Neon nerfs are finally coming to VALORANT, but at what cost?

Once a neglected VALORANT agent, Neon was heavily buffed in Patch 8.11. The changes were too much, with her wreaking havoc in the meta. But now that Riot Games has put on its thinking cap to bring “adjustments,” fans are worried—and for good reason.

Addressing community-wide concerns about Neon’s overpowered state, VALORANT game designer penguin announced on X (formerly Twitter) the dev team’s ongoing efforts to clip the Filipino’s wings. “For what it’s worth – we agree that Neon is too strong as well,” he said. This alone sounds scary if you’re a Neon main and have played her a lot in the past few months. And if you’re aware of how Riot usually nerfs its characters, you’re probably looking for another agent to main already.

Before Patch 8.11, Neon struggled to find a sweet spot in the meta despite her unique kit. Her abilities were too situational, and players could only find value with her on certain maps. All your team needed was an above-average sentinel to counter her. 

Cut to Episode Eight, Act Three, Riot gave her two rechargeable slides up from one, a buffed fuel bar that regenerates much faster, removed all weapon error while sliding, and the list doesn’t end here. Well, it doesn’t take much to predict the outcome of such strong changes all at once—Neon now seems undefeatable. Thankfully, her reign of terror is about to end as Riot plans to bring balance changes in Patch 9.11—but is it that simple? 

As happy as most of us are about the upcoming adjustments, I came across many players voicing concerns about how Riot plans to handle the situation. Neon was once a significantly weak VALORANT agent, and the buffs made her genuinely fun to play. If the changes aren’t made carefully, she may fall back to an underwhelming state. And given how Riot brutally butchered certain agents (Chamber, Viper, Astra in Patch 4.04) in the past to “balance” the meta, Neon mains are understandably anxious.

If you ask me, there are a couple of nerfs Neon can endure without hurting her agile design. For starters, there needs to be some weapon inaccuracy when she slides so she can stop mowing down enemies with shotguns and rifles with little to no counter. Another change I’d suggest is for her energy bar to have a slightly increased recharge time (maybe 30/35 seconds instead of 20), which will keep her in check but still powerful. The rest of her kit seems pretty balanced, but will Riot keep it minimal?

We know it’s hard to trust the VALORANT agent design team. But looking at the balance changes to Iso—who also received some ridiculous buffs in Patch 8.11—makes me a bit hopeful. Penguin says they’re striving to balance out her overpowered bits without harming her “grounded movement combat fantasy.”

While we don’t have an official release window, VALORANT’s Patch 9.11 featuring the anticipated Neon nerfs will likely go live between late November and early December. Maybe, Riot has a fair plan this time. If not, there’s always Jett to fall back to.