with several changes in 11 agents. A Jett was the most affected and will have changes to all of its skills.

As mentioned by Riot Games in the preview of the update, the focus is on bringing more clarity to the state of the game, which is why there are so many changes in agent skills.

The team noticed that when facing multiple utilities or some of the more impactful ultimates, counterplay chances can get overwhelmed, leaving you not sure what’s going on or what you could do differently next time.

Agent changes in the 7.04 update

Breach

Post-shock (C)

• Cycles reduced from 3 to 2
• Damage increased from 60 per cycle to 80

Onda Finding (X)

• Increased ultimate points: 7 >>> 8

Brimstone

Orbital Strike (X)

• Increased ultimate points: 7 >>> 8

Fade

Lurker (C)

• Requipping the weapon after using the skill now takes a little longer.

Gekko

Mosh Pit (C)

• The impacted area deals 10 damage per second before exploding.

Wingman (Q)

• Life reduced: 100 >>> 80

Thrash (X)

• Thrash’s explosion has undergone a small change and will now be easier to see and understand the affected area (as well as being quite beautiful).

Killjoy

Confinement (X)

• Increased ultimate points: 8 >>> 9

Omen

Paranoia (Q)

• No movement speed carried over when casting

Skye

Trailblazing Light (E)

• Maximum duration with reduced cast: 2.5s >>>2s

Explosive Predator (Q)

• Life reduced: 100 >>> 80

Trackers (X)

• Increased ultimate points: 7 >>> 8
• Reduced health: 150>>>120

Sleep

Tracking Arrow (E)

• Total number of searches reduced: 3 >>> 2

Viper

Viper’s Venom Pit (X)

• Increased ultimate points: 8 >>> 9

Astra

Gravity Well (C)

• Increased startup time: 0.6 >>> 1.25
• Reduced gravity duration: 2.75 >>> 2.0

New Pulse (Q)

• Reduced startup time: 1.25 >>> 1

Cosmic Boundary (X)

• Audio is now completely blocked by the wall, not just muffled.

Jett

Jett was the agent with the most changes in this VALORANT update, and already anticipating the community’s reaction, Riot was keen to explain why they made the changes to each ability. Next, check out what will be changed:

Impulse Breeze (E)

• Reduced advance period: 12s >>> 7.5s

At 12s, Jett often did well by charging forward without clear intent, or making poor choices, but he still had time to find another use for the rush. Reducing this period will make the Operator need to think harder on these plays, as well as reduce the strength of Breeze of Impulse when defending defensive angles, but at the same time, it will have minimal impact on her ability to use her dash to invade a point.

• Increased activation animation: 0.75s >>> 1s

This boost to Breeze of Impulse should promote more proactive use by reducing Jett’s ability to reactively trigger it when caught unawares, or in the middle of a fight and successfully escaping.

Eruption of Mists (C)

• Reduced duration: 4.5s >>> 2.5s

Requipping the weapon after using the skill now takes a little longer.
We want to reduce some of the persistent security that Jett gains from advancing or escaping with smoke. We will do this by cementing Eruption of Mists as a fast and powerful tool that forces players to be quick and precise in decisions.

Upward Current (Q)

• Reduced Charges: 2 >>> 1

With two charges of Updraft, we’ve seen Jett escape situations where she was strategically outmatched, confusing enemies by relying on the ability’s unpredictable movement. With this, we hope to reduce the extreme and awkward movement situations that Updraft can produce, as well as increase the importance of timing the ability.

Steel Storm (X)

• Increased ultimate points: 7 >>> 8

The Jett has been shown to have one of the most flexible, reliable, and economically powerful weapon replacement ultimates due to its lack of timer, reset on getting kills, and harmony with the Operator’s movements. This change should put Steel Tempest on par with weapon ultimates of the same cost like Tour de Force and Killer Killer.

When does the 7.04 update hit the VALORANT servers?

Riot pointed out that the ratings of patch 7.04 full update arrives next week, so these buffs and nerfs are expected to hit the server on the 29th or 30th of August.