How Valorant Raze nerf helps other Duelists

The Raze nerf in Valorant is opening up space for other duelists in the game, and that’s something even Raze mains should be happy about.

Riot previously explained that it wanted to help agents’ pick rate, and to do so, overpowered agents like Raze have to bite the bullet. The early update notes for 8.11 explain that Raze was too difficult to counter. Players were getting better and better at moving around with her satchels, especially with friendly buffs like Brimstone’s Stim Beacon. In response, Riot slowed Raze’s Blast Packs, and their audio now travels farther.

The idea is that these changes will stop her from being an instant lock choice, especially on maps where she can get to a site in seconds. Riot is also adjusting other duelists to even the playing field further and see more variety in the role.

Valorant Raze nerf and duelist buffs in Patch 8.11

Three other Valorant duelist agents are getting buffs in the wake of the Raze nerf, and one of the most improved is Iso. His Double Tap ability will reset with kills, similar to Raze’s grenade. With this refresh, he’ll be able to recast the ability to reset the cooldown if it recharges while the previous Double Tap is still up. When his shield from Double Tap goes down, he’ll move faster, and he’ll get an indicator for what direction the damage came from.

Neon is next, getting multiple buffs that hit almost every area of her kit. Her Fast Lane ability is getting an audio buff and falling down slower. Its goal is to help allies follow Neon onto a site. High Gear, Neon’s sprint ability, lets her run and strafe significantly faster. It will also take 40 seconds less to regenerate. She’ll get two slides now as well, and while she slides, she’ll have full weapon accuracy. This means that she’s more accurate when she’s sliding than when she’s running, and she equips weapons after a .2-second delay. Beware the shotgun-wielding Neon.

Raze isn’t the only Valorant agent getting nerfs. Reyna is too, but her kit is getting buffs alongside them. Her healing with her Q is being decreased from 100 to 50, but any overheal will no longer decay. Dismiss, Reyna’s E ability, is going to let her move faster, but it won’t last as long. Additionally, Empress will no longer have a timer. When Reyna pops her X ability, it won’t expire until she’s killed or won the round.

These changes are geared toward helping each duelist fit specific gameplay styles. While they’re all duelists, these individual gameplay styles should make them easier to pick over an overpowered pick like it’s been the past few patches.