After lots of chatter, the deed has been done. Valorant‘s long-dominant sniper rifle, the Operator, has been nerfed. Riot has published the patch notes for the 1.09 update, detailing how the sniper has been reined in, and other changes you’ll soon notice.
We had some idea what Valorant’s Operator nerf would look like, as game designer Nicholas Smith spoke to streamer Lucas ‘Mendokusaii’ Håkansson about what it would entail. What was spoken about has come to pass, basically, and the Op’ has been slapped with numerous nerfs to slow it down considerably. From the fire rate to how fast you can move while scoped in. It’s also more expensive, which will make it sting a bit more if you lose it.
“For you aggressive Operators—dry peeking angles with an Operator is noticeably more effective than we’d like (especially when jump peeking),” lead agent designer Max Grossman says. “Additionally, pushing an Operator off of an angle with utility feels less valuable since the user is able to re-peek and kill their opponent at a reliable rate.
“This suite of mechanical changes (deadzone, scoped move speed, firing rate, equip time, jump land inaccuracy) targets these issues, increasing counterplay around high-mobility Operator play. The Operator is still quite potent at peeking angles but predictable repeeks should be easier to punish.”
The Valorant team is also further cracking down on offensive Riot IDs. If you’re flagged for having an inappropriate tag, you’ll have to change it the next time you log in. There are also some minor Valorant agent tweaks to Brimstone, Reyna, Omen, Viper, and Jett.
You can check out our Valorant guns guide If you’re looking to swap up your playstyle now that the Op’ has been slapped.