Valorant Patch Updates Omen and Adds Competitive Mode

Valorant is getting its second big closed beta update this week when Patch 0.49 releases for PC players on April 29th to change some parts of Omen’s kit and pave the way for the game’s competitive mode. The updates for Omen are a mix of bugfixes, clarity changes, and a slight buff to one of his abilities while some parts of the game’s maps were similarly updated. Riot Games‘ notes for the update also said that the Competitive mode would be added in the Wednesday update, but the ranked mode won’t be live immediately once the update is rolled out.

This new patch will be released on April 29th which will require some downtime for the servers, though the maintenance will be during off-hours. Once the game’s back up, you can expect to see a few gameplay changes and map updates along with a host of bug fixes again, but don’t expect to see the Competitive mode until Riot officially turns it on.

Below you’ll find some of the most important gameplay-related parts of the patch notes aside from the bug fixes and HUD changes which can be seen in full here.

Omen

• Omen now immediately becomes vulnerable and no longer appears dark after he leaves his alternate shadow form
  • If you were to find enemy Omen teleporting in, it was often confusing when you should shoot him to get the kill (vs. sending him back). This change is to both account for an invulnerability bug and score some extra points of clarity
• The attenuation radius of the arrival sound on Omen’s From the Shadows has been reduced to 2250
  • Attenuation is a big word, but the short of it is you have to be closer to Omen to echolocate where he’s teleporting to. We’re trying to give him some spook back since if you do find him, you should now have him dead to rights

Map Updates

• Added curtains to the top of double doors on Haven to remove the Sage Barrier Orb boost that allowed players to see through a sliver of the door at the top
• Fixed issue with Cypher camera being placed on the Haven A Main boxes
• Multiple fixes to the geometry on Haven, Bind, and Split to fix exploits and help optimize gameplay—massive thanks to all of the folks who helped to identify these! We see you
• Updated materials on Bind and Haven to make surfaces more consistent overall
• Changed color of Radianite crates in order to unify overall visuals

Competitive Updates

• Added Competitive mode and ranked matchmaking, to go live in the near future

Valorant’s next update will arrive on April 29th.