The VALORANT community has already responded to the drastic Chamber changes hitting the PBE in response to the agent’s dominance in both casual and professional play since his release.
Aside from the French sniper, nearly every other agent in the game is also getting a minor change in patch 5.12 that could shake up the meta.
This patch both buffs several pieces of utility, but also increases which abilities can destroy them at the same time.
Here is every change coming to VALORANT in patch 5.12.
General Changes
Riot will be adjusting Assist Tail Tuning, which refers to the time after the expiration of an applied debuff in which the player who applied the debuff can still receive an assist on a resulting kill. All of the assist tails in the game have ben increased, which means players will likely be seeing more assists pop up on their K/D/A tallies at the end of the match. This is especially beneficial for controller, initiator, and sentinel players.
Another key point of this patch is that several existing abilities can now destroy other pieces of utility. This will create a more consistent landscape of which pieces of utility can be destroyed and which cannot.
The Spectre is also getting a few changes. There are now three damage tiers to address different falloff distances.
- 0-15 meters, 26 damage per bullet.
- 15m-30 meters, 22 damage per bullet.
- More than 30 meters, 20 damage per bullet.
Riot has also adjusted the damage multipliers on many pieces of utility, to account for adjustments in health, cost, and impact of utility as a whole.
Duelists
Phoenix
- Blaze – cost decreased from 200 to 150, can now damage and destroy several pieces of enemy utility.
- Hot Hands – can now damage and destroy several pieces of enemy utility.
Phoenix is getting a slight buff to his Blaze ability (C). This ability is his flame wall, which he can curve to cover a specific area. The wall heavily damages people (besides Phoenix) who walk through it. Phoenix can also use this ability to heal himself.
The cost of Blaze is being reduced from 200 credits to 150. This is likely so that the ability can stay on par with the similar wall abilities in the game, like Viper and Harbor’s respective signature abilities.
Raze
- Boom Bot – health decreased from 100 to 60.
- Blast Pack – health increased from one to 20, now damages Fade’s Prowler.
- Paint Shells – now damages Fade’s Prowler
The changes being made to Raze are health point changes to some of her utility. She is getting one buff and one nerf.
Her Boom Bot is getting nerfed, and will now have 60 health points, making it much easier to destroy. The Blast Packs, on the other hand, now have 20 health each, which is a huge change that can also be seen in other utility throughout this patch. This means that Blast Packs are now harder to destroy.
Yoru
- Gatecrash – health decreased from 100 to 60, cost decreased from 200 to 150.
Yoru’s change can’t be classified directly as a nerf or a buff. His Gatecrash teleporter now has less health, making it much easier to destroy, but it also costs slightly less. Players will be able to purchase the Gatecrash more often, but will also have to be more careful about using it.
Initiators
Breach
- Rolling Thunder – ultimate points increased from seven to eight.
- Aftershock – now deals less damage to non-players.
Breach is the newest agent to join the eight-point ultimate club. Though in the past the strength of Rolling Thunder has deserved the seven-point cost, as Breach has become a stronger pick in general it seems necessary to increase the cost.
Fade
- Prowler – health decreased from 100 to 60.
Fade’s Prowler ability, which can track enemies down and blind them by nearsighting them, is getting nerfed. The Prowlers will now be easier to destroy after Fade sends them out.
KAY/O
- ZERO/POINT – health increased from one to 20, now damages Fade’s Prowler.
- NULL/cmd – ultimate points increased from seven to eight.
- FRAG/MENT – will now play a voiceline telling KAY/O’s allies how many enemies have been suppressed.
KAY/O’s grenade now has 20 health points instead of only one. This means teams will have to be more coordinated in destroying the grenade. His signature ability, his knife, will now be more impactful with additional communication to his teammates.
KAY/O is also joining the eight-point ultimate club, and his powerful ultimate ability that suppresses ability usage within a designated radius around him will now cost more.
Sova
- Recon Bolt – health increased from one to 20.
- Shock Bolt – can now damage Fade’s Prowler.
