Valorant 12.02 Update Brings Harbor Buffs and Reyna Nerfs

Valorant Patch Notes 12.02 are live, and the focus is crystal clear. Harbor gets another meaningful power boost. On the other hand Reyna finally sees nerfs aimed at slowing her long-running dominance in ranked. There are also UI changes and a number of adjustments to player behavior, as well as numerous bug fixes for both the PC and console versions of the game.

Here’s a full breakdown of what changed in Valorant Patch Notes 12.02.

Harbor Receives Major Buffs across His Kit

Harbor is the headline of this Valorant update. Riot has made it a priority to design his abilities to be usable in real-match situations, resulting in increased site control, improved spacing, and increased comfort level when using his utility.

Cove

• Cool-down has been reduced from 40F seconds to 30 seconds.
• Smoke duration has been increased from 15 seconds to a total of 19.25 seconds.
• Shield health has been increased from 500 to 680.
• Harbor now has a faster gun re-equip speed after deploying Cove.

Storm Surge

• A sound will now be present to the world when an enemy is hit by Storm Surge.

High Tide

• The wall height has been changed from 6m to 8m.
• The maximum wall distance has been changed from 50m to 60m.

Reckoning

• The speed at which the waves produced by Reckoning travel has increased by 25%.
• Ultimate can now be re-activated to stop the waves in place for up to seven seconds.

These changes significantly improve Harbor’s ability to hold space and react mid-fight, especially during executes and post-plant scenarios. Recent releases like the VALORANT LNY 2026 Year of the Horse Bundle highlight how Riot pairs major patches with limited-time cosmetic drops.

Reyna Nerfs Aim to Reduce Passive Value

Reyna has been one of the most consistent high-pick Duelists for years, especially in ranked. Patch 12.02 aims to address Reyna's ability to snowball her way through fights with minimal risk.

Soul Orbs (Passive)

• Duration of soul orbs has been decreased from 4 seconds to 3 seconds
• Tooltip now correctly matches the in-game duration

Devour

• Overheal is now temporary and lasts 10 seconds.
• Healing during Empress remains permanent

Empress

Total cost has been raised from 6 to 7 points.

These changes will force players of Reyna to make quicker decisions and provide resources rather than relying on long-term rights.

General Updates and Gameplay System Changes

In addition to a variety of agents, Valorant Patch Note 12.02 also includes many quality-of-life updates throughout the game.

• Visual updates to the Social Panel.

• When player-controlled objects take damage (for example: Skye’s Trailblazer, Tejo’s Stealth Drone), the UI will provide a damage indicator.

Player behavior update

• When players exit Deathmatch, they will no longer receive an XP/AP Denial warning. This allows players to clearly track their behavior and eliminate confusion.

Bug fixes across all platforms

Cosmetics

• Fixed an issue with the gold VFX trail on the Champions 2021 Karambit.

Gameplay Systems

• Fixed player names in the Combat Report to be aligned correctly

Modes: All Random One Site

• Fixed loadout resets after disconnects

• Fixed agents incorrectly dropping Ult Orbs

• Fixed glass-breaking audio triggering out of bounds on Ascent

• Fixed UI text overflow in certain localizations

If you find this mode tricky, then you should definitely try out our Valorant All Random One Site mode guide.