Valorant players have a lot to relearn as Act 2 approaches with a new Yoru buff.
Duelists in Valorant have a crucial role as they are supposed to be the entry fraggers for the team, taking first picks and securing sites. Yoru is a duelist that is designed to trick enemies with his teleports and fake footsteps. While Yoru appeared strong on paper, his abilities didn’t translate well to the game, he has been the least picked agent in competitive play, according to Valorbuff.
Yoru faced a lot of glaring issues. First, his fake footsteps were limited in scope and too obvious to recognize. His ultimate’s radius was too big and finally, his teleports were too loud and slow. Riot had attempted a Yoru buff a couple of times but to no avail. This new Yoru rework though, may have cracked the code. Let’s get to his abilities.
Yoru Rework Ability – Fakeout
Yoru’s first ability, Fakeout, has received a major rework. Earlier, Yoru would deploy a footsteps decoy that would keep traveling in a straight line. This was meant to trick enemies into thinking that Yoru was running towards the given direction. He had two charges of this ability.
As you see above, the total charges of this ability are reduced to one. However, it does a lot more now. For one, the decoy isn’t just footsteps but a clone of Yoru himself that walks straight in a direction. The clone looks entirely blue to your teammates but normal to enemies.
Shooting that clone triggers a flash, though it doesn’t work quite like a regular flash. The triggered clone will face the one who shot it, flashing everyone in a cone area only.
Combined with Yoru’s second ability, Blindside (remaining unchanged), the new Yoru rework gives the agent a total of three flashes. Pretty handy.
The new flash mechanic is going to offer more options for Yoru players to initiate fights. On the other hand, the now destructible decoy may not be able to trigger and extinguish traps as it used to before.
Yoru Rework Ability – Gatecrash
Yoru’s signature ability now arms him with another trick up his sleeve. The mini portal before just had one function. Yoru could deploy the portal, which would then travel in a straight line. He could then trigger the ability from anywhere to instantly teleport to the portal’s location. Yoru can still do that, but now he can press F to fake teleport instead. The fake teleport does leave behind a puddle as a hint to the enemy.
Considering how loud the teleport noise is, a well-timed fake teleport can cause major confusion in the enemy defense. Not to mention that the possibility of a real teleport can prevent an enemy from rotating over to the other site, leaving the odds in your favor.
The teleport animation remains the same, though, and has been a weak point for Yoru since release. Even then, the new mechanic is a welcome change.
Yoru Rework Ability – Dimensional Drift
Finally, Yoru’s ultimate. Riot has brought quite a few other changes to the new Yoru rework ultimate. On the positives, Yoru can no longer be seen during his ultimate, only heard. Yoru can cast all abilities even in his ult.
On the flipside, there is a delay added to his ultimate casting animation. His unequip time after ult is also added slightly, mainly to prevent the Shorty abuse.
By far the most impactful change to Dimensional Drift is the fact that Yoru can use abilities during the ult. This is going to create a lot of solo play potential for Yoru as he now has better synergy with his overall kit.
The duelist is meant to be a trickster with higher stealth and maneuverability. With these changes, Riot is shifting him towards exactly that.
Final Thoughts
Yoru mains will be holding on tight as Valorant Episode 4 Act 2 is speculated to arrive in a few weeks, likely at the beginning of March. For more info, head over to the Yoru rework official blog post. With a new Act comes a new Yoru rework and a brand new map, with more details on both to follow.
Speaking of maps, make a case for your favourite map on our recent Top 5 Maps of Valorant video. Let’s get talking.
