Upcoming buff to Reyna’s Leer makes it easier to find kills off her flash
She just became even more selfish.
Riot Games is testing changes to several agent flashes in the Public Beta Environment, which will likely roll out in Valorant patch 5.07.
The adjustments apply to initiators and duelists alike, including Skye, KAY/O, Reyna, and Yoru. The goal was to sharpen the unique strengths of each role and ensure that initiators were not “outclassing” some of the duelists when it came to creating opportunities for kills off their flashes.
Skye’sandKAY/O’sflashes are being tweaked to facilitate greater value from teamplay, while making it less rewarding to use the flashes selfishly. For instance, the longer unequip delay for both flashes make it more difficult to swing immediately after a pop flash.
On the other hand,Reyna’sandYoru’sblinds are being adjusted to make it easier for players to capitalize on them directly.
All the changes to Skye, KAY/O, Reyna, and Yoru’s flashes in Valorant patch 5.07
Skye
The biggest change to Skye is the new indestructibility of Guiding Light. Previously, her hawk was too easily destroyed when sent over longer distances.
By rewarding Skye for “bending her birds into the right spots,” Riot hopes to foster more teamwork and better differentiate Guiding Light from other flashes in the game, particularly when compared to duelists.
However, with the flash duration now dependent on how long the hawk flies, Skye’s pop flashes will no longer be as effective when used solely for herself. It now makes more sense to send the hawk over a longer distance to achieve the maximum flash duration, and allow teammates to capitalize on that instead.
KAY/O
KAY/O’s underhand FLASH/DRIVE has been overperforming relative to other pop flashes likePhoenixand Yoru, according to Riot. On the other hand, the overhand flashbang was not generating a powerful enough reward for the “mastery required to get them to pop in the right place.”
The adjustments weaken the right-click throw when compared to duelist pop flashes, because KAY/O “should pay a cost for his versatility.”
Reyna
Reyna’s Leer underperforms as a selfish entry tool, especially at higher skill levels, said Riot. These changes should give Reyna more agency around how she decides to peek after casting Leer.
At the same time, they are intended to “sharpen Leer as a powerful angle-breaking tool against Operators on maps with longer sightlines.” One example of this would be B Main on Pearl, a traditionally oppressive angle for an Operator to post up.
To balance the buffs, Riot is reducing some of the value Leer has when thrown for teammates, which is why the total duration is decreased.
Yoru
Riot wanted to balance Yoru around his ability to throw flashes during his Dimensional Drift ultimate. “We opted to go with a simple duration increase for Blindside as we feel the tuning counterplay around his flash and clone is important to avoid excessively frustrating situations,” said the developer.
You can view thefull PBE notes here.
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