VALORANT Patch Notes 5.06: Stinger Buff, Pearl Changes, Bug Fixes, & More

Nazmul Hassan
By Nazmul Hassan
7 Min Read
Credit: Riot Games

Riot Games released the 5.06 Patch Notes, and along with it, they are finally giving the long-awaited buff to Stinger. The new map, Pearl will also receive notable changes.

VALORANT 5.06 Patch notes have been released, and the game update will be coming out shortly, along with many changes to the game. Players worldwide have been eagerly waiting for the patch notes as some recent updates from Riot Games have revealed that slight changes are coming to the game.

VALORANT Champions 2022 has ended with a marvelous victory to LOUD. 5.06 is the first patch after the Champions. The main attractions of these patch notes are the Pearl Changes and Stinger Buff. Riot is increasing the accuracy and reducing the firing error from this gun. We might be able to see a lot of Stingers in action after the patch.

Apart from that, Pearl is getting a slight overhaul. There will be many changes in the map including B main, Mid Shops, Mid Plaza, Mid Top, B Link, A main, and site. The update might make it more playable as it remains the lowest picked map in Champions 2022

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VALORANT Patch Notes 5.06

WEAPON UPDATES

STINGER

  • Primary Fire error adjusted from 1.6 error after 7 bullets >>> 1.3 error after 6 bullets
    • Our goal for the Stinger is to feel controllable and appropriately lethal at short ranges, but currently, even in close-quarters, it can feel out-of-control. Lowering the top spread should make it feel more reliable at the appropriate range once you’ve overcome the learning curve of the recoil.
  • Alt Fire first shot error adjusted from .5 >>> .35
    • For an option that’s about being more accurate, it felt like the first shot had more variance than we’d like, especially at the ranges you’d want to use the burst fire mode.

MAP UPDATES

Pearl banner

PEARL

Dev Notes: Pearl is getting a handful of small updates that aim to reduce some complexity and make it easier to move through a few areas for both attackers and defenders.

  • B Main – Lowered waist-high wall on the left side of B Main so that it can no longer completely hide anyone.

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Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
  • Mid Shops – Clearing this area in Mid Shops is harder than we intended. By extending the platform, we’re still keeping some of the holding power for attackers, but making it easier to push this area.

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Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
  • Mid Shops to Mid Plaza – This is another spot on Mid Shops that’s proven to be painful to clear when trying to move through mid. So we’ve removed one of the corners.

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Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
  • Mid Top – Mid currently favors attackers so we’ve pushed in a wall on Mid Top, to remove a 50-50 check. This should make it slightly easier for defenders to challenge mid.

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Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
  • A Art – We noticed the difficulty both sides have had moving effectively through A Art. We’re simplifying the space so there are fewer areas to check.

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Pearl changes
Pearl changes
Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
Pearl changes
Pearl changes
  • B Link – This box provides a good piece of cover for attackers pushing B link, but it’s been tough to re-clear for defenders. We’re keeping a little attacker-side power, but making it easier for defenders to manage. The stack of boxes cover closer to the site will shift from the left side to the right, to simplify the number of angles approaching players need to consider, as well as close a difficult sightline to B Hall.

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Pearl changes
Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
Pearl changes
  • A Main – Removing a cut out on the wall of A Main to simplify the space, which should also make this area slightly easier for defenders to aggro into (although really, you should hold site).

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Pearl changes

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Pearl changes
  • A Main to A Site – This spot was unnecessarily tough to smoke effectively. By tightening the choke by a margin, we hope to make smoking easier and give a small buff to defenders (i.e, a new utility spot). The cubby on the right will also shrink slightly to keep it from being too deep.

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Pearl changes

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Pearl changes

SOCIAL UPDATES

  • Disruptive Gameplay-based Behavior Indicator
    • We’ve introduced a feature that will show at the end of game screen, which players have been detected for engaging in disruptive gameplay-based behavior.
    • This has been added to the following game modes: Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, and Replication, with more game modes to follow in the near future.

BUG FIXES

AGENTS

  • Fixed issue with KAY/O’s Zero/point sometimes incorrectly displaying enemies that were hit on KAY/O’s UI

SOCIAL

  • Fixed a bug where Clutch Mutes would persist after the match ended
  • Fixed a bug that prevented you from being able to respond to a whisper by clicking on the Riot ID of the player who sent the whisper in Chat
  • Fixed a bug that caused the Social Panel to close when right-clicking into the Friend Note text field
  • Fixed a bug where pending invites would not disappear after all friends have left the Party
  • Fixed a bug where the incorrect system message was sent when accepting a friend request via the Match Tab in-game

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All image credit in this article goes to Riot Games.

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By Nazmul Hassan FPS Editor
Nazmul is GameRiv's FPS editor. He is a marketing graduate with an immense passion for gaming. As an ex-professional CS:GO player, he holds a strong interest in other FPS titles like Apex Legends, VALORANT, and CoD. However, he also tries out other games when he is free.