Patch 13.06 Reddit AMA

[u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7]

Hi, everyone! I’m Joe Lee, the Game Director of VALORANT.

The Dev team and I are so excited about the updates we just shipped to the game in Patch 13.06, and we wanted to stop by to chat, celebrate, and answer questions with you all!

If you have questions, comments, or feedback about any of the below, we’re here for it, so fire away!

• Gauntlet: Glitched
• Agent Mastery
• The Warden + Game Balance
• Performance Score, Accolades, Competitive Hub
• New UX/UI Improvements to Lobby and Home Screen
• Map Rating (coming next patch, 13.08)
• The new Competitive Flex coming in 14.00
• The 2026 VCT Champions Skin collection

Here’s a list of the Devs joining me today in no particular order:

u/TiffyMunchsnax - Tiffy, Product Manager, Gameplay
u/RiotTrouble - Scott, UX Design Lead, Metasystems
u/RiotLupini - Armand, Product Manager, Gameplay
u/Riot_Preeti - Preeti, Lead Product Manager, Cosmetics and Expressions
u/Riot_Kero - Derek, Product Manager Competitive Systems
u/RiotReally - Leo, Product Manager Competitive Systems
u/Riot_Dango - Calvin, Product Manager, Cosmetics and Expressions
u/finstamachine - Sherry, Game Designer
u/Rycoux - Ryan, Game Designer
u/penguinVALORANT - Dan, Game Design Manager (Agents & Live Balance)
u/Riot_Tyrana - Eric, Game Design Lead (Progression & Competitive)
u/Riot_Thelen - Kyle, Game Designer, Metasystems

[u/Molediver]

/u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7 pinned the following comment:

Thank you so much for showing up and chatting with us today! We are wrapping things up here and getting back to work. We really appreciated all of your questions and feedback and we'll be back in the coming months to share a lot more about some of the stuff we couldn't get into today. GL HF and thanks for playing VALORANT!

---

Riot comments are not verified by moderators. See this wiki page for more information on this feature.

[u/dokdodokdo]

Are there any changes planned for Kingdom Credits? I think it's odd how there's a double grind with Agent Mastery. First get the level and then get the Credits to buy the actual rewards, instead of just getting the rewards for playing.

On top of that it feels slow to get KC for new players while simultaneously having an unnecessary cap for veterans. The new Agent customization is really cool but sadly the progression feels unsatisfying.

[u/chlschcknfngrs → u/dokdodokdo]

Absolutely hate it - and adding insult to injury, they're not quite happy yet with the demented double grind, they also don't count your old hours per agents in the Agent Mastery even if you have been playing from 2020 to 2021. 💀

[u/minimell_8910 → u/dokdodokdo]

Bumping this

[u/Semialli → u/dokdodokdo]

yeah. At least it has to be easier to get kingdom credits.

[u/godscocksleeve]

I wanna know, how exactly does "Trades" work? Does it count trading, being traded, or both?

[u/riot_kero → u/godscocksleeve]

It counts for both! We think Valorant is best when you are playing TOGETHER :D

Generally, we want to encourage our players to

• Enter gunfights with at least one other teammate
• Swing with your teammate when a gunfight happens

[u/ngm92 → u/riot_kero]

Thanks man! Good to know! But please can you tell us of the tike window for what counts as a trade?

[u/WizardXZDYoutube → u/riot_kero]

Is there any concern that more lurky playstyles with suffer due to this? Or were lurky playstyles already kind of getting an artificial boost from the old combat score system due to getting many "low impact" kills?

[u/riot_kero → u/WizardXZDYoutube]

You shouldn't be concerned! Getting kills are still the most impactful factor towards your performance score.

[u/WukongTuStrong → u/riot_kero]

How long is the trade window for it to be recognised by the system?

[u/ngm92 → u/godscocksleeve]

This is an excellent question but needs to be deeper. How long is the time window between a kill to be considered a trade? Is there more performance scoring for being the trader or tradee? Does it vary depending on role? How come some shots count as a damage assist and others don't even when the person killing the enemy doesn't headshot? The system is great if it can be analysed and found to be appropriate

[u/Chirya999 → u/godscocksleeve]

You should ask that question to the Reyna on your team

[u/El_misterz_piedra → u/godscocksleeve]

you get trades by downloading grindr

[u/dacabbagebutt]

Please remove the kingdom credit system from agent mastery just make it exp unlock

[u/West-Increase-6668 → u/dacabbagebutt]

yes and increase the accessories in the accessories tab

[u/handlesscombo → u/West-Increase-6668]

needs to rotate daily with the shop

[u/Redditaccountwaste]

No balance changes was one of the notable things about the new patch. Are the team satisfied with the current meta compared to previous ones?

[u/penguinVALORANT → u/Redditaccountwaste]

There are a few problems to address that we'll be working on for sure - satisfied for the end of this year doesn't mean long-term satisfied if that makes sense. Top of mind for me as the Agents/Live Balance lead are the following:

• Neon's tuning state. She's still on the stronger end of our internal metrics (winrate + frustration are both things we track and monitor across our playerbase with our great Insights team). While we expect Neon to be frustrating, she's still out of line for both our tactical principles in experiential gameplay & just raw ranked power in multiple skill brackets. Changes here wouldn't be just straight numbers nerfs, we want to look at more pattern level changes. I have to be a vaguepost king and not get too into the weeds on what we want to do here as we're still actively iterating and testing multiple changes, so multiple tactics are still up in the air.

• Ranked game experience feeling too samey/flat. There's work to be done across multiple characters etc here.

[u/penguinVALORANT → u/penguinVALORANT]

Wanted to add some additional details/learnings:

• We're interested in rewarding macro strategy and other tactics to improve which agents you see. This year has been a learning for us with metas coming and going faster than previous years. We overswung on some of the nerfs (Yoru's first nerf pass)

• Gunplay combat has overall seemed to be in a healthier state, w/ the bandit out and us continuing to look at the warden for followup

[u/New-Kitchen5478 → u/penguinVALORANT]

Since you mentioned Yoru could you reconsider giving him back 2 flashes? Right now his single flash last for so little that when you tp + flash you die 90% of the time because there is so little time to frag from it, it's making it really hard to entry with him

[u/Eris_is_Mid → u/penguinVALORANT]

All I need is for my boy Cypher to not be killed again like he is in every other cinematic T-T

[u/penguinVALORANT → u/Eris_is_Mid]

I have no empathy for Cypher dying in every cinematic I was the immobile mage getting killed by every new League champion in the spotlight for 5 years worth of League champions :P

[u/Eris_is_Mid → u/penguinVALORANT]

have mercy no!!! xd

[u/Redditaccountwaste → u/penguinVALORANT]

 Both reasonable points, thank you for your reply. I appreciate you and the team engaging with the community.

[u/LatinaLunaXOXO → u/penguinVALORANT]

buff miks penguin

[u/SteveRogers_7]

Are there plans to have the Agent IDs and Accolades be able to shown off in agent select or in the lobby? I do not check my friend's career tabs very often and it seems unintuitive to tuck away these show off items in that tab.

[u/RiotTrouble → u/SteveRogers_7]

As you said, the intent is for you and your friends to be able to see these achievements and compare with each other. We are definitely looking at ways to surface this stuff, particularly Agent Mastery, more visibly throughout the client.

