VALORANT Patch 10.08: Agent Tweaks, Gifting Arrives, and a Touch of Nostalgia

Riot Games continues to evolve VALORANT in Patch 10.08 with a wave of updates touching agents, cosmetics, and client features. As the game celebrates its fifth anniversary, the patch includes welcome quality-of-life improvements, long-awaited features like gifting, and the return of some classic Episode 1 music for a nostalgic flair.

Episode 1 Music Returns

In celebration of VALORANT’s five-year anniversary, Patch 10.08 reintroduces the iconic music from Episode 1. Players can now enjoy the original soundtrack in the menus, character selection screen, and post-match Victory/Defeat music. This retro touch continues through Patch 10.09, offering a brief but welcome throwback to the game’s earliest days.

Gifting Finally Comes to the Featured Store

The highlight of this patch for many players is the addition of gifting functionality. Starting with the first bundle of the new Act, players can now send Featured Store bundles or individual items directly to friends.

How it works:

• Go to the Store
• Open the Featured bundle/item details page
• Click the “Gift” button
• Choose a recipient (note: restrictions apply)
• Select full bundle or individual items
• Send the gift Recipients will receive the gift when they next log in. While gifting is currently limited to the Featured Store, Riot has confirmed that wider support is planned for future updates.

Agent Balance Changes: Brim, Astra, and Yoru

A handful of Agents receive tuning aimed at improving clarity, balance, and consistency across similar abilities.

Brimstone

• Incendiary audio has been updated to be more noticeable when deployed under smokes. This brings it in line with Riot's clarity-focused changes seen in earlier patches.

Astra

• Nova Pulse stun duration reduced from 4 seconds to 3.5 seconds.
• This change standardizes Astra’s concuss to match most non-ultimate stuns, helping reduce ability power creep.

Yoru

• Dimensional Drift duration reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Ultimate cost increased from 7 to 8 points.
• These changes aim to better align Yoru’s ult with similarly powerful ultimates across the roster.

Other Agent Bug Fixes

Patch 10.08 is packed with bug fixes across numerous agents and game systems. Some notable highlights:

• Vyse received multiple fixes addressing cooldown issues, visual inconsistencies, and bullet collision bugs with Shear.
• Deadlock's Barrier Mesh now properly plays hit audio and no longer enables player boosts.
• Harbor’s water bracelet no longer bleeds through walls.
• Skye and Gekko abilities now correctly respond to Waylay’s debuff effects.
• Yoru’s clone behavior has been adjusted for better accuracy when colliding with walls.
• Reyna’s Overheal will now correctly interrupt when taking damage below the Overheal threshold.
• Tejo fixes address Stealth Drone exploits, and missing threat indicators from Armageddon.

Premier Updates: Smarter Restrictions

With Stage V25A3 of Premier launching on May 7, Riot has revised how Premier eligibility is handled. Rather than applying a flat 30-day penalty, the new system evaluates the severity and duration of disruptive behavior to determine Premier lockout time. This nuanced approach aims to better target bad actors without over-penalizing minor offenses.

Additionally, hover text for Rank Shields on the Summary screen has been reduced in size for a cleaner UI.

Console-Specific Fixes

Console players receive several targeted fixes in this patch:

• Long player names will no longer overlap elements on the Timeline screen.
• Act Rank screens now correctly display rank requirements and reference Seasons consistently.

Other Known Issues

A minor cosmetic issue persists in the Act III Battlepass, where some Player Cards are displaying incorrect item names. Riot plans to resolve this in Patch 10.09 in the coming weeks.

With the final ranked push of Season 2025 now underway, and Premier playoffs around the corner, the stage is set for an exciting close to Episode 10.

For all things VCT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.

Featured Image Source: Riot Games