summit1g and others celebrate Raze nerf in new Valorant patch
The Valorant community finally got their wish. Raze has been nerfed in Riot’s most recent Valorant patch.
Valorant saw some big changes in the FPS’ most recent patch. This included a big nerf to Raze, an agent that many closed beta participants were already calling OP. Her Paint Shells were reduced from two to one. She also received an added kill reset, meaning anyone playing Raze would have to get two kills before earning another Paint Shell grenade.
The Valorant development team described this nerf as “light changes that should bring Raze’s offensive pressure closer to the other agents.”
Most of the agents’ abilities in Valorant focus on utility, offering increased mobility or support to their team. Most of them only have one damage-dealing ability. Meanwhile, Raze’s entire kit is focused on dealing explosive damage. Because of this, participants in Valorant’s closed beta have consistently complained about her not fitting into the game. While many called for her to be nerfed, some even suggested she be taken out of the game entirely before its official launch this summer.
One of the closed beta players to criticize Raze’s agent design was famous Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer Jaryd “summit1g” Lazar.
“Trying my best not to salt everywhere on Valorant,” summit1g tweeted. “Not sure how a rocket character even made it into beta or as a character design at all. Every single ability [can kill someone]. So much for mostly utility type use.”
A Riot developer had responded to summit1g at the time, reassuring him that there would be changes to Raze and other agents. Now, it seems Riot is keeping their word.
summit1g and Ninja discuss Valorant’s April 21 patch, Raze nerfs
While playing some games of Valorant with Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, summit1g brought up the changes to Raze.
After Ninja noted that Raze could only get one grenade at a time now, summit1g stated that she “basically got toned down to what the other agents were like,” comparing her new two-kill requirement to agents like Phoenix.
While this nerf is definitely a good start, the Valorant community is still adamant that Raze is a too powerful due to her ultimate, Showstopper. This rocket launcher still deals massive damage, even to enemies that haven’t yet come into view. This wasn’t touched in Riot’s recent Valorant patch, but there may be more changes to come.
Even so, summit1g seems pleased with the current patch.
“All their patch notes are really good,” summit1g said.
The two discussed how players could no longer “bunny hop” through the slowed area created by Sage’s Slow Orb. They balanced that change by making players not have an audio cue while moving through the affected area.
“The no bunny hop is a good trade for it not making any noise,” summit1g said.
“Players were able to circumvent too much of Sage’s Slow Orb by bunny hopping through the zone,” Riot developers explained in the patch notes.
Other patch notes included Cypher’s Spycam no longer able to use weapons and a fixed bug that allowed footstep audible range to sometimes not appear on the minimap.
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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