Will upcoming Cypher buffs help him compete with Chamber?
Finally some love for this man.
Riot Games is making changes to some of the least and most-picked agents in Valorant.
The Valorant patch 5.10 Public Beta Environment notes list an extensive change log ofCypher buffsandFadenerfs — with potentially big ramifications for their place in the meta.
While Fade is currently one of the most popular agents in the game in both pro and casual play,Cypherhas since languished at the bottom. As part of Valorant’s original roster of agents, the Moroccan sentinel has been a victim of power creep as new agents were added to the game.
Neural Theft
Quality of Life
Cypher’s Trapwire and Neural Theft ultimate are getting buffed. The longer Trapwire length opens up more possibilities for trip placement, so his setups should become less predictable.
“We hope to open new Trapwire setups and mix up known play patterns,” said Riot.
Neural Theft now provides more valuable information on enemy positions with two pings instead of one. Previously, the ultimate was severely lacking in terms of providing information on enemy setups, because it only revealed opponents for a split second and did not account for any repositioning.
Cypher can now also cast Neural Theft on any enemy corpse, regardless of when he died. He can do so from further away as well, potentially allowing him to stay safer while casting.
It remains to be seen whether the changes will help Cypher compete with Chamber, an agent that has become the go-to sentinel on many maps.
Former M3 Champions playerAyaz “nAts” Akhmetshindoesn’t seem to think so. “It feels like nothing has changed,” he said onTwitter. “Cypher is not going to overtake Chamber. But the longer length of Trapwire is differently a good buff.”
Prowler
Nightfall
“Fade’s Prowlers have been a versatile and difficult-to-play-against ability that we’re looking to sharpen with these changes,” said Riot.
“The duration changes encourage Fade to be more deliberate in the areas that she chooses to sweep, while the other tweaks to the ability are meant to help enemies on the counterplay side of things.”
The changes are reminiscent of the nerfs to Sova inpatch 4.08. The duration of Owl Drone was similarly reduced, forcing Sova to use it more prudently.
The changes also address a very specific interaction between Chamber and the Prowler. Before this, Chamber would be nearsighted once bitten by the Prowler, and he would remain affected by the debuff even after teleporting away.
Now, the animation needs to complete in order for the debuff to apply.
Fade has been one of the most effective counters to Chamber, and the nerfs could possibly allow the dapper sentinel even more space to run amok.
You can read thefull change notes here.
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