Valorant patch notes reveal surprise deathmatch overhaul

Valorant has released its new 1.10 patch notes, which include the addition of a new map, an expected overhaul to ranked play, and a surprise change to the deathmatch game mode.

The Act 3 patch adds the much anticipated new map, Icebox. Included on the map is a zipline that players can use to move quickly across the map's area, or as a strategic vantage point. The map won’t be available for ranked play until October 27, but players will be placed on Icebox more frequently when queuing for Unrated games.

Competitive players will receive their Act 2 rank badge and will start making progress on their Act 3 ranked badge with this new patch. Players can also now select which server they’d like to play on. Ranked disparity for parties has been reduced to three, and developers have noted that they have tightened the title's matchmaking considerations to reduce skill disparity in ranked games.

Valorant Deathmatch mode sees big changes

The biggest and most surprising change is to the deathmatch game mode. Players were constantly complaining about the short match times and the always-on radar pings that reveal enemy locations. Both of those have changed in this patch. 

Radar pings are now disabled, aside from one radar ping when players first spawn into the game. This will allow players to enter the match without being instantly targeted by their foes. 

The player count for deathmatch has been raised from 10 to 14. Because the player count is increased, the kills required to win have also increased from 30 to 40 kills. Games will alternatively end after nine minutes pass. Each player is now awarded 900 xp for every deathmatch game they complete.

Another game-changing alteration is that when a player gets a kill in deathmatch, their weapon is automatically reloaded to full, unless the player is using the Ares or Odin, in which case they only get 30 bullets back. This increases the uptime of player’s weapons and allows players to always be in a position to take a fight.

There are also a number of bug fixes and quality of life improvements, as well as an increase in observer spots in private matches.