- Hunter’s Fury – can now damage and destroy several pieces of enemy utility.
This health change for Recon Bolt is similar to the changes for Raze’s Blast Pack and KAY/O’s knife. The bolt is now harder to destroy. For Recon Bolt in particular, this change could prove interesting, since often Sova players shoot the dart high into the ceiling or in other hard-to-reach places on the map.
Skye
- Trailblazer – cost increased from 250 to 300.
- Regrowth – cost decreased from 200 to 150.
Skye’s Trailblazer ability, or the dog she sends forward to stun enemies, now costs more. However, unlike many of the abilities that are receiving buffs to be able to damage pieces of utility, Trailblazer still can only do damage to players, not utility.
Skye is one of two agents in the game that can heal her teammates, and now her healing is less expensive, giving the ability a buff.
Controllers
Brimstone
- Incendiary – can now damage and destroy several pieces of enemy utility.
- Orbital Strike – can now destroy Chamber’s Rendezvous.
These changes are a buff to Brimstone, and give him more impact with his secondary utility.
Harbor
- High Tide – duration increased from 12 seconds to 15 seconds.
- Cascade – duration increased from five seconds to seven seconds.
Harbor, the game’s newest agent, will be receiving a significant buff in this patch. His wall ability, High Tide, now lasts longer, giving his teammates more time to execute behind the water screen.
Cascade, his slowing wave, also lasts longer now. It’s not clear if this change will also alter the distance that the wave can travel.
Omen
- Paranoia – cost decreased from 200 to 150.
Omen’s Paranoia is one of the strongest blinding abilities in the game. It will now cost less, giving the spooky controller a decent buff.
Viper
- Viper’s Pit – smoke integrity regeneration time increased from 5 seconds to 25 seconds, max timeout of smoke decreased from 15 seconds to 8 seconds, ultimate points increased from seven to eight.
- Snakebite – can now damage and destroy several pieces of enemy utility.
Viper’s Pit is receiving some nerfs in this patch. The ultimate has long been one of the strongest ultimate abilities in VALORANT, and finally it also comes with an eight-point price tag.
Notably for Viper players, the amount of time that the agent can now spend outside of her ultimate is now nearly cut in half. After 8 seconds outside of the pit, the poison cloud will despawn and the bar will run to zero. The amount of time that it takes for the bar to fill back up is now significantly longer as well.
Sentinels
Chamber
- Headhunter – updated stability curve
- Rendezvous – reworked into a single anchor with an increased radius, increased weapon equip time after teleporting, teleporter health decreased, and the teleport anchor now does not respawn during the round if it is destroyed.
- Trademark – trap is now range-restricted (similar to Killjoy’s utility), health increased from one to 20, slow duration decreased from six seconds to four seconds.
- Tour de Force – decreased fire rate by 57.5%, slow duration decreased from six seconds to four seconds.
For a full recap of all of Chamber’s changes, Dot Esports has a full rundown available here.
Cypher
- Trapwire – health increased from one to 20.
This buff to Trapwire makes it harder to destroy, but goes along with most of the other utility changes in this patch.
Killjoy
- Nanoswarm – health increased from one to 20, can now damage and destroy several pieces of enemy utility.
- Lockdown – health increased from 150 to 200.
Killjoy’s Nanoswarm grenades are now harder to destroy, again following suit with many of the other utility changes in this patch. Her ultimate ability, Lockdown, which can easily be countered and destroyed, gets a small buff with 50 extra health points.
Sage
- Barrier Orb – fortification delay increased from three seconds to 3.3 seconds.
- Healing Orb – self heal total amount decreased from 60 health points to 30 health points, ally heal total amount increased from 60 health points to 100 health points.
Sage is getting a few changes that likely overall result in a nerf, but will increase her role as a Sentinel in aiding her teammates. She can now only heal herself by up to 30 health points, while she can give an ally up to 100 health points, which could be game-changing.
Her wall will also now take slightly longer to fortify itself, making it easier to break as soon as it’s put up.
