[jwplayer feM8kupe]Professional Valorant player for Cloud9 Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo has explained why the Operator sniper needs a nerf in the game.
As with snipers in most FPS’ the Operator is one of the most popular weapons in the game. People love to hit shots with it, and they’re especially ideal for tactical games such as Valorant that require well-held angles and intel on enemy movement.
TenZ, though, thinks the Operator needs nerfing, calling the gun “extremely hard to deal with.”
In a tweet posted on August 13, TenZ mentioned that he thinks adding a scope sound to the Operator and Marshal snipers would help balance them, allowing enemies to better use their utility to counter it.
I think adding a scope sound on the OP/Marshal would help balance the snipers greatly, if you scoped on an angle and an enemy heard it they can better use their utility to take you off the angle since they know your exact location
— TenZ (@TenZOfficial) August 13, 2020
A little while later, he posted another tweet about the situation, clarifying his stance on the Operator. “I don’t think the OP is overpowered,” he said. “I just think it’s extremely hard to deal with the OP on characters that can escape unpunished [such as] Jett/Reyna.”
He also added that with the utility presented in the game currently, one Operator is hard to deal with but that “two is a nightmare.”
Another note I don’t think the OP is overpowered I just think its extremely hard to deal with the OP on characters that can escape unpunished Jett/Reyna example. Also with the utility presented in the game currently 1 good OP player is hard to deal with, 2 is a nightmare
— TenZ (@TenZOfficial) August 13, 2020
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TenZ’s comments garnered some responses from various other players, too. Team Liquid’s Mendo compared the issue to Overwatch’s Brigitte, saying it’s “way too easy to use for the impact it has in the round.”
I think it’s similar to brig in overwatch as well, the OP is way too easy to use for the impact it has in the round, which makes it frustrating
— Liquid Mendo (@Mendo) August 13, 2020
G2 Esports’ Mixwell, though, actually disagreed with TenZ. He said that it’s “harder to use aggressively than CSGO” and that a sound scope would be a “yikes.”
He also said that it doesn’t necessarily seem like an Operator problem that some Agents can escape, but it’s “just how the game works.”
It is really good becuase there's agents that after holding an angle can scape, but that's not an Operator problem that's just how the game works I feel like. Different from CS that's it, I don't think the gun is overpowered.
— Heretics m1xwell (@Mixwell) August 13, 2020
Needless to say, there’s a fair bit of division between top players over the status of the Operator, and there doesn’t seem to be any immediate plans for changes to be made to the weapon — but the devs will no doubt be looking at all options and assessing weapon tuning constantly.