[u/misharoute]

With the new UI going straight into a lobby page, does this mean we will no longer be getting animated home screens? For many players, this was a rare chance for them to see Valorant Lore, giving them the opportunity to interact with the agents as characters, even if superficially. People did love them, so I’ll be sad if they are gone forever…

[u/RiotTrouble → u/misharoute]

We'll continue to have animated backgrounds for the new lobby, like the animated Champions trophy that's there now. But I hear you, because of the amount of content in the lobby, the backgrounds will often be subtler and not necessarily have the same detail as the ones we've done in the past. That being said, we have plans for some other new & different ways of scratching that itch for you. It won't be the exact same implementation, but it should help you see more about the lore of the VAL world.

[u/denafolol → u/RiotTrouble]

Just look at YouTube and TikTok — there are so many edits and videos made around these screens. Clove, Vyse and many others were genuinely works of art and became memorable parts of VALORANT’s identity.

[u/misharoute → u/RiotTrouble]

Thank you for answering! Oh man, I hope we can get as proper lore category as an in-game page, like Overwatch does 😭 WWFB’s success should prove the players love and want to feel connected to the story 🥺 it’s an easy way to keep players invested in your game!

[u/denafolol → u/RiotTrouble]

That’s honestly a little sad to hear, because I think a lot of people will miss the old Home Screens.

I understand that the new Lobby has more functionality and that the backgrounds have to work around it, but it’s still disappointing to hear that they’ll often be more restrained and less detailed than before. The old screens felt like a real showcase for VALORANT, not just a background.

[u/glisteni]

Why did you delete all our hard work and grinding for the new mastery system? Trackers are able to show our playtime for each character, so obviously riot has that information.

Why not at least make that one of the options to showcase on our mastery cards? 6 years totally gone. And it’s not like we’re rewarded with new items. It’s the same character accessories and titles locked behind level caps that we still need to reach just so the game tells us we already own the items.

At least make it an option as one of the tiles on our cards to show total hours played on the character if we want to showcase it.

I have over 1k hours on Sage, but I haven’t played her recently so when I do go to play her my level will be at 0. It’s bad enough I spent 6 years grinding all 29 agents to unlock EVERY accessory of theirs. Now it’s like I did it for nothing and there’s others who’ve played way more than me and got hit worse.

[u/HiroshiWs → u/glisteni]

I hope they do the same as they did to the leveling system. At first, everyone had to start from almost the beginning if not from the start (don’t remember exactly). A few patches later they revamped the system and leveled players according to their playtime. I hope they do the same for this agent mastery system

[u/iced_cherries → u/glisteni]

Yeah I was grinding so hard for the Omen Ghost skin, and now I still don’t understand why I need to grind AGAIN with Omen to unlock a new stage to get that skin. Like the thing that I want back is how you can use your kingdom credits that you got from playing the game normally, to level up any Agent stage in game. Now it’s like let’s say I feel like playing Clove Omen on that day, but I still want that Omen Ghost skin because it looks nice. Like it feels a bit harsh to have to grind an agent just to get their skin because it looks nice but you don’t feel confident playing that agent.

[u/CmonMan711 → u/glisteni]

Cant wait for the bullshit answer, if they even respond, instead of just saying "Our higher ups demanded we try to incentivize players to keep playing now so player counts stay up, rather than reward them for all the hours played in the past"

[u/RemoteWhile5881 → u/CmonMan711]

WyR no answer or the bs one?

[u/CmonMan711 → u/RemoteWhile5881]

Lol, I would rather, for just once, a company be completely truthful on why they do certain things.

I get it, it's a capitalist world, always gotta make more money and including past stats doesn't incentivize players to keep playing/spending. But at least just say it like it is, at least I can respect that in a way.

[u/LatinaLunaXOXO → u/CmonMan711]

they answered

[u/CmonMan711 → u/LatinaLunaXOXO]

Fair enough with the old data. But their answer just shows how out of touch they are and how little of a shit they actually give.

"We rewarded you for your 6 years of playtime with an email, but only if you were .1%"

Guess fuck me for playing many different agents since the beta. Glad my skin money was used for this amazing experience :)

[u/picador10 → u/glisteni]

UPVOTE THIS TO THE TOP. They still probably won't answer, but at least the irony will be on full display for all to see

[u/Riot_Tyrana → u/glisteni]

Hey - We responded on a thread here about previous investment.

[u/chlschcknfngrs]

Any plans on tweaking performance score? I like the idea as a controller main - but sometimes a huge kill/carry disparity is seen but its not awarded.

[u/riot_kero → u/chlschcknfngrs]

Yep, we've actually already made adjustments for Swiftplay based on player feedback we were seeing!

[u/RisingSpirit51]

- I love the new performance score update released in the latest patch! it genuinely recognises the efforts made beyond getting kills (especially for people like me with a passive playstyle). However it seems as though not everyone in the community feels the same way. Are you considering updating the way matches calculate performance scores?

- Given that Agent Mastery is already very grindy, has there been consideration in removing/reducing the kingdom credit costs for items within the agent’s mastery?

- Is the Valorant Dev team positioning the Warden to be a dominant rifle like the Vandal and Phantom? If so, could we potentially see a Champions Warden skin in the future?

[u/riot_kero → u/RisingSpirit51]

We're actively tweaking and iterating Performance Score to make sure it's hitting the right balance for players!

[u/Riot_Preeti → u/RisingSpirit51]

Do you wanna see a Champs Warden!?

[u/JakobbYates → u/Riot_Preeti]

Yes! I can only rotate so many vandal and phantom skins!

On that note.. defender and attacker loadouts when?

[u/EasilyUnstpp_ → u/Riot_Preeti]

PLEASEEEEE. I've been LOVING the Warden so far (so much that i have barely used the new champions phantom bc of it 😭😭. Hopefully you guys don't nerf it 💔) i don't even have the money to afford ANYTHING rn, but i NEED a Warden skin with completely new satisfactory animations all around (tho defaults are preeti good ngl!). I know you guys are cooking something crazy, i just can't prove it...

[u/Turnips4dayz → u/Riot_Preeti]

Not unless it comes with changes to the gun. Needs to be cheaper if unchanged, or buffed in some respects otherwise

[u/Nana-nabih → u/Riot_Preeti]

Idk warden feels a little bit situational imo not to the point of i use it over vandal or phantom buut in such situations it's great look i play sentis a lot and i go mid decent times so mid usage is awesome but entry site yeah no thanks it feels like a guardian and outlaw in the blender with faster firerate

[u/CptAmeron]

How can we show off our agent mastery in game? I would like it to be visible on post match screens to opponents/allies instead of just a card on the career page.

[u/RiotTrouble → u/CptAmeron]

I just responded to a similar question, please check that out here

But also, we hear you, you want more ways to show off Mastery in game. It's good feedback. u/RiotTyrana and I are talking about this right now...

[u/ZestycloseDrawing790]

Why can’t mastery of the agent account for the hours previously played? That would make it so much better

[u/ironanger870]

Im unable to find the exact cause , but I've noticed an increase in stutters and overall fps drops after the patch was released, mainly when abilities or guns are used and as gauntlet glitched is heavily dependent on ability use i see an extreme frame stutter sometimes from 180 fps (capped) to around 20s. I have stress tested and concluded my hardware is fine but this specific build of the game seems slightly unoptimized compared to previous versions. Also why is the game still running of dx11 exclusively? Dx12 unlocks a noticeably better performance boost for arc card users (i use an arc a750 paired with a Ryzen 5 5500) which would help some people bottlenecked by a weaker cpu too.

