Chamber is one of the agents that is getting a big nerf.
For the upcoming 5.12 patch for VALORANT, players will see many agents receiving balance tweaks. The question is – will the change be for better or for worse?
The patch notes for 5.12 was posted by the game’s community manager on Reddit, which is initially for the Public Beta Environment. Along with agent tweaks, there will also be some “significant game system updates” as well as a small update for the Spectre.
The ever-popular Chamber is seeing a rebalancing as the internal balance team has deemed its current mechanics as “unhealthy”. The team also wanted to sharpen his Sentinel identity with the rebalance – by focusing his kit on precision and reducing his influence while introducing more counterplay against him in the long run.
His Headhunter (Q) stability curve has been updated where the bullet speed is increased after the second bullet. His Rendevous (E) now only places a single anchor instead of the previous two. The radius has been increased to 13 metres. His trap, Trademark (C), will deactivate when he is out of range. It can now also be recalled and has a cooldown of 30 seconds. His ultimate, Tour De Force (X) fire rate has been reduced by 57%.
Of course, he is not the only one getting a rebalance. Cypher’s Trapwire, KAY/O’s ZERO/POINT knife, Killjoy’s Nanoswarm, Raze’s Blast Pack, Sova’s Recon Bolt, and of course Chamber’s Trademark now have 20 points of health instead of just one. Harbor meanwhile gets a 15-second duration for his High Tide instead of 12, and Cascade will now last for 7 seconds.
Killjoy’s Lockdown health now has 200 points instead of 150, Omen’s Paranoia cost has decreased, Raze’s Boom Bot health has decreased, and Phoenix’s Blaze cost has decreased. Sage’s Barrier Orb delay has been increased while at the same time her healing now will heal herself less, but her teammates more. The costs for Sky’s Trailblaze and Regrowth have also been tweaked, as well as Yoru’s Gatecrash.
Spectre’s damage range has been changed; from 0 to 15 meters, body shots deal 26 damage. From 15 to 30, it is not 22 damage. Beyond 30 metres, it deals 20 damage.
Notable system updates include fixes where enemy Spycams or Turrets can trigger Cypher’s Trapwires, updates to Assist Tail Tuning, and Damage Interaction updates.
The current PBE testing period for 5.12 changes runs until 1 pm CT on Monday, Dec. 5. You can check the full patch notes below.
PBE Patch Notes 5.12
Breach
Rolling Thunder (X)
- Ultimate Points increased 7 >>> 8
Chamber
Headhunter (Q)
- Updated Stability Curve
- Spread increased after 2nd bullet, when spamming. This is explicitly meant to reduce low-precision body-shot spam as an effective combat measure at range.
Rendezvous (E)
- Chamber now places a single anchor that can be teleported to while inside its range
- Radius increased 7.5m >>> 13m
- Removed teleport activation height restriction
- You can teleport to the Anchor while on different verticality so long as you are within its radius.
- Increased weapon equip time after teleporting 0.4s >>> 0.7s
- Headhunter is unaffected by this change.
- Destroying Rendezvous teleport anchor now disables it for the remainder of the round, instead of being placed on a cooldown.
- Chamber no longer incurs an additional cooldown when recalling his Anchor after teleporting.
- Health decreased 80 >>> 50
Trademark (C)
- The trap is now range restricted
- Trademark will disable when Chamber moves out of range, and reactivate once he is inside.
- Can now be recalled mid-round without line of sight
- 30s cooldown on recall
- Destruction remains permanent
- Initial Arm Time increased 2s >>> 4s
- Health Increased 1 >>> 20
Tour De Force (X)
- Fire rate decreased by 57.5%
Slow
- This applies to both Trademark and Tour De Force
- Reduced duration 6s >>> 4s
Cypher
Trapwire (C)
- Health increased 1 >>> 20
Fade
Prowler (C)
- Health decreased 100 >>> 60
Harbor
High Tide (E)
- Duration increased 12s >>> 15s
Cascade (C)
- Duration increased 5s >>> 7s
KAY/0
ZERO/POINT (E)
- Health increased 1 >>> 20
NULL/cmd (C)
- Ultimate points increased 7 >>> 8
Killjoy
Lockdown (X)
- Health increased 150 >>> 200
Nanoswarm (C)
- Health increased 1 >>> 20
Omen
Paranoia (Q)
- Cost decreased 300 >>> 250
Phoenix
Blaze (C)
- Cost decreased 200 >>> 150
Raze
Boom Bot (C)
- Health decreased 100 >>> 60
Blast Pack (Q)
- Health increased 1 >>> 20
Sage
Barrier Orb (C)
- Fortify delay increased 3.0s >>> 3.3s
Healing Orb (E)
- Self heal total amount decreased 60HP >>> 30HP
- Ally heal total amount increased 60HP>>> 100HP
Sova
Recon Bolt (E)
- Health increased 1 >>> 20
Skye
Trailblazer (Q)
- Cost increased 250 >>> 300
- Regrowth (C)
- Cost decreased 200 >>> 150
Viper
Viper’s Pit (X)
- Smoke integrity regen time 5.0 >>> 25.0
- Max time out of smoke decreased 15.0 >>> 8.0
- Ultimate points required 7 >>> 8
Yoru
Gatecrash (E)
- Health decreased 100 >>> 60
- Cost decreased 200 >>> 150
GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS UPDATES
Assist Tail Tuning
* Assist tails are the “grace period” duration after a debuff has expired where a player will still be awarded an assist for debuffing the killed target.
