VALORANT Patch 11.08: Major ability changes, new gunplay, and more

With the new VALORANT Patch 11.08, Riot Games takes a big step toward making VALORANT more balanced and consistent. Major updates are coming to Agents, maps, weapons, and more — creating more rewarding gameplay. The new changes will make players think more about how and when they use their abilities across all Agent roles. The patch is scheduled to release October 15.

Controlled gunplay

To further develop VALORANT’s core gameplay, Riot is making significant changes to spraying, bursting, and overall gunplay mechanics.

All rifles are being looked at as Riot adjusts protected bullets—the first few bullets that are the most accurate. They will be increased to make shots more predictable on all rifles except the Guardian. Additionally, rifle sprays will be easier to control.

Both SMGs are also getting updates to make them more valuable buys. The Spectre will be easier to tap fire and spray with, while the Stinger’s spray will kick in earlier but retain the same recoil.

Stim unification

The combat stims across the roles are getting unified for a more balanced look, now featuring slower firing, reloading, and weapon draw speeds.

• Brimstone's Stim Beacon, KAY/O's NULL/CMD, Reyna's Empress affected
• Faster reload time modifier: 90%
• Increased firing rate modifier: 10%
• Weapon draw time modifier: 90%
• Weapon recovery speed modifier: 10%

Duelist changes

Yoru and Neon are being toned down to give other Duelists more room to shine. Most concuss durations for non-ultimate abilities are being reduced to 2.5 seconds.

Yoru:

Gatecrash

• Health decreased from 60 → 20
• Audio now plays from Yoru’s location when Yoru teleports or fakes it

Fakeout

• Flash duration decreased from 3s → 2s

Blindside

• Flash duration decreased from 1.75s → 1.5s
• Flash now follows the standard flash falloff curves as other Agents. Previously, Yoru’s flashes that were slightly offscreen were more effective than intended

Dimensional Drift

• Yoru can no longer cast Blindside, or set up his fakeout during Dimensional Drift
• He can still cast the initial Gatecrash and reactivation, as well as reactivation of Fakeouts

Neon:

High Gear

• Battery recharge decreased, time to recharge to full battery increased from 20s → 60s
• Battery drain reduced, increasing sprint time with full battery from 12s → 16s

Relay Bolt

• Concuss duration decreased 3.5s → 2.5s

Waylay:

Saturate

• Hindered duration decreased from 4s → 3s

Convergent Paths

• Ultimate no longer spawns an afterimage of Waylay, and she is no longer pushed back when casting
• Ultimate now briefly restricts aim rotation and movement speed similar to Breach’s Rolling Thunder when casting
• Hindered duration decreased from 7s → 6s
• Initial windup decreased from 2s → 1s
• Width decreased from 18m → 13.5m
• Decreased movement speed buff on ult from 15% → 10%

Iso:

Kill Contract

• Length decreased from 48m → 36m

Reyna:

Leer

• Health decreased from 80 → 60

Empress

• Updated to match stim standardization
• Faster reload time reduced from 25% → 10%
• Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
• Increased weapon draw speed reduced from 25% → 10%
• Increased weapon recovery speed reduced from 25% → 10%

Raze:

Blast Pack

• Raze can now affected by Slows while midair with Blast Pack
• If Slowed, the force from Blast Pack will be reduced, similar to how slows affect other Dashes

Sentinel changes

With offensive utility being toned down, defensive tools are also being adjusted to maintain healthy counterplay. Several abilities will now be easier to spot, bait, or destroy. Most Sentinel signature abilities will have increased cooldowns when destroyed.

Vyse:

Arc Rose

• Arc Rose is now destructible after the flash windup starts rather than being invulnerable.
• When enemy players are successfully flashed, the audio cue and voiceline alerting Vyse and her allies is removed
• Flash duration decreased from 2.25s → 2.0s
• Cooldown are slightly adjusted
• After destruction, cooldown is increased from 45s → 60s
• Recalling the ability will now always incur a 20s cooldown

Shear

• Wall Trap trigger logic has been reworked to make it easier to bait out. The wall now spawns immediately when an enemy enters and then leaves its trigger zone. Enemies will also hear an audio cue, audible only to them, when they enter the trigger zone

Razorvine

• Health decreased from 40 → 20

Steel Garden

• Initial windup increased from 3.4s → 4.4s
• Radius decreased from 32.5m → 26m

Sage

Barrier Orb

• Cost reduced from 400 → 300
• Fortification delay reduced from 3.3 sec → 2 sec
• Health of Barrier segments decreased from 800 → 600

Killjoy:

Turret

• Cooldown when destroyed increased from 45s → 60s
• Reactivation time for turret increased from 0.5s → 2s
• Turret movement tagging per bullet increased 29.5% → 50%
• NEW: Added a “windup” effect when Killjoy first re-enters the activation range

