Can the Valorant Patch 7.10 buff redeem Deadlock?
Deadlock has been the problem child of Valorant since the agent’s release. The agent hasn’t been a community favorite, nor the pros favorite. With Valorant patch 7.10, Riot Games has finally decided to buff Deadlock.
The upcoming Valorant patch 7.10 features the following changes to Deadlock
- Time increased from 0.85 sec > 1.5 sec
- Radius from 6m > 8m
- Players within the GravNet will now be weakened indefinitely until they break free, and Increased gravity and reduced mobility while in the net.
The buffed GravNet completely shuts down a player. The 'Slowed' effect lasts until the player cancels the GravNet, making it a more effective compared to its previous iterations. The improved effectiveness can help isolate the duelist from the support, creating an advantageous situation. But the buff is just one utility, the other utilities remain the same.
Will Valorant patch 7.10 buffs breathe life into Deadlock?
To begin with, Deadlock was never a traditional sentinel, it was more about map control. Playing Deadlock requires proactive set-ups and a superior understanding of timings. The intricacies of Deadlock and the skill ceiling is much higher than other Sentinels.
Even if a player or a team decides to master Deadlock and integrate the agent into regular composition, it won’t be as effective as other Sentinels. The utilities just aren’t as effective. Even with the recent GravNet buff, the ineffectiveness of other utilities would always hinder deadlock's pickrate.
The GravNet buffs definitely helps with increasing effectiveness of the ability itself but it doesn’t help the Deadlock’s struggles against the current dive composition meta. Especially compared to Killjoy, Cypher and Chamber, Deadlock isn’t effective. Even with the buff, it is hard to justify choosing Deadlock over other Sentinels.
Valorant patch 7.10 will hit the game on 14th November. Stay Tuned on Strafe for detailed patch Notes.
Featured Image Source: Riot Games // Valorant
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