Valorant Episode 3, Act 2 launches with Fracture, battle pass
Valorant Episode 3, Act 2 has arrived, and it’s one of the most exciting so far.
Competitive queues have been stopped by Riot Games to smoothly roll out the new update, which expands the Valorant map pool. The sizeable patch has now gone live in most regions.
Patch 3.05 is a massive one, as it buffs most agents, brings back Immortal tiers, and adds new map Fracture. While players were well aware of these additions, Riot Games threw a curveball in a creator-inspired weapon collection dubbed Spectrum. The update has now gone live for most regions, while other players will see a halt in their ranked queues until the patch is implemented.
The Act 2 update brings
- New map Fracture
- Spectrum skin bundle
- Battle pass
- Agent buffs and nerfs
- Competitive rank changes, and more
Fracture map is finally here
Valorant’s seventh map, Fracture, has a unique H-shaped layout that heavily favors the attackers. The environment features destroyed facilities and tons of hidden lore that drops hints about the mirrorverse. For the first time, players will be able to interact with Earth-1 agents as the Valorant lore builds up further.
New battle pass includes unique melee knife
The battle pass for Act 2 has tons of stuff for players to sink their teeth into. Unlike previous bland and dark K-tac skins, the new ones are bright and eye-catching. The developer has rolled out a brand new battle pass that features skins for the Operator, Vandal, and Phantom in one pack for the first time. While the skins aren’t particularly unique, they come alongside some distinctive melee weapons.
Sprays, player cards, and gun buddies reflect the Valorant lore and also have plenty of easter eggs. Players can grind through the battle pass to unlock exciting rewards until the next act.
Ranks changed in Valorant Act 3, Episode 2
Since the game’s release, Riot Games has been experimenting with ELO and MMR by tweaking ranks. It seems that the developer has decided in favor of keeping the three tiers of Immortal that were previously omitted. One of the main reasons is to resolve the issue of over-saturation in lower ranks.
The patch 3.05 update will bring the following levels back:
- Immortal tier 1
- Immortal tier 2
- Immortal tier 3
This change will also heavily impact the lobby rank disparity. It’s possible that other changes will come in the following months based on how these changes shake out in practice.
Essential Agent buffs and nerfs
Looking at the meta changes following Kay/O’s release and weapon buffs, the developer has tweaked agent kits. Ability interactions will see slight changes in the new patch update.
- Breach’s Aftershock now deals damage to the following:
- Killjoy Alarm Bot
- Killjoy Nanoswarm
- Killjoy Lockdown
- Cypher Tripwire
- Reyna Leer
- Sage Barrier Orb
- Sova Recon Bolt
- KAY/O Zero/Point
- Bullet tagging of Killjoy’s Turret
- Reduced 72.5% slow to 29.5% slow
- Raze’s Boom Bot
- Max damage reduced from 125 to 80
- Min damage reduced from 50 to 30
- Cost reduced from 400 to 300
Valorant Spectrum bundle is unlike any other
Along with all these big game updates, Riot has delivered Valorant’s most lavish bundle so far. The clean, glamorous ZEDD skins come for 10,700 VP, falling out of the highest skin tier all ultra. It’s also Riot’s first creator collaboration, which explains the hefty price tag.
The skins come for:
- Phantom
- Classic
- Bulldog
- Guardian
- Melee
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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