Riot secretly buffs Valorant Spike Rush XP rate in Patch 1.08
Riot GamesValorant is a game of wits and mechanical skill.
XP gains in Valorant, especially in Deathmatch and Spike Rush, have been pretty widely criticized. Riot has heeded these calls in Patch 1.08 though, secretly buffing Spike Rush XP. However, it might not remain forever.
Every little bit of XP counts in Valorant, especially as we get to the pointy end of Ignition Act 2. If you are gunning for those end-of-Act rewards, or just want to unlock a new Agent, finding the optimum way of grinding your battle pass is essential.
Typically, the best way to do so has been by just playing Competitive or Unrated. The full game-length modes give the best XP rate, especially when you factor in winning rounds.
Riot GamesSpike Rush and Deathmatch on the other hand, with their fixed rates, can be a bit tedious to grind. It doesn’t matter how well you perform, you just queue up and get your XP. However, Riot has shipped a secret change that might make the former a bit more enticing.
Spike Rush typically gives 1,000 XP. Given its condensed format compared to a full game, it makes total sense to have less of an XP reward. However, Riot has decided to up its XP rate — for now, at the very least.
Spike Rush will now give out 1,250 XP during Patch 1.08 until further notice. However, Riot aren’t looking at implementing the change permanently. It’s just a temporary band-aid solution to a mission glitch post-update.
“We changed XP from 1,000 to 1,250 because of a bug that isn’t counting progress towards ultimate and ability objectives in the second half of Spike Rush matches,” developer ‘tehleach’ told players on September 17.
He clarified that other mission sets work perfectly fine on Spike Rush, and that as soon as the bug is fixed, they’ll swap it back over. “We’ll bring it back down to 1000 when we fix this bug, which may or may not be before the next patch.”
However, with players already getting a taste of the boost, Riot might be under some pressure to keep Spike Rush’s XP rate at 1,250. After all, the extra XP all adds up when you are trying to grind those final few tiers in the battle pass.
It’s only an extra 250 XP per game, but that’s a full game’s worth of XP every four games being added on. Those small bonuses stack up, so if you want to get in on the Spike Rush grind for your pass, now is the perfect time to.
