After a busy year filled with exciting releases, Riot Games is ready to set the stage for VALORANT in 2024 by bringing significant changes to Lotus in Patch 8.0.
All of these changes are scheduled to drop on Tuesday, Jan. 9, and with a new episode comes a new rotation for the competitive map pool—including the controversial decision to swap Haven for Icebox. Both Lotus and Icebox will be getting a revamped new look, providing even more diversity for various teams in professional and solo queue play.
Lotus hasn’t seen too many complaints from players in the past, but these upcoming changes should create new sightlines for defenders while also widening out the map to force attackers to check more angles before diving into a full push for site control.
Every single site is also getting some adjustments, so if you’re trying to climb up the ranked ladder this year, you’ll need to study all of the new adaptations.
Here are all of the changes headed to Lotus in Episode Eight.
Every Lotus change in VALORANT Patch 8.0
A Main and A Link
A Hut
B Site
C Site and C Bend
New Lotus changes: At first glance
With the number of new angles that both attackers and defenders must worry about, Lotus will provide an ample challenge for those who have already gotten used to the map’s previous build. Multiple areas have been seemingly widened out to provide more hiding spots for players holding sites, including the new corner cubbies made for A Main, A Link, and B Site.
C Site will be a whole new beast to learn for most teams since the plant area has been dramatically changed, giving players a new area to put the spike down in the previous C Bend area of the map. Any defenders attempting to retake the site for a defuse will need to worry about new angles and hiding spots, while attackers will need to learn new line-ups and holding patterns for when they manage to put down the spike.
