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Valorant update 7.09 is a big one, adding a brand new character to the game in time for Halloween. Update 7.09 introduces ISO to the game, and also makes a series of balance changes to heroes such as Cypher, Skye and Fade. As you can see from the Valorant update 7.09 patch notes further down the page, the update also makes weapon changes, player behaviour updates, bug fixes and matchmaking tweaks.
Of course, the headline change is the addition of ISO, a brand new character from China.
“Chinese fixer for hire, Iso falls into a flow state to dismantle the opposition,” reads the official description.
“Reconfiguring ambient energy into bulletproof protection, he advances with focus towards his next duel to the death.”
Abilities include Undercut, which lets ISO equip a molecular bolt. You can throw the bolt forward to apply Fragile to all players.
Then there’s the Double Tap ability, which lets ISO enter a flow state during which downed enemies you kill or damage generate an energy orb. Shooting the orb grants ISO a shield which absorbs one instance of damage from any source.
But perhaps most exciting of all is the Kill Contract ability, which pulls enemies into an interdimensional battlefield where they’ll fight to the death.
You can read the remaining Valorant update 7.09 patch notes below…
Valorant update 7.09 patch notes…
Character balance
Cypher
• These changes force attackers to actively destroy traps to break Cypher’s setups and push interactions with utility like Prowlers (C) and Trailblazer (Q) more in Cypher’s favor.
– In addition, the potency of the traps when they snag an enemy has been increased slightly to make sure opponents have to respect their threat.
• Trapwire (C)
• Decreased the time until the trap concusses a captured enemy 3 >>> 1.5 seconds.
• After concussing an enemy or an enemy in the trap being killed, the Trapwire (C) no longer destroys itself but instead re-arms after 0.5 seconds, allowing it to ensnare another enemy.
• Duration of tag slow when hit by the trap increased 0.75 >>> 2 seconds.
These changes to Skye and Fade are meant to add more strategic depth to the placement of Cypher’s Trapwire.
Skye
• Trailblazer (Q)
• Adjusted Trailblazer’s collision so that it goes under Trapwires placed at mid-height. This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.
Fade
• Prowler (C)
• Adjusted Prowler (C) collision so that they go over Trapwires placed at foot height and under Trapwires placed at head height. This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.
Raze
• Raze will have to be more precise with her Paint Shells (E) in order to deal damage to enemies, including destroying enemy traps. Additionally, Raze will need to be more intentional in picking between using the Blast Pack (Q) for mobility or damage.
• Paint Shells (E)
• Primary grenade explosion radius 6m >>> 5.5m.
• Secondary grenades explosion radius 6m >>> 5.25m.
• Primary grenade explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1.
• Secondary grenades explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1.
• Damage multiplier to enemy utility 250% >>> 100%.
• Blast Pack (Q)
• Satchel doesn’t deal damage until fully armed.
• Satchel arm time increased 0.5 seconds >>> 1.5.
Weapon Updates
JUDGE
• Reduced max mag size from 7 >>> 5
• Increased Jumping spread from 1.25 >>> 2.25
• Increased Running spread from .10 >>> .75
Player Behaviour Updates
• When reporting others in game, there is now an added option to also mute who you’ve just reported.
Social Updates
• Updated the icons that appear in the Friends List when friends are playing other Riot Games.
• We now detect people in Riot Mobile and TFT, and display unique icons for people playing these games.
• People who are online in Riot Mobile have a “gray dot” Player Card Image.
• The failsafe “Unknown Product” icon is now a red Riot fist instead of the gray dot.
• Updated the icons shown for people in LoL, LoR and WildRift.
Premier Updates
Premier Practice
• There will be windows of time where you can queue for practice on select non-match days, check your calendars for the schedule! These matches will follow Premier match structure, but will not affect your Premier Score.
Enrollment Updates
• Teams created before or during the new ‘Team Creation Window’ will now be able to recruit members and participate in Premier at any point during the Stage!
Timeouts
• Every match, teams will have one timeout per side and an additional time out in Overtime.
Premier Crests
• Crests will now reflect your team’s performance and evolve over the entire stage.
Playoff Qualification Threshold
• We’re lowering the qualification threshold in this stage to 600 points. We recognize that during this busy time of the year, it can be harder to schedule your team’s matches so we wanted to make it more forgiving if you have to miss a week.
Matchmaking
• We’ve made some slight adjustments to find you fairer matches during the weekly matches.
Zones
• Some regions can’t support the same number of divisions, so we’ve made adjustments to certain zones to support generally healthier queue times and improved match fairness.
Bug Fixes
General
• Fixed an issue where some people’s hardware configurations resulted in a white screen at login.
Gameplay Systems
• Fixed a rare issue where detaching from a rope would cause a footstep noise.