Valorant v2.02 patch notes: Run and gun nerfed, rank changes, more

Valorant v2.02 patch notes are now out and while the changes look small on the surface, they are both welcome and have far-reaching consequences.

Riot has been catching a lot of flak for the ranked system, from the casuals to the grinders to the professionals at the tippy top, many have been complaining that they've found themselves in lobbies not representative of their actual skill level.

The developers have sought to fix this in two ways. First, players will reach their "actual" rank much quicker than before with it taking fewer games to get there. Second, from Bronze to Diamond players will get a bonus if they perform exceptionally well lifting them faster through the ranks - a more enjoyable experience expected for both sides of that coin.

The developers have also introduced a restriction on those ranked Diamond 3 - with only Solo/Duo queue allowed. Diamond 3 is a key rank, and by creating this restriction only those that have truly "earned" it, instead of, for instance, being the weak link in a five-stack and thus boosted, will be able to graduate to Immortal and Radiant ranks.

(Picture: Riot Games)

The ability to "run and gun" in the game has been a point of contention for many, and the developers have also looked to tackle this. The particulars of the stat changes aren't majorly important but essentially if you run and shoot, especially at long range, you will have little chance of hitting your target. 

This change will affect the assault rifles i.e the Bulldog, Guardian, Phantom and Vandal.

There is no release date/time for v2.02 though it is likely to hit the servers later today (2nd February) or early tomorrow based off previous precedent.

Valorant v2.02 patch notes

Weapon Updates

Rifle Movement Accuracy update (Bulldog/Guardian/Phantom/Vandal)

• Running Error across rifles increased 3.75 >>> 5.0
• Walking Error across rifles increased .8 >>> 1.1
• Crouch-moving Error across rifles increased .3 >>> .8

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

• Increased the effectiveness or Rank Rating convergence: players will now converge to their match making rating (MMR) faster, requiring less games to prove their rank
  • This will make it so players get to the rank they deserve in fewer matches.
  • This will help everyone get to a rank/Leaderboard Rank that best illustrates their skill more quickly. We wanted to be a little conservative launching the new ranked system, but believe in some cases you were having to play too many games to reach your intended rank. By doubling the effectiveness of convergence, players on the extreme ends might see 40+ Ranked Rating gains, pushing them to their proper rank faster.
    
• Players Iron through Diamond who perform exceptionally well in a match (weighed against their own average performance) will gain bonus Rank Rating
  • We want to reward players that “pop-off” in a match, performing above expectations.
  • This will help highlight those matches where you “outclassed” your average performance. In turn, you will rank up just a little faster, and be rewarded for games where you kill it. Remember, this is you doing better than your average, not you doing better than your teammates or opponents.
  • Consider this another system that helps combat the smurfs who do real well in a game. They will now more quickly rank up so that their rank better reflects their skill (along with getting put into higher skilled matches).
    
    
• Changed Diamond 3 to a premade size capped at 2 players
  • We needed “proving grounds” before getting into Immortal, and this should prepare players for the leaderboard and create a 5-stack buffer before Immortal.
  • While we value and want to support those of you able to play and compete with your friends as much as possible, we also want to ensure there is a high degree of trust and competitive integrity for players who make it onto the Leaderboard.
  • We want to maintain the prestige of Immortal+, and believe we need a small buffer to ensure players are proving their skill before getting into Immortal. This will prevent 5-stacking just before Immortal, and prepare Diamond 3 players for what they are about to get into. Diamond 3 will essentially become the final proving grounds for Immortal+.
    
    
• Your current leaderboard rank will now display on your Career: Act Rank tab. At the end of an Act, your final leaderboard rank will be preserved and displayed on the Act Rank Badge you earned.

MODE UPDATES

• Added a rate limiter to the in-game weapon store to keep players from spamming purchases in quick succession, which caused a potential performance issue
  • The rate limiting is lenient in most modes, but more strict in deathmatch.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug where players could silently plant the spike (credit here)
• Fixed issues where players couldn’t move after exiting a Sova Drone or a Cypher camera (thanks to you, you, and you)
• Fixed an issue where players couldn’t leave Cypher’s camera view or couldn’t move their mouse (shout out to you and you)
• Fixed an issue where picking up weapons stacked on top of each other, resulted in attempts to pick up both
• Fixed a bug where the Chat Box would remain open in-game
• Fixed a bug where enemy messages would still appear in Deathmatch while the Mute All Enemies setting was enabled
• Fixed a bug where the queue restriction penalty did not always scale properly for players who queue dodged repeatedly
• Fixed a bug that was causing the Promotion screen to show for a shorter amount of time than intended
• Fixed a bug that was showing the wrong Immortal icon in some places
• Fixed various localization issues that made it hard to read text in End of Game screen, Lobby, and Match History for some languages
• Fixed issue where various abilities did not work inside Brimstone and Jett’s smoke, even when they were visible to their target
• Fixed issue with Omen’s Shrouded Step targeting that caused it to get stuck on corners at a much greater distance
• Fixed issue where throwing Yoru’s Fakeout through a teleporter caused another projectile thrown afterward to play the Agent audio instead of the object audio
• Fixed Skye’s Seeker’s not being able to find enemies on the zipline platform on B-Site of Split
• Fixed Yoru getting stuck in various spots on maps when using Gatecrash
• Fixed Sova not playing a proper walk animation right after his Owl Drone ends
• Fixed issue where Omen could swap equipables right after selecting a map location for From the Shadows
• Fixed issue where Omen’s camera could become detached when using Dark Cover in poor networking conditions
• Fixed issue where the Spike could be planted on Sage’s wall on the sites on Icebox
• Reduced brightness on initial visuals when blinded from flashes