Valorant: 5 Valorant abilities that need to be nerfed ASAP

Valorant thrives in a dynamic meta created by the different abilities of its agents. These abilities have a substantial impact on match outcomes, making balancing essential for fair and competitive gameplay. As Season 2025 progresses, several abilities have emerged as excessively strong, generating discussions about the need for nerfs to maintain balance.

This article talks about five abilities that potentially need to be nerfed in Valorant.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author’s opinions.

Valorant: 5 abilities that need to be nerfed

1) Tejo's Special Delivery

Tejo's Special Delivery is a multipurpose grenade that can bounce off walls before sticking to the first surface it touches, making it an excellent tool for clearing corners and disrupting opponent positions. When detonated, the grenade explodes and concusses all players stuck in its blast radius, substantially hampering movement and combat effectiveness.

While this ability is excellent for starting fights and forcing opponents out of cover, the concussion duration seems to be excessively harsh, giving players little time to react or reposition.

Tejo's Special Delivery (Image via Riot Games)

Reducing concussion duration would result in a more balanced experience as it would provide injured players an opportunity to recover and counterattack, while retaining the grenade's utility as a powerful tool.

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2) Waylay’s Saturate

Waylay's Saturate ability allows the agent to instantly toss a cluster of light that detonates when it comes into contact with the ground, substantially slowing nearby players' movement and weapons. While this ability is useful in disrupting enemy tactics, its long duration can be unpleasant for both attackers and defenders because it limits mobility and engagement options.

Players frequently find themselves in an undesirable situation with little room to counteract the effect.

Waylay's Saturate (Image via Riot Games)

Reducing the length of the hampering effect would help strike a balance by giving opponents ample time to recover and respond while still making the ability effective.

Also read: Waylay abilities in Valorant

3) Neon's Overdrive

During her Overdrive ultimate, Neon unleashes her full power and speed for a short duration, allowing her to fire a deadly lightning beam with extreme precision while maintaining high movement accuracy. The combination of blazing-fast movement and pinpoint accuracy makes it exceptionally difficult for opponents to land shots on her while she continues dealing consistent damage.

This results in a scenario where Neon can dominate engagements with minimal counterplay.

To balance this ability, slightly increasing her energy consumption per shot would force players to manage their resources more carefully, preventing prolonged use of Overdrive without sacrificing Neon's core playstyle.

Also read: Valorant patch 10.05 notes

4) Vyse’s Shear

Vyse's Shear ability is a cleverly built hidden trap that activates when an enemy unintentionally passes its threshold. When activated, an indestructible wall rises from the ground behind the enemy, blocking their escape route and limiting their movement for a short time before dissolving.

While this ability is useful for controlling enemy positions, it becomes especially oppressive in post-plant situations, as the lack of counterplay makes it difficult for players to reposition or regain control of a site.

Introducing a breakable component to Shear would provide players a chance to counter its effects if they reacted quickly, preserving the skill-based aspect of combat while retaining Vyse's tactical strength.

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5) Iso’s Undercut

Iso's Undercut ability is an effective tool that allows him to fire a molecular bolt that can pass through walls and obstacles, making it extremely useful for starting fights. Any player caught in its path is instantaneously rendered vulnerable and suppressed for around four seconds, preventing them from using their abilities and subjecting them to greater damage.

While this gives Iso a significant edge in securing kills, many players may find its duration too punishing, leaving them with little time to maneuver or counterattack.

Reducing the time duration of the effect slightly would contribute to a more balanced approach, encouraging more strategic engagements rather than depending solely on ability-induced advantages.

Also read: Art for VP: How to get free Valorant Points from Riot Games

Maintaining balance in Valorant's dynamic meta requires continuous evaluation and tweaking of agent abilities. Addressing potentially overpowering skills with careful nerfs can improve the overall gameplay experience, ensuring that skill and strategy stay at the forefront of competition.

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About the author

Akash Das is an Esports and Gaming writer at Sportskeeda. Though Akash has a master’s degree in biotechnology and years of experience working as a research associate and graphics designer, his love of video games has driven him to choose a career as a gaming journalist.

It was the venerable Call of Duty and Need for Speed franchises that sparked his love for the medium. Presently, he prefers multiplayer experiences like Valorant and regards renowned YouTuber Shroud as an inspiration.

Apart from gaming, Akash enjoys traveling, go-karting, and long drives.

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Edited by Virat Fumakia