Valorant 5.12 patch notes include Spectre nerfs and Swiftplay beta

The final patch of 2022 has arrived for multiplayer game Valorant. The Valorant 5.12 patch notes are extensive, because this one’s a doozy. In addition to making big ultimate abilities costlier, patch 5.12 also introduces the beta for the new Swiftplay mode and nerfs the jack-of-all-trades Spectre SMG, one of the best Valorant guns.

Across the board, Riot says it has increased the point cost for agent ultimates “that have large, site-wide footprints” in order to cut down on their frequency and open up options for counterplay.

The Valorant team has also increased the HP of destructible environment objects so they don’t get instantly nuked by stuff like Brimstone’s Incendiary and Viper’s Snakebite. The adjustment won’t prevent them from being one-shot in most situations, however.

Valorant Spectre nerfs

The Spectre has been “overperforming” at long- and mid-range, Riot says, and so the team has readjusted its damage falloff by adding a new range band. Up to 15 metres, it’ll maintain its 26 damage output, but that drops to 22 damage at 15-30 metres, and falls to 20 damage at ranges beyond that.

You’ll be able to play the beta of the new Swiftplay mode from December 6 – January 10. It’s a “condensed” version of the standard 5v5 unrated spike mode, with the first team to win five rounds winning the match. Swiftplay matches tend to last around 15 minutes total, Riot says.

Valorant agent updates

Breach

Rolling Thunder (X)
- Ultimate Points increased 7 → 8

Chamber

Headhunter (Q)
- Updated Stability Curve
  - Spread increased after 2nd bullet, when spamming. This is explicitly meant to reduce low-precision body-shot spam as an effective combat measure at range.
Rendezvous (E)
- Chamber now places a single anchor that can be teleported to while inside its range
  - Radius increased 7.5m → 13m
- Removed teleport activation height restriction
  - You can teleport to the Anchor while on different verticality so long as you are within its radius.
- Increased weapon equip time after teleporting 0.4s → 0.7s
  - Headhunter is unaffected by this change
- Destroying Rendezvous teleport anchor now disables it for the remainder of the round, instead of being placed on a cooldown.
- Chamber no longer incurs an additional cooldown when recalling his Anchor after teleporting.
- Health decreased 80 → 50
Trademark (C)
- The trap is now range restricted
  - Trademark will disable when Chamber moves out of range, and reactivate once he is inside.
- Can now be recalled mid-round without line of sight
- 30s cooldown on recall
- Destruction remains permanent
- Initial Arm Time increased 2s → 4s
- Health Increased 1 → 20
Tour De Force (X)
- Fire rate decreased by 57.5%
Slow
- This applies to both Trademark and Tour De Force
  - Reduced duration 6s → 4s

Cypher

Trapwire (C)
- Health increased 1 → 20

Fade

Prowler (C)
- Health decreased 100 → 60

Harbor

High Tide (E)
- Duration increased 12s → 15s
Cascade (C)
- Duration increased 5s → 7s

KAY/O

ZERO/POINT (E)
- Health increased 1 → 20
NULL/cmd (C)
- Ultimate points increased 7 → 8

Killjoy

Lockdown (X)
- Health increased 150 → 200
Nanoswarm (C)
- Health increased 1 → 20

Omen

Paranoia (Q)
- Cost decreased 300 → 250

Phoenix

Blaze (C)
- Cost decreased 200 → 150

Raze

Boom Bot (C)
- Health decreased 100 → 60
Blast Pack (Q)
- Health increased 1 → 20

Sage

Barrier Orb (C)
- Fortify delay increased 3.0s → 3.3s
Healing Orb (E)
- Self heal total amount decreased 60HP → 30HP
- Ally heal total amount increased 60HP → 100HP

Sova

Recon Bolt (E)
- Health increased 1 → 20

Skye

Trailblazer (Q)
- Cost increased 250 → 300
Regrowth (C)
- Cost decreased 200 → 150

Viper

Viper’s Pit (X)
- Smoke integrity regen time 5.0 → 25.0
- Max time out of smoke decreased 15.0 → 8.0
- Ultimate points required 7 → 8

Yoru

Gatecrash (E)
- Health decreased 100 → 60
- Cost decreased 200 → 150

What’s that? Looks like several Agents are reviewing some important mission updates in The Range.