Power creep is a nasty proponent of online hero-based games, and every hero-based title has struggled in the past at balancing new heroes while making them interesting enough (and viable) to play. It’s a difficult act to execute, to say the least.
Blizzard’s Overwatch struggles mightily against power creep as every hero they release seems to one-up abilities of other heroes, or at least goes against the idea of how heroes were tuned in the original launch of the title. Other titles such as Riot’s own League of Legends similarly release over-tuned heroes that eventually get nerfed down to a level where the LoL subreddit isn’t making daily threads about them.
Riot has recently released its eleventh agent for Valorant along with the official release of the team-based shooter, and players are already wondering about power creep in a game that is still in its infancy.
https://twitter.com/ArmendsFeed/status/1266783499153035265
The problem stems around Reyna’s Leer, and how it directly compares to other abilities such as Phoenix’s Curveball.
The purpose of these abilities is to provide a flashbang effect to other players that look at the projectile, temporarily blinding enemy characters to allow entry to a defended area.
https://twitter.com/EMPERENT/status/1269076057635905538
Phoenix’s Curveball ability swings around a corner and almost immediately pops after a brief distinguishable snap of the agent’s fingers. The flash blinds all players the view the ability when it erupts, regardless of team. The projectile can collide with walls and objects, leaving players that aren’t cautious and cognizant of the trajectory liable to flash themselves.
Alternatively, Reyna’s Leer ability can travel through walls, and only flashes enemies; players on the same team as the Reyna launching the Leer can easily look at it without it detrimentally affecting their vision. One round from an enemy connecting with the Leer will destroy it, and players can still see it even while under the detrimental effects of the ability as it shines through the effect.
https://twitter.com/27yoDAD/status/1268296627036590081
This ability, some have claimed, leaves Phoenix in an odd spot, as his flashbangs are arguably weaker. Both players are identified as duelists within Valorant, although it’s worth noting that there isn’t anything stopping teams from stacking both agents. Multiple teams within the Twitch Rivals tourney, which is currently ongoing, are doing precisely that.
Every team thus far in the North American leg of the tourney is running Reyna. It’s worth noting that Riot has replied to some mentions of Reyna being the beginning of power creep by stating that they don’t think Reyna is over-tuned; more so that other duelists are under-tuned as they currently stand.
It’s far too early to claim that Valorant is actually suffering from power creep; it’s all of four days old so far, and Reyna herself is similarly aged. It doesn’t change the idea, however, that Reyna has abilities at her disposal which are readily stronger than other agents. She also needs to be purchased for other players to play with her, bringing some interesting speculation and comparisons to League of Legends.
