Yoru Reworks and Changes: State of the Agents in Valorant

An update on a rework for Yoru - coming soon to Valorant...

Yoru Rework _ State of Agents in Valorant
Yoru Rework (Image Source: PlayValorant)

Yoru – the menacing Japanese duelist in Valorant is receiving a few major reworks. Known for his ability to infiltrate enemy lines by drifting through dimensions, Yoru is certainly a fan favourite. His skills rely on deception and stealth to secure the frags that the team needs from a duelist. Yoru is popular for his absolutely mind-blowing plays. However, at a higher elo, he becomes extremely predictable.

Additionally, there were concerns that his flashes took too long to pull out, and that his ultimate ability just wasn’t good enough. As his flaws grew, professional Valorant players completely stopped playing Yoru in tournaments. The more favoured meta-defining options were movement based duelists like Jett and Raze. 

In an attempt to balance the abilities of agents in Valorant, Riot devs have announced a whole set of changes that Yoru will be getting soon. This is to ensure that particular agents do not power creep other ones, making them completely irrelevant and ruining the balance in the game. 

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The changes to Yoru’s abilities are as follows: 

  1. Fakeout

Current Ability  Reworked Ability
  • Mimics the set direction of Yoru’s footsteps’ sounds, misleading enemies
  • Creates a full copy of Yoru that runs forward.
  • When damaged, it explodes and debuffs enemies.
  • When shot, it flashes in the direction of the enemy that fired the shot. 

 

2. Gatecrash

Current Ability Reworked Ability
  • Creates a teleport point on the map.
  • It lasts 40 seconds, during which you can teleport at any time.
  • Range at which enemies can see the teleport is lowered.
  • Travel speed is increased by 20%.
  • It can be triggered as a fake teleport from a distance. Creates a ‘puddle’ on the ground after a fake teleport. 
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3. Dimensional Drift

Current Ability Reworked Ability
  • Instantly enters a state of invisibility and invulnerability.
  • It lasts 8.75 seconds.
  • At a certain range, Yoru becomes visible to enemies, but maintains invulnerability.
  • Yoru is no longer visible to enemies at any range.
  • Able to use all utility (decoy, flashes, teleport) in the ult.
  • Enemies can hear Yoru’s footsteps.
  • Unequip delay time is increased.
  • Casting delay is added, eliminating an invulnerability frame upon casting.

 

When Will We See these Changes In-Game? 

Riot Games aims to release Yoru’s rework along during Episode 4 Act II. Since there is usually a 2 month gap between new Chapters in Valorant, it will probably launch sometime in March 2022. However, these are only speculations. We should wait for official announcements from Riot soon.

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Whether or not these changes will make him a better agent and put him on the same level as the other duelists remains yet to be seen. We’ll only be able to arrive at a conclusion after playing him in different comps and identifying what works. 

Ultimately, this is a step in the right direction for a more balanced agent pool in Valorant. It also paves the way for future reworks to agents like Phoenix and Omen – which have been widely discussed in the community. 

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