VALORANT Patch 13.09 brings Hush, Clove nerfs, and Warden buffs

VALORANT Patch 13.09 is set to shake up the game with a fresh wave of agent and weapon buffs and nerfs. Alongside these balance changes, Riot Games has refined ability descriptions for greater clarity and consistency, while introducing two new buffs: Haste and Snapshot. There’s plenty to cover, so let’s dive straight into the details!

New agent: Hush

Hush is undoubtedly the highlight of this update, as the new Chinese Duelist makes her debut in VALORANT with a kit packed with unique mechanics and innovative gameplay features.

It’s been a long time since Riot Games introduced an agent with such a distinctive playstyle, combining a high skill ceiling with plenty of room for creativity and experimentation. With so many tricks to master and strategies to uncover, Hush could quickly become one of the most exciting agents to learn and master.

Hush was first revealed during the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Champions Shanghai finals, marking her debut as VALORANT’s 30th playable agent. Hush will become available in VALORANT on October 27 or 28, depending on your region and time zone.

Ability descriptions and tooltips

All ability descriptions have been updated to improve clarity and consistency, making it easier for new players to understand each Agent’s abilities and how they work.

Passive ability descriptions have also been added for more Agents across various in-game sections, including Agent Select, the Agent Hub, and ability tooltips. These updates cover passives that were previously undocumented or not explicitly categorized in-game, such as Neon’s Battery.

The Ability Description Tooltip has been redesigned to make information easier to read at a glance, now displaying essential details such as the Agent’s name, role, and keybinds. Tooltips will also appear at more relevant moments, including when testing a new Agent in the Range, helping players better understand their abilities as they learn to use them.

New Buffs: Haste and Snapshot

In Patch 13.09, Riot Games is also introducing two new buff types: Haste and Snapshot. These status effects will apply in specific situations, helping clarify how certain abilities work and the effects they have on players. Here’s how each one works:

• Haste: Refers refers to the increased movement speed buff you receive, as opposed to a Combat Stim buff, which increases your fire rate, equip speed, reload speed, and recovery speed. These changes should make it clearer when you receive or refresh a Combat Stim buff, a Haste buff, or both simultaneously.
• Snapshot: Refers to the still image silhouette reveal debuff (Cypher's Neural Theft/Spycam)

Update buffs

• Brimstone: Stim Beacon will show an applied Haste buff to affected players
• Clove: Pick-me-up will show an applied Haste buff. With the newly named Haste buff adding a timer bar to the UI, Riot Games has removed the previous timer bar to reduce unnecessary clutter
• Miks: Harmonize will show an applied Haste buff to affected players
• Neon: She will will see an applied Haste buff while using High Gear or Overdrive
• Waylay: Since they have identical effects, Waylay’s Convergent Paths buff has been renamed to the new Haste buff

Clove Nerfs

With the introduction of these new buff types, Clove was displaying some unintended values, including a higher movement speed bonus than comparable abilities and inconsistent kill rewards after casting Not Dead Yet. To address these issues and ensure consistency with the new buff system, Riot Games is also bringing nerfs to Clove.

• Pick-me-up: Bonus movement speed decreased from 15% >>> 10%
• Not Dead Yet: Killing Clove after they cast Not Dead Yet will now grant an ultimate point and signature refresh point to the player who killed them

As for Jett, her passive ability will no longer appear in the Buy Menu, bringing it in line with other non-purchasable passive abilities in the game and ensuring greater consistency across the roster.

• Drift: Removed Jett’s passive from the Buy Menu to be consistent with other non-purchaseable passives

Warden Buffs

Following playtesting and player feedback, the Warden has been considered an underwhelming purchase compared to standard rifles like the Phantom and Vandal. With Patch 13.09, Riot Games aims to improve the weapon’s versatility to better justify its price, while making it feel more controllable and comfortable to use.

• Pitch recoil smoothed out for the first few bullets
• Reduced spread on bullets follow up shots
• 2nd bullet error reduced from .25 >>> .2
• 3rd bullet error reduced from .6 >>> .5

Competitive Updates

Performance Score

With Hush’s release, VALORANT will welcome its first new Agent since the introduction of Performance Score. As players learn how to use her abilities effectively, performance scores may fluctuate during the first few days while the system and team establish what optimal utility usage looks like.

Keep this in mind if you plan to track your performance with Hush over the coming weeks, as the initial results may not fully reflect your long-term impact with the new Duelist.

Map Rating

Your Act Best Match now has a bigger impact on your Map Rating each Act to better highlight consistency and peaks.

Accolades

The First Blood Accolade was appearing too frequently, so Riot Games has adjusted the requirements to make it more challenging to earn. However, this change will not affect your historical total, meaning all previously earned Accolades will remain unchanged.

As always, Patch 13.09 also includes a range of bug fixes and console-specific updates. For the full list of changes, be sure to check out the official VALORANT Patch Notes page on Riot Games’ website.

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 by Riot Games