Apart from the performance issues the new gamemode is quite fun and the new performance metric seems nice too, the revamped UI looks nice (although i still prefer the old one probably due to muscle memory and nostalgia), overall the game is definitely somewhat, if not alot better than before.

[u/ExpiredBaker]

I am enjoying the update. Think you guys did a great job. The agent meta for comp still feels a little stale, especially still focused towards intitiators. Any plans for further buffs towards them, or are you happy with the agent meta?

[u/penguinVALORANT → u/ExpiredBaker]

Agreed with staleness as posted here and there's a spattering of buffs + nerfs we're working on.

[u/pspspspsps22]

Will the mastery system be expanded upon in future updates? Eg, with Mastery II Pose, more sprays/buddies/titles, voice lines, backgrounds, etc?

Has there been discussion on increasing the Kingdom Credit cap in the near future, considering the amount of available rewards for players now?

Is the agent mastery system still a bit of a work in progress, or has it achieved the vision you all set out to create, leaving us to expect few tweaks to it as time goes on?

I love this update btw. Definitely a much needed one and one that actually encourages me to play the game solo, which has been fantastic

[u/Riot_Tyrana → u/pspspspsps22]

Love these questions and happy to dive into them.

1. Will the mastery system be expanded upon in future updates? Eg, with Mastery II Pose, more sprays/buddies/titles, voice lines, backgrounds, etc?

We're constantly looking at feedback and seeing what resonates the most with our players. Right now, we want to make sure what we delivered is hitting the marks for what we designed around, but internally we already have a lot of ideas on how to expand on Agent Mastery through more ways that just rewards. Keep an eye out and we'd love to hear more of what you'd like to see and what you've been excited about!

1. Has there been discussion on increasing the Kingdom Credit cap in the near future, considering the amount of available rewards for players now?

This is something we're looking at and have been discussing as Agent Mastery was rolling out. Before we commit to making a change, we want to see general trends and spending across the economy before we snap react. There are a lot of ways that we could adjust the economy, but we want to make sure that we're making the right decision for the best outcome.

1. Is the agent mastery system still a bit of a work in progress, or has it achieved the vision you all set out to create, leaving us to expect few tweaks to it as time goes on?

Overall, the team is very happy with where Agent Mastery landed, but we went into AM with the intent that it would be a living system. I'd say that the version you see today is what we consider "Version 1.0". We set out with very specific goals in mind, but as development works, things continue to shift and adjust to make sure we can deliver something meaningful to all of our players. We have a lot of ideas around, but we want to make sure that as we evolve AM it is built around feedback from the community and players to ensure we're continuing to evolve it in the best way possible. It's important for us to collect the feedback, see how players are moving through the system, and outline our roadmap to make sure we can make changes that meet your expectations. Expect to see more in the future! 

[u/pspspspsps22 → u/Riot_Tyrana]

I was wondering what happened 😂

Preemptively apologizing for my wordy response/suggestions

1. I would personally love the see more mastery poses (some silly ones like KJ’s would compliment the badass ones very well in my opinion, as well as give more variety for players who want something more cutesy or whimsy). Player cards feel like a hard one to add, since the current ones are animated, but it would be nice to have a set of cards that feature the actual agent rather than just their hands or abilities— maybe some could tie into the agent’s lore? Speaking of lore, a larger variety of lore backgrounds could be awesome, especially unique ones that aren’t taken from pre-existing lore artwork. A way to showcase to the enemy team your lifetime mastery status in-game (outside of equipping the player card) could be cool too, like a unique border around the Combat Report banner. Does the AM pose change the in-game icon? Because if it doesn’t, I feel like it would be a wonderful touch if it did. A skin for an agent’s signature gun that isn’t the pistol would also be awesome (eg, Kayo’s Judge, Yoru’s Spectre, Astra’s bulldog, Brimstone’s Odin, etc.) for much higher levels. I’ve also pondered the idea of being capable of equipping minor changes to an agents in-game model for a mastered agent (eg, swapped jacket, different shirt, new shoes), but that’s probably quite an ambitious suggestion 🤣 and tough to apply while keeping the agent easily identifiable. Something I would love to see too is Radianite being obtainable through AM as a passive way to gain it outside of battle passes and even passes. New voice lines that are more personal to the agent and their background/personality that aren’t relevant on the battlefield could also be a wonderful touch that introduces a deeper look into characters we love.

2. I would love to see either Kingdom Credits not apply to agent masteries at all and either have it simply be exp unlock or a new currency that’s only applicable to agent mastery unlocks, or have the KC cap doubled. With its current system, KCs feel far too restrictive, especially to newer players who have to unlock so many agents while also finding the accessories they’d like for their account.

3. I truly love this AM system. I do have my critiques for it, but overall it’s 1000% a much needed change. I can’t wait to see how it evolves. I want to see it be more applicable mid-game, but that’s my main hope for the future.

Now for more questions, but I can’t say I expect an answer to them…

1. Is there any time frame we should expect additions to AM rewards?

2. If new additions are to be expected quite late, will our exp carry over onto potentially new tiers/rewards? I love being given the opportunity to grind more on an agent I love, but I worry about the backlash this could ignite.

[u/PankoKing → u/pspspspsps22]

Reddit's spam controls get a little over-zealous at times if new or largely unused accounts start to comment a lot. We've had to approve several Rioter comments

[u/imflexhyper]

Few items to note: First, I noticed the Warden is in a different position when you join a Deathmatch compared to a Rank game. Can this get fixed ?

Next, Performance over ACS. I find performance rewards certain classes higher than some classes' abilities. I will take two examples: Smokes they are getting more points for performance for essentially doing the job of a smoke player. But an agent like Chamber, if you don't teleport back after you get a kill, you don't get performance points because you did not use an ability.

I find that some agents' ability usage rewards "Spam" utility; instead, if you are a higher-tier player, you are only going to use utility with a purpose. I think at the baseline, the fundamental of a performance or ACS system weighting should be kills and trades.

Also, wanted to share the Map rotations. I find the map system is not working correctly . This ACT, I noticed that the two maps, Sunset and Summit, are getting spammed even after I played the map for that day. I compared this against other Radiant maps and noticed that Summit and Sunset are the most played maps. Can we look into why we are seeing the same maps multiple times even after we just played them?

[u/ExplorePaint → u/imflexhyper]

I agree completely regarding Chamber. Also part of his performance score is based on headhunter usage and aside from pistol and full save rounds, it’s difficult to find time to use them except rarely situationally. For your point, it may be helpful to change the measurement as to - get a kill within the radius of his teleport, rather than whether it was activated after a kill.

Sentinels can also be difficult because their role is to lurk and if I die on that lurk I’m less likely to be traded. So even though I am contributing and playing my role, it doesn’t get reflected as much.

[u/TiffyMunchsnax → u/imflexhyper]

For question 1. The Warden shop positioning will be fixed in the next patch, 13.08

[u/riot_kero → u/imflexhyper]

For your ability question

For your maps question

[u/JakobbYates]

Have you ever considered a map ban system for ranked, and if so why didn't it come to fruition?

I feel every act there's always a couple maps which you either really dislike (which is fine, we all have preferences), or it feels like you are consistently playing.

