The usual patch cycle of Riot Games' library has finally culminated in a big Valorant 5.0 update to cap off the month of June. Released ahead of time, the Valorant 5.0 patch notes are here to help you navigate what's the come before it truly arrives.
Beyond a new ranked tier and a map that won't enter the competitive pool for a few weeks after its debut, the highlight for some won't be the myriad bug fixes or the pain of another rank reset (which shouldn't be as crippling as previous ones due to the new tier), but the ability to now correctly spray on the A Garden wall on the Haven map. That's important.
For more on the game, check out our piece on the best mouse for Valorant. We're always updating that one with the latest and greatest in clicky input devices. And for a bit of fun (or fury), check out how much you've spent on Valorant with our classic guide.
When Is the Valorant 5.0 Release Date?
Despite the Valorant patch notes going live on June 16, the Valorant 5.0 update won't arrive until June 22.
Valorant 5.0 Patch Notes
Valorant 5.0 Patch Notes
New Content
- New Map: Pearl
- Pearl-only queue in Unrated
- Pearl enters Competitive map pool two weeks after the patch
SPLIT
- Temporarily removed Split from the map pool in Unrated and Competitive queues
COMPETITIVE UPDATES
- Added an additional rank above Diamond, below Immortal, called “Ascendant.”
- We believe our lower ranks have a few too many of you, especially Bronze and Silver. When we were looking at rank distribution, we realized that if we were to move some of you up and out of those lower ranks, it would overpopulate Platinum and Diamond. So by adding a new rank we can better distribute you across ranks, keep the prestige of high ranks, while helping better define the skill level of each rank.
- We believe our lower ranks have a few too many of you, especially Bronze and Silver. When we were looking at rank distribution, we realized that if we were to move some of you up and out of those lower ranks, it would overpopulate Platinum and Diamond. So by adding a new rank we can better distribute you across ranks, keep the prestige of high ranks, while helping better define the skill level of each rank.
- Moved the rank MMR targets that determine rank down, due to the addition of the new Ascendant rank, for all ranks below Ascendant. Moved the ranked target for Immortal 1/2/3 and Radiant up.
- These are the cut-offs that say “You should be X MMR to reach this rank”. MMR targets determine your RR gains and help push your rank to match your MMR.
- Players will go up in rank, if they are below Ascendant.
- To align with our expectations of what it means to be in the highest ranks of VALORANT, Immortal+ players will find it harder to climb back to their previous episode rank.
- Immortal will also have a smaller leaderboard population in all regions.
- Due to the seasonal reset, you may not see a rank increase at the start of the Episode without putting in some work;
- By pushing the player base upwards to fill Ascendant, the reset will not hit as hard as the last Episode reset
- Because of the introduction of Ascendant this time, the next reset will probably push you down more than this Episode’s reset.
- Grouping restrictions for Ascendant are 3 ranks above or below the Ascendant ranked player
- This fits in with our Platinum+ rule set for grouping.
- The highest placement allowed has increased to Ascendant 1 (previously Diamond 1)
- Five stacking 25% RR penalty now starts at Immortal 1 (previously Diamond 3)
- Solo/Duo/5-stack restriction now starts at Immortal 1 (previously Diamond 3)
- Remember, Diamond 3 and above could previously only solo, duo, and 5-stack. This restriction now begins at Immortal 1.
- By adding another rank we were able to push the Five Stack penalty and Solo/Duo restrictions into Immortal. This makes it more straight forward, Immortal is where the leaderboard starts and because of this we try to hold players more accountable for their standings.
- Due to a naming clash with the new rank, we’ve renamed Sage’s tier 8 Agent Contract unlock—the new Sage title is “Dauntless”
- Renaming this title was not something we chose lightly, but after talking about the title we felt like it was a chance to give the title more meaning to Sage and her personality/theme.
BUGS
Maps
- Fixed a bug on Haven that was preventing players from using their spray on a wall in A Garden
Agents
- Fixed a bug where Jett could equip a weapon during Tailwind
- Fixed a bug where Agents revealed by Sova’s Recon Bolt or Fade’s Haunt would sometimes briefly appear in an incorrect location on the minimap
- Fixed a bug where the scope visual effect would sometimes disappear when aiming with Chamber’s Tour De Force
Game Systems
- Fixed a bug where using an Ultimate point orb or defusing the Spike at maximum range could cause channeling and progress bar animations to flicker
- Fixed a bug where the use channeling progression bar does not update if the player disconnects and reconnects during the match
- Fixed a bug where some weapon equips could play the wrong equip speed animation, which could visually misrepresent when you were able to fire. Some situations impacted by this bug were:
- Cypher exiting Spycam
- Capturing Ultimate point Orbs
- Canceling and completing Spike plant
- Fixed a bug where the use channeling progression bar does not update if the player disconnects and reconnects during the match
- Fixed a bug where some weapon equips could play the wrong equip speed animation, which could visually misrepresent when you were able to fire. Some situations impacted by this bug were:
- Cypher exiting Spycam
- Capturing Ultimate point Orbs
- Canceling and completing Spike plant
And that's a wrap on what we can only assume will be a big Valorant 5.0 patch early next week. There's no big new agent release to talk about, but for those already settled on their main for life, a new map to get stuck into is likely the better bit of news right now.
As it mentions in there, the new map won't be available for competitive play until two weeks after the patch launches, but it will have its own dedicated queue to help you really figure it all out before its nooks and crannies start to decimate your ranked standing.
If the thought of people spraying graffiti on the A Garden wall just so happens to be the final straw in your Valorant career, let us show you how to uninstall Valorant. That anti-cheat method makes it a less straightforward process than you'd think,