Yoru rework will include updated agent abilities and visuals

Fariha Bhatti Published 11/08/2021

A Yoru rework has been brewing for a while now, and a Valorant developer has finally revealed a reason behind the delay.

After the underwhelming release of Episode One: Act Three’s overhyped hero Yoru, the developer promised to rework the duelist alongside Viper, who saw a similar fate after the game’s release. Riot Games successfully managed to bring Viper to the top of the pick charts since, but Yoru is still an oddity in Valorant who rarely sees use.

The developer assured time and again that an overhaul is in the pipelines, but there hasn’t been any progress shown so far. In the recent patch 3.30, Riot Games acknowledged the delay, but didn’t specify the reason.

“Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the team is going to have to indefinitely delay the Yoru updates. We’re in a situation at the moment where certain resources needed to do this work are unavailable to us,” Riot Games said.

In response to a Reddit post, developer Altombre has explained Riot has pushed back the agent overhaul.

“Visuals, VFX, animation, etc. in our game are really important to land right because of how impactful they are on the gameplay, and since we don’t often have balance changes that require this sort of support, sometimes it can take a little bit longer to coordinate through the whole pipeline,” Altombre said.

The developer has said that tons of Valorant updates are currently on the backburner to allow patch 3.0 to settle in. With the addition of Kay/O and restructuring of the game’s weapons, the Valorant meta is undergoing various changes, and a heavy update would only hinder progress. Thus, Valorant hasn’t seen any major updates yet, including the Yoru rework announced a while back.

Yoru to receive visual update along with new kit

While players were counting on an essential kit update for Yoru, the developer has clarified that art assets are delaying the process. Yoru won’t only be made a more potent duelist, but some visual movement tweaks may also be involved.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a total overhaul, but art/visual assets in our game are very important to get right because of how much they can impede gameplay. Yoru will still be Yoru – it’s not like we’re reworking the whole kit, by any means – but visual clarity is important,” Altombre said.

According to Altombre, the changes to Yoru’s kit have already been made, and the developer is now waiting to implement “art resources.” However, due to the major Valorant events, official holidays, and patch 3.0, the estimated time for Yoru rework is unknown.

Players should expect an updated Yoru to enter Valorant at the end of September since Valorant Masters Berlin runs from September 9 to September 19. It’s unlikely that the developer would tweak a duelist during a major event. Until then, Yoru mains should keep their finger crossed in hopes of a more improved agent.

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.

View full profile