Update 2.0 will usher in the next phase in Valorant - Episode 2 Act 1.
The first Act for Valorant's new Episode began on the 12th January and will end on the 2nd March - making way for Act 2 Episode 2.
This next update will bring the usual additions such as a new Agent and Battle Pass.
But, with this being a new Episode, we could see huge changes to the way the game plays and what is included.
We may also see more storylines evolve as we enter a new chapter.
Here is everything we know about Valorant's Episode 2 Act 1 and all the details regarding it.
Click the links below to read all about Episode 1 Act 2:
- Latest News
- What Is Episode 2 Act 1?
- Release Date
- Trailer
- Patch Notes
- New Agent
- New Weapons
- Maps
- Battle Pass
- Weapon Skins
- Bundles
Latest News
Episode 2 Act 2 Patch Notes - 2nd March
Update 2.0 Patch Notes Released - 12th January
Click here to read what's new!
What Is Episode 2 Act 1?
Every Act in Valorant marks the start of a new battle pass, with each Episode being made up of a number of acts.
Each act is broken up into 10 chapters, with each chapter containing five Premium tier rewards and a Free Chapter completion reward.
Each act contains a Premium version and a free version - all players have access to the free version, with the option to upgrade to the Premium Version at any time. The Premium Version will cost money but comes with better rewards.
All rewards that are unlocked are yours to keep forever, but if you fail to unlock them, you will not be able to get them again.
According to Valorant's Revenue Lead, Joe Lee, an Act should take roughly 100 hours to complete - meaning we can expect the next act to be the same.
When Is Valorant's Episode 2 Act 1 Release Date?
Episode 2 will go live on the 12th January 2021.
This is because Riot usually releases major updates for Valorant on a Tuesday.
Most Acts last for two months.
Based on past schedules, Episode 2 Act 1 should release at the following times:
- NA/LATAM/BR - 6 AM PDT
- Korea/APAC - 2 PM PDT
- EU - 8 PM PDT.
The Episode 2 server downtime is scheduled to last 4 hours with queues deactivating 90 minutes prior to shutdown.
Trailer
Patch Notes
The patch notes for update 2.0 are now live!
New Agent Yoru
YORU JOINS THE VALORANT ROSTER
Agent Changes
- BRIMSTONE
- Stim Beacon
- Will now quick cast (no equip time)
- Molotov
- Cost reduced: $300 >>> $200
- Sky Smokes
- Cast range increased: 4200 >>> 5000
- Smoke duration increased:14.25 >>> 19.25
- Sound
- Brimstone no longer makes a sound that enemies can hear when confirming the location of his smokes
- Stim Beacon
- OMEN
- Paranoia
- Cost increased: $200 >>> $400
- Dark Cover
- Projectile speed decreased: 4000 >>> 2800
- Paranoia
Riot has also confirmed that Viper is under close monitoring for a future update.
Weapon Updates
- Classic (Alt. Fire)
- Jumping error increased: .4 >>> 1.0
- Increased input queue on right-click: 0.065 >>> .225
- Firing consecutively now jumps in error, starting at 1.9 for the first burst, 2.5 for the second, and then the third/fourth burst will be at a 6.0
- Right-click now has a recovery curve starting at .1s
Competitive Updates
- New Competitive regional leaderboards (Jan. 12)
- Rank system updated, including rank progress bar, numerical progress, and further distribution changes to make it easier to climb out of the lower ranks
- Immortal and Radiant ranks are now capped at a premade size of two
- New ranked rewards for Episode 1 (pair of Gun Buddies based on your highest Act Rank achieved during Episode 1)
- Many more changes!
Social Updates
- The “Add Friend” button has been removed from the in-game player list
Bugs
- Fixed an issue where Omen could sometimes teleport past the buy phase barriers
- Fixed an issue where Omen could plant the Spike while elevated on a Sage wall
- Fixed an issue where players on the opposing team could be seen on the minimap long after leaving line of sight
- Fixed an issue where the desktop resolution was not restored after alt-tabbing from the game when playing in fullscreen mode, at lower-than-native resolution. Thank you to player fl0m for bringing this to our attention!
