Riot Games’ new Valorant title update is finally upon us and the Episode 7 Act 3 agent Iso is now in-game and available to use. We know we said we think he alone would be enough to shake-up the current meta, which sees Reyna dominate, but the latest set of Valorant patch notes also detail a handful of balancing changes that could prove interesting – namely, a Cypher buff and a Raze nerf.
In an effort to balance the power dynamic between the selection of Sentinel agents currently available, which will be welcome news to anyone trying to climb the Valorant ranks, Riot Games’ update 7.09 is introducing a number of balancing changes to Cypher, Raze, Skye, and Fade for Valorant players to deal with. While it’s still a little too early to tell how this will affect our Valorant tier list – even though we still do think that new Valorant agent Iso is perfectly poised to shake-up the meta – these are all changes you’re going to want to know about going into your next game.
So, let’s talk about Cypher first and start off with something positive.
Following update 7.09 and the start of Episode 7 Act 3, Cypher’s Trapwire (C) ability will now concuss captured enemies in half the time – down from 3 seconds to just 1.5 seconds. Then, if you’re able to kill a concussed enemy in your Trapwire trap, it will re-arm itself after 0.5 seconds. The duration of the slowing effect when enemies are hit with the Trapwire trap is also up from 0.75 seconds to 2 seconds.
To summarize, Cypher’s Trapwire is going to slow enemies for longer, concuss trapped enemies quicker, and then re-arm itself instead of being destroyed after use. We know this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to see legions of Cypher players in your next set of games online, as it only affects one part of their kit, but it’s far from a bad balancing change.
Raze players, though, will have to work a little harder to make the most of her abilities moving forward. Update 7.09 is decreasing the explosion radius of both her primary and secondary Paint Shells (E) grenades. It’s also lowering the minimum damage they can deal to just 1 – from 15 – and lowering the damage multiplier these explosives have when dealing damage to enemy utility items to just 100% – from 250%.
Looking at this ability, players are going to need to be much more accurate with Paint Shells moving forward – if they want to deal the same amount of damage as before, anyway. Not only this, but Raze’s Blast Pack (Q) isn’t going to deal damage until fully armed and the time it takes to arm is increasing from 0.5 seconds to 1.5 seconds. In games like Valorant, one second can make all the difference. So, this could prove significant moving forward.
In addition to both of these changes, Skye’s Trailblazer (Q) will now go under mid-height Trapwires and Fade’s Prowler (C) will now go under Trapwires at head height and over Trapwires at foot level. We know these changes aren’t directly related to Cypher, but they’re going to make – in the specific case where a Skye or a Fade are trying to destroy their Trapwires – some difference. So, we think it’s fair to call these another, albeit indirect, buff.
What should you really take away from all this, aside from the fact that Cypher’s Trapwires are going to be even more of a pain than before, though? Well, if you’re using Raze regularly, you might want to double check you’re using one of the best Valorant crosshair codes too. The smaller explosion radius and lower damage threshold is going to make it a lot harder to use Paint Shells than it was before.
This update also confirms that the new Valorant weapon, leaks revealed ahead of Episode 7 Act 3, isn’t going to be available until the next major update – which should kick off Episode 8. While you’re here, though, you can also check out the next Valorant Night Market dates here and prepare yourself to pick up some new skins.
