The upcoming Patch 5.12 is shaping up to be one of the biggest updates for Episode 5.
VALORANT’s year-end update details have been leaked. According to Mike at Valorant Leaks & News, Patch 5.12 is shaping up to be a big patch that includes Map Rotation changes, Chamber Changes, and Smurfing updates.
While there’s not a lot of information about these leaks yet, fans have already made speculations about the changes arriving in Patch 5.12.
With the Map Rotation Information & Changes, Riot Games is rumored to add a map rotation mechanic to VALORANT in the upcoming patch. As players might already know, VALORANT currently has eight maps in the rotation, but only seven of those are in the active map pool.
Riot Games removed the fan-favorite Split from the Competitive map pool when Pearl was added to the game back at the start of Episode 5 Act 1 – that was almost six months ago. And while players can still get queued on the map in Unrated, some fans are definitely missing the Competitive gameplay on Split.
If the Map Rotation changes are true, then fans are likely to see Split on the Competitive Map Pool more frequently after Patch 5.12 lands this December.
Another change coming to VALORANT is with one of its most polarizing Agents in Chamber. Like the map rotation changes coming in Patch 5.12, the leaked information didn’t share any specifics, but a quick look at the Agent pick rates in the recently concluded VALORANT Champions 2022, and you’ll see why Riot Games intends to bring changes to Chamber for the third time in a year.
Chamber sat at a dominant 67% pick rate in VCT 2022, which is a good 14% higher than the second Agent in Fade. Another interesting stat to know is that Chamber was picked on every map in the rotation in the tournament. KAYO was the only other Agent to share the same stat.
The pros know Chamber’s potential, which was on full display in the most prestigious VALORANT tournament of the year, where the eventual champion LOUD picked Chamber on four of the six maps in the rotation. Despite the nerfs that Riot Games slapped on Chamber back in Patch 4.09 and 5.03, Chamber is still one of the strongest Agents in the game.
Riot Games is probably going to nerf Chamber again come Patch 5.12 or introduce some other changes to help balance him nicely in the meta.
Lastly, Riot Games is rumored to introduce Smurfing changes in Patch 5.12. As many players already know, Smurfing has become quite the problem for many players in VALORANT.
While smurfing isn’t necessarily illegal in VALORANT, Riot Games wants to keep the playing field even for all players of all ranks as much as possible. Smurfing has become a blockade on the road to fair play, which is why Riot Games is actively trying to curb smurfing in VALORANT when Patch 5.12 arrives.
For now, we can only speculate on the upcoming changes for Patch 5.12, but the upcoming VALORANT PBE should give us a better insight into the changes coming to VALORANT this December.
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