Following the conclusion of the Valorant Masters Toronto, which saw Paper Rex becoming champions after taking down Fnatic, it's time to closely look at Valorant's next steps.
As already announced by Riot Games, Valorant's Season 2025 Act 4 will be deployed on June 25, 2025. The update will bring significant changes, with the most notable one being the addition of a brand-new map called Corrode.
While Corrode has obviously stolen the show, it won't be the only feature coming to Valorant with Season 2025 Act 4. Fans have been mesmerized with the looks of the Valorant Phaseguard Collection and, with a new battle pass coming in the next days, it's fair to say players will have plenty of reasons to grind the game in the upcoming weeks.
However, the arrival of a new patch also means some agents will experience changes. As part of Riot Games' plans to keep the game healthy, it's important to keep the experience fresh with balancing changes, making sure the game's agents aren't too broken or too poor. Logically, Valorant's Season 2025 Act 4 is no exception.
Here's a look at all of the agent changes coming to Valorant in Season 2025 Act 4:
Sova
Riot Games is nerfing Sova with Season 2025 Act 4. The changes made to Sova in the game's upcoming patch are:
- Owl Drone:
- Enemies will now hear a warning when they're being watched by the Owl Drone
- Recon Bolt:
- The Recon Bolt is now louder and easier to track.
Sova is arguably one of the best agents in Valorant. The Russian agent can get absurd amounts of information quickly and his ultimate is extremely powerful in the right hands. For instance, Sova was the third-highest picked agent at the Valorant Masters Toronto, excelling on maps like Icebox, Sunset, Ascent, and Haven.
His importance doesn't lay on if he's too strong rather on him being crucial to almost any lineup. The fact he can gather so much information can be differential. Therefore, Riot Games isn't changing how his abilities work; instead, developers are making it easier for players to hear and spot Sova's Owl Drone and Recon Bolt.
Reyna
Riot Games is nerfing Reyna with Season 2025 Act 4. The changes made to Reyna's abilities affect her Leer (Flash). The tweaks are the following ones:
- Leer (Flash):
- HP decreased: 100 >> 80
- New audio and visual feedback for the enemy team on leer damage
The Mexican duelist is overpowered mainly in lower ranks. Although it's hard to see her being played professionally — Reyna wasn't played once at Valorant Masters Toronto — players, especially smurfs, abuse her lone-wolf abilities and aim skills to dominate in lower lobbies. This ends up giving Reyna not the greatest reputation.
With Valorant's upcoming update, Riot Games have decided to tweak Reyna by reducing the HP of Leer, as now opponents will be able to destroy it by dealing it 80 HP of damage. Additionally, Riot Games are adding audio and visual feedback for the enemy team to know more about the leer damage.
Neon
Riot Games is nerfing Neon with Season 2025 Act 4. The changes exclusively affect Neon's Relay Bolt, also known as Neon's stun. Here's what changing:
- Relay Bolt (Stun):
- Windup time increased: 0.8s >> 1s
Unfortunately for Neon mains, Neon's golden days are well gone. Not long ago, Neon was unstoppable. Her speed combined with her abilities made her arguably the best duelist in the game. It dominated all kinds of lobbies, from lower to higher ones. Now, while Neon is still frustrating to play against, it's easier to counter.
With this change, Neon's Reloy Bolt will detonate 0.2s later than before. This will give players more time to escape from the concussion effect produced by this Neon ability.
Phoenix
If nerfing two duelists wasn't enough, let's make it three. Riot Games is nerfing Phoenix's flashes with Season 2025 Act 4. Here's a look at the effects:
- Curveball (Flash):
- Windup time increased: 0.5s >> 0.6s
While this clearly is a nerf, its impact to Phoenix's players shouldn't be felt at all. The difference is minimal. Moreover, Phoenix isn't one of Valorant's best duelists, as players usually go for Jett, Raze, and Neon. Therefore, we don't expect many players to complain about this change.
Waylay
Finally, some good news for duelist mains. Riot Games will buff Waylay in Season 2025 Act 4. Here's a look at the changes:
- Refract:
- Minimum Time in Refract: 0.5s >> 0.35s
- Unequip Time decreased: 1s >> 0.8s
- Delay after reactivation decreased: 0.1s >> 0.05s
- Lightspeed:
- Unequip Time Decreased: 0.8s >> 0.6s
- Saturate:
- Windup Before Explosion decreased: 0.75s >> 0.6s
- Size Increased: 10m >> 12m
The Thai agent was released shortly after the conclusion of the Valorant Masters Bangkok. During her presentation, players thought Waylay would be broken. However, it's fair to say that hasn't been the case, as some players believe she's arguably the worst duelist in the game.
In order to improve Waylay's state in Valorant, Riot Games' team has made changes to her abilities Refract, Lightspeed, and Saturate. Only time will tell if this is the right path to take.
Killjoy
In Season 2025 Act 4, Riot Games is introducing a small nerf to Killjoy's ultimate ability Lockdown. Here's a look at the tweak:
- Lockdown:
- Detain Pulse Delay Increased: 0.05s >> 0.15s
Once again, this tweak is small and not many people will feel it. However, it could help enemies to escape the Lockdown effects if they manage to jump right before the Lockdown deployment timer ends.
Omen
Finally, the last agent change introduced in Valorant's Season 2025 Act 4 will have an impact in Omen's Dark Cover, as it will no longer play an audio cue for enemies within 12.5 meters. This tweak is extremely small and it shouldn't affect Omen's pick rate.
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