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VALORANT Patch 13.00 is live, and Act 4 launches with the sharpest meta reset since competitive VALORANT began. Five sentinels buffed in one patch, Summit enters the ranked pool, and Riot is finally rewarding players who actually respect defense.
Summit is here, and it's replacing both Fracture and Pearl in the ranked pool. The map is set in a mountainous Chinese training academy with a clean three-lane layout, two bombsites, and droppable walls that permanently reshape geometry mid-round.
© Riot Games
To ease the transition, RR losses on Summit are cut by 50% for the first two weeks. Learning the map won't tank your rank. The rest of the ranked changes are worth noting too: the game now enforces a maximum 1 sub-tier gap in average team rank, so lobbies are tighter and fairer. RR calculations have also been adjusted to reward consistent outperformers more clearly.
Riot stated it plainly: "these changes aim to improve the overall power of Sentinels so they can better deter attackers who don't respect defense." That's a direct acknowledgement that the role was undertuned, and this patch corrects it across every sentinel in the roster. 📈
This isn't a minor adjustment. Every sentinel gets a meaningful upgrade. If you've been shelving Killjoy or Cypher, time to dust them off.
The remaining sentinels get solid upgrades across the board:
Sage's self-heal doubling to 100 makes barrier duels a real option now. Deadlock and Veto both get more uptime on their defensive tools, which compounds over a full half.
Sova, Fade, Skye, Breach, and KAY/O all see their signature ability cooldowns drop from 60s to 50s. That's 10 seconds more of recon and disruption per half. Gekko's buddy reclaim also drops from 20s to 15s, keeping his kit cycling faster than before. The pattern is clear: Riot wants more rotations, more ability expression, more decisive rounds.
The Bandit precision rifle gets three small adjustments: recovery improves from 0.45 to 0.4, tap efficiency goes from 3 to 4, and max pitch recoil drops from 4 to 3. The result is a cleaner tap-fire option at medium range, more forgiving under pressure and closer to the role it's supposed to fill.
Sentinel mains, your moment is now. The meta shift toward defensive control and map positioning is explicit, not accidental. Teams that learn Summit early, lock in a coordinated sentinel, and build around the new map geometry are going to have a big edge in the first two weeks of Act 4.
For previous patch context, check out VALORANT Patch 12.11, which set the stage heading into Masters London. Watch how VCT Masters London 2026 champion Leviatán adapts their sentinel reads to these buffs. And with the VCT 2027 format overhaul already confirmed, the teams that master Summit fastest gain a lasting edge on the international stage.
Ready to put the new sentinel meta to the test? Compete in VALORANT ranked ladders on Amber.gg where every patch creates new opportunities.
Fire rate +50%. Pushes through Killjoy's zone are now genuinely punishing, even when the bot is destroyed first.
EQUIPA una torreta. DISPARA para desplegar una torreta que ataca a los enemigos en un cono de 100 grados. Al apuntar, vuelve a EQUIPAR para cambiar la dirección de la torreta y MANTÉN PULSADO el DISPARO ALTERNATIVO para rotar. MANTÉN PULSADO EQUIPAR para recoger la torreta desplegada.
Activation time 0.9s to 0.7s. Traps arm faster, punishing quick peeks and aggressive entries that previously slipped through before the wire triggered.
EQUIPA un cable trampa. DISPARA para colocar un cable trampa destructible pero oculto en la ubicación objetivo. Creará una línea que se extiende entre la ubicación en la que se ha colocado y la pared opuesta. Los jugadores enemigos que atraviesen un cable trampa quedarán ralentizados y revelados tras un breve lapso si no logran destruir el dispositivo a tiempo. El cable trampa se puede recoger para VOLVER A COLOCARLO.
Linger time 4s to 5s. An extra second of zone control in tight post-plant and retake situations.
EQUIPA un bot de alarma camuflado. DISPARA para desplegar un bot que dará caza a los enemigos que estén dentro del alcance. Tras alcanzar su objetivo, el bot explota y aplica vulnerabilidad a los enemigos de la zona. MANTÉN PULSADO EQUIPAR para recoger un bot desplegado.
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