Here's What You Missed From the VALORANT Patch 12.09 Neon and Shotgun Nerfs

Riot Games have finally announced the VALORANT Patch 12.09 release date. The upcoming patch will be released pre-schedule to balance the meta, making the game more enjoyable for all players. The new update will affect Shotguns and a popular duelist, Neon. Here's everything you need to know about the new VALORANT patch, announced on May 7.

VALORANT Patch 12.09 Release Date

Riot Games developers claimed that they were moving up their originally planned package of balance changes. The VALORANT Patch 13.00, which was supposed to release on June 23 PT, will now release on May 12 PT as Patch 12.09 VALORANT. This means the VALORANT Patch 12.09 release date is set for next week on Tuesday. Patch 13.00 will bring Initiator cooldowns and Sentinel Buffs.

All Patch 12.09 VALORANT Neon Nerfs

Here's the Neon nerf VALORANT in a nutshell:

• Neon's air mobility has been nerfed, which gives her a greater resource tradeoff on High Gear. She now has to engage more of the tactical aspects, including Planning and Intel.
• Jumping with High Gear active no longer provides any speed bonus when Neon is in the air. Her air speed while sprinting will match melee speed.
• When Neon's ultimate is active, fuel will regenerate with a kill. It will still regenerate passively.
• VFX has been improved to communicate the slide's direction and origin clearly.

You can learn more about why Riot Games disabled VALORANT Neon in our separate coverage.

All Patch 12.09 VALORANT Shotgun Changes

A huge Shotgun nerf VALORANT was announced in yesterday's 12.09 patch preview. An overhaul was made to Bucky, Judge, and Shorty to balance the meta. Here's an overall breakdown of attributes and what they will look like after the new patch:

All Changes From the Shotgun Nerf VALORANT Announcement

• All shotguns will be less accurate when moving.
• Several run, walk, crouch-walk, and jump inaccuracy values were standardized.
• Crouching provides a 15% accuracy multiplier for all shotguns.
• The Bucky's crouched accuracy modifier has been increased from 10 to 15%. Bucky received a slight multiplier buff while crouching.
• The Judge and Shorty got massive Shotgun nerfs VALORANT when in a crouched state.

Here are some more VALORANT shotgun balance changes:

Now that you know the VALORANT Patch 12.09 release date and the nerfs, consider following us for more information when the update is rolled out. Speaking of shotguns, check out our coverage of the best Bucky skins in VALORANT.