Few patches in VALORANT’s list of updates have been as drastic as Patch 7.04, which brings multiple meta-shifting tweaks to 11 agents’ kits, one new map, a reworked old map, and more. The patch releases on Aug. 29 after a downtime, paving the way for a new competitive Act—Episode Seven, Act Two.
Patch 7.04’s biggest feature has to be the agent updates. It looks like Riot Games had anticipated the community’s reaction from early on, considering it revealed the agent changes a few days before the patch’s official launch, possibly hoping the stir would subside.
By now, players should have settled with Riot’s belief that some agents’ kits needed urgent clipping. But that’s not all—there’s a new map to be excited about, the return of a beloved map in an almost-new avatar, Premier’s official launch, some much-needed UI changes, and bug fixes too. Here’s the full VALORANT Patch 7.04 notes.
Table of contents
What’s coming in VALORANT Patch 7.04?
Ultimate cost increases
Inflation has finally hit the VALORANT ultimate market as numerous ultimate abilities now require an additional point. Specifically, the devs sought to increase the cost of “large area, high-impact” ultimates that put a lot of pressure on the opposing team:
- Viper’s Pit has increased from eight points to nine points.
- Breach’s Rolling Thunder has increased from eight points to nine points.
- Brimstone’s Orbital Strike has increased from seven points to eight points.
- Killjoy’s Lockdown has increased from eight points to nine points.
- Skye’s Seekers has increased from seven points to eight points.
- Jett’s Blade Storm has increased from seven points to eight points.
Major Jett nerfs
Jett has, up until now, been one of the most reliable duelist agents at all levels of competition. Riot noted that an issue it’s had with Jett is that she can get herself out of trouble more than anyone, even after the Dash changes in Patch 4.08, meaning less “deliberate” and “intentional” playmaking.
Related: ‘RIP Jett’: VALORANT players mourn agent’s impending nerfs in Patch 7.04
Here are the highlights of the Jett changes:
- Tailwind’s dash window (time Jett has to dash after activating Tailwind) reduced from 12 seconds to 7.5 seconds. Activation windup increased from 0.75 seconds to one second.
- Cloudburst smoke duration reduced from 4.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds. Time to re-equip gun after using Cloudburst increased slightly.
- Number of Updraft charges reduced from two to one.
- Blade Storm increased from seven to eight ultimate points.
Crucial Skye nerfs
Skye’s versatile kit had become overpowered, with pros ‘abusing’ her bending birds and energetic Tasmanian Tiger to the point of absurdity. The trend had reached VALORANT ranked, too, but Riot heard the community’s feedback this time, bringing changes that “push the choice competition between Skye and her peers into a healthy place.”
Here are all the Skye changes in Patch 7.04:
- Guiding Light’s max duration while casting reduced to two seconds from 2.5 seconds.
- Trailblazer’s health reduced to 80 from 100.
- Seekers’ health reduced to 120 from 150.
- Seekers now cost eight points instead of seven.
Unexpected Astra changes
It’s not that Astra was broken before. She’s one of the most ignored controllers in VALORANT. But Riot spotted an unintended “power disparity” between her Gravity Well and Nova Pulse and decided to fix it with Patch 7.04.
From now on, the Gravity Well will be more about controlling space, while the Nova Pulse will satisfy the need to quickly affect an area. Her ultimate wall has also been tweaked to completely block noise rather than muffle it.
- Gravity Well’s startup time increased to 1.25 seconds from 0.6 seconds.
- Gravity Well’s time duration decreased to 2.0 seconds from 2.75 seconds.
- Nova Pulse’s startup time decreased to 1.0 seconds from 1.25 seconds.
- Cosmic Divide will now completely block audio instead of muffling it.
Balancing Gekko changes
Despite having a good intel-gathering potential, Gekko hasn’t been the initiator of our dreams. He’s considered ‘weaker’ than the rest of the initiators in VALORANT because it’s difficult to find winning value with his quirky kit, especially in ranked. But his tools can be exceptionally strong in the right hands, considering that he can pick up and reset his abilities.
Balancing Gekko is tricky, but Riot seems to have done a good job—for now.
