FPS games always have a meta that keeps changing according to the patches and new elements that are introduced to the gameplay, be it in terms of agents, abilities, weaponry, structures or even Maps. Valorant, despite its nascent release, has already seen the meta undergo a few changes thanks to new agents and patches. Developers though, are still getting a grasp on what needs to be nerfed; what needs a buff and what needs to remain untouched.
Yet, there are some common grounds that frustrate the users and abilities that people wish would be nerfed in order to mitigate their current overpowered state.
The Killjoy Turret Health Points
Killjoy is an agent that has lived up to her name thus far in Valorant. There has been a lot of outcry since the introduction, with her abilities causing quite a ruckus on the servers worldwide. Yet, there is one overpowering ability that needs to be nerfed soon because of its far-reaching effect on the overall user experience.
The Turret – her signature ability – is already a nuisance due to its ability to detect agents and fire from a fair range. However, it is the 125 Health Points attributed to it that makes it a gamebreaking ability, especially in Pistol Rounds.
It doesn’t just cause a distraction but the hits you receive slow you down, which makes it almost necessary to destroy it on most occasions. The attributed Health Points though, prevent you from making it an instant kill except when fired at with an Operator.
Consider the Turret a decoy that can aim. However, a decoy with the ability to fire should ideally not have more Health Points than an agent itself. A 25 to 50 point deduction in Health Points should be a more than fair way to balance things out. We can get to her other equally annoying abilities later.
The Blade Fury – Jett Ultimate
In the lead up to the release of Valorant, the developers proudly exclaimed that aim will be the championing factor in the game. To an extent, they have been proven right, even though there are some abilities that prove counter-productive to that argument. However, if there is one ability that destroys such a statement, it is Jett’s ultimate – Blade Storm.
Blade Storm equips you with blades that have a one hit kill chance depending on where you aim; that replenish if you manage a successful Blade Kill and gives you 5 chances (5 blades). But, the overbearing part of the ability is that it spans the entire duration of the given round and players can swap between weaponry and the ultimate throughout it.
There is no other Ultimate Ability that can kill everyone in the opponent team let alone one that spans the entire round once activated. One could argue that disabling the prospect of switching between weaponry and the Blades would be counter-productive and kill what makes the ability unique.
Hence, a proper way to nerf would be to add a timer that expires, say a minute, after it is activated. This restricts the Ultimate ability to nearly half-a round and would prevent the use of Blades as a defensive enabler on the defence or in afterplant situations.
The Reyna OverHeal
Like Killjoy, Reyna also received a cold shoulder in terms of user reactions when introduced. Many labelled it the perfect Duelist. One can opine that perhaps, Reyna has received significantly more of the Chemical X than what the Professor (devs) should have put in the concoction that is her character.
One such overbearing thing is her ability to OverHeal. When it comes to her abilities, the power to heal and recover from damage received is standard and perhaps, even necessary to dole out the damage expected from a Duelist. Although, one could argue that the additional 50 points received as a result of OverHeal is excessive. The OverHeal nullifies the necessity of buying an armour on most occasions for a Reyna user.
Once again, this can be justified when Reyna activates her Ultimate – Empress. But, the fact that she can OverHeal up to a maximum of 150 Points means that Reyna users can potentially ramp up more Health Points than they started the round with. Even though the OverHeal is temporary, it tilts the balance heavily in Reyna’s favour in straight duels and even more so in combat situations when the opponents cannot choose the option of disengaging or waiting for the OverHeal to expire.
A player like Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom on Reyna does make the agent look overpowered anyway. But, it cannot be disputed that Devour equipping Reyna with the Temporary OverHeal ability without activation of Empress makes the agent more than viable – overpowered.
A simple solution would be to restrict Devour to be able to heal until Reyna has 100 Health Points once again and to add OverHeal as an additional trait when Empress is used. For the power to conjure additional Health Points, even if temporary, elevates her status from just a self-healer and justifies the name of her Ultimate.
Honestly, there are several in-game abilities that seem powerful beyond the requisite threshold. But, the three mentioned above are ones that are either truly annoying, gamebreaking or something that fails to uphold the developers’ promise of Valorant maintaining its image of having an aim-heavy esports meta.
