VALORANT Patch 8.11 has been live since June 11. In this patch, several nerfs and buffs were seen on various agents. A majority of changes that were present were seen within the Duelist class. One agent that got quite a few buffs was Iso. Following the rework of his ability, the agent has caused havoc within the VALORANT ranked ladder. In this article, let’s dive into these changes and why Iso is broken in VALORANT.
Image Credits: Riot Games
Iso was released in October 2023. During the VCT Masters Shanghai, he was the main mascot. The event trophy even had his ability on it. The masses didn’t receive the agent well, though, and the community immediately forgot him.
During the two VALORANT international tournaments, VCT Masters Shanghai and VCT Masters Madrid, Iso had a 0% pick rate. The VALORANT dev team noticed this and changed the ability of his kit in VALORANT. In the official patch notes, Riot Games stated the following concerning Iso:
“Iso is receiving strictly buffs this patch because he’s underperforming across all skill brackets.”
In the past, Iso could activate his Double Tap ability only after getting killed. If he did, following shooting an orb in the air, he would receive a shield around him. Iso’s shield protects him from one bullet that is fired at him. Due to this, taking down an iso during any round would require one extra bullet from any weapon.
Image Credits: Riot Games
Following the patch, Iso can activate a shield while getting a kill. This will occur following a one-second animation, after which the player can use their weapon. The significant change is that now Iso can refresh his shield. If he gets two kills in the round, he can have another charge of double tap. He can use this charge to refresh the duration of the shield. This mechanic has resulted in the agent being broken.
According to the website metasrc, the agent has had a significant spike in pick ranked on the ranked ladder. Iso has increased by +41.51% on his pick rate and a win percentage of 51% on ranks Gold and above. Due to the agent being able to activate his shield this quickly, it has been impossible to take him down.
Image Credits: Riot Games
As a Duelist, Iso had officially jumped relatively high into the ranks. The agent has been a demon to use within the ranked ladder. Patch 8.11 will be live in official VCT Leagues during the playoff stages of the respective stage two events. It will be interesting to see how teams incorporate the agent within their team. Ideally, the agent who would complement Iso would be Clove and Kay/0.
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