By a variety of metrics, Riot Games’ closed beta launch of VALORANT has been an unqualified success. That said, individual reactions to the game have been more varied. Among the most widespread criticisms is the design of Raze, one of its playable agents. Simply put, whereas securing kills with the majority of its roster requires skilled gunplay, Raze’s kit includes a couple of options for eliminating opposing players that don’t always need to be precisely aimed. Riot has now revealed plans to concretely address these concerns for the first time, which the game’s lead designer Trevor Romleski discussed in an interview with Polygon.
Romleski understands the criticisms of Raze due to her controversial abilities translating directly into damage. Whereas a hero like Sova can use his Recon Bolt to reveal an enemy’s position and then secure a kill with that knowledge, to give one example, Raze’s Paint Shell grenade and Showstopper rocket launcher can both be aimed in the general direction of an enemy and secure a kill through a wide damage radius.
Ultimately, these two kinds of abilities have the same end goal, but Raze’s kills resulting from ability use require one less step than Sova’s. Romleski explains that it’s for this reason that Riot is both considering tweaking Raze’s skills and that it becomes easy to do so. Balancing Sova’s Recon Bolt, were it considered overpowered, would involve altering how it effects more cerebral variables like map awareness. Tweaking a damage ability, however, can simply be done by lowering the amount of damage inflicted.
Another proposed solution Romleski discusses is implementing a clearer indicator for Raze’s explosives. Sova’s ultimate, for example, shoots a long range bolt through walls, but its preceded by a large, bright indicator of where it will be used. Raze’s abilities are faster, which likely also contributes to players’ dissatisfaction with kills secured using them. Adding additional telegraphing to a shot from her rocket launcher, for example, would theoretically detract from one of those types of kills feeling unfair.
Changes to Raze, as of now, will potentially be introduced in the game’s first patch. This isn’t a given, however, as VALORANT‘s development team wants to allow players more time to develop a familiarity with its mechanics before implementing adjustments to balance. Something that seems over- or under-powered now may not be seen as so a few weeks from now once its playerbase has collectively improved and developed a new meta.
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