Featured image credit: Riot Games

VALORANT Episode 4 Act I is right around the corner. With the launch of a new Episode, a fresh new battlepass and skin bundle is hitting our stores. However, we all know that this update is all about VALORANT’s newest frenetic agent; Neon. To complement that, we’re also receiving a few weapon changes as well as alterations for Breeze and Bind. Let’s dive into patch notes 4.0.

Weapon Changes

Spectre (nerf)

The Spectre has been one of the most go-to weapons on half-buy rounds. A full team of Spectres could potentially turn the tides in the team’s favor. VALORANT devs recognized Spectre’s power and decided to nerf it at especially longer ranges.

• Firing error occurs faster
• Horizontal spread comes in faster when spraying from 8 to 5 bullets
• Moving and jumping spread is increased (reduced run-and-gun efficiency)

Ares (buff)

The Ares has lived in the shadow of the Spectre. However, patch 4.0 may change this around and tempt some to give in to the mighty Ares rifle.

• No more spin up time
• Increased fire rate from 10 to 13

Guardian (buff)

The cheaper, single-fire rate brother rifle of the Vandal has also received a buff. The one-tap headshot kill on any range remains the strong point of the rifle and now it may be even more enticing to cash into it on force or half-buy rounds.

• No more firing rate penalty while Aiming Down Sights (ADS)
• One additional bullet before the gun enters a recovery curve state

Bulldog (buff)

The Bulldog rifle is rarely seen in play. Most players opt for the cheaper Spectre. However, since the submachine gun is receiving a nerf, the Bulldog may be something to consider because of its’ buffs.

• Increased hip fire rate from 9.5 to 10
• Improved recovery on burst fire while in ADS from .4 to .35.

Melee (buff)

Knifing in VALORANT gives you nothing except for respect and tilting your opponents. Still, going for melee kills in VALORANT has been a massive risk due to the awkward hitboxes and registration. Patch 4.0 may give players slightly more confidence when going in for that melee kill.

• Left click hitboxes have longer range and are larger than right click hitboxes, which are 1.5x bigger.
• When having two or more targets to melee, the ones closer to the center of the knife will get melee’d first.

Map Changes

Breeze

Breeze is known for being a predominantly attack-sided map. The long rotations and site entries utilizing VALORANT’s controllers such as Viper make it a hell of a task as the defenders. The following changes make the defenders’ life on Breeze a little easier by adding additional boxes (or extending current ones) and clearing 50/50 corners a thing of the past.

All image credit: Riot Games

Bind

Bind’s tight choke points for entries are one of the things to overcome for the attackers’ side. The two changes leading up to A site should make it a bit easier to contest the choke point. The defenders are not able to throw a one-way smoke onto boxes now, making it a bit more demanding to hold the point.

All images credit: Riot Games.

For the full list of detailed patch notes, head on over to the official Riot Games post.

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