Valorant patch 2.03 buffs Yoru, nerfs Frenzy and Stinger

Olivia Richman Published 17/02/2021

Valorant developers have come through with their promise of rebalancing Yoru.

In Valorant patch 2.03, developers have focused on the newest duelist and buffed him to make up for what has been found to be an underwhelming kit. The new agent hasn’t seen as much play as initially expected and has been given some buffs to compensate for that. Reyna was also given some interesting changes, while some of the overpowered early game items have been nerfed to better reflect their pricetag.

Here’s a closer look at some of the changes that hit Valorant in patch 2.03.

Yoru buffed, Reyna rebalanced in Valorant patch 2.03

The two agents who will see the most change this time around are Reyna and Yoru.

Reyna saw a “dual nerf and buff” as developers continue to give her more “pubstomp potential.” Her Devour and Dismiss abilities saw a charge reduction from four to two. The cost of Devour and Dismiss was increased from 100 to 200. Enemies damaged by Reyna in the last three seconds will now drop soul orbs regardless of whether she landed the final bullet.

Valorant developers stated that the charge reduction will limit how much impact she can have round over round “when she’s heavily out-gunning her opponents,” but it will still allow enough room for the “1v5 dream” when Empress is active.

Increasing the price of her two abilities will “push some tougher economic decisions during pistol round,” comms associate Jeff Landa explained. “Now, she’ll no longer be able to buy a charge or Leer, her Soul Orb abilities, and upgrade her pistol. On the flipside, Reyna getting Soul Orbs from recently damaged enemies should help her reliability when playing around teammates, and reduce the animosity when an ally lands the final blow and Reyna goes empty-handed.”

Reyna buff 2.03

The second major agent rebalancing came to Yoru, Valorant’s newest agent. Gatecrash will now display the range at which the ability’s tether can be seen by enemies while moving on the minimap. Enemies can also see on the minimap the same range they are able to hear Gatecrash’s audio.

“Gatecrash wasn’t providing much information about when enemies could see or hear his teleport fragment, so we added a few pieces to make that easier,” Landa said.

Yoru’s ultimate was next on the list. Yoru’s minimap is now visible while in Dimensional Drift and enemies within Yoru’s sight line while using the ultimate are now revealed on the minimap, but the skill can no longer body block enemies. Landa explained that they wanted to make it easier for Yoru and his team to “understand the state of the round when they set up the ultimate pincer.”

Yoru’s changes were made after developers realized that he wasn’t fully achieving his “core promise.” Riot is still investigating further changes they’ll make to Yoru in the future, but these changes could be enough to see him go from unused to a situational agent option.

Finally, Phoenix and Brimstone also received nearly identical tweaks. The audio for Hot Hands and Incendiary was changed to be more discernible when other loud sounds are happening.

Marshal buffed while Stinger, Frenzy nerfed in patch 2.03

Valorant developers took a closer look at the Marshal and decided they wanted to make the weapon a more viable option, and not just a wildly underpowered Operator. They gave the weapon a speed buff when zoomed, putting it at 90% movement speed versus the previous 76% to make it more similar to Counter-Strike’s scout sniper rifle. The zoom magnification was also increased. The price was also decreased from 1100 to 1000 since it’s “not as versatile as others in its range.”

The Stinger has been “proved to be too potent in too many areas,” continued Landa. Developers wanted to keep the weapon threatening but not make it as overpowered. The price was increased from 1000 to 1100 and the full-auto fire rate was reduced from 18 to 16 to bring down its DPS. The full-auto fire now reaches max spread at bullet four instead of six, making it a bit weaker at medium range. Recoil also climbs more aggressively after the third bullet now. Valorant developers said they wanted to give the weapon “degrees of mastery” rather than just leaving it as a potent option for both eco and full-buy rounds.

The Frenzy was the third weapon on the list. It has surged in popularity but developers feel it’s maybe “pushed out a lot of other options” during pistol rounds. The weapon’s price has been increased from 400 to 500 to force players into making some difficult choices regarding their spending during pistol rounds. Landa said they are interested to see what a price bump will do to the weapon’s purchase rates.

Valorant Patch 2.03 has brought about a lot of other changes. This includes the addition of a new game mode, sprays being destroyed before the start of each round (after players discovered a few tricks), and improvements to the agents’ death sequence. A lot of bugs were also addressed. For the full patch notes, check out Valorant’s latest blog post.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

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.

View full profile