Valorant is an FPS that mixes strategy with gun fights. It's impossible to ignore either of them; you must master both to excel in Riot Games' shooter.
When it comes to getting frags in Valorant, the best agents to do so are the Duelists. This agent category includes those characters with abilities focused on creating better positions to gain an advantage in gun fights over enemies.
For example, a strong Valorant Duelist will own flashing or smoke abilities and even quick movement techniques that make their next move extremely hard to anticipate. Therefore, some of the best Duelists in Valorant are Jett, Raze, and Neon; they can all move or jump quickly, reach positions that no one else can reach, and possess deadly ultimates.
However, these aren't the only Duelists in the game. Other Duelists are Reyna and Iso, which are extremely common to see in lower-rank matches, Phoenix, who can heal himself with his fire abilities, the recently-released Waylay, and the Japanese agent Yoru.
As of now, it's fair to say the worst Duelists in Valorant are Waylay and Yoru. Surprisingly, Riot Games have decided to nerf the latter with Season 2025 Act 3; and the decision has left everyone wonder... why?
Here's what Riot Games is changing in Yoru's abilities:
- Yoru’s Dimensional Drift is a powerful ultimate that requires a lot of opponent attention, so we’re standardizing its duration to similar ultimates and raising its point cost.
- Dimensional Drift duration reduced 12s >>> 10s
- Dimensional Drift point cost 7 >>> 8
According to Riot Games, Yoru's Dimensional Drift is a powerful ultimate that puts the Japanese agent in a really strong position.
Usually, players use Yoru's Dimensional Drift to safely collect a dropped Spike or to simply gather information about the opponents' positions before reappering on the map. However, with Riot Games lowering the ultimate's time duration from 12 to 10 seconds, players won't have as much time to do so.
At the same time, Riot Games has decided to increase the cost of the ultimate, from 7 to 8 points. So, Dimensional Drift's time hasn't just been lowered but it's now harder to unlock.
All in all, we could understand these changes if Yoru was a Duelist powerhouse. However, the truth is that he isn't.
Yoru is an exceptional Duelist. He possesses two flashing abilities, including the ability to create a clone of himself, and his Gatecrash can be used both to confuse opponents or to teleport to a different part of the map in an instant. At the same time, his Dimensional Drift allows him to safely get into different positions, recollect the Spike, or to even blind opponents before reappearing and easily killing them. So, if he's so great, why doesn't he dominate the game?
Well, the answer is easy to explain: Yoru is a Duelist that's really hard to master. Many players agree with this statement; it takes a lot of time to get the most out of Yoru's ability set. At the same time, Yoru's abilities rely on mind games and high-IQ plays, which means once opponents adapt to the Duelist's abilities it's hard to continue getting successful plays.
In the end, Duelist-mains will always prioritize quick moves and explosiveness. Therefore, agents like Jett, Neon, and Raze will always stand out. They are used to playing with them, and learning such a complex agent isn't beneficial.
Despite everything that has been mentioned above, it's still difficult to explain why Yoru will be nerfed in Valorant's Season 2025 Act 3. After all, Yoru isn't played that much, hence why players don't see the logic behind this change.
While this is not a huge tweak, we expect Yoru mains to explore other options like Phoenix, who can also flash, or even Reyna and Iso. However, let's see how Season 2025 Act 3 plays out!
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