Real Reason Valorant Shot Itself in the Foot by Destroying its Most Balanced Controller

The latest patch for Valorant is here and it seems like Riot Games decided to make some huge changes to the game. In the latest patch 9.10, the studio has rolled out various gameplay changes, the new Regen Shield, and balancing changes for Cypher, Sage, Deadlock, Omen, Clove, Phoenix, and Jett.

While some changes are appreciated, fans are not happy with the changes Riot Games made to Omen. The agent has been a part of the game since day one and even today, it stands as one of the best Controller agents in the game, however, Riot Games tweaked the agent’s Dark Cover ability to stop players from placing one-way smokes. This has left the community wondering if Riot Games ever thinks about the casual players. In competitive games, this smoke would certainly give players an unfair advantage but this was hurting no one in casual games.

Omen’s Dark Cover Ability Has Been Nerfed In Valorant

The latest patch 9.10 for Valorant includes a nerf to Omen’s Dark Cover ability. Omen players were able to place one-way smokes, which Riot Games believes provides “defensive power with low counterplay.” As a result, Dark Cover will now always fall to the level geometry where players can stand, and will not allow players to place one-way smokes on “small ornamental pieces of Geometry.” Several other agents also received balancing updates, check out the complete list on Valorant‘s official website.

Omen is a very popular pick mainly because of how strong his smoke abilities are. Players are able to smoke halfway across the map, plus it has a low cooldown that allows for quick smokes. Riot Games hasn’t touched the number of smokes or the cooldown, it is just that players will no longer be able to place unfair one-way smokes.

Was The Omen Nerf Necessary?

Players who don’t play as Omen will find this nerf fair and valid, however, Omen mains have pointed out how taking away this ability from Omen takes away his “unique identity.” As a player explained on Reddit, other Controllers have unique identities. Clove has smokes after death, Brimstone has long smokes, Astra has global smokes, and Viper has decay. Similarly, Omen had one-way smokes.

Is the omen nerf THAT big of a deal?
byu/no1mustardseed inVALORANT

Comment
byu/no1mustardseed from discussion
inVALORANT

Comment
byu/no1mustardseed from discussion
inVALORANT

Comment
byu/no1mustardseed from discussion
inVALORANT

Comment
byu/no1mustardseed from discussion
inVALORANT

This is another change that Riot Games has rolled out just to satisfy the pro players. It’s clear that the studio often ignores its large fanbase of casual players. This change will directly affect their gameplay. Riot Games has pointed out that it will be keeping an eye out here for how these changes affect the overall controller ecosystem, so it all depends on how players respond to it. This nerf could be revoked in the future but for now, it will stay.

Along with the agent changes, Riot Games also rolled out a brand new armor called Regen Shield. This shield gives players an immediate 25 HP to the player in armor while also maintaining a 50 HP regeneration pool. When 25 HP base armor is damaged, the pool can fully regenerate twice.