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Valorant nerfs Chamber and updates its engine in patch 5.03

You want to play? Let’s play… with considerably longer cooldown times.

Key art for Valorant, containing Killjoy, Viper, Reyna, and Neon.
Kelsey Raynor avatar
News by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer
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Valorant is in receipt of its latest patch today, and players globally are going to no doubt be commiserating the current meta as Chamber is drastically nerfed.

Chamber was first introduced to Valorant back in November 2021, and the Sentinel Agent certainly went down a treat. With a pistol and a sniper built into his kit of abilities, Chamber has perhaps been one of the most offensive defense specialists in the roster. So, understandably, he quickly became a top pick amongst ranked players.

Catch our discussion of Valorant's most recent map, Pearl, here.

However, Valorant has noticed that its players have managed to master Chamber quite efficiently by now. So much so, that his strengths are overshadowing his weaknesses, and counter-playing his kit isn’t as effective as the developer once hoped.

As a result, the power of Chamber’s overall kit has been reduced while still allowing him to retain his competitive edge. This news will suck for many Chamber mains, but for those of us who wince in fear at the Agent’s Tour De Force voiceline, this is almost a relief.

The changes made to Chamber’s kit are as follows:

Rendezvous (E)

  • Base Cooldown increased from 20s to 30s
  • Recall Cooldown increased from 20s to 30s
  • Cooldown is 45s whenever a Rendezvous anchor is destroyed
  • Range to activate Rendezvous is reduced from 21m to 15m

Trademark (C)

  • Slow duration decreased from 9.5s to 6s

Tour De Force (X)

  • Slow duration decreased from 9.5s to 6s
  • Ultimate points required has been increased from 7 to 8

Headhunter (Q)

  • Cost of bullets increased from 100 to 150

This isn’t all that there is to Valorant’s patch 5.03, either. The leg shot multiplier for Neon, Jett, and Chamber’s ultimate has been reduced simultaneously. Meanwhile, Neon’s ultimate ability - Overdrive - has also been in receipt of some changes.

Namely, her damage per shot has been reduced, while her killzone and headshot multiplier have been increased. This’ll be rewarding for those with solid aim, that’s for sure.

More behind the scenes, Valorant has updated its engine and will now be using Unreal Engine 4.26. This won’t lead to any noticeable differences among players, but certainly may make life easier for the developers. That said, the update has caused the UI to misbehave in some instances, and Valorant has warned players that they’re trying to fix this as soon as possible, and to submit bug reports where possible.

Additionally, the Agent browser has been refreshed slightly. Over time, there’s been an abundance of amazing Agent art created and released. The browser has been updated to leverage more of that, and hone in on Valorant’s style.

That’s it for patch 5.03. What do you reckon to Chamber’s changes?

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