Neon’s long-awaited nerf arrives in VALORANT’s last patch of the year

VALORANT's final patch for 2024 is here. And the developers have given players an early Christmas with a nerf that was on everyone's wish list. VALORANT's dominant speed demon, Neon, has finally been nerfed in Patch 9.11.

Alongside the Neon nerf, the developer are also updating the Ping system and giving Vyse some key buffs. Let's breakdown everything in the VALORANT Patch Notes 9.11.

VALORANT's resident speedster, Neon, has dominated the servers for months. Her buffs in Patch 8.11 were designed to end the Jett and Raze dominance. And while that goal was achieved, Neon (especially in ranked) has instead emerged as an oppressive pick.

Her exceptional mobility, with perfect sliding accuracy, would be strong enough to make her a valuable option, but Overdrive (her ultimate) was simply unstoppable. That's exactly where VALORANT's Patch 9.11 hits Neon the hardest.

The High Gear change ensures that Neon can't blindly take advantage of her fast-moving hitbox in a slide to win out duels, with reduced accuracy in slides. The developers say that "these changes are intended to require Neon to play more intentionally."

Overdrive's reduced duration follows a similar goal, forcing Neon players to commit to the ultimate, instead of just activating in before entering sites.

VALORANT's newest agent Vyse has also received some buffs in Patch Notes 9.11. Razorvine and Arc Rose are the improved abilities aimed at making Vyse's arsenal more complete.

Razorvine's damage per tick is the biggest improvement to Vyse's kit, making it a far bigger risk to walk through. A single tick of damage can now bring you within the Phantom's headshot range.

The dash slowdown by contrast is a feature that should have simply been a part of the ability from the beginning. Arc Rose's improvements feel stronger, though it remains to seen if it will allow Vyse to pull off solo plays more often.

Despite not being an agent or a weapon, the changes to the Ping System are a massive nerf. Ever since VALORANT's original beta release, the ping system has been a part of the game's tactics and duels.

Any good teammate has had the responsibility of pinging the spike for their teammate during a clutch to make sure spam kills can deny the defuse.

Even when Counter-Strike blatantly copied VALORANT's ping system, one key ability was removed, that of being able to see minimap pings in the world. Now, with patch 9.11, VALORANT follows Counter-Strike in separating the two pings. Here's what the patch notes say:

The changes increase the barrier of entry for higher level gameplay, necessitating good communication even more than before.

And with the smoke-ping changes, even solo players will struggle to find the spike as precisely. Whether this is a positive change remains to be seen, though it may reduce VALORANT's stellar teamplay that comes as default thanks to the role system.

Rounding out the update are a set of minor QoL changes. Firstly, Team Deathmatch follows suit with other game modes in adding the Regen Shield to loadouts.

Now players choosing the Classic in Round 1 will be equipped with the Regen Shield to better reflect the equivalent economy. In social updates, Party Chat and Party Flags will receive updates to their appearance.

That's a wrap for VALORANT's patch notes in 2024. With Neon and Vyse receiving changes, the update seems to be moving the game in a more balanced direction, while expanding the importance of teamplay and decision-making.

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