Valorant announces agent ability swap for patch 4.1

Riot Games is swapping agent abilities in Valorant in patch 4.1. Or is it? 

The developer behind Valorant takes April Fools seriously, rolling out prank updates each year that never really make it to the game. From a dating sim to Wide Joy mode, Riot has teased insane concepts. However, innocuous players often fall for the ridiculous patch notes, and this year wasn’t much different. 

On April 1, Valorant Japan posted a video on their social media announcing an ability swap that made players lose their minds.

アップデート4.1で、あなたのメインエージェントが大変身。 pic.twitter.com/hDNJAVHa0F

— VALORANT // JAPAN (@VALORANTjp) April 1, 2024

The short video Valorant April Fools included three new in-game features that made no sense. 

Valorant ability swap April Fools joke explained

The video demonstrated that instead of their regular powers, agents would be equipped with random abilities. These abilities would be swapped between existing agents and would get activated inconsistently throughout the game. For example, any moment Raze will be healing teammates and Chamber would be throwing away Gekko’s little buddies and blind enemies.

The developer has also added a solution for the flashes. The undodgable flashbangs can be washed away in patch 4.1. There’s a small catch, the procedure takes 15 minute, as recommended by the supposed health and safety organization. 

To wash out the blind, you’ll need to walk to a washing basin stationed on each map for the duration of 4.1. Riot has called them “eye wash stations.” Once there, press F to remove the blinding effect. That’s not all. The location of these stations would be unknown, and if teammates try to misguide you, they’ll be muted throughout the game. 

If you don’t like the changes, the developer has asked you to deal with it anyway. 

The great thing is that this is an April Fools joke, but that hasn’t stopped players from panicking. Rest assured, patch 4.1 isn’t real, and the abilities should work normally in Valorant.