Valorant Patch 1.0: New map, map changes, and how they affect the game

New Map and Map changes (Riot Games)Taken from Dexerto

Patch Notes 1.0 for the Valorant Episode 1: Ignition is out, and they are very comprehensive.

Even before certain regions like North America, LATAM and South America got their Valorant servers up and running, Riot Games has already released their first official patch notes for the game.

Valorant Patch Notes 1.0 bring in a lot of changes to the game. From Agent nerfs to buffs, and from bug fixes to a new map, there is a lot to be aware of.

If you want the complete Valorant patch notes in detail, you can always check out Riot’s official website. But for now, let us focus solely on the map changes and how they are going to be affecting Valorant gameplay in the future.

The New Valorant Map: Ascent

Ascent map

Valorant’s official launch comes with a new map called Ascent.

Its aesthetics are set in Italy, and it comes with a ‘large, open middle area that both teams can skirmish over.’ It seems that the gameplay around this new Valorant map will rely more on abilities than actual gun battle, and the middle of the map, which is termed ‘playground’, will be the most strategic position.

Ascent will be in heavy rotation during matchmaking, as Valorant officials want players to get familiar with the map as soon as possible.

Changes in Split in Valorant

In Patch Notes 1.0, the Valorant devs have decided to remove the mid choke point on Split.

This will allow for more balanced gameplay for both the attacking and defending sides. Previously, the attacking side had more of an advantage in the map, because the large wall on their side acted as a big flank that gave them a significant boost over the defending side.

This will not let the defending Agents in Valorant be as exposed or as vulnerable as they used to be.

“We felt like Defenders were able to effectively plug up the main choke point in mid for a large percentage of the round. The new layout hopes to alleviate this issue,” Riot said.

“These changes open up the space quite a bit and provides an additional path to get around stalling abilities on the stairs. It also gives Attackers a few different angles to help siege B Tower and Vents.”

Exploits removed in Haven, Blind, Split, and Ascent

These changes are sort of an indirect nerf to Cypher, who made the most out of all the exploit points on the map.

In Patch 1.0, Valorant devs has removed all the exploits, along with blocking off several spy cam points for Cypher. His ability can’t be abused in any of the maps from now on.

Some important HUD and UI changes to the Valorant maps

The Valorant devs have added new VFX to abilities, kills feeds and ceremonies like Ace and Clutch to the player HUD in each of the maps.
The Spike will also have an updated visual in the inventory. Will look more prominent than it did in the closed beta.
Armor icons have now been added to the shop, for visual diversity.
In-game Valorant character portraits have also gotten an update in each of the maps.
Added chat message regulation so that only send one chat message is sent when multiples of the same ping or VO command are used in rapid succession

All Valorant in-game, map, and character bug fixes

Fixed a bug with “rewinding” for Hit Registration that could cause the client to slightly disagree with the server on where a target was when you pulled the trigger. This affected all players slightly, but scaled up in severity at lower FPS.
Fixed an issue where client-side tracers desynced when yaw switching
The server and client would sometimes disagree on where shots were landing when firing extended bursts.
Fixed a bug that let you shred the gnar at supersonic speeds using Viper’s Toxic Screen as a projectile boost
Fixed the ability to activate Viper’s Poison Cloud mid air if it has been picked up.
Removed slow from Viper’s Snakebite tooltip.
Cypher’s Spycam now shows the direction it is looking right when it is possessed.
Fixed more unintended Cypher Spycam locations
Fixed Sova’s arrows sometimes unpredictable bouncing
Fixed Sova arrows from revealing through some walls
Fixed a bug with Jett’s lower body popping out of place during her glide—thanks physical therapy!
Fixed an issue where blood was disabled
Fixed an Observer bug where dead players appeared as Phoenix on the HUD when an entire team was dead
Fixed a spectator issue where Cypher's tracers would appear inaccurate if the spectator swapped to him after he had entered/exited his camera
Fixed an issue where a team could all disconnect on side swap rounds to surrender, but they would receive a win instead of a loss
Fixed a bug that allowed Bucky's right click to penetrate through world geography
Fixed a bug for the comms halo above a player's head, it should now activate with both Party chat and Team chat
Fixed an issue where credits on the HUD appeared to be much higher than the 800 you receive on side swap rounds
Fixed an issue with the scoreboard that would show enemy team above the credit cap
Fixed a bug where players were fully movement inaccurate after being resurrected or respawning
Fixed overruns on interactable objects like orbs or the Spike
Fixed an issue where ally loadouts appeared to show damaged allies at full health
Fixed issues with HUD prompts that would be cut off if the key to activate the prompt was bound to a key with more than one letter
Fixed a bug where the buy phase announcement would always say to press B to buy, even if the key to open the Armory was bound to a different key
Fixed an issue where reconnect messages would spam every round start
Fixed an observer bug where text would overlap in the buy phase announcement
Fixed an observer bug where some abilities were not appearing on the minimap properly
Fixed a bug where the ping wheel on the megamap would not grey out when ping limited
Fixed a bug in the Armory where weapon details would vanish after purchasing a weapon
Fixed a bug where the Equip Last Equipped Weapon hotkey was not functioning properly after using an ability
Fixed overlaps with instability indicators (i.e. High Ping) and the Spectator widget
Fixed overlaps and overruns in the Combat Report
Fixed an issue with dead player models occasionally flickering
Fixed an issue with animations when aiming with the Odin for spectators
Fixed flickering mouse cursor in a few places
The tooltip pointing at Contracts can now be dismissed FOREVER
Fixed a Valorant bug where half the Arsenal page would fade in when clicking on the Collection tab
Fixed a Valorant bug where the personalized Store offers would blink before fading in
Fixed a Valorant bug where various menus could overlap the lobby screen after a queue dodge

Edited by Sai Krishna