Cover-Credits:
Valorant update 5.03 is now live after being delayed due to the developers needing time to work on a new engine update. The game has been updated to Unreal Engine 4.26 which improves the toolset available to developers and there will be plenty of under-the-radar updates to the game according to the developers. There are some known issues with the new update and the user interface might not function as intended in the main menu. The agent browser also got a visual refresh with a nicer-looking interface.
Ability Regional Damage Breakup
Riot Games updated the ultimates for Chamber, Neon and Jett so that they follow similar regional damage rules to weapons, where hitting the head and legs of an enemy applies different damage multipliers. Prior to the change the agents would be able to do full bodyshot damage even when hitting the legs of enemies.
Chamber and Jett’s ultimates now deal 0.85X damage instead of 1X damage when hitting the legs. Neon on the other hand had her damage reduced from 22 to 18 for her Overdrive and her Killzone is now 20m instead of 15m. She received the same leg shot multiplier changes as Jett and Chamber, but her headshot multiplier has been bumped up to 3, which makes her a much more skill-intensive agent with a massive payoff if you land headshots.
Chamber’s Dominance Comes to an End?
Chamber received a number of changes in the new update as the agent enjoyed over a 70% pick rate in the previous Masters event. Here are the changes to the agent:
Rendezvous
Base Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
Recall Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
Cooldown set to 45s whenever a Rendezvous anchor is destroyed
Diameter size of the “ring” Chamber can stands in that allows him to activate Rendezvous decreased 21m >>> 15m
Trademark (C)
Slow Duration decreased 9.5 >>> 6s
Tour De Force (X)
Ultimate Points Required increased 7 >>> 8
Slow Duration decreased 9.5 >>> 6s
Headhunter (Q)
Bullet Cost increased 100 >>> 150
Chamber’s Rendezvous is intended to be powerful at holding space, but the generous radius allowed him to take that space with more aggression than intended. This change should compel Chamber to exert more effort to access off-angles.
