VALORANT patch 11.08 brings massive updates across all agents and weapons

VALORANT is changing forever in Patch 11.08, which is scheduled to release on October 15th with V25 Act VI.

The updates announced will affect abilities, gunplay, and maps, with the aim of increasing the overall skill ceiling, forcing players to adapt to an entirely new playstyle.

With these updates, it could be dubbed the beginning of a new era in VALORANT. As such, Esports Insider has detailed everything announced below.

Players will now be able to see further while nearsighted, allowing them to counter such abilities more effectively. Notably, this change applies across all Controller agents. Stim abilities have also been slightly toned down to give opponents a fairer chance during fights.

Moreover, concussion durations have been made uniform across all agents, while the fragile effect from Astra’s Gravity Pull has been reduced from 5 to 2.5 seconds. The cooldown for all rechargeable abilities has also been increased to 60 seconds for every agent.

Omen’s Paranoia will now cover a smaller area but travel faster, compensating for the reduced impact range. Lastly, players walking through Viper’s Pit, Poison Cloud, or Toxic Screen will experience less instant HP decay.

Similar to Controllers, nearsighted vision has been increased to seven metres across all roles, and stun durations will now be consistent for all agents except when using ultimate abilities.

When KAY/O’s ultimate is active, gunfire will behave similarly to Brimstone’s Stim Beacon or Reyna’s Empress. Cooldowns for rechargeable abilities are now 60 seconds, and all flash durations have been standardised to 2.25 seconds.

Gekko’s cooldown after reclaiming abilities has been increased, and its Wingman and Thrash now have lower HP. Breach, on the other hand, will have a faster wind-up time for his stun, and his ultimate will now require only eight points.

Vyse’s Razorvines now have reduced HP to allow better counterplay. Her ultimate covers a smaller area and takes longer to activate, while her flash will no longer play a hit confirmation sound cue.

Sentinel barriers have also had their HP and costs reduced. Killjoy’s turret HP has been lowered, and the reactivation delay upon re-entering its range has been increased. However, the turret will now slow enemies more effectively.

Cypher’s tripwires will no longer concuss enemies and will instead only slow them down.

Along with the standardisation of concuss and stim effects, Yoru’s Gatecrash HP has been reduced, and a sound cue will now indicate whether his teleport is real or fake. He will only be able to use his teleport ability during his ultimate. The maximum duration of his flash has been reduced to 1.5 seconds.

Neon will be able to sprint for longer, though her fuel will recharge more slowly. Waylay and Iso are also receiving nerfs. Waylay’s abilities will now hinder players for only three seconds, and both agents will have smaller areas of effect.

Waylay’s ultimate will wind up faster but grant a more minor movement speed buff.

Protected bullets are being adjusted to make shooting more predictable across all weapons except the Guardian. Spray patterns are also being refined to make recoil slightly easier to control. The Spectre’s tap fire has been improved, while the Stinger’s spray will now kick in sooner.

Abyss’ B Site and Mid are receiving layout changes, alongside Pearl’s B Site. Check them out below:

Patch 11.08 will be a massive turning point for VALORANT and its competitive scene. However, since these updates arrive during the Off//Season, teams should have enough time to adjust strategies and refine gameplay before the 2026 VCT season.