Lance Velasquez 
Valorant patch 7.06 is here and Riot Games is cracking down on boosters while fleshing out Sage’s character.
Valorant players, most commonly low-ELO players, have recently had difficulty playing in competitive mode because of bot accounts swarming ranked lobbies. The bots would sometimes just walk forward and do nothing else, so they wouldn’t be detected as AFK and get kicked. Thankfully, Riot is taking action against this behavior in Valorant patch 7.06.
Additionally, there are minor updates to loading times, gameplay systems, and bug fixes. Valorant has also added new voice lines and interactions for the ever-popular support agent Sage. Riot will also be rolling out new skins during the patch, including the upcoming Intergrade Bundle.
What’s in Valorant patch 7.06?
Valorant patch 7.06 adds performance improvements, bug fixes, and takes action against boosters and bots. Sage has also received a new update regarding her voice and interaction lines with other agents.
According to Riot, Sage has a new voice and interaction lines for a total of 12 agents, including Astra, Brimstone, Chamber, Fade, Gekko, Harbor, Jett, Kay/O, Neon, Reyna, Yoru, and the most recent agent, Deadlock.
Riot has implemented a new update on how Valorant loads players’ accessories in-game, like gun buddies and weapon skins. This update will potentially reduce player load times and eventually land in the middle of the patch.
Moreover, the Valorant 7.06 patch note has resolved some bugs including one that revealed players after buying weapons, another that didn’t show the Spike defusal bar properly, and a graphics issue on Sunset.
Riot Games takes action against rank boosters and bot accounts with new Ascendant party restrictions
Riot introduced a restriction where players ranked Ascendant or higher can only invite players of Platinum rank or higher in competitive mode. The company says it will ban any accounts that are believed to be doing this.
With this new restriction, Iron to Gold players can only team up with Diamond and below players in competitive mode. This restriction has happened due to the recent issue of new Valorant accounts being used for smurfing and botting services to boost another player’s rank. These services still exist but will be more unwieldy and will not be able to boost players past a certain point.
Bot usage is not new in the Valorant community, as Riot already acknowledged it earlier this year. The company announced plans to take actions in April 2023 and made good on it. Time will tell whether these changes will prove effective.
