Minor Balance Changes Target Brimstone, Astra, and Yoru (Valorant Patch 10.8)

Valorant Patch 10.8 introduces several minor but meaningful balance changes. Brimstone’s molly will now be easier to heal through, especially when placed inside smokes. Astra receives a slight adjustment as well, with her stun duration reduced from four seconds to 3.5 seconds to align with other concuss effects.

Yoru faces two nerfs to his ultimate ability; the duration has been decreased from 12 seconds to 10 seconds, and the cost has increased from seven to eight ultimate points.

Alongside the agent changes, the competitive map rotation sees Fracture moving out, with Sunset taking its place. This continues Riot’s seasonal adjustments to keep the competitive experience fresh for players.

Valorant Adds Gifting System and Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

Patch 10.8 also brings a significant quality-of-life addition: the ability to gift featured store items to other players. Within the store, players can now open a bundle’s details page, click the gift icon, and choose a recipient. Gifting currently applies only to featured bundles, though Riot has indicated plans to expand gifting options to more store items in future updates.

To celebrate Valorant’s fifth anniversary, Riot has temporarily returned the original music from Episode 1 to the menus, character select, and victory/defeat screens. A heartfelt message from Riot highlighted the game’s journey since 2020, reflecting on its launch during the pandemic, the challenges overcome, and the community built around Valorant. Riot emphasized continued focus on player concerns, including smurfing, combat overload, toxicity, and promised updates on features such as replays. Additional anniversary content will roll out over the coming weeks.

Valorant 2025 Act 3 Battle Pass Highlights

Although the full battle pass is not live in-game yet, all the cosmetics for Valorant’s 2025 Act 3 have been revealed. The first collection, Spellbound, includes skins for the Frenzy, Bucky, Marshall, and Bulldog. These skins showcase purple designs typical of battle pass items, focusing on clean, accessible aesthetics rather than high-end variants.

The second collection, Tactic Trade, provides a ghost, judge, guardian, and operator. These skins feature a minimalistic purple-tone design without additional variants.

The standout set is the Solar skin line, which features skins with unlockable variants in yellow, green, and purple. The Solar collection includes the free reward pistol skin, the Solar Sheriff, available to all players upon battle pass completion. Other weapons in the Solar line include the Spectre, Odin, and Phantom, each offering multiple color options.

The battle pass also includes a claw-type knife called the Solarax Relic, featuring similar yellow, green, and purple variants. Although full in-game animations are not currently visible, Riot promises traditional flex knife functionality.

Sprays, Titles, and Additional Cosmetics

Players can also expect an extensive set of sprays, player titles, gun buddies, and player cards in the Act 3 battle pass. Notable player titles include 5K, Fifth, and Family, fitting the anniversary theme.

A notable feature is a kill banner inspired by the Snowfall banner animation. Riot confirmed that this new kill banner will be a free reward even for players who do not purchase the battle pass, offering additional cosmetic content without a financial barrier.

Overall, Valorant Patch 10.8 offers a healthy mix of gameplay balancing, system improvements, community-focused celebrations, and cosmetic expansions. Riot’s ongoing commitment to improving player experience and maintaining the game’s identity shines through in both the patch changes and the five-year anniversary message.