Riot fix Sova and Phoenix ultimate bugs after Valorant Patch 1.09

Andrew Amos
Phoenix and Sova in Valorant

Missed Phoenix calling out the signature “jokes over, you’re dead” after Valorant Patch 1.09? How about Sova yelling “nowhere to run” at the top of his lungs? You weren’t alone, with both Agents having voice line bugs after the update. Thankfully, they’re now fixed.

Being able to hear ultimate voice lines in Valorant is more important than you think. They are a crucial indicator of understanding what is happening across the map. If you didn’t know Raze pulled out a Showstopper, you could just be destroyed.

However, after Valorant Patch 1.09, certain Agents had their ultimate voice lines disabled ⁠— namely Sova and Phoenix. The bug made the duo even more infuriating to play against.

Phoenix using Run It Back in Valorant
Every Agent has a global voiceline for their ultimates, but some like Phoenix were pretty quiet after Valorant Patch 1.09. Ironic for Phoenix, at least.

Without hearing either ultimate go off, you don’t know if you’re safe. The Phoenix you just killed could have been mid-ultimate. You won’t know to keep your eyes up for a Sova ultimate too until you see the big Hunter’s Fury charge coming right at you.

This, obviously, led to player outrage. It made the two Agents even more sneaky than they should have been. With audio cues being so crucial, losing them was a massive disadvantage.

However, Riot has finally fixed the problem, just 24 hours after the release of the update. They have isolated the issue, and hopefully quashed the bug for good.

They have also fixed issues with the game crashing after the update. Players noted that if they alt-tabbed at the wrong time, or were holding down tab while the new round loaded in, they would be kicked from the game.

It would be a hassle to try and rejoin, and by the time they did, players would have often conceded a lot of rounds or even defeat. Riot are hoping that issue is no longer a problem however.

The patch has been shipped out to all regions at the time of publishing, but it remains to be seen if the fix is working perfectly as intended. It’s also unclear if there are sound cue issues with other Agents.

Be sure to keep both an ear and an eye out for Phoenix and Sova, because if you don’t hear their ultimates going off, you’ll need to look just that bit harder.

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About The Author

Hailing from Perth, Andrew was formerly Dexerto's Australian Managing Editor. They love telling stories across all games and esports, but they have a soft spot for League of Legends and Rainbow Six. Oh, and they're also fascinated by the rise of VTubers.