Riot Games Makes Nerfs to Sage’s Slow Orb Ability in VALORANT
Riot Games has acknowledged that Sage is overpowered in the latest patch notes for VALORANT and has made adjustments to her Slow Orb ability, which has been causing trouble for opponents.
Sage’s utility in VALORANT has been unrivaled since the beta release last month. Her ultimate ability allows her to resurrect teammates, and her healing orb and other basic abilities, such as barriers and slows, can be extremely valuable in skilled hands.
In the latest VALORANT beta patch, developers have made several changes to address the power of Sage’s Slow Orb. The duration of the orb has been reduced from nine to seven seconds, and its effectiveness has been decreased from 65 percent to 50 percent.
“We all know Sage is OP,” admits Riot. “We’ve decided to reduce some of her stopping power while still allowing her to fulfill her role as the top staller in VALORANT. These changes aim to lower the overall effectiveness of her Slow Orb, especially when used consecutively.”
Related: Riot increases ability costs for Sage, Raze, Phoenix, and Brimstone in VALORANT Patch 0.50
These adjustments to Sage’s Slow Orb follow Riot’s recent rework of how the ability provides information to Sage. Starting April 21, players can no longer jump through a Slow Orb to mitigate its slowing effects. However, in return, Sage is no longer instantly notified when someone passes through it.
While this change involved some trade-offs, it was ultimately considered a nerf due to the importance of information, such as positioning, in tactical shooters like VALORANT.
VALORANT, Sage, Riot Games, VALORANT beta, slow orb, nerfs, patch notes, ability adjustments