VALORANT patch 4.04 was released today, bringing with it a slew of character changes that promise to help balance out the controller meta and make Yoru a more viable duelist. The patch includes a new Yoru rework designed to make him more competitive against Jett, Reyna, and Phoenix. In the new patch, they are also rebalancing controllers, buffing Brimstone and Omen while nerfing Astra and Viper.

Astra and Viper got Nerfed

First and foremost, Astra's Stars have been significantly weakened. She now has four instead of five, and the cooldown when retrieving a placed star is 25 seconds instead of 14. Her Gravity Well has been nerfed as well; its cooldown has been increased to 25 seconds, and its size has been reduced. The ability no longer pulls players completely beneath it, so players can now crouch beneath Gravity Wells set on top of boxes or higher terrain.

Astra's Nova Pulse and Nebula have also had their cooldowns increased, with Nova Pulse now having a cooldown of 45 seconds and Nebula having a cooldown of 25. Nova Pulse will also have no effect on anyone who is directly beneath it. Nebula now cools down sequentially, which means that the first smoke will cool down at a different time than the second, whereas previously they were simultaneous.

The cooldowns for both Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud have been increased for Viper, her Fuel drains 50% faster when both are active, and her Snake Bite duration has been reduced.

Omen and Brimstone Buffed

Brimstone was given four buffs to help him perform better in the Controller meta, where he is currently not a strong contender. His Sky Smoke deploy time was reduced from 2 to 1 second, allowing for faster deployment. His Sky Smoke's radio frequency has been increased from 5000 to 5500, allowing it to cover a larger area. The Sky Smoke's height was also increased to match the other smoke abilities.

Omen's new changes are minor, but they will improve the overall experience of using Omen. The cooldown for his Dark Cover ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds, the cost has been increased from 100 to 150, and the projectile speed has more than doubled from 2800 to 6400. His Shrouded step ability's cost was reduced from 150 to 100, and the pre-teleport delay was reduced by 30%, allowing for a much faster and less risky teleport.