- Concuss, Nearsight, Detained
- Assist tail increased 2s >>> 3s
- Exiting Smokes
- Assist tail increased 1s >>> 2s
- Slow
- Assist tail increased 1s >>> 2s
- Suppression
- Added new 3s assist tail
Damage Interaction Updates
* Abilities that output damage will now universally damage enemy objects that can be damaged. Exceptions are made for Skye Trailblazer & Cypher Trapwire that only deal damage to players.
* We want to ensure that abilities are interacting in a consistent manner across the board. We want you to spend time thinking about how to approach utility in-game, rather than wondering if you can in the first place.
Brimstone
- Incendiary now damages:
- Killjoy Nanoswarm
- Killjoy Alarmbot
- Killjoy Lockdown
- Cypher Trapwire
- Raze Blast Pack
- Sova Recon Bolt
- Reyna Leer
- Sage Barrier Orb
- KAY/0 Knife
- Chamber Trademark
- Chamber Rendezvous
- Fade Prowler
- Orbital Strike now damages:
- Chamber Rendezvous
Phoenix
- Hothands now damages:
- Cypher Trapwire
- Killjoy Nanoswarm
- Killjoy Alarmbot
- Killjoy Lockdown
- Raze Blast Pack
- Reyna Leer
- Sage Barrier Orb
- Sova Recon Bolt
- Fade Prowler
- KAY/0 Knife
- Chamber Trademark
- Chamber Rendezvous
- Blaze now damages:
- Cypher Trapwire
- Killjoy Nanoswarm
- Killjoy Alarmbot
- Killjoy Lockdown
- Raze Blast Pack
- Reyna Leer
- Sage Barrier Orb
- Sova Recon Bolt
- Fade Prowler
- KAY/0 Knife
- Yoru Fakeout
- Chamber Trademark
- Chamber Rendezvous
KAY/0
- FRAG/MENT: KAY/0 now has a voiceover that tells his allies the number of enemies suppressed when the knife hits.
- ZERO/POINT now damages:
- Fade Prowler
Killjoy
- Nanoswarm now damages:
- Cypher Trapwire
- Killjoy Nanoswarm
- Killjoy Alarmbot
- Killjoy lockdown
- Raze Blast Pack
- Reyna Leer
- Sage Barrier Orb
- Sova Recon Bolt
- Chamber Trademark
- Chamber Rendezvous
- Fade Prowler
- KAY/0 Knife
Raze
- Blast Pack now damages:
- Fade Prowler
- Paint Shells
- Now damages:
- Fade Prowler
Sova
- Shock Bolt now damages:
- Fade Prowler
- Hunters Fury
- Now damages:
- Raze Satchel
- Reyna Leer
- Fade Prowler
- Chamber Rendezvous
Viper
- Snakebite now damages:
- Cypher Trapwire
- Killjoy Nanoswarm
- Killjoy Alarmbot
- Killjoy lockdown
- Raze Blast Pack
- Reyna Leer
- Sage Barrier Orb
- Skye Seekers
- Sova Recon Bolt
- Chamber Trademark
- Chamber Rendezvous
- Fade Prowler
- KAY/0 Knife
Damage Multiplier Updates
With damage-over-time area abilities now universally damaging utility, we took a pass on damage multipliers. These area-damage abilities cover a wide space and deal large amounts of damage over their duration. We’ve reduced their non-player output to 50% of base damage to prevent instant destruction of enemy utility and to ensure abilities with higher health, such as Sage Barrier Orb, retain their relevant impact.
Breach
- Aftershock now deals 250% >>> 100% damage to non-players
Brimstone
- Incendiary now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players
KAY/0
- Fragment now deals 250% >>> 100% damage to non-players
Killjoy
- Nanoswarm now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players
Phoenix
- Hot Hands now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players
Raze
- Blast Pack now deals 1200% >>> 250% damage to non-players
- Paint Shells now deals 100% >>> 250% damage to non-players
- Boom Bot now deals 100% >>> 250% damage to non-players
Viper
- Snake Bite now deals 100% >>> 50% damage to non-players
Allied Ability Damage Immunity
The following abilities are now immune to allied damage:
Chamber
- Rendezvous
- Trademark
Cypher
- Spycam
Fade
- Prowler
- Haunt
KAY/0
- ZERO/POINT
Killjoy
- Alarmbot
- Lockdown
Raze
- Blastpack
- Boom Bot
Skye
- Seekers
- Trailblazer
Sova
- Owl Drone
- Recon Bolt
Yoru
- Gatecrash
- Fakeout
WEAPONS UPDATES
Spectre
- Added a third damage range to the Spectre and updated distances. New distances and body shot damage are:
- 0-15m, 26 damage.
- 15m-30m, 22 damage.
- 30m+, 20 damage.
- For reference, the old ranges and damages were:
- 0-20m, 26 damage.
- 20m+, 22 damage.
BUGS
- Fixed an issue where Phoenix would not be decayed by Viper for a short period after dying during Run It Back while decayed. (Thanks for the report Iyerfire)
- Fixed an issue where Cypher wasn’t able to place Trapwires on the glass panels by the yellow crate on Icebox.
- Fixed a bug where enemy Spycams or Turrets could trigger Cypher’s Trapwires.
- Fixed a bug where enemy knives could not damage Chamber’s Rendezvous teleport anchor.
- Fixed a bug where Boom Bot would explode on contact with Yoru’s Gatecrash beacons.
