Riot Games confirmed it’s working to deploy a fix for a Phoenix bug preventing the duelist from healing himself as intended using his signature ability.
Product management lead for VALORANT Coleman Palm addressed a Phoenix bug in a Sept. 11 post on X (formerly Twitter), confirming the duelist’s Hot Hands ability is unintentionally regenerating lower health than usual due to a bug on all versions of the game. While the developer was grateful for all the players who flagged the issue using in-game reports, the bug evidently flew under the radar for a majority of the player base. Just a few minutes later, game designer and live design lead for VALORANT penguin replied to the initial post, apologizing for the inconvenience caused to Phoenix players and reassuring them that a hotfix is coming soon.
Before the bug surfaced, which might have accidentally been shipped recently with Patch 9.05, Phoenix could heal up to 50 health using his molly. At the time of writing, the Phoenix molly lasts for the same duration of four seconds, but its healing rate was approximately halved; you can only restore 25 health with the agent’s Hot Hands. This is a big nerf to Phoenix’s kit because his molly regens every two kills, allowing him to heal considerably before engaging in another gunfight.
Phoenix has one of the lowest pick rates in VALORANT, both in ranked and pro play. The duelist definitely needs (and deserves) a buff, if anything. However, there’s a silver lining if you’re a Phoenix main: The molly still does the same damage to your opponents walking over it.
The developer has yet to confirm a date for the fix going live, but given this bug can change the result of every match with Phoenix players, we can expect a patch within a couple of days.
