Valorant patch 12.09 notes

Which agents changed in patch 12.09?

Neon

Neon has been on our radar for a while now, and we’ve been working through changes to address the amount of impact she can have in games. This is related to a more complex pacing and strategy problem with multiple elements to solve (strong Duelists and shotguns, weak Sentinels, higher Initiator signature cooldowns), but for the time being we are going to release Neon and shotgun changes first to more quickly correct the balance of combat.

Her current role in breaking timings and creating pressure is correct, but her movement and evasiveness are pushing too far into combat space. We want to encourage Neon players to be intentional and make more meaningful decisions while playing her, so we’re making changes to her mobility in the air and giving her a greater resource tradeoff on High Gear. This should also allow opponents to have more opportunities for counterplay, as well as shave some additionally generously-tuned snowballing potential.

For a deeper dive on all the upcoming changes and why, you can read more about it here.

• High Gear
  • Nerf Jumping with High Gear active no longer provides any speed bonus while Neon is airborne. Instead, Neon’s air speed while sprinting will match melee speed.
  • Adjustment Improved VFX to more clearly communicate the direction and origin of her slide
• Energy
  • Nerf Fuel will only regenerate with a kill when Neon's ultimate is active
    • Fuel will still regenerate passively

Competitive Updates in patch 12.09

• We’re testing MMR changes for modes other than Competitive, Unrated, and Swiftplay. These changes should result in better, more consistent matches. We’ll use what we learn to improve Competitive, Unrated, and Swiftplay in the future.

What bugs did patch 12.09 fix?

• Agents
  • Chamber
    • BugfixBuff Fixed a bug where ADS-ing while firing Chamber’s Headhunter created an animation that covers too much of the screen
  • Jett
    • Bugfix Fixed a visual bug where Jett's Tailwind was not playing the intended first-person animations when left-handed setting is enabled
    • Bugfix Fixed a bug where using Jett's Drift caused performance drops (wiki editor note: notes say "Glide", but no such ability exists for Jett, so it is assumed to be Drift based on its description of changes.)
  • Miks
    • Bugfix Updated tooltip description of Harmonize.
    • BugfixBuff Fixed bug where the preview cone for his ultimate would not show unless the ability was fully equipped
  • Sage
    • BugfixBuff Fixed an issue where a full health Sage could use Healing Orb on herself while affected by Decay, because she is not actually losing any health. This would consume the ability needlessly, since her health returns to normal once Decay wears off.
  • Tejo
    • Bugfix Fixed issue where the Guided Salvo’s equip idle sound kept playing long after cast.
  • Viper
    • BugfixBuff Fixed a bug where Sova's Recon Bolt and Chamber's Trademark were not affected by nearsightedness in Viper's Pit
  • Vyse
    • BugfixBuff Fixed a bug where possessable drones (Sova's Owl Drone, Skye's Trailblazer, Tejo's Stealth Drone) would trigger the arming audio of Vyse's wall

Player Behavior Updates in patch 12.09

We've improved our Riot Text Evaluation system to better detect and apply penalties for text comms abuse in the following languages: Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Chinese.

What weapon changes came in patch 12.09?

Alongside the Neon changes above, we are also changing the effectiveness of shotguns when moving and jumping to encourage players to use them defensively. Shotguns are intended to be most effective for holding tight angles and clearing close range spaces, but right now they’re a bit too effective in high-mobility situations. To reinforce their ideal usage, we are reducing shotgun accuracy while moving. This should make them more impactful when used deliberately and defensively, versus being aggressive on the move.

All shotguns

• All shotguns are now less accurate when moving
  • Run, walk, crouch-walk, and jump accuracy has been standardized across all shotguns
  • Crouching now provides a 15% accuracy multiplier for shotguns, matching rifles
    • Bucky: crouch accuracy modifier increased from 10 → 15%
    • Judge/Shorty: crouch accuracy modifier decreased from 25 → 15%
  • Shotgun accuracy reduced while on a rope
    • Nerf Stationary: Accuracy multiplier decreased from.075 →.75
    • Nerf Walking: Accuracy multiplier decreased from.09 → 1.5
    • Nerf Running: Accuracy multiplier decreased from.1 → 3.0

Bucky

• Bucky pellet damage in the 0-8m range decreased
  • Nerf Head 40 → 34
  • Nerf Body 20 → 17
  • Nerf Legs 17 → 14
• Nerf Minimum spread increased from 2.6 → 3.0
• Nerf Walking spread increased from 0.075 → 1
• Nerf Running spread increased from.1 → 2
• Nerf Crouch-walk spread increased from.05 →.5
• Nerf Jump spread increased from 1.25 → 4

Judge

• Nerf Minimum spread increased from 2.25 → 2.5
  • Note: this will only apply to PC for now- this spread change will apply to console in Patch 12.11
• Nerf Walking spread increased from.075 → 1
• Nerf Running spread increased from 0.75 → 2
• Nerf Crouch-walk spread increased from.05 →.5
• Nerf Jump spread increased from 2.25 → 4

Shorty

• Nerf Fire rate decreased from 3.33 → 3.0
• Nerf Walking spread increased from.075 → 1
• Nerf Running spread increased from 0.1 → 2
• Nerf Crouch-walk spread increased from.05 →.5
• Nerf Jump spread increased from 1.25 → 4

Performance Updates in patch 12.09 (PC)

• Added support for AMD Anti-Lag 2, which reduces input latency in certain GPU-bound scenarios. In order to use AMD Anti-Lag 2, you need compatible hardware, with updated drivers from March 9th, 2026 or later.

What bugs did patch 12.09 fix on PC?

• Progression
  • Fixed issue where dailies shown while hovering over the icon did not match the dailies in the End of Game screen.

What are the known issues in patch 12.09 on Console?

• Agents
  • Phoenix
    • Bugfix Updated tooltip description of Curveball.

What are the known issues in patch 12.09 on Console?

• Modes
  • Skirmish 2v2: Ascension and Skirmish 1v1: Ascension - Timer is stuck at 00.50 sec in Overtime phase
  • Skirmish 2v2: Ascension and Skirmish 1v1: Ascension - Agent abilities do not show up on the Combat Report in the following round after affecting enemies