VALORANT Patch 3.06 is set to introduce significant changes to Jett and Skye, balancing the slightly overpowered agents while giving KAY/O a much-needed buff. Boxes on several maps can no longer be wall banged after the update goes live to create safer areas for both attackers and defenders.
Jett is one of the most dominant agents in VALORANT. Players take advantage of her mobility to deliver significant damage before escaping and her Cloud Bursts can create cover in a pinch. Her Bladestorm ultimate is also devastating in the right hands since each kill refills Jett’s kunai, allowing players to go on a rampage. But Patch 3.06 is finally delivering a nerf.
Jett will now only have two Cloudbursts instead of three, causing players to be more careful with their smokes and preventing instant spam of three smokes. Players will need to consider where their smoke will be the most beneficial for their team.
Jett’s Bladestorm’s right-click alternate fire will no longer recharge her kunai, which prevents players from spamming the powerful option multiple times. This will put a stronger emphasis on the regular fire option and cause players to focus on precision. The right-click fire damage changes have also been reverted and now mirror the left-click, allowing for “a little more predictability.”
Skye has also become a powerful agent, and Patch 3.06 will slightly nerf her Guiding Light and Seekers abilities. The Guiding Light unequip time after casting or bending has increased from 0.5 to 0.75, and the windup time after activation before the flash goes off went up from 0.25 to 0.3. This makes it more difficult for Skye to play off her flashes, requiring players to coordinate with their team instead. Skye’s ultimate Seekers ability now costs seven ult orbs instead of six since it provides significant intel on the enemy team.
Patch 3.06 does introduce an excellent buff to KAY/O. KAY/O’s FLASH/drive windup telegraph has been reduced from 0.5 to 0.3 and the duration of the windup telegraph for the right click is reduced from one second to 0.3. The audio for the in-flight projectile has also been removed. These changes make it easier for KAY/O to pop flash and surprise enemies. KAY/O’s NULL/cmd ultimate no longer stops pulsing if KAY/O is downed, increasing the value of the ability.
Fracture, Icebox, Haven, Ascent, and Bind are also receiving slight changes to various boxes to provide better protection for defenders or attackers.
A box on B site on Fracture will no longer be penetrable, creating a safer planting spot for attackers. The box on B site on Icebox was also changed, making it much easier to plant on B site since defenders can no longer spam through the box from mid. One of the boxes near the default plant spot on Haven is no longer penetrable, making it easier for players to plant the spike.
A box on A site on Ascent was also changed, but this creates a safer position for defenders to hold the site. Finally, a box on Bind was adjusted, creating a safer spot for attackers to plant and making it slightly harder to defend.
Patch 3.06 also contains minor updates like a bug fix on Icebox, Deathmatch penalties no longer prevent players from getting banned for AFKing, and settings on the Public Beta Environment and live client will no longer be wiped when going between the two environments.
A full list of changes can be found in the official patch notes.
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