Valorant patch 7.01 is finally here, as the Riot competitive FPS game gears up for the Premier Ignition Stage and makes some key improvements to how it decides to ban players. With Valorant bigger than ever, these compact patch notes hold some key info you’ll want to get your eyes on.
The biggest update in Valorant 7.01 is undoubtedly the news on Valorant’s Premier Ignition Stage. The Premier game mode is offering you the chance to enroll in a team-based tournament alongside a brand-new and improved way for players to try and go pro in the Riot shooter. You’ve got until Thursday, July 20 to enroll. Matches run until Saturday, August 12 with playoffs the next day on August 13.
While you’ll need to make a new team, Ignition’s team and match history will carry over, and note that you can’t change your team name later.
There are also some key ban improvements coming to Valorant too, as in-game bans for repeated offenses of AFK, Friendly Fire, and Queue Dodge have been added with 7.01 too. This also marks the first patch post the arrival of the new Valorant agent Deadlock, who we think might just be the game’s most balanced agent in quite some time.
Valorant patch 7.01 – full notes
Below we’ve got the in-depth patch notes for Valorant 7.01, following the big changes and Deadlock arrival in Valorant 7.0, courtesy of Riot Games.
Agent Updates
- We’ve updated the ability action icons to be more consistent across all Agents and abilities that have a common cast paradigm or output. We’ve also added new ones to where it was necessary. These icons appear above your equipped ability.
- We’ve added voiceover line interactions between Gekko and Deadlock.
Competitive Updates
Premier
- Ignition Stage is live!
- If you played in the Premier Open Beta, first of all, thank you! Second, everyone is starting from scratch with Ignition so you’ll have to make or join a new team this time around, too. Your team and match history will carry over from Ignition to the launch in August though, so choose your team name carefully. (You can’t change it later!)
- Enrollment runs until July 20, so get your team together and make sure to choose a Zone before then. The exact time for the end of Enrollment varies by Zone—make sure to check the schedule in the client for more information so you don’t miss it.
- Matches start on July 20 and run through August 12, with Playoffs on August 13. Earn a Premier Score of at least 375 by then to qualify and to have a chance to be crowned one of the best teams in your Division. (Oh…and get a sweet Premier Champion title and gun buddy, too.)
Player Behaviour Updates
- We added in-game bans for repeated AFK, Friendly Fire, and Queue Dodge in Competitive and Unrated modes.
- People who are text-muted in real-time will now also be voice-muted for the entire match.
So there you have it, while the 7.01 patch notes don’t have many Valorant character changes, there’s a lot to get excited about as you gear up for the Ignition Stage.
In the meantime, we’ve got absolutely everything you need to know about the 2023 dates and eligible skins for the Valorant Night Market, alongside the best Valorant crosshair codes to help you with your shots.
