Valorant update 7.09 patch notes: Iso release, Cypher buffs, weapon balances, more

Valorant patch 7.09 is here, kicking off Episode 7 Act 3, and bringing a whole lot of agent balances, as well as the latest addition to the roster Iso. Here’s a rundown of everything included in the 7.09 patch notes.

Episode 7 Act 3 is finally here, and similar to other major updates we’ve seen, patch 7.09 is packed full of changes.

Not only introducing us to a new Agent hailing from China with the release of Iso, Valorant’s seventh duelist but also some familiar faces have seen some tweaks.

Heading into the new season, it seems the creepy Morrocan Sentinel Cypher will be at the top of the meta, receiving some huge changes which players look to be over the moon with.

Valorant update 7.09 patch notes

After making considerable changes to smokes in the last patch, 7.08, adding a 1.5-second audio and visual cue when they are about to fade, Riot is back at it again with more tweaks.

This time around, the devs have targeted several Agents, massively buffing Cypher and making the Sentinel more deadly than ever with his improved Trapwires. Skye and Fade also saw a few nerfs in favor of Cypher, with their utility being adjusted for collision with his Trapwires.

Not only that, but Raze also saw some widespread nerfs, as Riot targeted the duelist’s abilities across the board. Let’s jump into everything Valorant patch 7.09 has to offer.

Agents

Iso

• Iso goes live!

Cypher, Skye, Fade and Raze

This patch, we’re looking to address some issues in the balance of power between Sentinels, especially Cypher, and some other Agents on the roster. Sentinels often craft very deliberate setups only to have Agents like Raze, Skye, and Fade destroy them with typical utility use. In this patch, we’re updating Cypher’s Trapwire (C) to try to sway these interactions more in his favor, and to encourage enemy Agents to have to be more intentional and deliberate if they aim to use their utility to counter Sentinel setups.

Cypher

• Trapwire (C)
  • Decreased the time until the trap concusses a captured enemy 3 >>> 1.5 seconds.
  • After concussing an enemy or an enemy in the trap being killed, the Trapwire (C) no longer destroys itself but instead re-arms after 0.5 seconds, allowing it to ensnare another enemy.
  • Duration of tag slow when hit by the trap increased 0.75 >>> 2 seconds.

“These changes force attackers to actively destroy traps to break Cypher’s setups and push interactions with utility like Prowlers (C) and Trailblazer (Q) more in Cypher’s favor. In addition, the potency of the traps when they snag an enemy has been increased slightly to make sure opponents have to respect their threat.”

Skye

• Trailblazer (Q)
  • Adjusted Trailblazer’s collision so that it goes under Trapwires placed at mid-height. This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.

Fade

• Trailblazer (Q)
  • Adjusted Trailblazer’s collision so that it goes under Trapwires placed at mid-height. This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.

These changes to Skye and Fade are meant to add more strategic depth to the placement of Cypher’s Trapwire.

Raze

Raze will have to be more precise with her Paint Shells (E) in order to deal damage to enemies, including destroying enemy traps. Additionally, Raze will need to be more intentional in picking between using the Blast Pack (Q) for mobility or damage

• Paint Shells (E)■ Primary grenade explosion radius 6m >>> 5.5m.■ Secondary grenades explosion radius 6m >>> 5.25m.■ Primary grenade explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1.■ Secondary grenades explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1.■ Damage multiplier to enemy utility 250% >>> 100%.○ Blast Pack (Q)■ Satchel doesn’t deal damage until fully armed.■ Satchel arm time increased 0.5 seconds >>> 1.5Paint Shells (E)
  • Primary grenade explosion radius 6m >>> 5.5m.
  • Secondary grenades explosion radius 6m >>> 5.25m.
  • Primary grenade explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1.
  • Secondary grenades explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1.
  • Damage multiplier to enemy utility 250% >>> 100%.
• Blast Pack (Q)
  • Satchel doesn’t deal damage until fully armed.
  • Satchel arm time increased 0.5 seconds >>> 1.5.

Weapon Updates

Judge

With the changes below, we’re sharpening the Judge’s identity as a hunker-down style shotgun by reducing some of its effectiveness while moving. With the reduced mag size, we’re hoping to create more opportunities for enemies to catch a person reloading their Judge as well as nudge the person with the Judge to be more efficient in order to get multi-kills.

• Judge
  • Reduced max mag size from 7 >>> 5
  • Increased Jumping spread from 1.25 >>> 2.25
  • Increased Running spread from .10 >>> .75

Player Behavior Updates

• When reporting others in game, there is now an added option to also mute who you’ve just reported.

Social Updates

• Updated the icons that appear in the Friends List when friends are playing other RiotGames.
  • We now detect people in Riot Mobile and TFT, and display unique icons forpeople playing these games.
    • People who are online in Riot Mobile have a “gray dot” Player CardImage.
  • The failsafe “Unknown Product” icon is now a red Riot fist instead of the gray dot.
  • Updated the icons shown for people in LoL, LoR and WildRift

Premier Updates

Premier Stage E7A3 is live with a few updates and new features! As always, good luck in your games!

Premier Practice

• There will be windows of time where you can queue for practice on select non-match days, check your calendars for the schedule! These matches will follow Premier match structure, but will not affect your Premier Score.

Enrollment Updates

• Teams created before or during the new ‘Team Creation Window’ will now be able to recruit members and participate in Premier at any point during the Stage!

Timeouts

• Every match, teams will have one timeout per side and an additional time out in Overtime.

Premier Crests

• Crests will now reflect your team’s performance and evolve over the entire stage.

Playoff Qualification Threshold

• We’re lowering the qualification threshold in this stage to 600 points. We recognize that during this busy time of the year, it can be harder to schedule your team’s matches so we wanted to make it more forgiving if you have to miss a week.

Matchmaking

• We’ve made some slight adjustments to find you fairer matches during the weekly matches.

Zones

• Some regions can’t support the same number of divisions, so we’ve made adjustments to certain zones to support generally healthier queue times and improved match fairness.

So, there you have it — that’s everything included in the Valorant 7.09 patch notes. For more about the game, make sure to check some of our other Valorant content:

VCT 2024 rostermania tracker | What is Valorant Premier? | How to play Valorant Premier Stage 1 | What is the Night Market? | How to get Gun Buddies | All Valorant skin bundles | Best Valorant Agents | When is Valorant on Mobile coming out? | Best Sentinels | Best Initiators | What is Econ Rating? | How to get free loot drops | Best Duelists | Is Valorant on Mac? | Best Controllers