The VALORANT 1.04 patch sees a buff to the game’s worst agent, Viper, as well as nerfs to Brimstone and Raze’s powerful ultimates. The classic default pistol is getting a tweak due to some bugs as well as some quality of life improvements in the game. Riot once again is transparent with the changes to the game’s balance in its young life.
Viper was routinely on the bottom of agent tier lists, sometimes dwelling in the basement by herself. What she could add to a team was never greater than the other agents. Now, her ultimate, Viper’s Pit, will be stronger. Viper can stay outside of the poison pit without it collapsing for 12 seconds instead of just 5 now. The pit now will obscure opponents’ minimaps and will make them easier to see from Viper’s near-sight.
“With Viper being allowed out of her ult for such a short period of time, we felt that she was not only limited in the plays she could make, but also gave too much continuous information to her enemies,” Riot’s update said.
Her decay will turn enemies to 1 HP way quicker as the decay per second is increased to 15. The decay also sustains for 2.5 seconds when exiting her smoke, which makes the incentive to rush through much lower. Her Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen being active at the same time will not consume additional fuel as well.
“Since Viper’s smoke has so much commitment and makes up so much of her kit, we want to free her to use them in tandem to create powerful options for her team to take sites,” the update said.
Two agents with a much higher pick rate, Raze and Brimstone, are facing slight nerfs. Raze’s one-hit-kill Showstopper will now cost 7 Ult points instead of 6. Brimstone’s Orbital Strike is getting the same treatment.
Brimstone’s Stim Beacon won’t buff enemies anymore and also won’t allow them to see the Stim Beacon. His biceps are also getting a bit of a cosmetic change. Even if you mess up the smoke on A site on Haven, at least you have those guns.
You can now pick up Cypher’s cages in the pre-round time.
A few more quality of life changes as well as adjustments to the Elderflame Skins are on the books for VALORANT Patch 1.04.