Riot Games brings Yoru rework to VALORANT Episode 4 Act 2

The developer team behind Riot Games’ VALORANT has revealed a planned major Yoru rework. This is the second part of an ongoing effort to make Yoru a more viable and effective Duelist pick, with some minor changes announced in December of 2021.

According to Character Designer Ryan Cousart and Producer John Goscicki, the VALORANT team’s vision for Yoru is a “master of deception,” which he achieves with an “increased output of disinformation.” Here are all the changes coming to Yoru’s kit.

Fakeout – C

Yoru’s Fakeout, which allows him to send out fake footsteps, has been changed to a full decoy ability. It will now send out a full copy of Yoru that runs forward and, when damaged, explodes and debuffs enemies.

Additionally, when the copy is shot, it will face the person who shot it and flash towards them “in a conal direction.” Yoru’s allies will be able to tell that it is a copy, but enemies will see an identical copy.

Blindside – Q

Blindside, Yoru’s flash ability, will remain untouched when it comes to his rework. Cousart and Goscicki also did not mention the Blindside ability in their December blog post, meaning that there are no plans to change it in the future.

Gatecrash – E

The rework of Gatecrash, which allows Yoru to place a rift tether and teleport back to it for a limited length of time, was part of the December blog post. The tether now travels 20% faster and is less visible and audible to enemies on the map while it travels. Furthermore, Yoru can now trigger a “fake teleport” from a distance that plays the same audio and visuals as if he were teleporting.

Dimensional Drift – X

Yoru’s ultimate ability, Dimensional Drift, will be seeing the most change of any of his abilities — so much so that they have to be listed in bullet points. Here are all the changes coming to Dimensional Drift:

• Yoru is no longer revealed to enemies
  (previously was revealed in a radius of six meters)
• Yoru is able to cast all utility while in Dimensional Drift
  (previously was unable to do anything)
• Enemies can hear Yoru’s footsteps
• Nearsighted is removed
  (previously could only see in a radius of 16 meters)
• Unequip delay time is increased slightly
• Cast delay added when casting Dimensional Drift, preventing the invulnerability frame on cast

The goal of these changes is to make Yoru’s Dimensional Drift less of a get-out-of-jail-free card and more of an initiation tool. Being able to use abilities while fully stealthed will significantly change the way Yoru is played.

When will the Yoru rework go live?

No concrete release date for Episode 4 Act 2 has been announced as of yet. However, the Episode 4 Act 1 Battle Pass ends on Feb. 28, which means Episode 4 Act 2 could release as early as March 1. This would also fit with VALORANT’s release schedule.