Valorant 1.02 patch notes: Ranked, surrender and more

The latest Valorant patch includes the usual blend of weapon balancing, bug fixes and character buffs and nerfs. To keep things short and sweet though, we will focus on the most exciting new features from the 1.02 patch.

Ranked Mode

Competitive mode won’t be turned on straight away, but it will go live later in this patch. After feedback from the closed beta, the name of the top rank has been changed from VALORANT to Radiant.

Rank iconography has also been updated in order to make it easier to distinguish between ranks.

Another change which comes after complaints during the beta is an expanded skill disparity range for placement games. Many people were finding that after playing one match with friends, matchmaking prevented them from queuing together. This should no longer be an issue in the majority of cases.

Surrender Option

Also new is the highly requested surrender mechanic. This will allow players to back out of a game early if they feel there is no hope, without punishing the winning team. A surrender vote cannot be called until round 8.

Each team can call one surrender vote per half, by typing “/ff”, “forfeit”, “concede” or “surrender”. All present players on the forfeiting team must agree to the surrender for the vote to pass.

If a surrender takes place, the winning team will be credited for every round necessary to take them up to 13. At the same time, the losing side will get loss credit for every round necessary to bring them up to 13 rounds.

Agent Changes

Viper

• Toxic Screen now burns through walls, placing emitters at all valid locations (e.g., the ground) over its length
• Snake Bite, taking damage will make a player fragile for a short time
• Fragile is a debuff that increases damage taken
• Poison Orb activation cooldown increased :: .5s >>> 6s

Jett

• Blade Storm now refreshes when used to kill Phoenix during Run It Back.

Reyna

• Soul Orbs are now spawned when Reyna kills Phoenix during Run It Back.

Cypher

• Fixed an issue where Spycam blocked Spike defusal
• Fixed an issue where players could place a Cyber Cage on a Trapwire
• Added prevention for Spycam going through teleporter doors on Bind when placed on the frame from the outside

These are just the highlights of an extensive list of patch notes, you can check out the full, detailed list from the developers here.