VALORANT Episode 4, Act 1 Trailer Hypes Up New Agent and Battlepass

Riot Games has launched VALORANT Episode 4, Act 1 today, January 11, and to hype up fans, the developer has released a new "Kick Off" trailer to showcase the new agent Neon, the new Battlepass, and the weapon skins that players can unlock with it. The title of Episode 4 is Disruption, and in addition to introducing Neon to the VALORANT roster, there are significant map changes in Breeze and Bind as well other updates revealed in the game's latest patch notes.

Credit: Riot Games

In the trailer shown below, the electrifying Neon joins the action as the latest VALORANT Duelist agent who can sprint, slide, bring out sparks (molly ability that stuns), and an ultimate that lets her unleash electricity from her finger while being able to move fast. She is the first ever Filipina VALORANT agent, and Riot also released a video to showcase her abilities.

You can also see the new Hydrodip, Schema, and Velocity weapon skins that players can unlock as they progress through the VALORANT Episode 4, Act 1 Battlepass, which is available for about $10 USD in Valorant Points (V). The update today will also bring the Protocol 781-A weapon skin bundle to the game's store, and it will be available for 9,900 VP. Of course, you will need Radianite Points (RP) to fully upgrade them.

For the full list of updates for VALORANT Episode 4, Act 1, check out the Patch Notes 4.0 below:

AGENT UPDATES

Neon goes live!

See her abilities on our Agents page.

WEAPON UPDATES

MELEE

• The melee’s been too tricky to aim with, making it tough to rely on. So we’ve updated both left and right click melee attacks for more reliable Agent-whacking action.
• Right click hitboxes are now 1.5x larger. Left click hitboxes are now larger than a right click and have a slightly longer range too.
• Targets closer to the center of your knife attacks will get hit first, so you still have precision if you need it.
• Bonus: Knifing walls now have instant feedback when slicing up walls (predicted on the client side)

SPECTRE

• The Spectre’s versatility makes us happy, but it was over-performing in long range engagements and was too powerful even within its intended close range and mobile scenarios. By making the accuracy error come in a bit earlier and switching yaws more often, we hope it will make it more difficult to get kills when spraying over a long range. Likewise, the close range sprays will require more control to be effective.
• Firing error occurs at earlier bullet stages
• For example, instead of errors occurring at bullets 4, 7, 10 (in terms of firing order) they will instead happen at bullets 3, 6, 8
• Increased pitch and yaw (vertical and horizontal) recoil multipliers when running/jumping/on ascender from 1.25 >>> 1.5
• Protected bullet count from yaw (horizontal) switching while spraying, decreased 8 >>> 5 bullets
• Lowering time to switch yaw from .24 >>> .18 seconds
• While spraying, the time you have until you could switch yaws (horizontal movement) again is lower, meaning it can happen more often

ARES

• Alongside changes to the Spectre, we hope to improve the feel and power of the Ares and take it out of the shadow of other weapons in its price tier.
• Removed spin up
• Firing rate increased from 10 >>> 13

GUARDIAN

• The Guardian didn’t need the fire rate penalty compared to its fully-automatic counterparts, so we’re removing it. Adding another bullet before it starts to get unstable should make the weapon feel much more proficient at tapping shots, and improve its overall effectiveness in a fight.
• Removed firing rate penalty on ADS (Aiming Down Sight)
• Added an extra bullet before it enters a recovery curve

BULLDOG

• 
  We’re giving the Bulldog some love to help make it feel like a better buy in those situations when you might need a cheaper but versatile rifle option.
• Hip fire rate increased 9.5 >>> 10
• Recovery on burst fire improved from .4 >>> .35
• Inaccuracy is accrued any time the weapon is re-fired prior to a complete duration of a weapon’s respective Gun Recovery Time. Lower recovery time should improve burst fire efficiency.

MAP UPDATES

BIND

• The double stack of cover at short A has been changed to remove a very powerful one-way smoke location that made the area a little too difficult for Attackers to approach.
• Sentinels will still be able to clog the space, but the new layout should open a few options for attackers pushing in.
• There’s also a small, new bench for a mix up when taking that first peek.

BREEZE

• Increased the width of the A Main choke and removed 50/50s (where you must choose one of two locations an opponent may be located)
• This should give defenders more options when playing around A Main. It also removes the 50/50 when both entering or exiting the cave, allowing you to be more methodical when pushing.
• Added a stack of two crates in cave
• This provides some cover for attackers pushing the cave while also giving defenders more options for contesting the space.
• Adjusted cover on the back of A Site and extended the pool to the far wall
• The cover changes should give defenders both a safe place to fall back to and more cover on retakes. Extending the pool should make playing in this space more comfortable.
• Plant site extension is also to match the new shape of the pool.
• Adjusted curved wall in mid
• This change simplifies the space and removes the extra pocket.
• Added cover to the pillar on B Site, blocked off the back site with a new wall, and added a stack of crates to B Wall
• The new cover on the pillar allows for new pre and post plant opportunities.
• The adjusted back site breaks the head peek to B Main while also giving players new cover to work with. This new cover should be useful when falling back and retaking.
• The new stack of crates limits some angles from B Main, gives you new options when holding or retaking, and should break up some awkward fights that can occur on thin walls.
• Door on A can no longer be reactivated until it is finished opening or closing

COMPETITIVE

• As the map and Agent pool has increased, it's become increasingly difficult for new players to effectively learn and play VALORANT. However, we haven’t made any changes to when players are able to access our most competitive experience. We believe everyone should take time to learn the ins and outs of core gameplay, and have ample exposure to all the maps and Agents VALORANT will throw at you before competing in our ranked experience. To force this learning period, we’ve decided to add an Account Level requirement to play in Competitive.
• Starting with Patch 4.0, accounts that have yet to play in Ranked are required to reach account level 20 level before they are able to enter the Competitive queue
• For those that have not yet reached account level 20, but have already played in Competitive queue, you will still be able to play in ranked.

BUGS

Game Systems

Fixed an issue where the Signature Kill Counter was not updating visually

Esports Features

Coaches should no longer experience the issue where swapping targets with number keys and + mouse clicks occasionally fails.

VALORANT Episode 4, Act 1 kicks off today. You can watch the new cinematic video here, and check out more details about the latest agent Neon here.