New VALORANT Patch 1.14

Riot Games have just revealed their newest update coming to VALORANT. In patch 1.14 we’ll be getting some new winter-themed stuff and events, as well as some changes to Sage and VALORANT’s newest map Icebox. Read on to know more about everything you need to know in VALORANT patch 1.14.

Icebox changes

To start off, let’s jump into the map changes on Icebox. Most of the changes were introduced to balance out both Attacker and Defender side, while also allowing solid gameplay fluidity throughout. Here are some images that highlight which spots received some tweaks:

As you can see, these changes will definitely have an impact on how Icebox is played overall. Hopefully players that disliked the map on release, will give it another shot.

Sage changes

Second up on our list of patch notes is our favourite in-game healer, Sage. The biggest change that was introduced with this patch was that she will no longer be able to place the Barrier orb whilst the Buy Phase is ongoing. This means that we won’t be seeing any surprise peeks from Jett or Omen anytime soon. Another big change to the Barrier orb is that the barrier itself will not lose health over time anymore. The barrier will only start to deteriorate a few seconds before it expires. This change will introduce a whole new way of playing around Sage’s abilities, and is certainly a buff to her current utility.

VALORANT Patch 1.14 – Modes and Events

With Christmas approaching, Riot have decided to introduce a Winter-themed game mode for all that would like to just hop into a match for fun. This is why we will be having Snowball Fight as our new gamemode with patch 1.14. The Gamemode will be active on LIVE servers on December 15th, and will last only for 2 weeks, meaning that it will be removed after December 29th. 

Snowball Fight – what is it?

Snowball fight is a 5v5 Team Deathmatch mode where the team that reaches 50 kills first wins. Respawns are enabled and the weapon you will be using is the snowball launcher and it will have an infinite amount of ammo, so don’t worry about spam shooting! Gifts are also placed around the map, which can be opened to retrieve one of many power ups. However, you can only have one power up at a time, so be sure to share some with your allies. It’s important to note that when you die you will lose your power up and the enemy team can steal it.

Power ups:

• Rapid Fire: Fire even faster
• Growball: Grows over time while traveling in the air
• Ricochet: Snowball trick shots off the ground and walls
• Skates: Skate around quickly and in style

For the first week, the map that will be used for snowball fight is a tweaked version of Icebox which is holiday themed. But for the second week, any map in the current map pool can be played.

With regards to experience and progression, once a match is finished you will receive 750 XP and an additional 150 XP if the match results in a win. Bear in mind that this game mode will not impact any sort of progress missions (Daily/Weekly).

Competitive changes

With regards to competitive, Riot have introduced a new feature which allows rank distribution to be updated easier to climb out of the lower ranks. The ACT rank badge will now be visible in in-game player cards and the Career page bug has been resolved.

Store Updates

An interesting new update with patch 1.14 is the newly revealed Night Market. This Night Market will feature 6 chances to either receive a Deluxe or a Premium skin at a sweet discount. Keep in mind that these 6 weapon skins will all be selected at random, and that this store will open on December 10th.

Despite the skins not being announced, leakers have revealed that Riot will be releasing two new Skin bundles which are the: Winter Wonderland and Blast X. Here are images of both bundles below:

VALORANT Patch 1.14 – Additional changes

• Requirements to unlock Competitive play have been changed from Play 20 Unrated matches to Win 10 Unrated matches
• Players can now add friends in-game via the player list in the escape menu
• Manual Game State Recovery
• Cinematic Cameras
• Projectile Follow
• Minimal Broadcast HUD
• Observer Follower

This patch is certainly a huge update, especially when it comes to the Icebox and Sage changes. With VALORANT events coming to a close, we will definitely start seeing more and more updates in the coming weeks.

So be sure to keep yourself updated on www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!