It seems that Valorant Patch 1.11 introduced more changes than was made apparent. A Reddit thread posted two days ago highlighted these “hidden” changes.

1.11 Patch introduces Temporary Charges for Killjoy, Cypher, and Skye.

Temporary charges will be applied for any abilities that are re-usable within the round whether it's to be recast or be repositioned. These charges aren't carried over into the next round.

— rycou (@rycoux) November 1, 2020

Agents Affected by the Patch 1.11 Changes?

The changes affect Killjoy, Cypher, Skye, and Brimstone as Runitback.gg later came to find out. Killjoy’s Alarmbot, Cypher’s Trapwire, and Skye’s Heal will receive “temporary charges.” What this means is that the ability can be placed, picked up, and repositioned but only during that round. Once the round ends, the abilities have to be repurchased.

We also found that Breach’s Fault Line ability and Rolling Thunder ultimate received some distance-related changes. Both of these abilities now start 7 meters in front of the player, as opposed to right in front of them.

Making repositionable abilities temporary is a devastating change to those characters’ economy. Having to buy the same abilities round after round takes money away from utility and weapons. This is especially painful since they are defense-oriented characters and their abilities are key to their teams.

Breach’s ability range changes will also require players to take a more calculated approach to the abilities’ placement. Other than being inconvenient in certain situations, it is not as bad of a change. In fact, some may see it as a quality of life buff, as teammates standing right in front of Breach will not be affected by the mentioned abilities.

I made a booboo and added this to the patch notes too late, missing the cut off for localization. I figured I'd want to share this so that there is no confusion when the 1.11 patch drops. Sorry everyone but if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us!

— rycou (@rycoux) November 1, 2020

These changes were never meant to be hidden. Rycou, a game designer for Valorant, added the changes to the patch notes after the cut off for localization. That means the details never made it into the official patch notes. Thankfully, the tweet made its rounds around Reddit so most people are now aware of these changes.

What do you think about these patch 1.11 changes? How damaging will they be to Valorant’s economy and the game as a whole? Let us know in the comments below! As usual, remember to follow us at Run it Back and join our Discord for all your latest news, extensive guides, and exclusive interviews in the world of Valorant.