Valorant Patch Notes 2.02: Release Date, Bug Fixes, Map Updates, News, Leaks and More

Riot's popular tactical shooter, Valorant has been undergoing some massive changes since the brand new Episode released this month.

Now, players are looking ahead to the 2.02 patch which should be coming soon.

Riot has already addressed some changes coming within the next patch, and players are looking forward to these changes. 

Let's take a look at what changes are coming soon! 

Patch Notes

As per Riot's blog post:

WEAPON UPDATES

Rifle Movement Accuracy update (Bulldog/Guardian/Phantom/Vandal)

We've significantly increased the amount of error that all Rifles get when moving and shooting to help combat the sensation of running kills with rifles. These changes will make kills while moving with rifles more rare, especially at longer ranges—but still possible up close. We'll be monitoring this closely and will continue to fine-tune as necessary.

• Running Error across rifles increased 3.75 >>> 5.0
• Walking Error across rifles increased .8 >>> 1.1
• Crouch-moving Error across rifles increased .3 >>> .8

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

• Increased the effectiveness or Rank Rating convergence: players will now converge to their match making rating (MMR) faster, requiring less games to prove their rank
  • This will make it so players get to the rank they deserve in fewer matches.
  • This will help everyone get to a rank/Leaderboard Rank that best illustrates their skill more quickly. We wanted to be a little conservative launching the new ranked system, but believe in some cases you were having to play too many games to reach your intended rank. By doubling the effectiveness of convergence, players on the extreme ends might see 40+ Ranked Rating gains, pushing them to their proper rank faster.
• Players Iron through Diamond who perform exceptionally well in a match (weighed against their own average performance) will gain bonus Rank Rating
  • We want to reward players that “pop-off” in a match, performing above expectations.
  • This will help highlight those matches where you “outclassed” your average performance. In turn, you will rank up just a little faster, and be rewarded for games where you kill it. Remember, this is you doing better than your average, not you doing better than your teammates or opponents.
  • Consider this another system that helps combat the smurfs who do real well in a game. They will now more quickly rank up so that their rank better reflects their skill (along with getting put into higher skilled matches).
• Changed Diamond 3 to a premade size capped at 2 players
  • We needed “proving grounds” before getting into Immortal, and this should prepare players for the leaderboard and create a 5-stack buffer before Immortal.
  • While we value and want to support those of you able to play and compete with your friends as much as possible, we also want to ensure there is a high degree of trust and competitive integrity for players who make it onto the Leaderboard.
  • We want to maintain the prestige of Immortal+, and believe we need a small buffer to ensure players are proving their skill before getting into Immortal. This will prevent 5-stacking just before Immortal, and prepare Diamond 3 players for what they are about to get into. Diamond 3 will essentially become the final proving grounds for Immortal+.
• Your current leaderboard rank will now display on your Career: Act Rank tab. At the end of an Act, your final leaderboard rank will be preserved and displayed on the Act Rank Badge you earned.

MODE UPDATES

• Added a rate limiter to the in-game weapon store to keep players from spamming purchases in quick succession, which caused a potential performance issue
  • The rate limiting is lenient in most modes, but more strict in deathmatch.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug where players could silently plant the spike
• Fixed issues where players couldn’t move after exiting a Sova Drone or a Cypher camera (thanks to you, you, and you)
• Fixed an issue where players couldn’t leave Cypher’s camera view or couldn’t move their mouse (shout out to you and you)
• Fixed an issue where picking up weapons stacked on top of each other, resulted in attempts to pick up both
• Fixed a bug where the Chat Box would remain open in-game
• Fixed a bug where enemy messages would still appear in Deathmatch while the Mute All Enemies setting was enabled
• Fixed a bug where the queue restriction penalty did not always scale properly for players who queue dodged repeatedly
• Fixed a bug that was causing the Promotion screen to show for a shorter amount of time than intended
• Fixed a bug that was showing the wrong Immortal icon in some places
• Fixed various localization issues that made it hard to read text in End of Game screen, Lobby, and Match History for some languages
• Fixed issue where various abilities did not work inside Brimstone and Jett’s smoke, even when they were visible to their target
• Fixed issue with Omen’s Shrouded Step targeting that caused it to get stuck on corners at a much greater distance
• Fixed issue where throwing Yoru’s Fakeout through a teleporter caused another projectile thrown afterward to play the Agent audio instead of the object audio
• Fixed Skye’s Seeker’s not being able to find enemies on the zipline platform on B-Site of Split
• Fixed Yoru getting stuck in various spots on maps when using Gatecrash
• Fixed Sova not playing a proper walk animation right after his Owl Drone ends
• Fixed issue where Omen could swap equipables right after selecting a map location for From the Shadows
• Fixed issue where Omen’s camera could become detached when using Dark Cover in poor networking conditions
• Fixed issue where the Spike could be planted on Sage’s wall on the sites on Icebox
• Reduced brightness on initial visuals when blinded from flashes

Ask Valorant

Riot has consistently posted blog posts titled 'Ask Valorant' since the game released.

These posts detail some aspects coming to the game, along with some development topics they are currently working on.

With the 2.01 patch just released, they posted a new one on the 28th of January detailing some fixes that they are fine-tuning for the 2.02 patch.

Here's what they had to say: 

Q: Last month, you mentioned you’re working on decreasing the running+shooting accuracy, can you update us on the progress or what you are looking to adjust?

We have some changes planned for Patch 2.02 that should help address sentiment on running accuracy with rifles. Keep in mind, we're making sure not to change too many systems at once to ensure that shooting doesn't feel so dramatically different that you’ll have to relearn habits. As always, we'll keep an eye on the change and will continue to adjust as necessary.

Q: At the start of the Act, it seems like I can rank higher and faster with my alternate accounts, whereas I’m stuck in the much lower ranks for longer with my main account. Is the new ranked system working as intended?

We will also be increasing the effectiveness of convergence, expected to hit in one of the next patches. This will make it so previous season Immortal+ players, that still have a high MMR, will start to earn more Ranked Rating per win and less per loss then their lower MMR counterparts. Ultimately they will climb the leaderboard faster, and make it so that the most effective way to climb the leaderboard is to have skill and high MMR. This will affect all ranks, so if you really are hardstuck Silver—but your MMR says you should be Gold or Plat—you will get there quicker.

Unfortunately, one week under the slightly wonky Patch 2.0 system was enough time for top players to rally behind the effort to rely on their alternate accounts for quicker rank. When people played on an alt, they may have been finding matches quicker and ranked up faster. Now, in the long run, their alt will be at a lower MMR and earn less ranked rating per win then they would have if they were on their main account (with higher MMR).

That being said, we know there are a few recent Competitive changes around Episode and Act starts that some of you are unhappy about. We’re looking at adjusting how we place you at the start of a new Act and how quickly leaderboards become available. We’ll also have a more detailed follow up to share ahead of Episode 2 Act II.

Release Date

The most recent Valorant patch, 2.01 released on the 20th of January. So, players can expect the new patch to come within the next week or so, depending on how long Riot takes to optimize the update!