While the upcoming Valorant patch 5.03 has been dominated by details of punishing nerfs to all of Chamber’s abilities, a less talked about update is also in the works that will change how you aim with certain ultimates.
Chamber’s, Jett’s, and Neon’s ultimates now reward greater precision, and the damage multiplier for shots on opponents’ legs is being reduced.
The changes were implemented in the latest Public Beta Environment (PBE) for patch 5.03, alongside the Chamber nerfs.
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You’ll have to be more precise with Chamber’s, Jett’s, and Neon’s ultimates in Valorant patch 5.03
Riot Games is breaking up what it refers to as “regional damage” for Tour De Force, Blade Storm, and Overdrive.
This means that damage varies more depending on body segments — similar to weapons — so precision is rewarded.
The damage multiplier for leg shots is being reduced, and you’ll need to actually aim for either the upper body or head in order to secure the kill quicker.
Neon
- Damage per shot reduced from 22 to 18
- Killzone increased from 15m to 20m
- Leg shot multiplier reduced from 1.0 to 0.85
- Headshot multiplier increased from 1 to 3
Chamber
- Tour De Force (X) leg shot multiplier reduced from 1.0 to 0.85
Jett
- Bladestorm (X) leg shot multiplier reduced from 1.0 to 0.85
Neon, in particular, is seeing the biggest change because her ultimate now registers headshot damage. Previously, there was no incentive to aim for the head, unlike with Jett’s Blade Storm, because it did the exact same amount of damage on the rest of the body.
Further compounding that effect is the reduction in damage per shot, which means you’ll need to go for the head or deal with a longer time-to-kill. Taken together, the changes raise the skill ceiling for Neon’s ultimate, but should reward players who are able to ratchet up their precision.
The Tour De Force changes are part of the slew of Chamber nerfs and force it to function more like a regular Operator. Before this, Tour De Force was a one-shot kill on any part of the body.
The Jett changes are likely to affect players the least, even though Blade Storm is now slightly less forgiving.
Valorant patch 5.03 is expected to go live on August 9.
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