Valorant’s V26 Act 4 opens with Patch 13.00, a large update that rebuilds how Sentinels and Initiators play, adds the Summit map to ranked, and drops a new 3v3 Retake mode into the queue. It also touches matchmaking, the Bandit sidearm, and the client itself with a new Inbox. Here is exactly what changed and when each piece arrives.
Quick answer: Patch 13.00 buffs all five Sentinels, cuts Initiator signature cooldowns from 60s to 50s, adds Summit to the Competitive and Deathmatch pools (replacing Fracture and Pearl), and launches Retake as a limited-time 3v3 post-plant mode. Summit enters Competitive on June 24.
Sentinel buffs in Patch 13.00
The headline change targets the entire Sentinel class. The goal is to make site anchors better at punishing repeated five-player rushes and at holding a site alone, instead of relying on constant team support. Faster trips, a stronger turret, and doubled self-healing all push in that direction.
| Agent | Ability | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Cypher | Trapwire | Windup reduced from 0.9s to 0.7s |
| Killjoy | Turret | Rate of fire increased by 50% |
| Killjoy | Nanoswarm | Duration increased from 4s to 5s |
| Killjoy | Alarmbot | Movement speed increased by 50% |
| Veto | Interceptor | Reclaim cooldown reduced from 30s to 20s |
| Veto | Crosscut | Usable area expanded from 24m to 30m; arming time cut from 1.5s to 0.75s |
| Sage | Healing Orb | Self heal-over-time doubled from 50 to 100 HP |
| Deadlock | GravNet | Cooldown reduced from 60s to 50s |
Initiator signature cooldowns reduced to 50 seconds
Initiators get more chances to use their main utility in late-round situations. This walks back part of the steeper cooldowns introduced in Patch 11.08 without fully reverting them, landing in a middle ground.
| Agent | Change |
|---|---|
| Sova, Fade, Skye, Breach, KAY/O | Signature ability cooldown reduced from 60s to 50s |
| Gekko | Ability cooldown after reclaiming buddies reduced from 20s to 15s |
Summit joins the Competitive map pool
Summit is a 5v5 Spike map set inside a Radiant training academy in the mountains of China, built around three lanes and two sites (A and B). Its standout feature is droppable walls. Shooting a node connected to a wall drops it, cutting off sightlines and reshaping chokepoints until the end of the round.
Summit enters Competitive on June 24. To lower the risk of learning it, RR losses on Summit are cut by 50% for the first two weeks, while wins still pay out the full RR amount. A separate Summit Only queue runs for seven days using the Swiftplay format so you can learn callouts and wall positions faster.
Map pool changes (Competitive and Deathmatch)
| Status | Maps |
|---|---|
| In | Summit, Sunset |
| Out | Fracture, Pearl |
Retake: the new 3v3 limited-time mode
Retake is a fast 3v3 mode where the Spike is already planted when the round starts. One team holds the planted Spike while the other races to retake the site and defuse before the timer runs out. There is no setup phase, so every round drops straight into a post-plant fight.
Sides swap every round, and the first team to win five rounds takes the match. Rounds end on a team wipe, a successful defuse, or Spike detonation. There is no economy. Each round you pick from two loadout cards covering weapons and armor plus ability charges, with two randomized options per card that scale up as the match goes on.
At launch, Retake uses single sites from Ascent, Bind, Haven, Summit, and Sunset. Each match runs on one randomly chosen site, and the pre-planted Spike spawns a few seconds in at a visible position drawn from a curated pool for that site.
Bandit tuning
The Bandit gets a small reliability pass so it stays competitive outside pistol rounds without losing its identity as a precision sidearm sitting between the Ghost and Sheriff.
| Stat | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 0.45 | 0.40 |
| Tap efficiency | 3 | 4 |
| Pitch recoil at max | 4 | 3 |
Ranked and matchmaking changes
Two ranked adjustments ship with this patch. RR calculations have been tuned so players who win consistently feel less stuck on the climb, with Riot calling out Immortal and above specifically.
On PC only, matchmaking now keeps the average rank of both teams within one sub-tier. In practice, if your team averages Gold 2, the enemy team’s average rank should also fall within Gold more often, which tightens lobby balance.
Omen audio and agent voice line updates
Omen’s Shrouded Step audio has been reworked so enemies in range can actually hear the teleport during busy rounds, closing a clarity gap where Omen could slip past players undetected. The change is small but makes nearby casts noticeably easier to register.
Riot is also standardizing ability voice lines across the roster to cut audio clutter, removing a batch of lines from agents including Killjoy, Jett, Reyna, Skye, Astra, Clove, Chamber, Neon, Deadlock, Vyse, Breach, Viper, Omen, Sova, Yoru, Fade, Iso, Tejo, and Harbor. New interactions were added too, with Sage and Viper getting Summit-specific lines and fresh conversations between Miks and Gekko, and Jett and Phoenix.
New Inbox feature in the client
An Inbox is now live in the Valorant client as one place to revisit non-urgent notifications. You can see which messages are new or read, and delete individual items to keep it tidy. At launch it covers gifting updates, Premier promotion and playoff alerts, RR refund notices, reporter feedback messages, and Act Introduction recaps.
Note: A known issue can send RR refund notifications twice, once via Inbox and once via the existing popup. This is only a display duplicate and does not mean you received a double refund.
Premier Stage V26A4 schedule
On PC, Premier returns with Stage V26A4. Matches start July 1, and standard division teams need a Premier Score of at least 600 to reach Playoffs. Playoffs run across two days, with the first round on August 15 and finals on August 16. Contender and Invite Division teams qualify based on standings placement rather than score.
Together these changes shift the meta back toward defensive setups and utility timing after several aggression-heavy patches. The Sentinel and Initiator passes are the ones most likely to reshape how rounds play out, while Summit and Retake give you new ground to test them on starting June 24.
