Riot working on big Sage nerfs in major Valorant patch 5.12 shift

Riot Games are seemingly planning a pretty big nerf for Sage as their newest testing for Valorant indicates a major shift coming in Episode 6. 

With Episode 6 of Valorant on the horizon and coming in January, Riot Games have started tweaking their 5v5 shooter in some pretty big ways – but they’re not all to the liking of fans. 

It was recently confirmed that in patch 5.12, expected to be the final one before the new episode, Chamber will be hit with a pretty sizable nerf. On top of that, Riot also announced that Split will be returning to the active map pool in the new year – with some changes, of course – but it will mean Bind and Breeze are removed. 

On top of those eye-catching changes, the devs have also started testing some tweaks for a handful of Agents. While not everyone will go under the knife like Chamber, there are some pretty big tweaks in the work, including for Sage. 

Sage Valorant nerf being tested for 5.12 update

That’s right, Valorant’s resident healer is currently under the microscope, with Riot testing some pretty big tweaks for her kit. 

In the current PBE testing, Sage’s Barrier Orb and Healing Orb are being messed with. The Barrier Orb change would see Sage’s fortify delay increased from 3 seconds to 3.3 seconds – which might seem short, but it does disrupt some timing. 

As for the Healing Orb, well, that’s what got some fans annoyed. Sage would only be able to heal herself by 30hp, rather than 60hp, but would be able to give a teammate 100hp instead of just 60hp. 

“This is so random and unnecessary,” said one disappointed fan about the changes. “30hp self heal is honestly ridiculous,” added another. “This is a joke, right? Sage was like the most balanced agent in Valorant,” another quizzed.

With these changes being messed with in PBE, they might not see the live servers in this shape – they could likely be changed. So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.