Gekko to Receive Major Nerfs in VALORANT Patch 9.08

Valorant

October 22, 2024

Bryan Francis

VALORANT is soon getting its Patch 9.08 and one of the big changes are major nerfs to Gekko. If you are wondering what these are, here’s everything you need to know about the balance changes to the Initiator.

What Are All The Nerfs That Gekko Will Receive In VALORANT Patch 9.08?

Image Credits: Riot Games

In the VALORANT Patch 9.08 Notes, the first change is to Gekko’s ability, Dizzy. Firstly, the time taken after the ability is formed is reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second. This is done to reduce the total time that the ability is active. The second change implemented is that Dizzy’s Flash will target enemies more reliably. Finally, the enemies affected by the Goop flash will also have no vision of their minimap. This ensures that the enemies once affected by the Goop Flash don’t have a lot of vision in the game.

The next change in the upcoming VALORANT patch is Gekko’s ability Wingman. Now, the cone’s angle concerning Wingman’s concussions will be increased, and there will be a new visual for planting the spike on the given plant sites. Trash will also be receiving a nerf. The nerf is that Gekko will need eight ultimate points rather than 7 to use his ultimate in a game.

Why are these nerfs Being Implemented?

Image Credits: Riot Games

In a recent video titled “Updates to Gekko and map pools are coming in Patch 9.08,” Riot Game stated the following concerning all the Gekko changes:

“We have noticed there doesn’t seem to be much risk or cost to reclaim Gekko’s abilities. It is challenging to try to prevent Gekko from doing so. We want Gekko to play more intentionally around his buddies, rather than just picking them up whenever he wants.”

Following this, the final change to Gekko in VALORANT is that once his abilities are in the form of Globule, the durations have been changed. Now, all of Gekko’s Utility on the ground will last for 15 seconds instead of 20, after which it cannot be reclaimed. The second change is that the reclaim time for these abilities has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds.

It must be noted that this is just the first round of changes to various agents in the game. There have already been leaks concerning buffs to Phoenix in the upcoming Patch 9.10. Alongside that, the Sunset map will be reworked in the upcoming 9.08 patch. Remember that Split and Pearl will also return to the competitive map pool in this update.