5 major changes in Valorant patch 11.08

Valorant patch 11.08 was recently revealed, and the patch notes were released on October 14, 2025. The update is now set to go live on October 15 or 16, 2025, depending on your region. It is perhaps one of the most dramatic updates in the game's history, which changes everything from the meta to gunplay in the game. The announcement certainly caught fans off guard with the widespread Agent nerfs.

That being said, some changes are more drastic than others. This article will list five of the most important changes made in Valorant patch 11.08.

Valorant patch 11.08: 5 major changes in the new update

1) Rifle changes

The Vandal and Phantom get buffed in patch 11.08 (Image via Riot Games)

The time and percentage of yaw switch for rifles were changed. Yaw switch essentially means the switching of a gun's horizontal recoil from one side to the other. Players may have noticed that the Vandal and Phantom often switch from left to right side during spraying due to recoil.

The way this happens now will be different and less punishing. Finally, the protected bullet count has also been increased. Here are the changes in detail:

• Vandal: Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.37 seconds to 0.6 seconds. The chances of a horizontal (Yaw) switch were increased from 6% to 10%. Finally, protected bullets were increased from four to six.
• Phantom: Similar changes as the Vandal in terms of horizontal (Yaw) switch time and chances, and the protected bullet count was increased from six to eight.
• Bulldog: The Bulldog also experienced the same horizontal recoil switch changes as the other rifles, except the Yaw switch chances were increased to 0.6s<.

2) Yoru gets nerfed

Yoru's ultimate gets heavily nerfed in the new patch (Image via Riot Games)

Yoru has been one of the most dominant Duelists across multiple maps thanks to his Gatecrash teleport and decent flash ability. However, he has been nerfed in the Valorant patch 11.08. Now, Yoru won't be able to use any of his abilities except for the Gatecrash during his ultimate, Dimensional Drift.

The duration an enemy will remain blind after being flashed by Yoru has also been decreased to 1.5 to 2 seconds. This is a part of the ability standardization being applied to all Agent abilities in the Valorant patch 11.08. Essentially, Yoru will now be less powerful and his ultimate will be less rewarding than before.

Also read: Valorant Dolmir's Revenge collection release date and time

3) Ability standardizations

Fade's Prowlers' nearsight radius increased (Image via Riot Games)

As mentioned earlier, Agent abilities have been standardized for the most part in the Valorant patch 11.08. This means that stuns, flashes, and other similar debuffs will all have a similar duration across all Agents, with a few minor exceptions.

For instance, the concuss debuff applied by Breach's Faultline, Astra's Nova Pulse, and Gekko's Wingman will all last a uniform 2.5 seconds each. Similarly, flashes will also blind enemies for only up to 2.25 seconds, regardless of the Agent, with slight variations across different abilities.

Cooldowns will also last longer with Smokes regenerating every 40 seconds for Omen and all Initiator Signature abilities going on cooldown for a uniform 60 seconds.

4) Cypher nerf

Cypher's intel gathering gets nerfed (Image via Riot Games)

Cypher has been nerfed in the Valorant patch 11.08. His Trapwire will no longer tether an opponent and only slow them down instead of concussing them. Enemies will also not be revealed immediately; instead, they will get revealed once the wire finishes winding up. The windup time for the wires has been decreased to 0.9 seconds for PC and 1.9 seconds for consoles. Therefore, enemies will be revealed at 0.9 seconds after getting entangled in the wires.

Dashing or sliding through the wires quickly is still somewhat punishing. In the new patch, moving 4 meters away from the wire after being caught results in an instant one-second reveal, but no tether.

His Spycam will also be more vulnerable and will be revealed to enemies if they move within eight meters of its position with an accompanying audio cue. Enemies in a 12-meter range will also hear the camera more clearly when it is active. Its cooldown upon being destroyed has also been increased from 45 seconds to 60 seconds in the Valorant patch 11.08.

Also read: Best Veto setup on Abyss in Valorant

5) Map changes

Abyss's B-Site gets a major rework in the new patch (Image via Riot Games)

Pearl and Abyss have been modified to reflect major changes in the Valorant patch 11.08. Abyss's long mid corridor now has a different exit, making it more challenging to contest. Furthermore, the B-site was altered significantly to improve the defender-attacker balance during team engagements. There are now more opportunities for a safe plant, but also the same spaces can be taken to defend the site.

Pearl's B-site was changed once again for the upcoming Season 25 Act 6. The deep sightline from B Long was removed, and more cover was added on the site for better direct engagement options. Finally, Breeze is still missing from the new map pool, indicating a bigger problem for the map's return in the near future. According to a Riot Games associate on Reddit, updates are currently being investigated for the map.

Edited by Prit Chauhan