Riot nerfs Raze in VALORANT Patch 1.08

Riot Games released its latest VALORANT patch notes yesterday, buffing the Guardian gun and making changes to the map rotation. 

Perhaps the most notable change in this week’s notes, however, is a nerf to everyone’s favorite Brazilian spray-painting agent, Raze.

The focus of the Raze nerf is on one of her basic abilities, the Blast Pack. For a cost of 200 credits, Raze can throw a Blast Pack and it will stick to any surface. Once in place, the Blast Pack can be detonated dealing damage and knocking enemies back. 

With Patch 1.08, the pack’s initial damage will be reduced to 15 with a .2 meter inner radius. Outside of that radius, there will be a damage falloff of at least five damage.

Meanwhile, the package will now arm .5 seconds after it lands on a surface increasing its max damage to 50. Anyone shooting the package will detonate it as if Raze pulled the trigger herself.

Additionally, the satchel won’t deal any friendly fire damage. So your enemies can’t shoot the satchel behind you and your teammates to damage you.

“Raze’s Blast Pack has been dishing out damage without giving enemies much counterplay,” the developer notes read. “This change should help make it very clear when Blast Pack’s damage poses a threat while maintaining the utility aspects of the Blast Pack that players have begun to master. The blast pack now does not ‘fizzle’ when shot and will still do damage, meaning it should still be approached carefully if in lethal range.”

The move by Riot is certainly a nerf to Raze, but the changes appear to be geared more toward Blast Packs having some degree of counterplay. It might make Raze feel a little bit less powerful, but now players should have a little bit more control over their own fate when Raze’s Blast Pack is in play.