Riot has never been very empathetic toward the VALORANT<\/em> community when nerfing agents, and it\u2019s no different with the latest Patch 8.08, which nerfs one of the shooter\u2019s best agents, Viper, to the ground. As expected, players can\u2019t wrap their heads around the changes.<\/p>
After Riot announced the patch notes for <\/a>VALORANT\u2019s<\/a><\/em> Episode Eight, Act Three<\/a> on April 30, players wasted no time calling the developer out for targeting Viper so frequently and \u201cunnecessarily.\u201d From lamenting Viper\u2019s supposed \u201cdeath\u201d<\/a> in the meta to accusing Riot of \u201cunfairness,\u201d the fandom seems to firmly believe the nerfs went too far this time.<\/p>
![\"Viper](\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Viper_Valorant-1.jpg?w=640\")
\u201cOnly 1 molly now is a crazy nerf, especially on top of all the other nerfs here,\u201d one player wrote on X<\/a>, highlighting that Viper has just one Snake Bite to spare going forward. Others were broken over the change to her Poison Cloud, which can no longer be picked up outside the Buy Phase. But these aren’t the only changes for Viper. Since Patch 8.08<\/a>, her smokes can stay up for a maximum of 12 seconds, down from 15 seconds, and the minimum fuel needed to deploy her wall or orb has been increased, too. <\/p>
While it can be difficult to predict how the VALORANT<\/em> meta shifts after updates, it\u2019s pretty evident Viper\u2019s pick rate will be heavily affected in ranked and pro play after Patch 8.08. Some players even went on to predict<\/a> that she will likely become the least-played controller in the game. Well, we don\u2019t know about that as long as we have Harbor and Astra, but it will surely cause a significant dip in her popularity, especially in ranked games. <\/p>
Players also took the opportunity to call out Riot for embracing an annoying approach toward balancing VALORANT<\/em>\u2019s meta, which includes nerfing powerful agents to the ground to passively buff weak agents<\/a>. They also highlighted its obsession with balancing the esports meta over nurturing the ranked meta. \u201cWell, it’s a good time to quit the game. This isn’t a balance, you literally killed an agent to make the competitive more watched,\u201d one player tweeted<\/a>, suggesting the changes are only meant for esports. <\/p>