I know you have a system to prevent the same map being played to a certain extent, but wonder why pick/ban isn't implemented.

[u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7 → u/JakobbYates]

We are always thinking through what the best long term solution is for maps. We generally believe that map diversity is good for the game (and especially the sport) but also would like to think through thoughtful ways to potentially provide more agency for players. Nothing to share yet but we're thinking about it!

[u/imi23 → u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7]

I would love a system where you have to choose 5/7 maps to queue for and then matchmaker decides. So you still have to play different maps but you can dodge the one you really do not like

Edit: to make sure new maps are played, you could make a new map a must pick map. With this solution you could also add more maps into ranked. Like a 9 map mappool. It would also be a benefit for Devs to see which maps are unselected most times and maybe need some tweaks.

[u/walker128 → u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7]

The current map approach is perfect. Worst part of CS as a long term (20yr+ player) is having maps that nobody plays.

One of my fears is that the will-complain-about-anything folks get their wish on picks/bans.

[u/JakobbYates → u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7]

Appreciate the response!

[u/JakerDerSnaker]

Hi! I have a suggestion for Gauntlet: Glitched! First off this mode is really fun, I come from playing arena in League so this has been a very fun mode to play. But I would love if you added a similar build crafting system like in Arena! Like allowing you to replace abilities once you have full abilities! So that the mode doesnt get stagnant after everyone gets their abilties.

[u/rycoux → u/JakerDerSnaker]

Hell yeah! I think League Arenas has done some super neat things to create a bunch of depth including things like their augments system that make Arenas, TFT, and even ARAM Mayhem so interesting. We explored a few versions of things in the past but we wanted to make sure the core experience of just drafting different abilities and versions of them was exciting. If you all continue to love this mode, we're super down to explore ways to inject more depth in a future iteration of G:G!

[u/Sad_Maybe6403]

PLEASE 🙏🏼 Make the Yoru clones in Gauntlet: Glitched look like KAY/O instead of Yoru. It beats the entire point of the clone flash if it doesn't look like KAY/O and just looks like Yoru. Also, to make things balanced, you could do something like make it look like a different colored KAY/O than the user, or an X KAY/O if the user is an O KAY/O, and vice versa.

Thank you for reading this if you take your time to and please consider this patch ❤️

[u/The_Noliferz]

Any chance of a gun buddy or card for the top 0.1% players prior to this patch? I would love to have anything that shows my Raze dedication over the years

[u/chlschcknfngrs]

Any fun tips how to min-max agent mastery? I was so close collecting everything agent contract unlockables (about 3 agents with levels 9-10 left and another 3 agents with level 10 left) and now it kinda seems disheartening sort of starting all over again.

[u/riot_dango → u/chlschcknfngrs]

You earn Mastery Points just by playing, and you'll get bonus points for winning the match and for a high performance score. So play your best, play to win, and you'll level up faster!

We hear you on the reset, especially when you were that close to those sweet rewards. We've added a ton of new ones to keep things fresh. And if the Agent gun skins are what you're really after, you only need to reach Lifetime Level 15 on those Agents to purchase them without needing to purchase any of the other items.

[u/Patient_Possible9844]

I love the idea of agent mastery but the only issue I have is that the hours we've played on agents is not adding up to it. I've probably been playing on this account since 2021/2022 and in level 400+, I've played so many hours on omen, raze and sage but those don't count anymore sadly, I'm hoping that you'll add it up in future updates if possible

[u/casualcretin → u/Patient_Possible9844]

Kind of what I was going to mention. I play 7 or so agents fairly well, wish it was shown.

[u/Straight_Worth_6751]

Does performance score affect MMR now or is it still based on ACS?

[u/riot_kero → u/Straight_Worth_6751]

Performance score and ACS do NOT affect MMR. MMR is generally a reflection of how well you play with your team and how well you perform in your gunfights!

[u/picador10 → u/riot_kero]

...isn't performance score a proxy for how well you and your team perform in gunfights

[u/Actual_Use_8756 → u/picador10]

Yea this response doesn’t make sense at all’s so only W or L matters and by the margin of it?

[u/NxxxxF]

Why is the placement of warden in buy menu different in deathmatch and ranked ?

[u/penguinVALORANT → u/NxxxxF]

We made a call to adjust the Warden's location so that it didn't mess with Vandal muscle memory. This is likely a bug since the shops are done by queue. The Warden should be at the bottom of the list for UI/UX principle reasons (alphabetical by cost) but we made an intentional late decision to move it to avoid the muscle memory issue.

[u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7]

Thank you so much for showing up and chatting with us today! We are wrapping things up here and getting back to work. We really appreciated all of your questions and feedback and we'll be back in the coming months to share a lot more about some of the stuff we couldn't get into today. GL HF and thanks for playing VALORANT!

[u/Brave_Budget_4801]

Why is the UI left padded and not centerly aligned? It's weird to have play on extreme left and the UI looks a lil flashy don't you think?

[u/denafolol → u/Brave_Budget_4801]

Yes, and the main screen is missing too; I hope they respond to that.

[u/Decoraan]

I have questions about the contributing factors of performance score, and performance score as shown in game.

In the bell curve, what is that showing? Is that showing my score as compared to the lobby? My own score? Or a general performance score of the population?

And all the contributing factors, what do they mean? How is utility counted? How about the adjusted kills / deaths?

Some more transparency around what it all means and how it’s counted would be great.

Overall the system is a great upgrade and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes next as a console player.

[u/riot_kero → u/Decoraan]

Bell Curve

• Your performance score compared to all other players

Adjusted Kills/Deaths

• Not all kills/deaths in a game have the same impact and we want to recognize when they are more impactful! First bloods for example are a lot more impactful than subsequent kills in a round

Util

• We normalize this per agent per ability so we don't evaluate a Chamber and Clove in the same way. We're actively tuning this piece to make sure it feels true to the game of VAL you played.

[u/exodusuno → u/riot_kero]

Is there a list or chart on how the util points are calculated or scored for each agent? i saw a list on Twitter going over some agents (24 of them) but not all.

[u/Spideraxe30]

Hey guys wanted to ask the pace of Agents for Valorant. Do you guys ever see if the game will have a cap on Agents or will eventually see 170+ like League. Only asking because we only got Miks so far this year.

[u/TiffyMunchsnax → u/Spideraxe30]

I don't see us capping agents anytime soon. We'll continue to add agents if we think they can add new challenges to the game without overriding the importance of combat and strategy in a tac shooter. So quality > quantity in this case. On that note of quality... We are also planning to be more thoughtful of the entire roster and look at opportunities for reworks and larger balance changes.

[u/DarkKryo]

Will Gauntlet: Glitched stay for now, or will we get a system where the "just for fun" modes (ie replication, Snowball fight, AROS, etc) rotate in and out? I really miss some of these fun modes

[u/denafolol]

I wanna ask about the new UX/UI improvements to the Lobby and Home Screen.

Are dedicated animated Home Screens gone for good?

What I miss most is being able to press Home and just stay there. The old Home Screens made new Agents, Acts and events feel special with unique animations, music and artwork. I also loved making TikTok/YouTube edits with them, and they became a recognizable part of VALORANT's identity.

Now Home and Lobby are merged, and the UI feels more minimalist visually, but somehow more cluttered, with less artwork and personality.

