Skye finds herself on the receiving end of another major buff in the VALORANT 7.12 update.

Riot Games have released the VALORANT patch 7.12 which features major changes to the agents Skye and Gekko as well as few minor performance updates. Here you will find a brief explanation of all of the latest changes implemented in the VALORANT 7.12 update:

Skye and Gekko changes at the center of VALORANT 7.12 patch

Agent Changes

Skye:

  • Trailblazer
    • Camera movement is disabled during the leap.
    • When Trailblazer is destroyed during the leap, it will no longer cause a concussive explosion.
      • Trailblazer plays the destruction voice line when destroyed during leap.
    • Trailblazer explosion now concusses allies as well as enemies

It is another rough time for Skye mains in VALORANT as Riot Games have once again seen fit to make some big changes to her abilities. This time in the form of her Trailblazer ability. According to the patch notes published on the playValorant website, the developers made these changes in order to force players to "be more deliberate when using the Trailblazer." Though this change means you will have to be more precise with the Trailblazer's movement, the added drawback of using it could lead to a decrease in Skye's pick rate. But hey, at least it isn't all doom and gloom in this latest patch.

Gekko:

  • Reclaim for Dizzy, Wingman and Thrash
    • Reclaim time has been reduced from 2 second to 1 second
  • Dizzy
    • Once Dizzy has identified a target they will shoot faster and the projectile will travel faster.
    • Pre-fire targeting delay has been reduced has been deccreased from 0.5 seconds to 0.35 seconds.
    • Missile speed increased from 7000 to 10000.

While this latest update has proven to be a downer for Skye mains, it has been a godsend for Gekko mains. With the Gekko now able to recover his trusty creatures much quicker than before, it means that there will more chances for players to make use of his utility during rounds. And with Dizzy's targeting being dialed up a notch, Gekko players will also be able to provide greater value in terms of his reconnaissance capabilites.

Map Updates:

An overview of the new Drift TDM map (Image from Riot Games)
An overview of the new Drift TDM map (Image from Riot Games)

Alongside the agent changes, we will also be getting a brand new TDM map in the 7.12 update; Drift. This new map, which was unveiled during the 2023 Game Changers Championship grand final, is the first new TDM map to be added into the game since the game mode was unveiled earlier this year. You can check out all of the current information regarding Drift by heading to our corresponding article.

Performance Updates:

  • Raw input buffer.
    • Beta tag removed
    • Default value changed from off to on
      • Existing setting values will not be impacted

Player Behavior Updates:

  • Party leaders will now be able to generate and send invite codes which allow players to join parties in-game.

Bug Fixes:

  • Agents:
    • Fixed a bug where players were not being awarded for kills while using a piece of utility. This affected Sova's Shock Dart while controlling his Owl Drone, Gekko's Mosh kills while controlling Trash, and Cypher's Tripwire while using his Spycam.
    • When KAY/O is downed using his NULL-CMD the red portrait will be visible to everyone in-game.
  • Player Behavior:
    • Fixed an issue where AFK players would still spawn in the next round despite being detected, preventing their teammates from gaining the pistol round bonus.
  • Premier:
    • Fixed an issue in the "Overtime Voting" segment where a "Waiting for Opponents" message would appear behind the voting team.

There you have it, all of the changes that will be coming to VALORANT in update 7.12.


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