Riot Games released Valorant patch 13.06 on September 22, adding a new rifle, an Agent-by-Agent progression system and a limited-time 2v2 mode. Dot Esports described it as the last patch before Valorant Champions 2026 and one of the largest updates of the year, with most of the game's menus rebuilt.
The Warden and Gauntlet: Glitched
The Warden joins the Vandal and Phantom in the 2,900-credit rifle tier. According to Riot's patch notes, it is a scoped automatic rifle with 2x magnification, an 18-round magazine and a 36-round reserve. Each bullet deals 50 damage at all ranges, 200 on a headshot and 42 to the legs, with a fire rate of 6.5 and medium wall penetration. Dexerto characterized it as a scoped alternative to the existing 2,900-credit rifles that is stronger when aiming down sights.
Gauntlet: Glitched, the new limited-time mode, puts 16 players into eight duos who meet in a series of 2v2 rounds. A team that loses a round loses health, and a team that reaches zero is eliminated. Between rounds, players draft abilities from different Agents and can upgrade them from level 1 to level 3. Riot said abilities pushed to level 2 have a rare chance to glitch into altered versions, and the mode is played across four arenas that remix existing Valorant map spaces.
Agent Mastery and competitive changes
Agent Mastery tracks progress separately for each Agent through Mastery Points earned in matches, with bonus points for wins and strong performances. Each Agent has 10 Act levels that reset every Act, with portrait upgrades at levels 4, 7 and 10, plus permanent Lifetime levels that unlock rewards on a per-Agent track bought with Kingdom Credits. All players start at zero, and previous playtime does not carry over. Riot said Agent Gear rewards players had already unlocked are kept.
Average Combat Score has been replaced by Performance Score, a 0 to 500 rating that Riot said measures more than damage and kills. It now determines MVP and scoreboard position in Competitive, Unrated, Swiftplay and Premier. The patch also adds Accolades, which record personal bests in Competitive and Premier, and Rank Legacy, which counts how many times a player has reached each rank. Players can now enter the Range while matchmaking, though Premier, Deathmatch and other modes without Agent Select do not support it.
Riot also merged the Home and Lobby screens, redesigned global navigation and the end-of-game screen, and expanded its Riot Voice Evaluation system to Spanish, Portuguese and Korean. The patch notes said recently deployed boosting detection has been banning about 1,600 accounts a day, more than 90,000 since July 20. On console, Valorant became available in Australia and New Zealand with this patch.
