Valorant 5.12 PBE patch notes: Massive Agent updates, Spectre changes, and more

Riot Games has just released a long list of changes that are coming to Valorant very soon. With 2022 coming to an end soon, the developers are striving to offer players an updated in-game experience that is more balanced than ever.

The patch notes for the ongoing PBE 5.12 feature many Agent updates, covering almost every one of the 20 characters available in Valorant. Some Agents will be receiving buffs in the form of ability cost reduction and ability health promotion, while others will be getting some disheartening nerfs to their powers.

Apart from Agent tweaks, a popular economic gun from Valorant's weaponry has also received some influential changes to its damage statistics. Players will also see many new gameplay system updates, including those related to assist tail tuning and damage interaction between agent abilities.

This article lists all the expected changes coming to Valorant, alongside patch 5.12, right after the ongoing PBE ends.

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Everything you need to know about Valorant's PBE patch 5.12

For those unaware, Valorant's PBE (Public Beta Environment) is restricted to a pool of players who are willing to test a set of in-game changes. Their feedback will help Riot Games determine whether the update is fit for deployment in the public version.

Valorant PBE is only for participants residing in North America. You can apply to become a PBE tester for the game, but not everyone will receive clearance from Riot Games.

Riot Games doesn't discard PBE-tested changes without a definite reason. Hence, one can expect all the changes stated below [via Reddit] to appear in Valorant's next patch (5.12).

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AGENT UPDATES

We've increased the point costs of the Agent Ultimates that have large, site-wide footprints. We've also made a tuning pass on Agent ability economy.

Damage-over-time area abilities (like Brimstone’s Incendiary and Viper’s Snakebite) now damage enemy utility, so we’ve increased the health of 1hp destructibles so that they aren’t instantly vaporized—but can still be destroyed by one-shot in most situations.

Breach

Rolling Thunder (X)

• Ultimate Points increased 7 >>> 8

Chamber

Headhunter (Q)

• Updated Stability Curve
• Spread increased after 2nd bullet, when spamming. This is explicitly meant to reduce low-precision body-shot spam as an effective combat measure at range.

Rendezvous (E)

• Chamber now places a single anchor that can be teleported to while inside its range
• Radius increased 7.5m >>> 13m
• Removed teleport activation height restriction
• You can teleport to the Anchor while on different verticality so long as you are within its radius.
• Increased weapon equip time after teleporting 0.4s >>> 0.7s
• Headhunter is unaffected by this change.
• Destroying Rendezvous teleport anchor now disables it for the remainder of the round, instead of being placed on a cooldown.
• Chamber no longer incurs an additional cooldown when recalling his Anchor after teleporting.
• Health decreased 80 >>> 50

Trademark (C)

• The trap is now range restricted
• Trademark will disable when Chamber moves out of range, and reactivate once he is inside.
• Can now be recalled mid-round without line of sight
• 30s cooldown on recall
• Destruction remains permanent
• Initial Arm Time increased 2s >>> 4s
• Health Increased 1 >>> 20

Tour De Force (X)

• Fire rate decreased by 57.5%
• Slow
• This applies to both Trademark and Tour De Force
• Reduced duration 6s >>> 4s

Cypher

Trapwire (C)

• Health increased 1 >>> 20

Fade

Prowler (C)

• Health decreased 100 >>> 60

Harbor

High Tide (E)

• Duration increased 12s >>> 15s

Cascade (C)

• Duration increased 5s >>> 7s

KAY/0

ZERO/POINT (E)

• Health increased 1 >>> 20

NULL/cmd (C)

• Ultimate points increased 7 >>> 8

Killjoy

Lockdown (X)

• Health increased 150 >>> 200

Nanoswarm (C)

• Health increased 1 >>> 20

Omen

Paranoia (Q)

• Cost decreased 300 >>> 250

Phoenix

Blaze (C)

• Cost decreased 200 >>> 150

Raze

Boom Bot (C)

• Health decreased 100 >>> 60

Blast Pack (Q)

• Health increased 1 >>> 20

Sage

Barrier Orb (C)

• Fortify delay increased 3.0s >>> 3.3s

Healing Orb (E)

• Self heal total amount decreased 60HP >>> 30HP
• Ally heal total amount increased 60HP>>> 100HP

Sova

Recon Bolt (E)

• Health increased 1 >>> 20

Skye

Trailblazer (Q)

• Cost increased 250 >>> 300

Regrowth (C)

• Cost decreased 200 >>> 150

Viper

Viper’s Pit (X)

• Smoke integrity regen time 5.0 >>> 25.0
• Max time out of smoke decreased 15.0 >>> 8.0
• Ultimate points required 7 >>> 8

Yoru

Gatecrash (E)

• Health decreased 100 >>> 60
• Cost decreased 200 >>> 150

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GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS UPDATES

Assist Tail Tuning

Concuss, Nearsight, Detained

• Assist tail increased 2s >>> 3s

Exiting Smokes

• Assist tail increased 1s >>> 2s

Slow

• Assist tail increased 1s >>> 2s

Suppression

• Added new 3s assist tail

Damage Interaction Updates

Abilities that output damage will now universally damage enemy objects that can be damaged. Exceptions are made for Skye Trailblazer & Cypher Trapwire that only deal damage to players. We want to ensure that abilities are interacting in a consistent manner across the board. We want you to spend time thinking about how to approach utility in-game rather than wondering if you can in the first place.

