Valorant v3.06 patch notes: Jett and Skye nerfs, KAY/O buffed

Two agents, more than any other, have been the subject of calls for a nerf in Valorant and with the v3.06 update, it appears that the developers have heeded those calls, with both Skye and Jett finding themselves drastically less powerful than they once were.

For Jett, her Bladestorm ultimate is the focus of her nerf. Her alt-fire, which fires them in shotgun-like spray, will no longer recharge the blades when a kill is successful. While her Cloudburst (smokes) has been reduced from 3 to 2. Notably, her Tailwind dash is unaffected, meaning that Jett will likely remain a popular choice for many players.

For Skye, it is her flashes that are under the microscope. She had effectively become a Duelist with her flashes proving to be too quick to equip. The time for both equipping and activation of the flash itself has been increased. Her ultimate, Seekers, has also increased from 6 to 7 points.

For buffs, the oft-neglected KAY/O has been shown some love, the in-flight projectile no longer makes the same warning noise, while he should also be able to throw them quicker than before.

A number of changes were also made to wall-bangable boxes around spike sites with attackers now offered more protection when planting at various points.

For more information check out the full patch notes below.

AGENT UPDATES

SKYE

We’ve liked that Skye has been able to play off her own flash more and more. But lately, there's a sense that it's become too effective and optimal to play off of herself in some situations. An increase to the unequip time should make it slightly more difficult for Skye to capitalize on Guiding Light bird flashes as quickly as before—making coordinated play or different styles of flashes more competitive.

The increased activation time aims to give prepared enemies a slightly larger window to react, without trivializing her main Initiator tool. Also, we’ve seen both the frequency of Skye’s ult and its effectiveness increase as players have become more skilled with the Agent. Looking at the recon and impact it can provide, it now seems more appropriate amongst the ults that cost seven points.

KAY/O

When we first launched KAY/O, we had two big questions: “How strong is Suppression for initiation?” and “Can regular flashbangs exist against other flashes in VALORANT?” Although we believed the ability to lab out flashes was where the power could come in, we over-indexed on telegraphing the projectile, which is holding back its success.

These changes should help reward those of you that put in additional effort to throw clever pop flashes. As far as the ultimate goes, we wanted to increase the baseline value of the ultimate by ensuring a longer suppression window for those explosive site takes.

JETT

MAP UPDATES

FRACTURE

• Tunnel to Generator/Canteen areas can no longer be bullet penned (a.k.a. wallbang)
• One crate on B site is no longer pennable
  • This should create a safer planting option for attackers, while retaining a riskier, but more powerful option.

ICEBOX

• The crate stack on B site is no longer pennable, this is to create a safer planting option for attackers

HAVEN

• One stack of crates on C site is no longer pennable, this is to create a safer planting option for attackers

ASCENT

• One crate on A site is no longer pennable, this is to create a safer position on site for defenders

BIND

• One stack of crates on A site is no longer pennable, this is to create a safer planting option for attackers

GAME SYSTEM UPDATES

• For users of the Public Beta Environment (PBE), your settings for Live and PBE have been split, and your setting should no longer be wiped when going between the two environments

BUGS

MAP

• Icebox minimap and vision cones will now correctly display near B Yellow callout.
  •  Thanks to @TheLumberjAxe for the catch.

SOCIAL

• Deathmatch penalties will no longer prevent you from getting banned for AFK-ing
  • Sorry about this bug! Penalties should have been reverted.