New rank, new map & more: Valorant Episode 5 patch notes

Valorant Episode 5 is here, with significant changes that we usually don’t see listed in the patch notes.

Instead of a list of balance changes and a new agent, we’re getting a new map – Pearl – and a new rank – Ascendant.

New Valorant rank: Ascendant

Riot have added a new rank to Valorant, above Diamond and below Immortal.

Now, players will need to grind through the Ascendant rank to reach Immortal. The good news is that this new rank should bump up the lower ranks, to get some people out of Bronze and Silver.

The 5-stacking MMR penalties and ranking restrictions have been upped as well. They’ll now begin at Immortal 1, up from Diamond 3.

This gives players a full additional tier before they begin encountering competitive restrictions.

New map: Pearl

The biggest draw of Valorant Episode 5 has to be the new map: Pearl.

Unlike a new agent, we don’t have to grind to unlock something and hope that no other players on our team have a better internet connection than us.

Pearl will be in the Unrated map pool and will receive a Pearl-only game mode for two weeks – at which point it will enter competitive modes.

As you have probably heard, Riot are addressing the abundance of maps for competitive players by replacing Split with Pearl.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see another map removed in the next act, with Split eventually returning to the rotation.

Bug fixes

Of course, as is the case with any patch, Riot are fixing some bugs with the maps, agents, and game mechanics.

Maps:

• Fixed a bug on Haven that was preventing players from using their spray on a wall in A Garden

Agents:

• Fixed a bug where Jett could equip a weapon during Tailwind
• Fixed a bug where Agents revealed by Sova’s Recon Bolt or Fade’s Haunt would sometimes briefly appear in an incorrect location on the minimap
• Fixed a bug where the scope visual effect would sometimes disappear when aiming with Chamber’s Tour De Force

Game Systems

• Fixed a bug where using an Ultimate point orb or defusing the Spike at maximum range could cause channeling and progress bar animations to flicker
• Fixed a bug where the use channeling progression bar does not update if the player disconnects and reconnects during the match
• Fixed a bug where some weapon equips could play the wrong equip speed animation, which could visually misrepresent when you were able to fire. Some situations impacted by this bug were:
  • Cypher exiting Spycam
  • Capturing Ultimate point Orbs
  • Canceling and completing Spike plant