With VALORANT Patch 8.11 rapidly approaching, players are bracing themselves for the arrival of some seemingly meta-breaking changes for Neon.
From professional analysts to the general player base, many VALORANT fans have been shocked and absolutely frightened by the planned adjustments for the fast-moving agent. There are plenty of changes the community has dubbed “ridiculous,” including her ability to move side to side at the same speed as her regular High Gear sprint speed.
She will also be given two slide charges, can execute back-to-back slides, has the ability to shoot with no movement error during a slide, and a mere 0.2-second re-equip time after her slide in Patch 8.11. As a result, she will be a movement demon that can zip around the battlefield, and is built to break some ankles as she shoots with perfect accuracy while sliding à la Apex Legends.
The community is already on fire with comments about how Neon will take over the meta, especially in low to mid-tier Elo where players aren’t able to hit their shots on moving targets nearly as consistently as in other situations. This has also risen other concerns around Neon becoming a target for smurfs to use in lower Elo, since these changes will benefit those with wildly accurate first shots.
“Neon has always been annoying to play against and play with,” one user responded after Neon was compared to a Call of Duty character. “She’s the one agent who feels like she doesn’t belong in the game at all.”
In the latest episode of Plat Chat, popular analyst and caster Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson said that although the changes to Neon looked “bonkers,” he was very excited to see the potential highlights that could come from a Neon sliding into the perfect headshot as they zip past enemy lines for a pick.
Others, however, are ready to instantly lock Cypher as a way to counter the speed and mobility Neon has gained in this latest patch. In general, Cypher is already a great counter to Neon since his tripwires don’t need a charge up time and immediately catch any agent that activates them, but with these new changes, he might be a must-pick while players storm into the game to try her out.