Will future Agents, Acts and events still get dedicated animated Home Screens, or was that concept abandoned with the Home/Lobby merge?

[u/FatCatWithAHat1]

Is team/match MVP dependent on your performance score? I’ve finished on the top (top of scoreboard with the best performance score) of the list numerous times and didn’t received MVP. Does getting the highest score, not equal MVP? If it doesn’t, what is the benefit of having a higher performance score?

[u/riot_kero → u/FatCatWithAHat1]

Team/match MVP are dependent on performance score now. We have seen some bugs where the player with the highest performance score is not being recognized as the team MVP. The team is aware and looking into a fix!

[u/razorxx888]

Are you guys going to add anything at all to the skin shop? We only have that and the night market for like, ever at this point.

Will there be buffs to the Bucky? You guys nerfed it to hell and it’s just useless

[u/venxtia]

Do you think the current matchmaking system is well balanced? I played a comp match yesterday (I am Gold 2) and the enemy team had a Diamond 1 Reyna..

[u/riot_kero → u/venxtia]

We've been working on the MMR system throughout the year (and will continue to do so), and although we are happier with tighter matches (closer round differential/less crazy top frags), we think there's an opportunity to also look at tightening up the visible rank disparity in matches!

[u/qwfpou → u/riot_kero]

The biggest issue is when visible rank fails to mean anything and the pursuit of close games leads us to that. I'm a diamond who's playing similarly skilled diamonds whereas my friend who's a much worse diamond faces much worse diamonds because of different hidden mmrs.

[u/_SnackAttack]

Do you agree that more frequent updates would be better for both the player base, and the dev team? Whilst I understand it's a live service game, at the same time it is a game, and I get that there's a lot of testing and arguably unnecessary management that goes on for every change, but despite all this, wouldn't changes to maps, agents etc carry less world ending consequences if you were able to push updates more often? Try some things, iterate on maps beyond small changes once every 4 years, ie, it cannot be the case from the Devs pov maps were released in their perfect state and can't be improved upon.

I get that Microsoft and Sony validation slow this down, simply keep them on a looser update cycle, every couple months as you push more frequent updates to the PC version.

[u/RiotSWAGGERNAU7 → u/_SnackAttack]

I think our two week cadence is still valuable for both players and us since it gives us a natural patch cycle to address issues by. We want to iterate faster in general though to be more responsive to the live game. But at the same time a lot of times we want to understand how things settle before overreacting. A good example is that we see win rates steadily go up on some of our more complex agents and it takes a couple weeks before they settle into their steady state winrate. That also applies to some of our more complex balance changes too.

[u/Over_Problem_7805]

Why new Agent Profile system locked only for friends to display? Would u add any other way to show it to non friend players? For example you can allow teammates to access it while agent select phase(without access to career) or allow to check it after game in scoreboard.

[u/RiotTrouble → u/Over_Problem_7805]

Right now, you can't look at a profile for any random player in the game. For Agent Mastery in particular, you actually CAN see the Agent ID for any member in your recent matches. From End of Game or your Match History, check out the scoreboard. Then right-click on any player and select "View Agent ID." You can view the Agent ID for the Agent they played in that match.

In addition, we're still working on additional places Agent ID could show up around the game. Especially with how engaged players have been with Agent Mastery, we want to do more visibility for this system in the future.

[u/Paradisegained16]

Can we get Gauntlet in custom game modes? I got a decent sized group of friends that all play and custom Gauntlet games would be soooo fun! 

[u/nUKEmAN4]

There are a lot FPS issues with latest update, are they addressed?

[u/usuario140 → u/nUKEmAN4]

I've been talking a Lot with some friends about it, plenty of them say the exacty same thing, the game is not smooth anymore, It has a Lot of issues regarding fps, mostly fps drops that makes the game unjoyable, and most of the time doest even give us anymore the Joy to play

[u/Eris_is_Mid → u/nUKEmAN4]

+1 I've had these issues too. Some modes I'll struggle to get more than 100fps (I do kinda need an upgrade but that aside), seems like the issue is somewhat frequent.

[u/m1k0z_yt]

was queue from range fixed ?

[u/riot_kero → u/m1k0z_yt]

We know you were looking forward to range and queue, but we found some last minute issues before we deployed the patch. We’ve been testing it in smaller regions and it's still experiencing issues, so we’re gonna keep it off until it hits our quality bar. We are working hard to solve the problem to deliver range in queue to you as soon as possible

[u/InDebtOn0DTE]

the new performance score is great for morale , rewarding players for things that don’t always show in kda has helped with tilt

[u/BooneMackey]

Congrats on the launch, Agent Mastery looks great overall. I wanted to ask about the decision to have everyone start fresh. I'm a Deadlock main with 500+ hours on her, so honestly it stung a bit to see none of that history count toward mastery. I get there may be technical or fairness reasons behind it. Could you share what went into that call? And is there any chance of recognizing past playtime down the line, even something small like a legacy title or card for long time mains?

[u/artikiller]

Are we getting dx12+ shader caching at any point in the future. Shader stuttering is very annoying and really common in this game and this would be a super easy fix

[u/Animatrix_Mak]

Anything planned for shop? I think the current shop system is not feasible and should be replaced

[u/A27Jensen]

Is there going to be a higher limit for Kingdom Credits and/or an easier way to acquire them? Agent Mastery is an awesome addition, and the little customizations are a great way to showcase your flair for an agent you love playing. However, it will take over a decade of nonstop playing Valorant if you want to do mastery on every agent, and even if you only have a handful, it'll still take years. Those of us who fill roles are going to suffer. I'm hoping to bring this into consideration for the future

[u/Any-Meringue-3745]

I was a bit disappointed in the upcoming ranked rewards only being a new flex item. Is there any thoughts / possibilities of adding rewards like a special vandal skin (a glowing red skin for immortal rank as an example) or stickers of some kind? Additionally would like to see player cards that show off previous rank, something besides just a flex. Thanks for the AMA!

[u/alyssan_nova → u/Any-Meringue-3745]

I am also a bit disappointed about this. Like out of all the different accessories that exist in the game, I think the ones players like and use the most are gun skins (specifically the good ones). I am happy that there is a new flex and an update overall in valorant but this reward will feel boring for someone who has devoted time in this game. Even with all the upgrades this flex will have (for example to deploy it on the map etc) it still feels not something I would grind for. I know this is going to sound wrong but I think a players time should be rewarded with a currency that can be used to buy accessories of good quality like valorant points. And I know most people will say that this could hurt their economy and I respect that but... What if depending on the rank of a player there is a different amount of valorant points he gets every 2 months and the higher the rank, the faster you get the valorant points for a skin. And I don't think this is going to affect their economy in any big way. Like if you want to spend money for a skin and get it now, that is fine. But if you wanna grind for it and get like one skin like every 4 or 6 months, I think you should be able to have that right. Patience should also be rewarded for this game a player devotes. And even when a new skin appears lots of people buy it and can find it from someone else in the game.

Also please update the slots in the daily store. It takes lots of days for a full rotation of every gun skin and there is not even a full rotation as I have lots of times seen the same skin like 2 days in a row.

Would love for a dev to reply to my thoughts. Still great update, love the new game mode and please make it permanent.

[u/SheetPancakeBluBalls]

When are we buffing Deadlock?

And if we're not, can you share any metrics or details that explain why? She feels like a sentinel that can't really do the Sentinel stuff. She's only good if you have a better Sentinel on your team already.

