Riot Games appears to have nerfed Reyna during Valorant’s Patch 1.03, while keeping it on the down-low, and players aren’t best pleased with the secret change.
It’s no secret that Reyna is one of the most lethal Duelists in the game. Her ‘high risk, high reward’ mantra is reflected in her abilities, which can prove devastating when in the right hands.
A big part of Reyna’s ability to dominate, is her consumption of Soul Orbs. The Mexican Duelist can either choose to ‘overheal’ herself to an effective 150 HP (Devour) after taking damage, or can become intangible (Dismiss) — allowing her to escape the most hazardous situations unscathed).
And it is her ability to consume Soul Orbs which has supposedly been secretly nerfed in Patch 1.03, according to some eagle-eyed players.
Prior to the July 7 update, Reyna could latch onto Soul Orbs and then look away — meaning that she could look at an entirely different area of the map, while still reaping the benefits of the Orb.
Yet, according to some attentive players, this is no longer a possibility. “Reyna can no longer cast Devour of Dismiss on a Soul Orb, unless the Orb is on her screen,” one Redditor explained.
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“Previously she could cast either if she had line of sight on the Orb — whether on-screen or not. Similarly, if Reyna casts Devour, she will only heal while the Soul Orb is on her screen.”
While there’s no doubt that Reyna probably needed a nerf, it is the fact that the change was introduced without mention in the patch notes, that has grinded players’ gears.
“I totally was thinking that I was losing it last night. But yeah, this change was weird… Like if it’s nerfed, that’s fine, just give us a heads up,” one player responded.
While it currently remains to be seen whether Riot intentionally nerfed the Duelist during the latest update or whether it simply flew under the radar, it looks like Reyna mains will have to adapt to the new meta regardless.
