VALORANT – Breeze Changes, New Map, Agent Changes – Episode 7, Act 2

With VALORANT’s newest Act, we see a bunch of changes to agents, maps and get access to a new battlepass. RIOT’s developer team noticed that many players seemed to be overwhelmed when they are faced with multiple pieces of utility or some of larger scale ultimate. This is why they decided to focus on “increasing game state clarity” in Patch 7.04.

This means that from now on

• The frequency of large area of effect ultimates has been reduced
•  The amount of time utility is active has been reduced
•  The health points of shootable utility have been removed
•  The cost of ultimates has been adjusted

Note that these changes might be subtle but are hoped to generate better and clearer gameplay.

Changes to Maps

Breeze

Breeze is back in the Competitive and Unrated map pool, replacing Fracture and Pearl.

There have also been changes to Breeze itself as RIOT tries to adjust the rotation times:

• Mid has been adjusted with one side of Mid Pillar now closed
• Mid doors are now fully opened and got additional wood boxes as cover
• B Site has seen some changes in boxes and walls to make positioning more predictable
• A Halls are now blocked off allowing Defenders an advantage and forcing Attackers to use more of the map
• A Cave has been widened and also got additional boxes
• A Shop has been widened as well
• The A Site pyramids are now taller

Sunset

Sunset is a new map with a classic three-lane, two-site layout. Sunset will first be playable in unrated mode and moves into the competitive map pool with Patch 7.05.

New Battlepass

Of course, this new Act also features a new Battlepass with 50 Tiers to complete.

Changes to Agents

There have been minor and major changes to a lot of agents in patch 7.04. Especially Skye, Astra, and Jett saw significant changes to their abilities.

Skye

Thanks to her combination of reconnaissance abilities and area control, Skye is an indispensable part of the current meta. While this might open up possibilities for new team compositions, compared to other initiators and their numerous valuable abilities, she has too few weaknesses. These changes reduce the distance over which her ‘Guiding Light’ can provide information. Additionally, this means her opponents don’t have to worry as long about being blinded if she lets ‘Guiding Light’ fly for an extended period without activating it. Furthermore the health of her ‘Trailblazer’ and ‘Seekers’ has been reduced to allow opponents to deal with them more effectively, and the cost of Skye’s ultimate ability better reflects its high utility in the future.

These changes will be monitored in the upcoming patches to determine whether they place Skye in a more reasonable competition with other initiators or if further adjustments are necessary.

Astra

There was a significant disparity in the strength of Astra’s ‘Gravity Well’ and ‘Nova Pulse.’ RIOT aims to distinguish the use cases of both abilities more clearly: ‘Gravity Well’ will allow Astra to control areas, while ‘Nova Pulse’ will enable her to swiftly influence regions.

Simultaneously, these changes intend to alleviate a portion of the prolonged pressure exerted by Astra’s stars by granting opponents the opportunity to rush past an activated ‘Gravity Well’ when they act quickly.

‘Astral Divide’ has been updated to better represent the overall gameplay by removing the uncertainty of whether you or your adversaries are close enough to the wall to be heard. Additionally, Astra’s wall will acquire a more distinct strength profile, which she and her allies can capitalize on.

Jett

Since the last major updates to Jett back in April 2022, she has remained highly popular both in ranked games and within the professional scene. Since Patch 4.08 players were encouraged to adopt a more measured and tactical approach.

With the most recent changes, the aim is to accentuate Jett’s identity as an aggressive and accurate duelist, emphasizing the deliberate usage of her abilities and the specific periods in which she wields considerable power. While she should still be capable of breaking through chokepoints and securing areas, she will no longer be as adept at holding angles in defensive situations and mitigating tactical missteps through her swift engagement abilities.

These adjustments align Jett’s overall potency and role within the tactical landscape with other agents, while preserving her distinctive character and unique role among the VALORANT agents.

• Breach
  • Aftershock 
    • Ticks reduced from 3 to 2
    • Damage is now 80 per tick instead of 60
  • Rolling Thunder
    • Ultimate points increased from 8 to 9

• Brimstone
  • Orbital Strike
    • Ultimate points increased from 7 to 8

• Fade
  • Prowler
    • After using Prowler it now takes slightly longer to re-equip your gun

• Gekko
  • Mosh Pit
    • The area of Mosh Pit now does 10 damage per second before exploding
  • Wingman
    • HP was reduced from 100 to 80
  • Trash
    • The explosion effect has been worked on and has been improved. It should be easier to spot the area of effect

• Killjoy
  • Lockdown
    • Ultimate points increased from 8 to 9

• Omen
  • Paranoia
    • No movement velocity is imparted when casting

• Skye
  • Guiding Light
    • Duration while casting reduced from 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds
  • Trailblazer
    • HP has been reduced from 100 to 80
  • Seekers
    • Ultimate points have been increased from 7 to 8
    • Seeker health was decreased from 150 to 120

• Sova
  • Recon Bolt
    • The total number of scans is now 2 instead of 3

• Viper
  • Viper’s Pit
    • Ultimate points increased from 8 to 9 

• Astra
  • Gravity Wellt
    • Startup time is now 1.25 seconds instead of 0.6 seconds
    • Gravity time duration was lowered from 2.75 seconds to 2.0 seconds
  • Nova Pulse
    • Startup time is now 1.0 seconds instead of 1.25 seconds
  • Cosmic Divide
    • Instead of generating muffled audio, the audio is now completely blocked by the wall

• Jett
  • Tailwind
    • The dash window was decreased from 12 seconds to 7.5 seconds
    • Activation windup has been increased from 0.75 seconds to 1 second
  • Cloudburst
    • Duration is now 2.5 seconds instead of 4.5 seconds
    • After using Cloudburst it now takes slightly longer to re-equip your gun
  • Updraft
    • Charges are now decreased to 1 instead of 2
  • Blade Storm
    • Ultimate points increased from 7 to 8

Source: https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/game-updates/valorant-patch-notes-7-04/