The Operator in Valorant took some serious nerfs, which is why fans of the one-shot weapon are now wondering: is the Operator still playable? That’s the question we want to answer today.

In patch 1.09, Riot Games decided to nerf the Operator. The sniper rifle can dominate an entire game in the right hands. Especially in public games, a good player could thus dictate the course of the entire match, which is why Riot decided to severely weaken the weapon.

Operator changes

• Price increased from 4500 to 5000
• Scope Movement Speed reduced from 76% to 72
• Scope Deadzone increased from 30% to 50%
• Faster inaccurate aiming after moving, it becomes more accurate after 2.2 seconds more accurate
• Fire rate increased from 0.75 to 0.6
• Time to equip raised from 0.3s to 0.5s
• Damage to legs reduced from 127 to 120 dmg
• The time to aim less accurately after a jump has been increased

Of course you can read the complete patch notes for patch 1.09 directly here.

Why was the operator generated?

Riot explained that the weapon was simply too good at peeking and re-peeking and was available too early in the match. See the full statement here:

“For all the aggressive Operator players – Dry-Peeking with the Operator is significantly more effective than we would like. Additionally, there is little reward in using utilities to drive an Operator player from his position, as he almost always has the option to re-peek directly and take the player out. These mechanical changes aim to change that and allow for better counterplays. The operator is still good for peeking, but predictable re-peeks should be easier to punish.”

Full Buy with the new operator price

The Operator cost after the nerf is now 5000 credits, which is probably the most serious change. For a Full Buy in the third round, with Operator (5000) and Shield (1000), you now have to win the first two rounds without spending a dime. Winning two pistol rounds without shields or abilities is no easy feat.

If you lose the operators, you’ll need another three round wins to buy them again. Of course, the opposing team will then even have a free operator if they pick them up.

Also, it will no longer be possible to make a double full buy with the Operator, since the absolute credit limit is 9000. Even if you win many rounds and reach the maximum of 9000 credits and make a full buy, you will still have 3200 credits left. If you lose the operator in the next round, you will not be able to make a full buy with operator in the following round. This should ensure that fewer operators are played in the future.

The new feel of the Operator

The feel of the weapon has also changed and now feels much slower. The movement speed when aiming is slower and switching to the weapon also takes much longer. All of these changes mean that you’ll probably have to get used to the operator again and re-practice your flicks. So, back to the shooting range! In this video you can see the speed difference starting at 0:42:

When should you buy the Operator?

This is not an easy question to answer, and probably the pros will be able to answer it better once the new meta has developed. In public games, saving the first three turns without buying anything might be too risky, as you will probably hardly be able to win them that way. For example, a Phoenix without Flashes is pretty useless.

If you play in a group with Teamspeak, however, things could be quite different. It is much easier to agree on when to save and who will pick up which weapons of the opponents. This saves a lot of credits and still gives you better weapons. In addition, your team will always know that you don’t have any skills to help out.

That’s the best advice we can give you at EarlyGame for now. For more tips, we’ll have to wait and see how the meta develops and what strategies the pro players come up with. Just check out your favorite streamers or follow the next tournaments, you will surely find more tips there.

For more news and updates on Valorant, such as leaks of new agents and a mobile version, check out EarlyGame.

What are Patchnotes?

Patchnotes are specially designed to appear only in the appropriate places.

What is Valorant?

Valorant initially appears to be a cross between CS:Go and Overwatch . A competitive shooter where two small teams compete against each other.

Your team is either ready to attack or defend, with the attackers placing a “stinger” (essentially a bomb) that the other team must then defuse or preferably prevent you from placing at all.

The attacking team can win by either eliminating the defenders or placing the stinger and then protecting it from defusing until the timer runs out. The defenders can similarly win by destroying the attackers before they have a chance to plant their stinger, or disarming the stinger after it has been planted.

Each team of five can play as both attackers and defenders during a game. Each game has a total of 25 rounds, with the first team to win 13 rounds declared the winner

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