Cover-Credits:
- Valorant's melee hit registration will be buffed in a future patch according to a recent blog post by Riot Games.
- There is no word on when exactly a patch will be released but team has already worked out a fix for the weapon and are looking for the right time to release it.
- The buff will include improvements to hit registration by letting the weapon damage throughout the entire slash animation.
Valorant’s melee attacks are completely useless in basically every situation and players use the knife only to show off skins or get faster movement speed. Player frustration surrounding Valorant’s melee weapon has been around since the launch of the game and Riot Games is finally set to address it. The developers will be looking to make changes to the melee hit registration for Episode 2 and beyond. Currently, the only utility that the melee weapon serves is faster movement when players have it equipped. That is set to change in the future with Riot Games outlining its plans to buff the weapon in a future update.
How Will Riot Games Change Valorant’s Melee
The biggest issue with Valorant’s issue is its hit detection. Riot Games called it a “meme” in a recent blog and are aware that the melee is too unreliable. In CS:GO, melee kills offer bonus credits which gives players some incentive to use it. Additionally, hit registration in other games for melee weapons is much better and Valorant has been suffering from poot hitbox detection for its melee since beta.
The hitbox of the melee weapon is currently static and unintuitive and Riot is aware of it. Riot Games wants to improve the hit detection for the knife but balancing other weapons took priority which pushed the melee buffs to a later date. In the recent blog post by Weapons Designer and Kyle Leach, Modes Designer & Engineer Nicholas Smith, he says that the teams wants to improve the visuals and make it so that the knife does damage during the entire slash animation which would help with hit registration greatly. But, “other weapon balance issues generally take priority over this work because the knife isn't intended to be a critical part of our combat model. “
Riot Games does not want the melee to be the best choice in a fight but they do want to improve its hit detection and make it more reliable in specific situations. Currently, faster movement and aesthetics are the only two reasons to even use the weapon.
When Will A Balance Patch to Valorant’s Melee Be Released
Riot Games wanted to push out an update for the knife in Valorant’s patch 2.03 but it had to be delayed. The team wants to come back to buffing the knife in a future update. The team is aware of the issues and player feedback and are working towards a fix that might drop in Episode 2 of Act 2 or at a later date.
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