Just a few days after making its surprise debut on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, Valorant has been given a big new update by Riot Games. Valorant update 9.03 is out now for PlayStation, Xbox and PC. The new update makes a wealth of improvements, bug fixes and gameplay tweaks, including improvements to Ground Spreading Abilities, such as Brimstone’s Incendiary and Viper’s Snakebite. According to Riot Games, the aforementioned abilities will now spread more consistently and only apply damage in places that are consistent with the visuals.
Speaking of consistency, Riot has also made improvements to how overlapping interactable objects work. This includes Cypher’s Spycam, which will no longer prevent you from attaching to a rope if you’re directly looking at it.
As you can see from the patch notes further down the page, Riot has improved the performance of Iso’s Kill Contract ability.
That’s on top of a ton of bug fixes across various maps, including Abyss and The Range. Indeed, this includes a fix for a minor visual issue for the railings around Defender Spawn.
Elsewhere, there are also console-specific fixes for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
This includes a fix for an issue where Harbor’s High Tide wall would end prematurely, as well as a fix for an issue where pressing an Ability button while diffusing the Spike would equip a weapon.
Check out the Valorant update 9.03 patch notes below.
Valorant update 9.03 patch notes…
ALL PLATFORMS
GENERAL UPDATES
• Made improvements to how overlapping interactable objects work. You should now perform the desired action more consistently.
– For Example: A dart from Cypher’s Spycam should no longer prevent you from attaching to a rope if you’re directly looking at it.
AGENT UPDATES
• Ground Spreading Abilities
– We’re making improvements to abilities that spread along the ground like Brimstone’s Incendiary and Viper’s Snakebite.
– Previously, these abilities had inconsistent effects depending on the exact location they landed, ranging from extremely different sizes or damaging through walls and in areas the ability wasn’t visually present.
– With this update, these abilities should spread more consistently and only apply damage in places that are consistent with the visuals.
• Map Targeted Abilities Improvements
– You can now ping and see additional icons on maps used for ability targeting
– Affected abilities: Brimstone’s Sky Smoke and Orbital Strike, Clove’s Ruse, and Omen’s From The Shadows
• Sage’s Barrier Orb
– Barrier Orb’s placement preview now also shows up on the minimap
PERFORMANCE UPDATES
• Improved the performance of Iso’s Kill Contract ability.
BUG FIXES
General
• Fixed issue where opening menus would reset your toggle crouch / toggle walk state.
Gameplay Systems
• Fixed a bug where pinging guns on the ground was not displaying the gun’s name in the text feed.
• Fixed a rare bug that resulted in the defuse timer showing up as ‘-00.00’ if the Spike was defused as the round timer hit 0.
• Fixed an issue with Ability icons not appearing on the minimap as an Observer.
• Fixed an issue where in certain scenarios, you can see an enemy but they don’t appear on the minimap.
• Fixed an issue where “DAMAGE TO YOU/YOU DEALT” is overlapping the Combat Report widget.
• Fixed font size readability issues with Combat Report in certain languages.
• Fixed an issue with auto re-scoping for Outlaw, Marshall, Operator staying active while the gun goes through a reload.
Maps
Abyss
• Fixed a spot in Mid Library where thrown abilities can clip through the shelves into gameplay space.
• Fixed a spot where Agent utility could be thrown off the map and used as a platform.
• Revised the message from the Scions of the Hourglass to fix text errors.
• Fixed a minor visual issue for the railings around Defender Spawn.
The Range
• Fixed a bug where certain words in the Range were not being translated correctly into
PC
BUG FIXES
Client
• Combat Report
– Fixed a bug where during pre-round, [Tab] must be held down while pressing the cursor toggle button to enable the cursor.
CONSOLE
MAP UPDATES
• Pearl enters Unrated & Swift Play queues.
KNOWN ISSUES
General
• Fixed issue where opening an Ability map and the Shop/Scoreboard simultaneously could result in a loss of input.
• Fixed an issue where pressing an Ability button while diffusing the Spike would equip a weapon.
Agents
Harbor
• Fixed an issue where Harbor’s High Tide wall would end prematurely.