Riot Games has just released Patch 11.00 for VALORANT, and guess which agent has been nerfed again in the latest patch 11.00? Yep, you guessed it: Neon. The change affected her Relay Bolt (Stun), increasing the windup time by 0.2 seconds, from 0.8 to 1.0 seconds. That might be nothing to others, but to the maining crowd, it should just send them into a frenzy to shoot somebody with all they got.
While the patch notes were still up on Twitter, the replies were utter chaos. Some players even go as far as to say the nerfs are unnecessary: “Why nerf Neon while Harbor has been sitting untouched for so long?” Else would-be-neutrals began to voice their frustration: “They keep messing with her while the bigger issues remain unaddressed.” Then, the crowd was split in saying, “Let her be, she’s irritating anyway.”
@XoXFaby asked, “Lmao in what universe did Neon need even more nerfs?” On the other hand, @ImXuthentic replied, “They’re still not fixing her sliding accuracy?? Makes me think Riot wants mfs to get sliding headshotted.” The debate as to whether Neon’s slide should have less accuracy has been ongoing for the longest time, and this patch just adds fuel to that fire. So yeah, these folks are mad.
Then there was @Naps692: “This is shit buff Neon now or I burn your office now.” Now, that might be a bit much, but you cannot deny the passion behind the statement. Even the non-English speakers had to join in, like @zyncffee, who said, “Lahh kesian di nerf” (loosely: “Aw, poor thing got nerfed”). Everybody is struggling.
@NoNamesVAL went against the tide of negative comments: “A good change won’t help much but 25% more time to react will do something albeit not much.” So at least to some people, this is a smidge of progress, even if not the grand solution.
Harbor mains, meanwhile, are still waiting. @filipiwnl summarizes: “Still no Harbor changes…” It’s been months of players begging for fixes and Riot is busy tweaking Neon.
But in reality, why continue nerfing Neon? Nerfs have been cast on her on numerous occasions already, and some would say she is in a fine state, while others believe she is still quite strong, at least in the right hands. Either way, this patch says one thing for sure: Balancing in VALORANT is a never-ending war, and somebody will be discontented with whatever Riot delivers.
What now? More nerfing, more discussion, and definitely more meltdowns on Twitter. In the meantime, those Neon’s will get to know the extra 0.2 seconds of windup time and hope it won’t take long till Riot does her again.
Harbor mains? Well… keep waiting…
