Riot Games is working on changes to several agents, it announced in its new State of the Agents blog post today.
Chief among the adjustments will be a fresh round of Chamber nerfs because of the way he has continued to overtake the Sentinel role and crowd out other agents, even after two sets of nerfs.
“The results in competitive and watching Champions show there is still work to be done here,” the developer wrote.
Riot also wants to combat the perception that Chamber is “too powerful” and a must-pick on more maps than they’d like in pro play. At Valorant Champions 2022, Chamber remains the most popular agent at 68 percent, even though his pick rate has dropped from the ludicrous 77 percent at Masters Copenhagen.
This could mean more clearly defining Chamber’s weaknesses, so there is a more obvious trade-off when picking the French sentinel over other agents like Killjoy or Cypher.
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Chamber nerfs incoming, alongside changes to Fade and Cypher
Chamber’s effect on the ecosystem is negative, according to Riot, because his pick rate goes up dramatically as players get better at the game.
“On the power front, we’ll nerf Chamber in ways that should make the drawbacks of picking him sharper, with the intention that our best players shouldn’t always gravitate toward Chamber,” said Riot.
Pro players appear to have shrugged off the latest round of Chamber nerfs, with OpTic Gaming star Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker admitting that the changes have not really affected how he plays the agent.
Riot may have some even more punishing nerfs in store. The developer said that it would be exploring adjustments that it had been hesitant to make right before Champions, with specific focus on creating “meaningful counterplay options” for his Rendezvous teleporters.
Chamber’s teleporters are currently the best escape ability in the game, eclipsing even Jett’s Tailwind dash. They provide a near-instantaneous escape from almost any situation, which means that teams often have to expend precious utility just to push Chamber off an angle.
Elsewhere, Riot is also exploring changes to Fade and Cypher. The Turkish agent has overtaken Sova as the initiator of choice at Valorant Champions 2022. At the time of writing, she sits at a 54 percent pick rate, behind only Chamber, while Sova languishes at 31 percent.
“While we’re happy to see players have another choice in the role, we also think there are areas — like clearing spaces — where she’s potentially overperforming, so we’ll explore potential tunings to her utility,” said Riot.
Finally, the developer wants to look more closely at Cypher to figure out what updates he might need to find his “proper spot” among sentinel agents. The Morrocan sentinel is currently one of the least-picked agents at Champions at a measly 6 percent.
Meanwhile, Riot is happy with the result of its new buffs to Phoenix. His win rate in ranked has improved, and his flash is now one of the strongest in the game, it said.
You can read the full blog post here.
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