Harbor rework may bring him back to your VALORANT games!

Riot Games is finally releasing the long-awaited Harbor rework in VALORANT, after other powerful in-game controllers overshadowed his kit. With these changes, Riot aims to reintegrate him into the game and make him a viable option once again.

On Nov. 9, Riot Games revealed the changes coming to Harbor's kit. Released at the end of 2022, Harbor hadn’t received any meaningful updates since December of that year, making him one of the more forgettable agents in the game. Compared to his fellow controllers, Omen, Astra, Brimstone, Viper, and Clove, Harbor is considered the weakest.

According to the tracker.gg, Harbor has the lowest pick rate in the game with a percentage of 0.3% and a 44.5% win rate, as of the time of writing. After many criticisms from the players and Harbor mains, Riot decided to rework his kit, with the goal of bringing him back to the solo queue.

It’s important to note that these changes don’t guarantee Harbor will become a fully viable agent. However, we may see his pick rate rise in the coming months as players are likely to try out the reworked agent in-game.

OLD: The ability was called Cascade. Equip a wave of water. Fire to send the wave rolling forward and through walls. Re-use to stop the wave. The players hit by it are slowed.

REWORK: Equip Storm Surge. Fire to throw, creating an explosive whirlpool that Nearsights and Slows enemies within it after a short duration.

OLD: Equip a sphere of shielding water. Fire to throw. Alt fire to lob. Upon impacting the ground, spawn a destructible water shield that blocks bullets.

REWORK: Equip Cove. Activate to form a Smoke in the selected location. Hold Fire or Alt Fire while targeting to move the marker. Reload to toggle targeting view. Reactivate to shield the smoke from bullets. The shielded smoke can be destroyed.

OLD: Equip a wall of water. FIRE to send the water forward along the ground. Hold Fire to guide the water in the direction of your crosshair, passing through the world, spawning a wall along the water's path. Alt Fire while bending to stop the water early. The players hit by it are slowed.

REWORK: Equip High Tide. Fire to send a vision-blocking screen forward along the ground. Hold Fire to guide the screen towards your crosshair. Alt Fire to stop the screen early. All players crossing High Tide are slowed.

OLD: Equip the full power of your Artifact. Fire to summon a geyser pool on the ground. Enemy players in the area are targeted by successive geyser strikes. Players caught within a strike are concussed.

REWORK: Equip Reckoning. Fire to unleash the full power of your artifact, releasing a surge of water that barrels forward to nearsight and slow enemies that are hit.

The community has long demanded changes to Harbor, and fans have greeted this announcement with enthusiasm. Under the rework reveal, fans are already sharing comments like, “I’m going to love playing Harbor,” and “I actually like Harbor now!”

However, there are always some who question certain choices. Some have dubbed the new Harbor a “2.0 Omen,” while others are asking why Riot hasn’t removed the movement slow that affects his own teammates. Other players believe that these reworks will make having a second controller in the party necessary, since Harbor’s kit doesn’t have the same impact as a solo Omen or Astra.

Overall, the community feedback shows excitement for Harbor’s new aggressive options, while also raising concerns about resource limits and the movement slow effect on allies.

Since Riot Games hasn’t released the rework yet, players’ reactions to the updates remain unknown. Riot has not officially confirmed the release date, but the rework is expected to arrive on Nov. 11.

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