- Fixed an issue introduced in the 1.14 patch that incorrectly calculated client ping by including client frametime in the calculation
Known Issues
- Preview videos for weapon levels currently don’t have audio.
New Agent - Agent 14 - Yoru
Riot has revealed the brand new agent Yoru.
You can check out our full piece on Yoru here, or down below are all the keynotes including Yoru's abilities.
- C - Fakeout - EQUIP an echo that mimics footsteps when activated FIRE to activate and send the echo forward ALT FIRE to place an echo in place USE the inactive echo to send it forward
- E - Gate Crash - EQUIP to harness a rift tether FIRE to send the tether out moving forward ALT FIRE to place a tether in place ACTIVATE to teleport to the tether's location
- Q - Blindside - EQUIP to rip an unstable dimensional fragment from reality. FIRE to throw the fragment, activating a flash that winds up once it collides with a hard surface in world
- X - Dimensional Shift - EQUIP a mask that can see between dimensions. FIRE to drift into Yoru's dimension, unable tobe affected or seen by enemies from the outside
Read More: Valorant: Yoru Abilities, Ultimate, And Everything We Know About The New Agent In Episode 2 Act 1
New Weapons
We do not know if Riot plans on adding any weapons for the release of Act 1.
However, we can suspect some buffs and nerfs to certain weapons in the current loot pool for sure!
Price
The Premium Battle Pass for Act 1 will cost 1,000 Valorant Points.
Maps
As it stands, no new maps are scheduled for this update.
Battle Pass Rewards And Weapon Skins
The new battle pass will cost the same as previous battle passes, 1,000 VALORANT Points, or roughly $10.
As always, we're expecting the following rewards in the Battle Pass:
- Gun Buddies
- Sprays
- Weapon Skins
- Variants
Riot has revealed the full battle pass as well.
You can take a closer look at some of the new weapon skins here.
As well, below are some of the marquee items apart of the battle pass:
- Infinity Phantom, plus 3 Variants
- Infinity Classic, plus 3 Variants (earnable at Tier 50 for free by all players)
- Aerosol Operator
- Outpost Melee
- Salt Shaker Gun Buddy
- Choose My Weapon Spray
- Omen and Sage Versus Card
Read More: Valorant Episode 2 Act 1 Battle Pass: Rewards, Skins, Gun Buddies, Sprays, Titles And More
The battle pass is also going to include 12 new weapon skins, 1 melee skin, and various other cosmetics such as cards, sprays, titles, and gun buddies.
Players will be able to unlock several new gun buddies, including salt and pepper shakers, a small giraffe, a bug with a knife, small red ornament, a samurai head, a small Icebox buddy and a throwing star.
A new green and gold skin is being added for the Bulldog, Spectre, Guardian, and Phantom will be available in the battle pass.
The Bucky, Shorty, Operator, and Odin are also getting graffiti-themed skins.
The Ghost, Judge, Ares and knife are getting skins with yellow and green liquid in parts of the weapon.
Other cosmetic items like player cards, titles, and sprays are available throughout the pass, and players can also earn Radiante points to upgrade their skins.
Valorant has been kind enough to tease some cosmetics coming to the game next year.
Bundles
The Run It Back Bundle is going to be a set of skins from previous seasons that Riot is going to give players the opportunity to purchase if they have missed the chance to beforehand.
This allows players to pick up some skins that they may have missed and would love to get their hands on!
Each skin as a part of this bundle will be priced at 1775 VP!
The following skins will be apart of the Run It Back Bundle:
- Sovereign Ghost
- Oni Phantom
- Prime Spectre
- Nebula Ares
- Spline Operator
Read More: Valorant Episode 2 Act 1 Run It Back Bundle: Weapon Skins, Price, Release Date and More