Neon has been a bit of a problem for VALORANT‘s balance for some time, and Riot acknowledged as much last week. It teased some changes coming to Neon to nerf its aggressiveness and favoring of the shogun, and now the balance patch has come.
Naturally, the champ went on hiatus in regular games but stayed online for esports competitiveness reasons. Therefore, the VALORANT 12.09 patch notes are here to address those meta-defining complaints, which should tackle both birds with one stone.
Neon and Shotguns get a serious nerf in VALORANT 12/09 patch notes
The devs confirmed she had been on their radar for a while, but that broader meta considerations, including the wider problem of strong Duelists, weak Sentinels, and higher Initiator signature cooldowns, meant they needed time to land the right changes.
The goal of these changes is to make Neon players slower and less in-your-face, giving opponents more counterplay opportunities. In the pro scene, you can really see the reliance on Neon carrying, with the agent’s pick rate one of the highest, per Valorant esports stat sites.
Her aerial mobility has been hit directly, and High Gear now comes with a more meaningful resource trade-off.
Key changes according to the patch notes are:
- Jumping with High Gear active no longer provides a speed bonus while airborne. Air speed while sprinting now matches melee speed
- Fuel will only regenerate on a kill when Neon’s ultimate is active. Passive regeneration remains, but the mid-round kill top-up is gone outside of ult
- Improved slide VFX to more clearly communicate direction and origin to opponents
Shotgun changes hit all three guns in VALORANT patch 12.09
Shotguns have become a persistent balance issue, particularly when paired with high-mobility agents like Neon and Waylay. Riot acknowledged that the community had found and exploited parts of the shotgun kit that were tuned too generously, and that shotgun gameplay had not felt as tactical or skill-expressive as intended for the game’s long-term vision.
The intent with these changes is to push shotguns back into a deliberate, defensive role, most effective when holding tight angles and clearing close-range spaces, rather than being aggressive on the move.
Universal changes across all shotguns:
- Run, walk, crouch-walk, and jump accuracy standardised across all three guns
- Crouching now provides a 15% accuracy multiplier, matching rifles. This is a minor buff to the Bucky (up from 10%) but a nerf to the Judge and Shorty (down from 25%)
- Rope accuracy significantly reduced. Standing still on a rope: spread increased from 0.075 to 0.75. Walking: 0.09 to 1.5. Running: 0.1 to 3.0
There are specific shotgun nerfs, too, ranging from the following:
- Pellet damage in the 0-8m range reduced. Body: 20 to 17. Head: 40 to 34. Legs: 17 to 14
- Minimum spread increased from 2.6 to 3.0
- Walking spread: 0.075 to 1. Running spread: 0.1 to 2. Crouch-walk spread: 0.05 to 0.5. Jump spread: 1.25 to 4
- Judge:
- Minimum spread increased from 2.25 to 2.5 (PC only for now, console to follow in patch 12.11)
- Walking spread: 0.075 to 1. Running spread: 0.75 to 2. Crouch-walk spread: 0.05 to 0.5. Jump spread: 2.25 to 4
- Shorty:
- Fire rate decreased from 3.33 to 3.0
- Walking spread: 0.075 to 1. Running spread: 0.1 to 2. Crouch-walk spread: 0.05 to 0.5. Jump spread: 1.25 to 4
It’s a rather large patch. Note that this is live in the main game, but the tournament servers remain on 1208. The patch changes should go live competitively sometime between VCT playoffs and Masters London, Riot officials tell Esports Net.
So, we should see quite a big meta shakeup come London, and we shall see how teams adapt with noticeably different balance patches.