Valorant's Most Unpopular Agent Is Getting a Much-Needed Facelift

ign.com:

Valorant’s next big update will introduce a major rework to the game’s least popular agent – Yoru. Originally, Riot Games intended Yoru to be a full-on lurker (think info-gathering lone wolf), but will now be more of Duelist/Initiator hybrid build (think aggressive engager looking for a frag). So let’s look into why Yoru didn’t work, and how the changes he’s getting should impact his popularity.

Valorant is a 5v5 FPS where attackers try to plant a bomb called a spike and defenders try to stop them. The characters in the game fall into archetypes: Duelists excel at being aggressive, Sentinels and Controllers focus on battlefield control, and Initiators take over parts of the map by exposing or displacing the enemy.

A “lurker” isn’t an official archetype in Valorant, but Yoru’s original skills were intended to allow him to play as such – as stated as far back as late 2020 from Riot, he was purposely designed to lurk behind enemy lines, with his utility aiding in that mission. He just ended up falling flat.

By the time Yoru was released, Valorant had been out for over six months, and with only a handful of agents and maps, players both professional and casual were quickly optimizing defensive and offensive strategies. Yoru’s kit made him a predictable, and therefore ineffective, character, unable to break past enemy lines. Taking him into a match was more of a liability than a boon, and with more flexible options on the table, he fell into obscurity and needed an overhaul.

Let’s take a look at his old skills and the reworked version.

Yoru deploys his new decoy. Courtesy Riot Games

His first skill is called Fakeout. In Valorant, sound is a key factor in locating enemies, and this skill sent out fake footsteps intended to confuse