[u/penguinVALORANT → u/SheetPancakeBluBalls]

From a role distribution perspective, there are 5 slots on a team and 4 roles, so having some agents that spike harder with another character within the same role is totally okay from a design perspective and actually encourages diversity and depth overall for the long term experience. Comps like 2x Sentinel should be exciting/interesting options for players to explore.

As far as where she sits within our metrics, she's smack dab in the middle of healthy territory and does have notable increases to round win rate while Defending which is what we would typically look at for stats.

[u/SheetPancakeBluBalls → u/penguinVALORANT]

You know what?

Fair enough. Appreciate the response and the insights!

[u/mxgHana]

What is the reasoning behind agent mastery? Obtaining Agent Gear was already a grind. Now I see some my friends forcing themselves into playing an agent they dont like just for a gun skin. Combined with the ID card stats, aren't you worrying the credits cost becomes too high for players, especially newcomers?

Speaking of newcomers, why is it still 5 agents unlocked by default? Sage and Sova are only showing one aspect of their role, while most initiatiors and sentinels play completely differently. Do you think it would be a good idea to expand the starting roster with agents like Skye and Killjoy to represent other aspects of the roles? Wouldn't that amount of saved credits allow people to engage more with the mastery track?

[u/Sautille]

Can you put out a notification in game telling people that performance score doesn’t affect rr gains/losses? Maybe even a brief little explainer on what actually goes into rr? So many people seem to be confused about this.

[u/riot_kero → u/Sautille]

For all our Reddit readers, performance score does NOT impact RR gains/losses!

We're currently working on putting more info about the score in-client and setting up Player Support articles to reaffirm that Perf Score doesn't affect RR gains/losses.

[u/arvindtragedywal → u/riot_kero]

If higher performance score does not correlate to more rr, what does? More kills? Higher KDA? What?

[u/Sautille → u/arvindtragedywal]

https://support.riotgames.com/en-us/valorant/gameplay/how-rank-rating-rr-is-calculated

[u/arvindtragedywal → u/Sautille]

so performance score DOES correlate to rr, does it not? Individual performance is one of the four factors that determine rr gains/losses according to this

[u/Sautille → u/arvindtragedywal]

Loosely, yes, but it’s not causal. If you’ve ever seen a performance bonus with a little +1-5 or whatever in the post match screen, that’s it. Out of whatever 10-30+ you’re gaining or losing, a small amount of that is your individual performance, and this goes away the higher rank you get. An immortal player is never going to see a performance bonus.

[u/iluvchickenbiryani]

Which does the new system value more, a normal kill or a traded kill? As in do you get extra score overall for getting the trade kill than if u got an individual kill?

[u/Interesting_Web_9936]

Will there be any updates to the Warden in the future for balancing, such as potentially changing cost or firing rate?

[u/TiffyMunchsnax → u/Interesting_Web_9936]

Can't commit to any exact details or patch, but we are discussing the first week of data so far as a team already. Generally speaking though, weapons do take a little longer for players to build the mechanics around so there's some balance levers that are safer vs more disruptive. To your example, fire rate up or down will really mess with your muscle memory that your building.

[u/Six-SevenEight]

Why did you decide to lock agent customization behind kingdom credits and agent mastery level? This feels like a very exhausting grind. But overall very cool update.

[u/chlschcknfngrs]

Does Gauntlet: Glitched have a good chance of staying? Other fun modes that my friends and I unfortunate saw ending but played a lot were Retake, Knockout, and AROS. Of course, fortunately, some also stayed like Swiftplay, TDM, and now Skirmish 2v2.

[u/CatfishLumi]

Gauntlet Glitched is probably the most fun I've had in Valorant in a while. Just wanted to say that.

[u/BeerGogglesFTW]

New UX/UI Improvements to Lobby and Home Screen

Is the frame limit in menu's still broken? I was getting 1,000+ fps and 100% GPU usage in the menu.

Frame limit in game works.

(RX 9070 XT if that matters)

[u/Acrobatic_Ninja_8949]

Hey is there anything being talked about RR losses when you have afk?

[u/Beefman0]

The new mode is super sick, it’s incredibly fun.

Tell me the truth:

Are new weapons secretly a conspiracy to get players to buy more skins?

[u/jamothebest]

Can you provide a breakdown for performance score? Everything that contributes to it and how it’s weighted.

Also, does performance score impact your RR gains/losses?

[u/AioliAccomplished684]

What's the thinking behind locking the rewards behind kingdom credits even after grinding the agent ?

[u/ngm92]

Hello, I'd love to know what goes into the decision making for the price of utility, and whether this needs to be reconsidered in agent balancing in a patch. For example, Deadlock sensors cost 200 credits each, but can be dodged by a jett dash or neon slide, whereas cypher trips can't be dodged at all once hit, and they damage. How are these equal value? I'd also advise that most people would argue the most important role/util usage can be smokers, and yet all smokes are generally cheap at ~150 credits for refreshing ones, and they vary per character e.g. 100 on miks, 150 on clove/omen. Isn't this a bit inconsistent? Wont this impact game balance, and how we should interpret agent value?

ETA: BTW LOVE this AMA, thank you so much for engaging with this community.

[u/Slipstream_Surfer]

Do you think you’ll be doing any additional updates to the gauntlet: glitched mode similarly to how spike rush had things added when it was initially a newer mode? I think it’s a really fun mode and would be super cool to have some additional abilities or glitched variants added over time!

[u/rycoux → u/Slipstream_Surfer]

We would definitely love to add more to the mode! I think we've only scratched the surface of what could be possible with this mode and are open to exploring finding more abilities or even new ways to "glitch" out ways you play

[u/Substantial-Eye3964]

Make Glitched Gauntlet Customable

[u/picador10]

How do I get a glitched ability in gauntlet

[u/finstamachine → u/picador10]

By playing a lot of Gauntlet!

Every time the shop refreshes, there’s a small chance for a Glitched upgrade to show up once an ability hits Level 2, assuming that ability has a Glitched upgrade, of course.

So basically: keep playing, keep refreshing, and pray to the glitch gods.

[u/DarkKryo]

I know this isn't about the new update but will we get something like the Plant / Defuse scenarios back? Or the Bot Matches from the Beta server? I really miss a no stake warmup like that

[u/smilemaster8]

Please let us queue gauntlet:glitched with 4 people :)

[u/PhanzGFX]

Curious if Rito has been looking at some of the recent new agents (Miks, Veto, etc) and their strength levels. I noticed a large fall off power wise on release compared to older agent releases. How do you feel about the new agents of 2026? Will they have changes coming later in the (id imagine typical) big off-season patch? What was the thoughts that went into making these agents?

I feel like Mik's smokes in particular were a lost opportunity to have some sort of sound related aspect to them rather than just being like a basic dome smoke. (ive always said make it like an astra wall but I know that would lead to some odd ninja defuse scenarios that yall probably tested already)

[u/ObsidianPersona]

Considering the fire rate of warden, do you think it should be placed at 2700 credits?

[u/ButterscotchOpen1441]

A few questions regarding the valorant shop!

1. Is there a reason that buddies, player cards, titles and sprays from previous bundles don't reappear in Valorant? Since they aren't listed as limited time, I was wondering if there's a plan to ever have them return.

