VALORANT Episode 8 Act 1 patch notes, including Deadlock & Icebox changes

It's no surprise that plenty of changes have arrived with the launch of Episode 8 Act 1 in VALORANT, but adjustments for Agents like Deadlock and maps like Icebox are certainly welcome within the fanbase.

It's not just Agents and maps that have received special treatment though, as there's a new weapon to enjoy in the game, alongside significant audio improvements that should help you place the location of enemies with ease.

VALORANT update 8.0 patch notes

General updates

• Gun Buddy Carousel should now appear alphabetically by name.

Agent updates

Deadlock

• Sonic Sensor (Q)
  • Sonic Sensors are now recallable in round
  • Sonic Sensor’s pickup distance increased 12m to 27m
  • Decreased time to concuss once triggered 1.0s to 0.5s
  • Decreased time for enemies to destroy Sonic Sensor once triggered 0.65s to 0.5s
  • Deadlock and her allies can now hear Sonic Sensor’s audio lightly whenthey are in its area of effect
• Barrier Mesh (E)
  • Increased the max length Barrier Mesh walls 6m to 10m

Killjoy

• Turret (E)
  • Vision radius reduced 180 degrees to 100 degrees
  • Added a representation of the Turret’s vision cone on Killjoy’s minimap when she is placing the Turret
  • Added VFX and updated the Turret’s animations to communicate the Turret’s new vision radius

Map updates

Click to enlarge

Image via Riot

Door Refractor

• Upgraded the tech behind our interactable doors in order to polish some of your interactions with others and with Agent abilities

Icebox

• Storage container has been added on the left side to block line of sight from Attacker Spawn to B Tube
• The hanging container in B Green was creating a lot of complexity for both fights on the ground and people boosting up top. Moving the container out of the way should make combat here more manageable
• We felt that Mid could use more value for either team holding it. We've added a window toward the end of B Tube that overlooks Mid and can see towards A Site and Defender Spawn. It allows Attackers to assert a lot of pressure on rotators and Defenders should be able to hold more space when holding Mid from B Kitchen or Mid Boiler
• Added two boxes stacked flush to the wall
• There were multiple parallel paths leading from Mid to B Site. To reduce timings and create more predictable fights we've removed the B Orange route closest to B Kitchen
• Adjusted the snowpile leading up to B Kitchen so you can now silently drop off the boxes

Lotus

• More room has been added to A Main along with a set of boxes to give Defenders some more options to fight for A Rubble control
• The double stack of boxes outside A Stairs has been changed to non-penetrable to reduce the likelihood of being spammed
• More room has been added near the breakable door. It was always a little awkward to fight out of the broken door, but now it should be easier to fight out from inside the connection room
• A Hut has been closed to help give some more readability to the plant site, making it easier to retake. A cubby has also been added to the back of A Hut for more options to hold the site
• More room and boxes have been added to B Site to add some defensibility closer to the choke on-site
• The Spike plant zone and the stairs in C Bend have been adjusted to allow for more diversity of Spike plant locations in C Site
• Boxes on the back of the site have been adjusted
• More room and boxes have been added in C Main to also add some defensibility closer to the front of Main
• Boxes have been added to C Bend along with some extra room to fight from
• Increased the time it takes for rotating doors to complete their rotation 8s to10s

Modes updates

Team Deathmatch

• Stage 2 - Sheriff Loadout
  • Heavy Shield changed to Light Shield

Map rotation

• All modes (except Team Deathmatch and Custom games) will use the Competitive map rotation
• Current rotation: Icebox, Lotus, Sunset, Breeze, Ascent, Bind, Split

Premier updates

• Team Captain Role
  • We’ve added a secondary management role to rosters called Team Captain. Team Captains can help with team management including inviting and removing team members. Captains cannot delete the team or kick the Team Owner out. Team Owners can promote and demote a Team Captain
• Standings
  • You can now view standings in other divisions and for previous Stages of Premier using the drop-down menus on the top left of the Standings Tab
• Divisions
  • You can now see which division you are seeded into before you play your first match
• Playoff Qualification
  • The threshold to qualify for this Stage is back to the standard 675 Premier Score
• EMEA Zone Updates
  • We’ve updated our Zones to support the VCT Challengers League Path to Promotion in EMEA

Weapon updates

• New weapon 'Outlaw' joins the game

Gameplay systems updates

• VALORANT now supports third-party spatialisation software for headphones

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug with Raw Input Buffer where swapped primary/secondary mouse keys in Windows mouse settings were not being respected

That wraps up all of the changes and adjustments coming in VALORANT's Episode 8 Act 1, letting you know everything to prepare for the new era.

Check out our VALORANT homepage for more guides like this, including all of the best crosshair codes you can use, or you can just keep it simple with a classic dot crosshair too.