VALORANT players demand Riot devs do more to save game’s worst weapon

In a plea to developer Riot Games, diehard VALORANT fans have come together this week to offer suggestions to buff, or outright rework, what has easily become the title’s worst weapon—the Bucky.

Shotguns in general fill quite a small niche in competitive FPS games—and VALORANT is no exception, with the Shorty, Judge, and Bucky among the least-picked weapons in ranked according to stats site METAsrc.

But where the Judge has found a way forward, and the Shorty will always stand the test of time as a cheap close-range sidearm, the Bucky has been left out to dry. The weapon has only been purchased in 0.78 percent of matches played on Patch 6.08.

Fans of the weapon have just about had it, posting to Reddit on May 14 to brainstorm ideas to breathe a little life back into the Bucky.

One player suggested tightening the weapon’s damage spread, while others want the Bucky’s alternate ranged explosive shot buffed. In a more drastic move, one player believes an entire rework of the weapon is the only salvageable move forward.

Even worse, Bucky’s pick rate is at one of its highest in the game’s history, nearly matching its popularity throughout 2020 and 2021—yet still far away from its peers in the ‘half-buy’ class. The Spectre still remains the go-to when it comes to an agent’s half-buy primary, purchased in over seven percent of rounds played in Ranked.

The Bucky doesn’t fare any better in professional play, either. With over 1,000 rounds played at February and March’s VCT LOCK//IN in São Paulo, the Bucky was purchased just 12 times, a full six times less than the other primary shotgun Judge.

The Bucky was last tweaked in June 2021 with Patch 3.0, which saw Riot’s seemingly last-ditch effort to salvage the weapon by reducing its cost to 850. This didn’t prove enough, with the weapon’s versatility via its alternate fire not enough to salvage its low damage output and inconsistency.

With VALORANT’s Season Six, Act Three still over a month away from concluding, Bucky fans may need to wait a little while longer before their beloved shotgun gets another look in.