Riot Games has a great reputation for keeping the Valorant competitive scene alive and well with various changes like new agents, map pool changes, and even balance changes for agents and maps. Recently, Riot Games released a Dev Update revealing the final set of changes for Valorant before 2025.
In the Dev Update, the Devs revealed the Sunset Map changes focused on countering Cypher meta. Here are all the changes coming to Sunset Map in Valorant Patch 9.08 on October 22, 2024.
All Balance Changes in Sunset Map – Valorant Patch 9.08
The Sunset map is being made more defensive, especially on the B-Site along with some light changes in the mid allowing defenders to hold the tight angles safely when pushed up.
All B-Site Changes on Sunset Map
The first major change on B-Site is the removal of the divider screen in B Main and moving to the left side preventing attackers from holding the spike in post-plant situations more safely. Moreover, the box on the right side of B Site while entering is also removed to prevent Cypher from placing the unbreakable trip at the entrance.
The base plant position on the pillar has been carved allowing planters to be safer from the spam while planting the spike. The wall on the left side of B Site has also been increased for more cover. It will help the defenders to hold the attackers and even give them the edge to shoot down the planter at the pillar.
The box outside B Boba on the right side has been moved to a central position on the platform allowing attackers to take cover and hold the angle based on calls from teammates and sounds. Lastly, another box has been added to the left side of Boba which can be a great spot for attackers to hold any defender coming from Boba.
As the B-Site of Sunset map is one of the retake-friendly sites in the game, the changes will certainly help the attackers in post-plant situations with extra cover on the backside.
All Mid Changes on the Sunset Map
The carving on the middle wall in the Mid has been changed which isn’t that much of a major change. However, the tree on the attacker-side wall has been removed making the corner tighter with a cover of a small box which can help the pushed-up defenders.
Fans Reaction on Sunset Map Changes
Although these changes seem ‘more defensible’ to the Devs, the fans think it otherwise. After the reveal of the changes, fans think that these changes don’t affect the retake meta at all as they can still spam the default spike on the pillar from the main. Moreover, the extra cover on the backside can help the pushed-up attackers take more space and hold the defenders with cross angles.
Fans also think Gekko’s utility is great for entering B-Site with these changes and even planting in safe spots with his Wingman. However, the fans do accept that the Cypher’s unbeatable trip at the entrance is officially over.
Map Pool Changes in Valorant Patch 9.08
With the major gameplay balance changes in the Sunset map, the Devs also revealed the next competitive map pool changes for Episode Nine, Act Three. Riot will be removing Lotus and Icebox from the competitive matchmaking and replacing them with Split and Pearl maps.
Pearl is returning after a while since it was removed back in August 2023 so, the community is pretty excited about how it plays out. However, at the same time community also wants Riot to remove Ascent as it hasn’t been removed once from the competitive pool.
Valorant Patch 9.08 is the final update of 2024 bringing a new Act with promising Sunset map changes which we will get to see on October 22, 2024.