VALORANT patch 6.02 updates the Stinger and server rewind

Brandon Moore

Brandon Moore

The 6.02 patch notes for VALORANT reveal the much-discussed Stinger changes, reduction to server rewind time, bug fixes, and more.

Episode 6 continues through its first Act. With its start, we received a brand new map and several changes meant to keep players happy. Now comes patch 6.02 for VALORANT. The patch notes indicate adjustments to several aspects of the game, such as the Stinger and Lotus.

Promised Stinger changes are finally here

Once again, the Stinger reigns supreme. There have been multiple times where the eco-friendly weapon was labeled overpowered in the Riot Games first-person shooter. In its current state, the Stinger has been the talk of the community, with the developers finally promising action.

The consensus is that the weapon overperforms at medium to long ranges. Due to this, the following changes are being made with patch 6.02:

  • Cost increased from 950 credits to 1100 credits
  • Damage fall-off that was previously 27 damage up to 20m and 25 over 20m is now 27 damage up to 15m and 23 over 15m

Patch 6.02 lowers max server rewind limit in VALORANT

As part of a gameplay systems update, Riot Games is lowering the max server rewind limit. Thankfully, they offered up a quote for those unaware of what that even means:

"When a player fires a shot, it takes time for the input to reach the server. To prevent you from
needing to lead your shots, VALORANT implements server rewinding.

"When the server determines the outcome of a shot, it rewinds character positions around the bullet to match their locations at the time when the shot was initially fired.

"Finding the right limit for a max rewind amount is important for reducing cases of anyone feeling like they need to lead shots, or that they can still be shot after safely repositioning themselves."

- Kevin Lee, Software Engineer

The limit has been reduced from 200 ms to 140 ms as of patch 6.02. Essentially, if you are playing against another player with high ping, there shouldn't be many instances where it appears you've been shot after already successfully taking cover.

Riot Voice Evaluation enters a limited beta phase

Riot Games kicked off the Riot Voice Evaluation for VALORANT. This is only for North America and English-speaking circumstances as it moves into a beta period. Simply put, this will assist with their interventions for comms related behavior.

Various bug fixes in patch 6.02

Lastly, there are plenty of bug fixes coming with VALORANT patch 6.02. A handful of them are small issues with Agent abilities. The major Agent bug fixes are for Cypher's Ultimate, Neural Theft, to make sure it is revealing correctly.

Map-based changes are the remaining noteworthy parts of the patch:

  • Players no longer make footstep audio when they drop from B Site platform to the fountain on Lotus
  • The rotating doors of Lotus have had their volume reduced once again
  • Players no longer spawn on the wrong side of the C Site barrier if the round ended while they stood within a rotating door

Those are the big ticket items from VALORANT patch 6.02. You can read the full patch notes on the official site to see every single change, fix, and update implemented.

Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more VALORANT news and content.