Alarmbot

• Health decreased from 50 → 20
• Reactivation time increased from 1s → 2s
• NEW: A “windup” effect when Killjoy first re-enters the activation range

Cypher:

Spycam

• Added stealthing functionality
• Inactive camera will be revealed to enemies when you are within 8 meter radius of the camera, and will also have an accompanying audio tell
• When the camera is active, there will be a louder persistent camera audio for enemies with a 12m range
• Cooldown when destroyed is increased from 45s → 60s

Trapwire

• Trapwire activation windup decreased 1.5s → 0.9s
• Trapwire activation has been adjusted to remove the Concuss and Tether debuffs. Timing of other debuffs has been changed
• Players will be immediately Slowed upon crossing the Trapwire Trapwire will now activate after 0.9 seconds and Reveal players if not destroyed OR if the player moves 4 meters away from the attached location.

Deadlock:

GravNet

• Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s

Barrier Mesh

• Cost reduced from 400 → 300
• Health of smaller nodes decreased from 570 → 480

Sonic Sensor

• Concuss duration reduced 3.5s → 2.5s

Initiator changes

Just like Sentinels, Initiators are getting tighter, more precise tuning to enable better counterplay. The biggest changes are to ability cooldowns and the duration of stuns.

Fade:

Haunt

• Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
• Haunt active duration decreased 2s → 1.5s

Prowler

• Visibility in Nearsight increased from 5m → 7m

Nightfall

• Deafen and Marked duration decreased from 12s → 8s
• Width decreased from 24m → 20m
• Decay now remains a consistent 80 damage over its duration instead of decreasing over time

Breach:

Fault Line

• Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
• Initial windup decreased from 1.2s → 1.1s
• Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s

Flashpoint

• Duration increased up from 2s → 2.25s

Rolling Thunder

• Width decreased from 23m → 18m
• Concuss duration decreased from 6s → 4s
• Ult points decreased from 9 → 8

Gekko:

General

• Cooldown upon reclaim increased from 10s → 20s

Wingman

• Health decreased from 80 → 60
• Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s

Thrash

• Health decreased from 200 → 180

KAY/O:

ZERO/POINT

• Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s

FLASH/DRIVE

• Underhand maximum flash duration increased from 1.5s → 2.25s

NULL/CMD

• Updated to match Stim standardization
• Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
• Added standardized weapon draw time for Stims
• NEW: Increased weapon draw speed by 10%
• Added weapon recovery speed for Stims
• NEW: Weapon recovery speed increased by 10%

Rechargeable Abilities:

• Abilities like Sova’s Recon Bolt, Fade’s Haunt, KAY/O’s Zero/Point, and Breach’s Fault Line now have a 60-second cooldown.

Controller changes

Controllers are seeing the fewest changes. Abilities outside of vision blocking from Controllers are made to feel more in line with similar abilities across the roles.

Omen:

Dark Cover

• Cooldown increased from 30s → 40s

Paranoia

• Projectile speed increased from 16 meters per second → 20 meters per second
• Travel distance reduced from 32.5m → 25m

Brimstone:

Stim Beacon

• Updated to match stim standardization
• Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
• Increased movement speed reduced from 15% → 10%

Astra:

Gravity Well

• Fragile duration decreased from 5s → 2.5s
• Cooldown increased from 45s → 60s

Nova Pulse

• Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
• Cooldown increased from 45s → 60s

Nebula

• Cooldown increased 25s → 35s

Viper:

• Initial contact now inflicts less Decay, reduced from 30 → 10 health

Abyss and Pearl updated

Abyss and Pearl are getting new looks in the new VALORANT patch. After taking notes on popular strategies and executes, Riot has decided to update B-site on Abyss and how it’s defended. Both to make it easier in initial site defense but also for the attackers when the spike has been planted. Mid is also getting changes to shift the rotations of the map.

Pearl is coming back in the new patch with mainly changes on B Long and B Site. The goal is to make it harder for attackers to hold the spike in post-plant scenarios and give defenders new ways to play around the site.

Pearl is coming back in the new patch with mainly changes on B Long and B Site. The goal is to make it harder for attackers to hold the spike in post-plant scenarios and give defenders new ways to play around the site.

Conclusion

Riot’s goal with VALORANT Patch 11.08 is to shift the focus away from ability-reliant play and reinforce a more balanced, gunplay-driven experience. As many abilities have longer cooldowns and shorter ability impacts, players now have to use their kit more carefully and precisely. With many Agents now having similar impact potential, the playing field is more level than ever.

These sweeping changes are set to shake up the meta and give VALORANT a fresh new look. The update will also shift the competitive landscape, as several high-impact Agents—like Yoru and Neon—are receiving significant nerfs.

Dropping during the offseason, Patch 11.08 gives pro VALORANT teams ample time to adapt, scrim, and redefine their strategies ahead of the 2026 season. The new VALORANT patch is scheduled to go live on Wednesday, October 15.

For all things VALORANT-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. Image: Riot Games.