Valorant Episode 2, Act 3 is dropping April 27 and it’s bringing a lot of major changes to Riot’s tactical shooter.
Alongside a roundup of new skins, the next season in Valorant will also add a much-needed sixth level. Here’s everything you need to know about Valorant Episode 2, Act 3.
What we know about Breeze
According to an official press release from Riot, Valorant’s new map, Breeze, will be released on April 27 with the launch of Act 3.
Breeze is a remote island located somewhere within the southern part of the Bermuda Triangle. It’s bright and tropical, which is definitely a new look for Valorant. The last map players got was Icebox, which was a snow-covered, industrial map.
“We were heavily inspired by islands in the Caribbean,” developer Devon Fay said. “We loved the old forts and tropical beaches. The setting also let us tell a story of modern piracy in a history-rich setting. What if Kingdom lost control of its Radiante stores and technology? What would the people who took it down do with it?”
But it’s not only the appearance that’s different. Icebox was all about team fights whereas Breeze has wide open spaces to encourage long range combat.
“One of the main goals we had with Breeze was building larger and more open spaces with longer sightlines than the other maps in the pool,” developer Sal Garozzo said. “This provides an opportunity for different weapons and agents to shine.”
According to Garozzo, each map should provide different strengths and weaknesses of the agents, creating new team compositions.
What we know about Valorant Episode 2 Act 3 Battle Pass
Act 3’s Battle Pass will be 1,000 VP and include weapon skins, gun buddies, sprays, and cards. Players will have until June 21 to progress through the Battle Pass and collect all of the cosmetics.
There will be three weapon skin collections including Depths, Lightwave, and Songsteel. The Depths collection has skins for the Bulldog, Ghost, Stinger, and Vandal. It features a whimsical underwater design with an array of aqua blues ranging from light to dark. There are images from the ocean on the weapons as well.
Lightwave has skins for the Bucky, Frenzy, Odin, and Phantom. This is a gritty sci-fi skin that blends teal touches with neon colors that appear almost liquid-like. The yellow, purple, and blue neon colors clash with the teal parts of the weapon but create a very unique aesthetic that many players will enjoy.
The Songsteel collection includes the Classic, Guardian, Marshal, and the game’s melee weapon. This is a very unique skin that can only be described as fantasy meets cowboy meets Victorian era. It has a distinct brown with elegant metal lines weaved throughout that look sort of like vines. It features a lot of sharp edges and open space, giving it a very dangerous appearance.
“We want the content to appeal to the majority of players,” art lead Sean Marino said. “So we try to have a lot of variety in the themes and tones we draw from. The gun skins are a great example of this. Depths is more artistic. Lightwave is stylish and colorful. Sonsteel is the most high fantasy skin we’ve ever done.”
Players will also have the chance to get a Songsteel-themed spray, card, and gun buddy.
The gun buddies play off a lot of community memes this time around. Ancient Mysteries Revealed is a gun buddy with an octopus theme because Valorant players seem to find this type of content amusing. Then there’s Dan the Penguin, which was created because players “adore him.” The player cards took similar inspiration from community memes for Knife Fight and Paul’s Pizza Party.
What weapons are included in the Forsaken skin line in Act 3?
Episode 2, Act 3 will also introduce the Forsaken weapon skin line. It’s described as the “remnants of the exiled Sovereign, the banished and corrupted Forsaken.” This collection is focused on being delicate and beautiful, according to an official press release from Riot. There will be visual effects, audio, variants, and a finisher.
The weapons included in the Forsaken collection include the Vandal, Operator, Spectre, Classic, and the melee weapon, which is called the Forsaken Ritual Blade.
“We asked ourselves what would happen if one of the guards broke his oath, became corrupted, and was then banished,” Morison said of the lore-based skin. “It was still beautiful and delicate like Sovereign, but dark, edgy, and ultimately tragic.”
