Riot Games has made a bold move by releasing the VALORANT patch notes 10.06 on April Fool’s Day, and the balance changes almost seem too good to be true for KAY/O mains.
Launching on April 1st, patch 10.06 will bring massive buffs to KAY/O while nerfing Yoru and Vyse, with the potential to shift the meta entirely in pro play.
KAY/O Is Back!
As the meta evolved, especially with the introduction of Tejo and the rise of double-duellist compositions, KAY/O lost its place somewhere. However, the upcoming patch aims to change that.
VALORANT patch notes 10.06 have revealed that the developers are introducing a new mechanic to his FLASH/DRIVE ability, making the flash pop faster upon bouncing in just 0.8 seconds.
Moreover, KAY/O’s underhand flash duration has been increased from 1.25 to 1.5 seconds and his ‘flashing’ voice line will now have an extended callout range from 20m to 50m, along with a new mini-map indicator for teammates.
But the most game-changing buff is to his ultimate, NULL/cmd, The resurrection time has been halved from 3 seconds to just 1.5 seconds, making it incredibly powerful in tense situations.
Full KAY/O Changes
- Upon bouncing, flashes will now start a 0.8 second windup and then pop.
- This windup has unique audio and visuals when triggered.
- The bounce windup will not be triggered if it is already less than 0.8 seconds from popping, so it won’t increase the total max time from throw to pop.
- Underhand maximum flash duration 1.25s >>> 1.5s
- Increase VO callout range of KAY/O’s “flashing” voice line 20m >>> 50m
- Unequip time 0.85s >>> 0.6s
- A minimap indicator has been added to the flash for teammates only.
- Ally resurrection time 3s >>> 1.5s
Yoru and Vyse Get Nerfed
Yoru has been dominating competitive play, and Riot believes his Fakeout ability offers too much value for its price. To counter this, the developers have doubled its cost from 100 to 200 credits.
As for Vyse, her Razorvine and Shear durations after activation have been reduced from 10s to 7s and 8s to 6s, respectively, to make her a bit more balanced.
VALORANT Patch 10.06’s Impact On The Esports Scene
Ever since Tejo’s release, he has dominated the meta and so far, is the most-picked agent in VCT Stage 1 across all regions. While the flash changes wouldn’t have had a huge impact on it, the NULL/cmd buff will definitely turn the tables in KAY/O’s favor.
Fans might finally see the return of double-initiator compositions, and Killjoy’s pick rate could improve following Vyse’s nerfs, especially now that Tejo’s Guided Salvo ability no longer breaks her ultimate.
It remains unclear whether VALORANT patch 10.06 will be implemented during VCT Stage 1. Esports Insider has reached out to Riot Games regarding this matter and will update this article once a response is received.
