As a long-time Valorant enthusiast with countless hours spent in the digital battlefield, I can confidently say that the recent patch 9.11 has been a breath of fresh air for the game’s overall balance. The much-needed Neon nerf has finally arrived, and it feels like a new era of competitive play is upon us.
The Filipino duelist Neon played a pivotal role in the meta during the final acts of Valorant.
Using her remarkable nimbleness, powerful final move, and the ability to slide and leap, she was frequently considered almost impossible to defeat.
On the enemy team, a skillfully played Neon character often takes the lead as the highest scorer, regularly emerging victorious in one-on-one battles.
At last, the eagerly-awaited update is here, introducing the highly-anticipated balance adjustment that has allowed ranked matches to finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
Patch 9.11
Agent Neon
The patch, set to release on December 10, aims to tone down Neon’s power.
Riot Games has revamped her fundamental powers to achieve better equilibrium and substantially slow her down, as her speed was considered overpowering by many gamers.
To reintegrate Neon into the game’s meta, an adjustment to her High Gear ability was critical.
Earlier on, High Gear enabled Neon to perform an electric slide. Starting from Episode 8, Act 3, however, the number of electric slides has been doubled, allowing for two slides in succession. Notably, the limit resets after Neon has made two kills.
Even the developers acknowledged in a tweet that Neon was too strong in this state:
As far as I’m concerned, we also believe that Neon is excessively powerful. We’re currently making modifications to tone down the aspects that seem too dominant without compromising her realistic combat style based on ground movements. These adjustments will be introduced in update 9.11.
— penguin (@penguinVALORANT) November 11, 2024
In the recent upgrade, we’ve changed the number of initial slides for each round to just one. However, you’ll get an extra slide after achieving two kills.
The goal is to make High Gear less disorienting and frustrating for opponents, encouraging more tactical use of the ability.
Furthermore, we’ve upped the price for this skill, and its accuracy now mirrors a leisurely pace of walking.
Another problematic aspect was her ultimate, Overdrive.
The Fastest Neon on Valorant
full video search “temet” on YouTube.
— temet (@temets) February 10, 2023
When turned on, Neon emits a powerful energy beam from her hands. With her quickness, it becomes extremely challenging for adversaries to dodge or retaliate against her, allowing her to inflict substantial harm before they can react.
In the heat of battle within this tactical first-person shooter, I’ve noticed an adjustment – my Overdrive now lasts only 10 seconds instead of the previous 20. Also, to activate it, I need 8 ultimate points compared to the old requirement of 7. It’s a strategic shift that demands more careful use and planning!
Agent Vyse
The newest Sentinel agent, Vyse, brings impressive versatility to the game.
With her unique power of flashing, she is exceptional at safeguarding or separating strategic positions and vulnerable sides.
Her enhanced “Thorny Vines” now deal more harm and temporarily slows down opponents, much like Sage’s Slowing Orb in effect.
If you’re curious about the impact of the Vyse modifications on the Razervine/Thorns, let me clarify that for you.
— hoverboarD (@draobrevoh) December 10, 2024
The vines inflict 10 points of harm every second, thereby creating difficulties for opponents as they try to move around and reducing their speed.
In their continuous improvement, developers have adjusted the dynamics of the vine’s growth, decreasing its vertical height from 450 to 300 units.
Meanwhile, her Arc Rose ability has become more mobile, allowing for quicker repositioning.
Ping system and minor tweaks
The ping system has undergone an update to eliminate any undesired gameplay benefits other than basic, non-verbal interaction.
1) Now, echoes skip across smoky surfaces instead of penetrating them, becoming visible right on the smokes’ outer layer. Furthermore, map pings can be seen exclusively on the minimap, they don’t appear within the actual game environment.
New ping visuals and sound effects have been introduced to improve clarity.
In these two clips, Riot has clearly illustrated the changes’ impact on gameplay:
Before the Update:
After the Update:
In addition, minor modifications involve swapping the small shield for a regenerative shield during the initial phase of Team Deathmatch.
For PC players, group messages and flags now feature distinct colors, and a long-standing bug that required 100 matches to complete the weekly mission: Play a Match has finally been fixed.
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2024-12-11 20:09