- Mosh Pit’s impacted area deals 10 damage per second before exploding.
- Wingman’s HP reduced to 80 from 100.
- Thrash’s explosion had a little makeover to make it easier to see and understand the area it has affected.
Subtle Sova, Breach, and Omen changes
Both Sova and Breach received promising balance changes, expected to improve the initiator meta in VALORANT. Omen, on the other hand, received a minute update targeted at eliminating a very specific mechanic.
- Sova’s Recon Bolt will now scan twice instead of thrice.
- Breach’s Aftershock will now trigger two ticks, and each tick will deal 80 damage, compared to three ticks with 60 damage each from earlier.
- Omen’s Paranoia will no longer be affected by his movement velocity. So, you can no longer slow down the Paranoia by moving backward while casting or boost its speed by running.
Changes to Breeze
Breeze is back in the active duty map pool after some extended time away. The island map has been changed drastically, with the map team opting to simplify several of the areas.
Related: VALORANT analysts and pros react to Breeze rework: ‘It’s like a whole new map’
- A Cave has been completely closed, with only A Shop serving as the “main” entrance to the A site.
- A Hall has been closed off, meaning defenders don’t have to watch that angle anymore.
- One side of the Mid Pillar has been completely closed off.
- The Mid doors to A have been opened to allow more space.
- Minor adjustments to the A and B sites themselves.
Sunset is here
Based in Los Angeles, VALORANT’s 10th map, Sunset, joins the game’s active map pool with Patch 7.04. That said, it will be available in Swiftplay mode only for a week before being added to the Competitive and Unrated queues with Patch 7.05.
Fracture and Pearl out of the queue
With Sunset and Breeze in, Fracture and Pearl have been rotated out of the Competitive and Unrated map pool to maintain the seven-map constraint.
These maps may return in a later Act or Episode, possibly with changes. Note that both Fracture and Pearl will continue to appear in Deathmatch, Spike Rush, Swiftplay, and Escalation.
Player behavior updates
Patch 7.04 brings multiple UI improvements based on feedback.
Report UI Improvements
- Readability increased by adding icons and showing detailed text descriptions when hovering over each of the newly added icons.
- The list of post-game reports has been categorized into groups. This should help break down decision-making from high-level categories to subcategories.
- Reportee info added to reduce false reporting.
Premier officially launches in Episode Seven, Act Two
After a number of beta tests, Premier is finally ready to launch officially as a permanent game mode in VALORANT. Here are the things you should know before you head on to the next stage of “path to pro:”
- Your team and match history will carry over from Premier’s Ignition Stage.
- Enrollment starts on Aug. 29 and runs until Sept. 7.
- Weekly matches will feature the full competitive map pool across seven weeks.
- Each week will still have one dedicated map and a maximum of two matches on said map.
- Matches start on Sept. 7 and run through Oct. 21. Playoffs on Oct. 22.
- Earn a Premier Score of at least 675 to qualify and to have a chance to be crowned one of the best teams in your Division.
- Performance will now be tracked from Stage to Stage.
- You will receive a Division crest at the end of each Stage.
- Divisions will be split into five tiers: Open, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, and Contender.
For more details, check out Premier’s FAQ page.
All bug fixes in VALORANT Patch 7.04
This patch brings a combination of important fixes to bugs plaguing agents, gameplay systems, and the Premier game mode.
Agent
- Fixed an issue where Sage’s Barrier Orb (C) can break when being placed in between doors such as C Garage on Haven.
Gameplay Systems
- Fixed a bug where being killed on Fracture’s ziplines would make your Agent’s body appear in Spawn.
Player Behavior
- Fixed a bug where pushing the play button on your keyboard caused voice to transmit despite having different keybinds set or none at all.
Premier
- If a match goes into overtime and results in sudden death, the end-of-game timeline now displays the sudden death round correctly.
Related: VALORANT Patch 7.04 could open new duelist meta following sweeping agent nerfs
Known issues in VALORANT Patch 7.04
There’s one known issue with Premier’s Overtime Priority vote, which sometimes triggers two times in a row for a team. Riot is expected to fix it in an upcoming patch.
Full patch notes can be found here.
