Here are the updates and notes for VALORANT Patch 1.10: Act III

VALORANT’s Act III is finally here, bringing with it a frozen map, Icebox, a battle pass—complete with weapon skins, skin variants, gun buddies, sprays, player cards, titles, and Radianite Points—an Exclusive Edition skin line, and a new agent.

For now, players will have to wait until Australian beast tamer Skye launches on Oct. 27. But in Patch 1.10, they can enjoy the new map, changes to the competitive queue, and a much-needed update to Deathmatch.

Here’s the full list of updates and notes for VALORANT’s Patch 1.10.

Map updates

New map: Icebox

Each Icebox site is a complex combat space that features plenty of cover and verticality. This map emphasizes skirmishes, sharp aim, and adaptive play. There’s also a zipline that amplifies the feeling of quick action and verticality.

If all goes according to plan, Icebox will be available for play in competitive on Oct. 27.

• Early in the patch, players queuing for Unrated will more often get placed on Icebox
• Ascenders (Ropes) / Ziplines
• Acceleration adjusted to prevent sudden shifts in direction (this was added last patch but wasn’t in the patch notes because well, you might start asking about ziplines)
• Added weapon tagging when shot while on Ascenders
• These changes are intended to make players that are using Ascenders and Ziplines less evasive during combat.

Ascent, Bind

• Vision Cones accuracy improved for Ascent, Bind
• Haven, Split may also be updated in this patch

Competitive updates

Competitive Act II will end with Patch 1.10 and roll into the start of Act III. This means progress toward your Act Rank for Act II will be saved and you’ll be put back into placement matches for Act III. 

Competitive players will receive their Act Rank Badge for Act II and can start making progress on their badge for Act III. The center of your Act Rank Badge is your ninth best-ranked win, but you’ll also be able to see your highest rank achieved at the top of the badge.

• You can now select your preferred server(s), increasing the chance you’ll play on a server you want.
• Rank disparity for parties capped at three tiers (from six).
• Riot has also tightened competitive matchmaking to reduce skill disparity.
• Immortal and ranked changes will only be impacted by winning and losing and the decisiveness of the game outcome (how many rounds won or lost by) and not factor individual performance into the calculation.
• Riot will be testing and monitoring this change in Act III for potential future implementation in all ranks.

Mode updates

Deathmatch

• Increased player count from 10 to 14 players.
• Updated spawning algorithm to encourage safer spawns.
• Removed periodic location pulse, and you’ll now only receive a pulse right when you respawn.
• Increased match length, first to 40 kills (was 30), time limit upped to nine minutes (was six).
• Kill Reloads: On every kill, players get an automatic, immediate full reload of their active weapon (Ares and Odin get 30 bullets back).
• XP gain increased from 500 to 900 XP.

Quality of life

• The Battlepass now has upgrade Variants for the Surge skin line, including the free track Surge Sheriff.
• Minimap performance increased.
• Tournament mode enabled custom games can now fit up to 12 observers.
• Requested guns can now be sold back to the shop, doing so will refund the player who fulfilled the request.
• Observer can now hold walk when in freecam mode to reduce speed (fast and slow speed can be configured in settings menu).
• In-world pings are now team-colored for observers.
• Reyna and Phoenix ult timers correctly update for observers.
• The keybind text in the current spectate target widget has been removed for observers.
• Flashed indicator for observers has been updated with new art.
• Crosshair setting added that allows crosshair colors to be locked to team color for observers.
• Players no longer get stuck trying to descend vent ropes while walking (leaving A-Tower).
• Added new modifier keybind for observers to jump straight to freecam when jumping to a player (left shift by default).
• Plant/defuse progress UI is now always visible to observers and includes which player is taking the action.
• Observer player no longer see player-specific hud indicators (e.g. taking damage indicator) when in freecam.
• Ability timers now work for dead/spectating players & observers (e.g. Reyna and Phoenix ult durations).