Sova hit with big nerf in Valorant 4.08 patch

Sova has been hit with a pretty noticeable nerf to his Shock Bolt and Owl Drone, and not everyone in the Valorant community is all too pleased about it. 

At the start of Episode 4, Riot Games promised that a number of changes would be coming to Valorant’s Agents through regular updates – both in the form of buffs and nerfs.

Over time, they’ve lived up to that promise with a number of tweaks, and recently revealed that Jett would be hit with a pretty big nerf. The Korean duelist’s Tailwind ability now has a short delay upon being used, and she can lose charges with it’s not used, though she is able to gain them back with kills.

As players have been pretty split over the Jett changes, it appears as if Sova and his Owl Drone have also been hit with a sizable downgrade and fans aren’t too happy about those changes either.

The Sova changes were highlighted by Alliance pro Enzo ‘Fea’ Mestari on April 24, noting that the impact of both Sova’s Shock Bolt and marking dart had been messed with.

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“Shock Dart now only does 75 damage. Drone only lasts 8 seconds and now only scans two times,” the French pro tweeted with an eyes rolled emoji attached. He also stated that the “first tick” from the drone’s surveillance dart is now “much later” than before, even though the drone’s HP hadn’t been affected.

Previously, Sova’s shock could hit for a maximum of 90 damage, the Drone would have a 10-second usage, and scan marked enemies three times. So, these are pretty significant changes for the hunter.

“What the hell are they doing to Sova?” asked one player. “RIP Sova,” added many others who suggested that the hunter will make way for Valorant’s newest initiator, Fade.

It remains to be seen as to how the meta will shake out following the agent changes, but don’t be shocked to see Sova given some love later down the line.