Yoru Valorant

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Valorant Patch Notes 4.04: Yoru Rework Finally Arrives

Abhimannu Das
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Highlights
Valorant patch 4.04 introduces a complete rework for Yoru as well as changes to Icebox's B Site.
Riot has also attempted to bring Astra's dominance in the current meta in check with a few nerfs.
The new update also includes a "deterministic map system" but it is available in the Latin America region only at the moment.

Valorant’s long-awaited Yoru rework has finally arrived in patch 4.04. After months of developer updates, players will finally get to try out a completely revamped version of Yoru. Valorant Patch 4.04 did not change the agent's core abilities but Riot has completely shifted how the agent functions.

In addition to the Yoru rework, Brimstone, Astra, Omen, and Viper have also received a number of balance changes to tune them for the current meta. Weapons have not been tweaked in Valorant’s update 4.04 but we did receive a large number of changes for the Icebox map.

Valorant Update 4.04 Patch Notes: Agent Changes

Omen

Riot Games undid a number of nerfs that were made to Dark Cover in the past.

Dark Cover

  • Cooldown decreased 40s >>> 30s

  • Cost increased 100 >>> 150

  • Projectile Speed increased 2800 >>> 6400

Shrouded Step

  • Cost decreased 150 >>> 100

  • Pre teleport delay decreased 1s >>> 0.7s

Paranoia

  • Added forward spawn offset, so players adjacent to Omen are not hit

Brimstone

Brimstone’s smokes got a few buffs which puts him on par with other Controllers in the game.

Sky Smoke

  • Deploy time decreased 2 >>> 1 second

  • Deploy radius increased 5000 >>> 5500

  • Smoke height increased to match other Controllers

Stim Beacon

  • Now also applies a 15% speed boost in addition to RapidFire.

Valorant Update 4.04

Astra

Astra has been dominating the competitive meta for months and Riot Games has made some adjustments to her kit, which should bring down her overall power level.

Stars

  • Max Stars reduced 5 >>> 4

  • Cooldown on retrieving a Star increased 14 >>> 25

  • Astra can now pick up placed Stars during the Buy Phase to refund their charge immediately.

  • Max distance of Star Placement increased 10000 >>> 30000 to allow her to place Stars across the furthest corners of maps.

Gravity Well

  • Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45

  • Gravity Well Size Decreased 525 >>> 475

  • Gravity Well no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Gravity Well.

Nova Pulse

  • Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45

  • Nova Pulse no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Nova Pulse.

Nebula

  • Cooldown Increased 14 >>> 25

  • Nebula cooldowns are now sequential instead of simultaneous

  • Nebula size increased 410 >>> 475

While in Astral form, pings are no longer blocked by level geometry that Astra cannot see. Astra’s targeting ring in Astral form is reduced to one ring that reflects the now unified size of all her utility. The agent’s targeting ring no longer randomly disappears when aiming across some map locations. Riot also increased the speed of the overlay that covers Astra’s screen when transitioning in and out of Astral form.

Viper

Viper’s recent buffs made her a must-pick agent in some situations and Riot Games is dialling back on some of the recent changes to her kit.

Fuel

  • Fuel drain increased 50% when Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud are both active.

  • Viper’s fuel bar now turns red when she does not have enough fuel to activate her abilities.

Toxic Screen

  • Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8

  • Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.

  • Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8

  • Toxic Screen now has yellow lights that indicate when it is on cooldown

  • Removed delay on Toxic Screen disabling when Viper is suppressed.

  • Added a unique VO (Voice Over) line that plays when her smoke is disabled by suppress.

Poison Cloud

  • Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8.

  • Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.

  • Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8

  • Poison Orb now has a yellow light to indicate when it is on cooldown.

  • Removed delay on Poison Orb disabling when Viper is suppressed.

  • Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disabled by suppress.

Snakebite

  • Duration decreased 6.5 >>> 5.5

Yoru

The long-awaited Yoru rework is here and only time will tell if Riot was successful in making the highly underwhelming agent finally worthy of a pick in the competitive meta.

Fakeout

  • Charges reduced from 2 >>> 1

  • Decoy HP: 150

  • Decoy is now a full running version of Yoru and can only be sent running forward

  • Right -click to place a stationary marker for the decoy

    • Reactivate similarly to footsteps to create the decoy that runs forward

  • Upon taking damage from an enemy gun, the decoy winds up, turns towards the enemy that shot it, and explodes after a short delay.

    • Enemies within the cone are flashed

Gatecrash

  • Charges reduced from 2 >>> 1

  • Decoy HP: 150

  • Decoy is now a full running version of Yoru and can only be sent running forward

  • Right-click to place a stationary marker for the decoy

    • Reactivate similarly to footsteps to create the decoy that runs forward

  • Upon taking damage from an enemy gun, the decoy winds up, turns towards the enemy that shot it, and explodes after a short delay.

    • Enemies within the cone are flashed

Dimensional Drift

  • Duration increased 8 >>> 10 seconds

  • Yoru is not revealed to enemies

  • Unequip delay time increased 0.6 >>> 1.2 seconds

  • Yoru is now able to cast all utility out of his ultimate

  • Yoru’s footsteps can now be heard within 15m of Yoru’s location

  • Cast delay added upon casting Dimensional Drift, preventing the invulnerability frame on cast

Valorant Update 4.04 Patch Notes: Map Changes

Ascent and Icebox received some tweaks in the new update. Riot Games completely reworked Site B on Icebox to make engagements a lot more manageable. Players can check out the visual preview of all the changes in the video below.

Valorant Update 4.04 Patch Notes: Competitive Updates

A new “deterministic map system” has been implemented in Latin American servers. The feature will roll out to other regions after some fine tuning if it is successful.

  • Deterministic map selection follows 3 rules when picking a map, after players have been selected to play a match.

  • The system will look at all maps players have played over the last 5 maps for that mode.

  • The system will remove any maps that a player has played twice in the past 5 maps.

  • The system will pick the least played map.

  • If all maps have been removed due to the “Twice Played” rule, those maps will be added back to the pool and the least played map will be picked.

The Valorant update 4.04 also includes some bug fixes and AFK players in Escalation mode are finally being accurately addressed by the game.

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Abhimannu is a PC esports writer at AFK Gaming. With over seven years of experience in esports journalism, he has worked on a myriad of games and their ecosystems including Valorant, Overwatch and Apex Legends.

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