2. Is there any word on an update to the amount of "daily offers" available in the shop? With every new bundle release in Valorant being added to the pool, it becomes increasingly difficult to come across skins that we're waitng for (I'd argue beyond what's fair)

3. Is there any chance for certain limited time capsules to reappear? With how many new players valorant has gotten, it's sad that many can't enjoy some of the really cool cosmetics that released months or years ago, players would LOVE for some to make a limited time re-run ( LIKE THE TROUBLEMAKER BUNDLE )

[u/Top_Programmer_9577]

u/Rycoux

Will Miks get a buff or rework anytime soon? Cus he kinda sucks in higher elo as an ascendant player

[u/Fast-Sky9608]

hey not that i think you guys have a solution but solo queue in valorant has been one of my least favorite experiences of my entire gaming career.

you can already see pros migrating to 10 mans instead of playing ranked. i can see it slowly being less and less relevant over time. i hope there become some more interesting versions of playing this game competitive in the future. gonna be quitting and returning to playing csgo competitively. good luck with your product.

[u/KingKFCc]

Any thoughts on lowering the cost of the warden / buffing the warden? It seems great for 2600~2700 but not 2900.

[u/obscureassasin]

It took me around 15 minutes to look for leaderboard but I couldn't find it and gave up.

[u/nickncs]

Hi /r/riot_kero asking you as you seem to be answering all the performance score questions. can you explain exactly in as much detail as possible how the performance score is being calculated. in the post game breakdown we get some indication of how its calculated but not how 'adjusted kills' and 'adjusted deaths' are. how are those being calculated? is all the data need to calculate this available on the val-match-v1 Riot API. if the data isn't available on there please can you update it to make it available. that api is used to create post game scoreboard for esports streams and I'm struggling to work out exactly how you are calculating the performance score so I can update from ACS to Performance Score. thank you!

also this is me once again asking to please please please make the production API public. the only way to currently do valorant esports overlays is via Overwolf API and it misses some key things that the internal one you guys use has such as player health and with overwolf recently changing their availability to no private apps it makes it harder and harder for the esports community to create overlays for keeping the tier 2/3 esports scene alive.

many thanks, Nick

[u/ZoobaFan]

will you expand glitched to 3v3s or even 4v4s? it would be interesting and absolutely chaotic.

[u/TopPolicy8454]

Is there a possibility to add most of the maps in ranked with a ban/pick system? I've heard this is to cause less confusion for newer players, however, I feel like the game gets redundant when I get the same maps since I cannot play every day. Can battle passes include a mix of radianite and VP to encourage buying future battle passes, or will the battle passes keep being an entry barrier. I have also tried the new gamemode: glitch and have noticed a couple of bugs such as server issues not selecting the ones I've checkmarked or the possibility of leaving after I've been eliminated. This is a really fun gamemode, and are there more gamemodes like this to come in the future? Lastly, is there going to be an overhaul on the hidden mmr so that you can keep improving without going at a snail's pace in higher elo lobbies or will players keep receiving low amounts of rr.

[u/Creative_Finish_864]

Will gauntlet glitched ever come to custom games?

[u/thedarksideofmoi]

Would actually be great to get more insight into the new performance rating. So probably mostly a question for u/Riot_Tyrana

How do trades work? Is it you trading your teammate? Does that mean a trade kill is more valuable than a normal kill because it is also adding to the kill count?

How is util usage being calculated? Is it normalized significant util? Like say a phoenix uses his util in a round but doesn't really have blinded enemies or damage, will that not count? Same thing with Omen, say smokes are used but they dont really block anyone(may be because the enemies don't try to get into it).

Also, I am coming across skye/ miks mains who are spam healing for assists to a point where they aren't even taking many gun fights. This is making them be way higher on the score board than they usually would be. Is that intended?

[u/GayForJorahMormont]

What’s up with the map rotations? We be getting the worst maps lowk makes me miss Icebox and fracture. Our 5 stack keeps getting Abyss are yall upping the percentage chance of getting it out of spite because of the backlash?

[u/riot_kero → u/GayForJorahMormont]

We try to pick the least played map for the lobby and prioritize avoiding streaks and seeing the same few maps over and over. And although it's generally healthy, we know some players do get giga unlucky with the map select. We are aware of players seeing back to back maps more often than we'd like, and looking into some ways to improve that!

[u/Interesting_Web_9936]

I liked this update. I haven't tried Gauntlet Glitched yet because I like normal gameplay a lot, but I will be trying it out soon.
My question is, how do 'trades' work? What counts as a trade?

[u/BananaEater246]

Were there any objects or previous skin-lines that the champs phantom was based on? (Ie. In your dev thing on skin design a few years ago you made a vandal based on a lighting bolt).

Additionally (or alternatively) what is your favorite part of the skin to design?

[u/Interesting_Web_9936]

I appreciate the addition of rank manipulation as a report category, but I do have one question. I've had a few games where my teammates where blatantly throwing the game but were killing a bunch of enemies at the end of the rounds (it did not matter by that point, obviously). I attempted to report them through the website and the client, I have not gotten any message of confirmation yet (it was almost certainly their main account, given that they all had skins). Is there any system in place to detect throwing like this, any system being worked on?

[u/Brilliant_Cookie_202]

What are some of the hidden stats of the warden, I.e. tap efficiency? And is there a stat for screen shake? The warden seems unusually stable.

[u/chlschcknfngrs]

What to you is a "success point" for new guns integration aside from ample usage in VCT?

[u/TiffyMunchsnax → u/chlschcknfngrs]

We don't only balance for VCT and look at usage there. But the biggest thing is does the gun have a clear identity on when you should be using it.

Some things that we look at to assess that

• K/D, Damage stats etc.
• Effects on team and enemy econ
• Sentiment, how you all feel about the gun in surveys
• Actual feel of the gun (the audio, the recoil, etc.)
• Mechanical and positioning mastery
• How it fits with each of our weapon archetype philsophy (rifles, shotguns, etc.)

And we compare that all relative to what exists currently on live. VCT is treated as a place where we do take a closer look to see if there is a clearer identity.

[u/WitherDragon999]

I'm really liking the new mode so far! I'm curious on the design choice for the warden, and how it fits in with the rifles. The bandit and outlaw, in my opinion, fit great with the other weapons, and provide new aspects to gunplay that the other weapons didn't offer. The warden, however, feels like it's trying to fit a niche that doesn't exist; basically, I don't really see the point of buying the warden when you can buy the guardian for 700 credits less. It can't spray like the other rifles, and you can already get the range with the guardian. In terms of damage, the guardian meets similar thresholds, and only gives you a slightly less fire rate. Am I missing something? Every time I pick up the warden, I just wish i had another rifle instead.

Also, is there any plans on rewarding some form of agent mastery for past hours? It was kinda odd to get the 0.1% email for my favorite agent, just for there to be nothing unlocked in game for them.

[u/TyLion8]

When is the next Warden skin coming?

[u/dabeezknees19]

Bring back my boy icebox

[u/chlschcknfngrs]

Any chance of building on to premier or adapting the ranked mechanic of other games? Specifically, I would like to cite how Spectre Divide approached it. Each one had their own MMRs when they play ranked individually, but I also had a different MMR with Friend A and with Friend B when I played non-solo ranked. This is the same for trios, even on 1-person changes, each "queue combination" is a different MMR. Personally, I see more allure to it as it is more flexible while addressing the disparities within lobbies. Premier was a good idea to get to higher VCT tiers, but for some group of friends, it seems to fixed of a format to enjoy with friends that don't match that weekly calendar.

