VALORANT’s Second Act Adds New Deathmatch Mode, Battlepass, Microtransactions

VALORANT is set to begin Episode I Act II tomorrow with a brand new battlepass and other unexpected features. For 1,000 VP, players can start earning new unlocks and cosmetics in tomorrow's major update. This is the same update that will add Killjoy to the roster as VALORANT's twelfth playable Agent.

In addition to the Act II Battlepass, VALORANT will be receiving a brand new mode to compliment the standard and Spike Rush modes. In the new Free-for-all Deathmatch that will launch on August 5th, players are thrown into ten-player matches to see who has the best twitch control: no abilities, no paid loadouts, just pick a gun and go.

• 10 players. No abilities. Infinite money. Leave the Spike at home.
• Free-for-all Deathmatch is the new game mode that debuts during Act II and gives dedicated gunslingers a chance to test their flicks.

• FFA deathmatch is going to launch in a BETA test window a day after the patch on August 5, as we monitor server performance and game stability. If we find things are stable and performative, we’ll eventually leave the game mode on!

1. Match: Respawning free-for-all deathmatch!
   1. Objective: First to 30 kills, or most kills at 6 minutes.
   2. Loadouts: Players can practice gunplay with whatever weapon they want.
      1. Players can buy whatever gun they want, and can swap at any time.
      2. Players spawn with heavy armor.
      3. Players can’t buy or use abilities.
   3. Respawn: Fast respawns that selects ideal spawn points.
      1. Dynamic respawn point selection.
         1. Spawn points don’t have enemies in or close to line of sight.
         2. Spawn points have their backs to the wall.
         3. Spawn points aren’t too far from action.
      2. 3 second respawn timer.
      3. Respawn with 8 seconds of invulnerability that goes away on movement/firing.
         1. Protects players to let them swap weapons.
   4. Drop-out: Players can drop out at any time by selecting Leave Match from the options menu.
      1. They don’t receive XP for the game.
   5. Health Packs: Every death drops a health pack that expires after 10 seconds.
      1. Running over the health pack instantly restores you to full 100/50 health.
      2. This allows players to heal, and encourages movement & aggression.
   6. UAV: Every 5 seconds, a radar sweep reveals the current location of all enemies.
      1. This helps discourage corner camping and enables players to move through space quickly.
   7. Kill banners: ceremonies (double, triple, …) are time-gated instead of life-gated.
      1. 1. After every kill, there’s a window of time for another kill to be secured for the streak to continue.

Also included with VALORANT's Act II are a new set of Exclusive Edition skins for four weapons (plus melee) that are each upgradeable with unique visual and finisher effects. Among the guns that are available in the Glitchpop collection are the Frenzy, Judge, Bulldog and Odin. Each piece is priced individually at 2,175 VP while the melee weapon is 4,350 VP. A bundle will also be available for purchase for 8,700 VP.

VALORANT is available now on PC with console releases still to-be-determined. The Act 2 update and Battlepass will both be available starting tomorrow, August 4th with the free-for-all Deathmatch mode beginning testing a day later.