Brimstone

Incendiary now damages:

• Killjoy Nanoswarm
• Killjoy Alarmbot
• Killjoy Lockdown
• Cypher Trapwire
• Raze Blast Pack
• Sova Recon Bolt
• Reyna Leer
• Sage Barrier Orb
• KAY/0 Knife
• Chamber Trademark
• Chamber Rendezvous
• Fade Prowler
• Orbital Strike now damages:
• Chamber Rendezvous

Phoenix

Hothands now damages:

• Cypher Trapwire
• Killjoy Nanoswarm
• Killjoy Alarmbot
• Killjoy Lockdown
• Raze Blast Pack
• Reyna Leer
• Sage Barrier Orb
• Sova Recon Bolt
• Fade Prowler
• KAY/0 Knife
• Chamber Trademark
• Chamber Rendezvous
• Blaze now damages:
• Cypher Trapwire
• Killjoy Nanoswarm
• Killjoy Alarmbot
• Killjoy Lockdown
• Raze Blast Pack
• Reyna Leer
• Sage Barrier Orb
• Sova Recon Bolt
• Fade Prowler
• KAY/0 Knife
• Yoru Fakeout
• Chamber Trademark
• Chamber Rendezvous

KAY/0

FRAG/MENT: KAY/0 now has a voiceover that tells his allies the number of enemies suppressed when the knife hits.

ZERO/POINT now damages:

• Fade Prowler

Killjoy

Nanoswarm now damages:

• Cypher Trapwire
• Killjoy Nanoswarm
• Killjoy Alarmbot
• Killjoy lockdown
• Raze Blast Pack
• Reyna Leer
• Sage Barrier Orb
• Sova Recon Bolt
• Chamber Trademark
• Chamber Rendezvous
• Fade Prowler
• KAY/0 Knife

Raze

Blast Pack now damages:

• Fade Prowler
• Paint Shells
• Now damages:
• Fade Prowler

Sova

Shock Bolt now damages:

• Fade Prowler
• Hunters Fury
• Now damages:
• Raze Satchel
• Reyna Leer
• Fade Prowler
• Chamber Rendezvous

Viper

Snakebite now damages:

• Cypher Trapwire
• Killjoy Nanoswarm
• Killjoy Alarmbot
• Killjoy lockdown
• Raze Blast Pack
• Reyna Leer
• Sage Barrier Orb
• Skye Seekers
• Sova Recon Bolt
• Chamber Trademark
• Chamber Rendezvous
• Fade Prowler
• KAY/0 Knife

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Damage Multiplier Updates

With damage-over-time area abilities now universally damaging utility, we took a pass on damage multipliers. These area damage abilities cover a wide space and deal large amounts of damage over their duration. We’ve reduced their non-player output to 50% of base damage to prevent instant destruction of enemy utility and to ensure abilities with higher health, such as Sage Barrier Orb, retain their relevant impact.

Breach

• Aftershock now deals 250% >>> 100% damage to non-players

Brimstone

• Incendiary now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players

KAY/0

• Fragment now deals 250% >>> 100% damage to non-players

Killjoy

• Nanoswarm now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players

Phoenix

• Hot Hands now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players

Raze

• Blast Pack now deals 1200% >>> 250% damage to non-players
• Paint Shells now deals 100% >>> 250% damage to non-players
• Boom Bot now deals 100% >>> 250% damage to non-players

Viper

• Snake Bite now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players

Allied Ability Damage Immunity

The following abilities are now immune to allied damage.

Chamber

• Rendezvous
• Trademark

Cypher

• Spycam

Fade

• Prowler
• Haunt

KAY/0

• ZERO/POINT

Killjoy

• Alarmbot
• Lockdown

Raze

• Blastpack
• Boom Bot

Skye

• Seekers
• Trailblazer

Sova

• Owl Drone
• Recon Bolt

Yoru

• Gatecrash
• Fakeout

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WEAPONS UPDATES

Spectre

Added a third damage range to the Spectre and updated distances. New distances and body shot damage are:

• 0-15m, 26 damage.
• 15m-30m, 22 damage.
• 30m+, 20 damage.

For reference, the old ranges and damages were:

• 0-20m, 26 damage.
• 20m+, 22 damage.

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BUGS

• Fixed an issue where Phoenix would not be decayed by Viper for a short period after dying during Run It Back while decayed.
• Fixed an issue where Cypher wasn’t able to place Trapwires on the glass panels by the yellow crate on Icebox.
• Fixed a bug where enemy Spycams or Turrets could trigger Cypher’s Trapwires.
• Fixed a bug where enemy knives could not damage Chamber’s Rendezvous teleport anchor.
• Fixed a bug where Boom Bot would explode on contact with Yoru’s Gatecrash beacons.

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The ongoing PBE in Valorant will end on December 5, 2022, (Monday) at 11:00 am PST. Any PBE participant willing to try and test the aforementioned changes can do so until the end date.

Valorant's public version will receive patch 5.12 containing all the stated changes on December 6, 2022.