VALORANT Episode 2 Retake is rolling out soon, on January 2, and there will be a patch along with it.
The highlight of VALORANT’s episode is the new hero, Yoru, along with a new Battle Pass. The main focus of the patch is all the changes made to Agents like Omen and Brimstone.
Omen has always been in the spotlight as the go-to Agent for smokes instead of Brimstone. This went to such an extent that Brimstone had a 0% pick rate in VALORANT: First Strike. Besides the pro scene, most players picked Omen over Brimstone in competitive-ranked games. Due to this, Brimstone received buffs, while Omen received nerfs.
Read more: VALORANT dev responds to all the ‘boosted’ player rankings
Omen and Brimstone Changes
Omen’s long-range smokes enable Omen to help out teammates despite being in a different site altogether. As a result, it was more effective than the short-range smokes provided by Brimstone.
The smoke speed has been decreased, so he can’t support the other side quite as fast, while Brimstone’s smoke range has been increased slightly.
Omen’s paranoia being an extremely powerful ability, had its price increased, while Brimstone’s Molly had its price decreased. His stim beacon’s equip-time was also removed.
Riot Dev Addresses the Changes
Riot’s dev Altombre, who works on the game balance and gameplay content, addressed the nerfs/buffs on Reddit. Many players were upset with all the omen nerfs and asked Riot to explain the rationale behind these changes. In reply, the dev explained: “Omen’s entire kit was not very economically demanding, and his Q has proven to be incredibly strong on both offense and defense.”
“In making balance changes, we also want to be future-facing and aim to carve out design space for what each controller is meant to provide – Omen having global smoke pressure, recharging smokes, a boost AND a powerful site taking/stalling tool with low ability costs were just making him a bit too good at everything.”, the dev also added.
Read more: VALORANT Year-End Global Stat Sheet 2020 Released
