For quite some time now, fans of Riot Games’ competitive shooter VALORANT have been raising complaints about the shotguns in the game being overpowered, especially when firing from the air. You could regularly see a Jett or Raze using their abilities to lift themselves up in the air and score kills with a shotgun which would otherwise be difficult to get. Not only would it catch you off guard, but the time you’d require to correct your crosshair placement would be more than enough for them to shotgun you down from the air, which was a bit annoying for the VALORANT player base.
Finally, Riot has decided to address this issue, as VALORANT patch 1.06 has reduced the spread of the bullets of a shotgun when fired while in the air. It doesn’t directly reduce the viability of a shotgun, since it still has the same impact when used while running, walking or standing still, but balances the shotguns instead to be at par with their prices.
In the update, the spread penalty of all shotguns while in the air has been increased from 0.5 to 1.25, which is a 150% increase in bullet spread. It will significantly reduce the accuracy of shotguns while in the air, while ensuring that it’s still as effective in land.
“While shotguns are doing well in situations they are supposed to, there’s been overly frustrating moments where people are accurate with these weapons while in the air,” Jeff Landa – VALORANT Communications Associate – said through the official VALORANT blog. “We hope to curb some of those encounters while still making them possible if you catch an opponent at a short distance. “
The update also includes some other changes including several bug fixes and quality of life changes. Additionally, another important part of this update is that forfeited games will no longer count towards the 20-game requirement for entering ranked matchmaking for the team who forfeited.
