Valorant players hate the recent nerfs to Phantom's ammo

Fariha Bhatti Published 06/06/2023

Valorant patch 6.11 has a wealth of new updates, but Riot has squeezed in a rifle nerf amid major agent changes.

The conclusion of Valorant Episode 6 is drawing near, and Riot Games is rolling out big gameplay changes to fix the meta before agent 23 enters the picture, whenever that is. For this reason, patch 6.11 includes a multitude of notable tweaks, nerfs, and buffs. However, a small change to rifles is now making the rounds.

Vandal and Phantom are the most used rifles in Valorant, and now they are in Riot’s crosshair for a small but impactful nerf to the ammo. Patch 6.11 will indirectly put a full stop to spamming meta, delivering a buff for smokes and other barriers.

Valorant patch 6.11 Vandal and Phantom changes

Currently, Vandal and Phantom boast 75 and 90 bullets in reserve, respectively. But patch 6.11 will change that.

Phantom Reserve ammo adjusted from 90 >>> 60
Vandal Reserve ammo adjusted from 75 >>> 50

This means, players who rely on lucky spamming kills through smoke will no longer have the advantage of getting easy kills. With just 60 bullets in each ammo, even Phantom players will rethink their spam sprays. Currently, many players are wasting bullets because they have plenty in reserve to use on the enemy without reloading. But, patch 6.11 will raise Valorant’s difficulty level for wastrels.

This nerf is also an automatic buff for barriers and smokes. Even though Riot assures that the change may not affect how players get rid of Sage’s wall and Harbor’s Cove, it should still force players to use bullets carefully.

“We’ll keep a close eye on the adjusted ammo reserves for these guns to make sure these weapons are still able to deal with shootables like Sage’s Barrier Orb (C) and Harbor’s Cove (Q).” Riot said.

Valorant players dislike the rifle changes

While this is a welcome change for high-level players, many Valorant players are unhappy, calling it unnecessary. According to them, this change would enable players to switch over to Odin, the annoying but effective spam weapon. This is true to some extent since skilled players won’t feel much of a difference. However, those who relied heavily on spamming would instantly look toward Ares and Odin.

https://twitter.com/Katiekanji/status/1666058720990699521

A lot are wondering why Riot would approve this change when spamming issue isn’t even that bad. Others say Riot should have just patched up the paper walls instead of nerfing the reserve.

The true effectiveness of the upcoming balance changes in Valorant patch 6.11, set to go live on June 6, will only be evident once they are implemented, despite the majority appearing to be against them.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

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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