Has Reyna become too powerful after patch 5.07 buff?

Fariha Bhatti Published 04/10/2022

Patch 5.07 leaks were concerning for the veteran Valorant players who had seen Reyna in her full glory. But the official release confirms Reyna isn’t becoming all-powerful.

Duelists in Valorant aren’t all equally mighty. Some excel at creating space while others are self-sufficient Radiants. Reyna falls into the second category, but Riot had previously taken away plenty of her powers to clock her back in Valorant’s power circle. But, it may have overdone the nerfs, which has now led the developer to roll out crucial balances.

Patch 5.07 perfectly balances Reyna

Valorant patch 5.07 delivers significant buffs to Reyna, but they’re accompanied by much-needed balances. The blend of a buff with slight nerfs will make her a perfect duelist for the current meta.

“Reyna’s flash underperforms as a selfish entry tool, especially at higher skill levels. This set of changes is intended to give Reyna more agency around how she decides to peek after casting Leer,” Jeff Landa said in the notes.

Starting with the new patch, Reyna will no longer be held back with a range limit. Here are the latest changes to Reyna’s Leer:

Wind-up of nearsight effect decreased .6s >>> .4s
Range Restriction on Leer removed
Nearsight unequip delay decreased: .7 >>> .5
Duration decreased 2.6s >>> 2.0s

Flashes in Valorant are extremely powerful and annoying. The blinding flashbangs are pivotal to breaking open a site, but Reyna’s Leer fell in a whole different category. The agent’s meager eye could be destroyed in a couple of bullets and players could easily dodge it even when it stayed up. Due to range limitation, Reyna was only viable in small maps or close-range duels. However, a lot changes with patch 5.07.

While the removal of the range limit is undoubtedly a massive buff, Riot Games has neutralized it by reducing the duration of the Leer. With these changes, the agent can execute selfish plays, but enemies won’t be completely outplayed. The decreased life of the eye will allow the players to wait out the flash without instantly dying.

Reyna has undoubtedly returned to the game with a polished flash, but she’s not OP. There’s still room for other duelists to beat her flashy plays. The balances are much-needed for those who ran Reyna despite the low viability recently.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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