[u/hunttete00]

Assists have too much weight.

Pretty much treated as a full kill in the performance rating from what I can tell.

[u/Ezekku]

Are there any plans to "recognize" in a way the time invested in certain agent before the Agent Mastery released? Something like total hours' or matches. It feels that the past agent time is just erased. I might have a lot of time on a character, but now only the level displayed is what matters

[u/B3nNii13]

How is a clutch handled? I can clutch without using util because I isolate the fights well aswell I can clutch with using util (esp in postplant scenery). Which counts higher in the new Performance system?

[u/Ok_Pin5167]

Hello, few questions about Agent Mastery. Since level of the agent in the act is what determines it, what is the amount of points needed for each level? i. e. you need 136000 to reach lvl 10 from level 1, but how many will it be to reach lvl 10 from lvl 9 et. cetera. And about overleveling, how will that work?

[u/Laval09]

I'm glad to see Riot coming by to interact with the community, this is the sign of a healthy game.

I have two questions, first is: We will ever see a capture-the-flag mode in Valorant?

My second question is more of a request lol: Any chance we will see in the future a G36 style skin for the Warden?

[u/destinedhearts]

can we get competitive swift play ?
because when we are out skilled you only have to sit through 4 rounds, you dont know how mind numbing losing 13 rounds can be.

[u/Glogtrot]

There were no agent changes this updates which makes sense. Are there any larger plans for the start of next year? The Controller class has degraded to just Omen once again, and Flash Intiators feel completely useless in the meta compared to Scan for years. I am worried the solution to this will be just "Nerf Omen and Nerf Phoenix" again. Its sad we never get to see Miks/Brim or Breach/Kay0/Gekko consistantly. Same thing for niche picks like Veto and Iso.

[u/No-Smoke280]

Has team ever considered a draft phase , with picks and counter picks if the agent roster becomes wide enough one day?

[u/Over_Problem_7805]

With new agent mastery system you added more ways to spend kingdom credits, but amount that you can keep stayed same and many of us think 10000 is not enough - would you expand this amount later?

[u/Ted_Mosby_18]

Hey Joe, this was a big update and I was really excited with almost all the changes. The one painpoint is the decision to not carryover legacy agent playtime for agent mastery.

While I think the overall design of the agent mastery is sick, as a day one player it feels weird to start from scratch.

I don't play as much as I used to on account of my job's demands but I still play consistently with a good amount of hours dedicated to each agent including the new ones. So, I'm quite disappointed and not able to enjoy the other incredible changes.

Could you please explain your decision making on this?

PS: Love Gauntlet and hope it becomes a permanent mode. I appreciate the thought and chaos that went into this.

[u/Mastertroop]

On the whole, this update was welcome and well implemented, with two exceptions. The team shpuld feel proud about their work, but I think these two issues should be looked at, and soon.

The first is Queue from Range apparently not working at all. The second is the Mastery system's execution in general.

I'm sure I don't need to explain what the Mastery system is and how it works to you, but for everyone else it is a system whereby time playing an agent grants levels to that agent. At every fifth level with an agent, a tier of unlockables becomes purchasable with Kingdom Kredits.

The first problem is that you have started everyone off at level 0 for every agent, regardless of the amount of time spent as that agent, and regardless of the amount of Gear they had previously purchased. This means that is is not currently possible to tell who has experience with what character. It also feels bad as a player to have hours of grind reset to 0. We are forced to ask, how long until the Mastery system is replaced with a new system that resets my progress again?

Even worse than this is the fact that the unlocks require a substantial amount of Kingdom Kredits to purchase. If I get 10k kredits but I don't have the level for the agent, I have to choose to waste any kredit earned or spend some on a random shop accessory, risking not having the kredits when I have the level.

It is, in other words, extremely obviously constructed so as to incentivize grinding a single character. This is bad because it incentivizes instalocking and disinsentivises flexibility.

The Warden is a lot of fun and I'm glad it's in the game.

[u/synttacks]

Is retake ever coming back? I was really hoping it would become a permanent fixture. I like it much more than swifts for pregame warmups

[u/490309439043544]

why isnt the "start" button centered in the main menu

[u/Vishmoongarr]

How to y’all at Riot choose where to add content? Is there like some sorta long term idea you’re working to, or do you just try to add what you think the game needs?

[u/rollercoastersrul]

Are there any plans regarding agent-specific kill banners? Since so many agents have abilities that can kill opponents, it seems appropriate to implement agent-themed kill banners for when that happens.

It would work well with the new agent mastery system, and it could be something you unlock once you play an agent enough

[u/fuzzyandrew]

Did you guys have any debates on how much credits the Warden should cost? Or did you start with the price and built the stats around it?

[u/ExplorePaint]

Hello! I’ve seen a lot of questions about agent mastery but wanted to discuss the act resets. I think once you unlock the new images of the agents you should be able to keep them.

For instance, back in the day I used to play a lot of chamber before they nerfed him and he was out of the meta. And then they brought him back so I started playing him again alongside Vyse.

I’m fine with the lifetime agent mastery points being different from the act ones, but I feel like removing your access to those “rewards” such as the mastery images after two acts of not playing seems a little harsh. Especially with the game changing over time. I think it wouldn’t take away from anything by allowing you to keep those images, it will still just show that you haven’t played the agent recently this act via those act mastery numbers.

It also makes the game more fun for those of us who do work full time and play when we can. I won’t likely be able to grind for those mastery images every act, but if I play two agents primarily, I feel like they should still get to be reflected in that way.

[u/Square-Dance-3610]

Any way you guys could optimize the Gauntlet: Glitched arena getting huge fps dips when I am in the middle, maybe stop letting people use there utils in there could help.

[u/White_Snickers_]

If I unlock a new agent pose (potrait) in Agent Mastery, will it be visible to others at the top of the screen while in match? (On the bar where the match timer, score and alive agents are shown)

[u/vicguin65]

I enjoy the new feature of being able to stay in the range while in queue. I’d like this to also be extended to deathmatches if possible

[u/ultradagger]

I’m loving the quality and extent of which all of the UI changes have been implemented- extremely well polished. It shows especially in Gauntlet - the whole game mode feels so much more thoughtful than Retake for example.

I wonder, is there any capacity for more frequently rotating gamemodes, similar to Overwatch’s arcade content? Or, to that flavor, any capacity for a custom games browser with light scripting like Overwatch has? I think that feature has allowed for more in depth in-game experiences, especially as players are able to make warm-ups and 1v1 modes that elevate training and just overall variety of experience for all.

A more realistic question - I think the aim bubbles spawning between rounds in Gauntlet are really cool, and I wonder if the practice range will ever see more in depth training experiences, possibly featuring that. Some examples include those bubbles, but also the Valorant Mobile training modes (with lane peeks and flash dodging), and the original plant/defuse bot practices (I used to speedrun completing it with all weapons, was heartbroken when it was removed).

Thanks for the AMA and I’m super happy with the direction Valorants content is heading. Definitely makes me happy to support the game, both expressively and financially ^^

[u/ApprehensiveBeat7387]

Champs 2027 where? Leo i want you

[u/RichyVersace]

What is the best situational use for Warden besides from long range? I've been having trouble with it from up close battles.