Jett’s dash glitch persists in Valorant despite Riot’s fix

Several weeks ago, Riot shipped a patch for Valorant was supposed to nerf Jett’s ability to use ropes to gain a huge speed boost. but it seems that it wasn’t enough.

Jett’s original bug involved the game’s ascender ropes that allow players to move up and down between different levels of a map. The original bug happened when a Jett player would dash into an ascender and hook on to it while moving through it, causing the game’s physics engine to pull the agent back to the rope. If players detached from the rope at just the right time, they’d gain a huge boost of speed. In Valorant’s close-quarters maps, the bug was only useful in a select few spots.

Ascenders are only on two out of Valorant’s five maps. But players have found a way around it.

Jett’s dash glitch might Valorant’s bug that becomes a feature

Jett’s glitch can still be pulled off, it’s just a little bit harder now. Riot patched the bug by lowering the player when they detach from the ascender, meaning that much of the dash’s momentum bleeds off as they fall. But it’s not just applicable to Jett. Some players have probably noticed that they have to climb a little higher than normal since the fix in order to get to a higher floor.  But Icebox’s arrival with Valorant’s Episode 3 battlepass also bought wider angles and a more open play space in some areas, causing Jett’s bug to become very powerful. And since all interactions with ascenders were changed, not just how Jett’s dash interacted with the ropes, pro Jett players have already found a solution. 

By adding a jump as soon as Jett detaches from the ascender, the player can keep their momentum instead of stopping dead in their tracks.

It’s hard to say whether this trick is a bug or part of Valorant’s intended design. After all, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s bunnyhopping mechanic was originally a bug. Once CSGO’s developers realized it added another element of skill to the shooter, they capped player speed at a reasonable level and allowed bunnyhopping to hop, skip, and jump its way into the feature category. It could now be the same in Valorant. 

The trick isn’t as easy as some players make it look, especially when playing on the lower mouse sensitivities common in competitive first-person shooters. The timing for attaching and detaching from the rope is precise, meaning the trick isn’t simple to perform. But ultimately, skill-based shooters should have skill-based mechanics, and the way that Jett’s dash and Valorant’s ascenders interact creates a pretty compelling case for skill.

Players will have to wait and see if Jett gets another movement nerf in Valorant’s next patch, but since the developer ultimately decided to change how ascenders work instead of how Jett’s ability interacts with them, it’s likely this trick is here to stay for those players talented enough to pull it off.