Valorant Episode 6 Kicks Off With Changes to the Gameplay, a New India-Based Map, Changes to the Competitive Side, and More

Valorant Patch 6.0 is now live, with a bunch of new changes to the game. We already knew that a new map called Lotus, Araxys Skyline, a new Battle Pass and rank refresh will be implemented. On top of that, there are more gameplay updates, tweaks to maps, competitive changes and progression updates. Check out the changes below:

A favorite map returns, plus changes to Ranked Rating (RR) and the ability to favorite weapon variants. Check out Patch Notes 6.0 here:https://t.co/Uq2vcY36zT pic.twitter.com/RV9bCuOEXc

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) January 10, 2023

Gameplay System Updates

Firstly, when using Toggle Zoom, players will see that the way Zoom is used for ADS and Scopes has been reworked. On top of that, players will see that they can now buffer Zoom inputs earlier when working with Toggle Zoom and multiple zoom levels can be buffered at one time.

Map Updates

Lotus

A new map based on India called Lotus has just been introduced to the game. Lotus is a 3-site map that will allow players a bunch of rotation options to choose from. On top of that, they will be able to find secrets behind the doors hidden across the map.

Players should know that the Lotus queue will only work for Swiftplay mode for one week. Post that it will go into the competitive and unrated map rotation. Moreover, Swift will be returning with a few tweaks.

Map Rotation

Players should know that Breeze and Bind will no longer be found in the competitive and unrated map rotation but it can be played on other modes. Players that use Dark Cover inside walls will see it fall to the height of the nearby ground. Lastly, most Agent Utility except molotovs can now damage breakable doors and wall plates at Lotus, Ascent and Haven.

Competitive Updates

Firstly, players should know that the changes for competitive will help make Ranked Rating gains and losses feel more consistent. They will also see the decrease of stomp effects on your RR.

Episode Reset

As a new episode has arrived, plays ranks will now reset, therefore their placement rank will be lower than it was towards the end of Episode 5.

Ranked Rating

Ranked Ratings will now depend a bit more on win and loss stats rather than the round differential of the match. On top of that, they will also experience their rank and MMR converge faster than before.

Progression Updates

Players can now favorite a variant of weapon skin. Following fan feedback, developers have introduced the option to favorite specific variants of their gun’s skins. Therefore, they will only see the variants they have favorited in the weapons pool, when they get on the game.