Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 Will Start 2024 With A Bang

Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 Will Start 2024 With A Bang

Time Stamp: December 15, 2023 7:55 AM
Source Node: 3020704

Learn all the exciting changes Valorant Episode 8 Act is bringing.

A new year is around the corner and with it comes Valorant Episode 8 Act 1. Since this will be the first Valorant Episode of 2024, we can expect a lot of new and exciting content, to start 2024 in the best way possible.

Episode 8 Act 1 will gift us a new Battle Pass, new skinlines, and new skin bundles. However, there is also a great chance a new map makes its way into the game, as well as a new agent! Furthermore, some massive agent changes are also expected to happen.

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So let's find out everything about Valorant Episode 8 Act 1.

Episode 8 Act 1 release date

As mentioned above, the new Valorant Episode will arrive at the beginning of next year. To be more precise, Episode 8 Act 1 goes live on 10 January, at around 7pm ET/12am GMT.

Valorant Splash Art
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With this being a brand-new episode, and also the first Valorant episode of 2024, it's certain that Riot Games will want to start the year with a bang. This means that, apart from the traditional new Battle Pass and balance changes, a new map, agent, and perhaps even a new game mode may also be on the cards.

Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 Battle Pass

As always, the arrival of a new Valorant Episode also means a new Battle Pass will be introduced. With the last Valorant Battle Passes leaving a lot to be desired, the community is hoping this Battle Pass will turn the tide.

There is still no official information about the Episode 8 Act 1 Battle Pass. However, we expect this Battle Pass to have the same structure as the previous ones, and introduce new skin lines, player cards, sprays, and Gunbuddies.

Valorant Episode 7 Act 3 Battle Pass
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The Battle Pass price shouldn't change, with players being able to acquire it for 1000 Valorant Points. As usual, to unlock all of the Battle Pass rewards, players will need to play games and complete challenges, to earn XP and reach new levels.

Competitive map rotation

The Valorant map competitive rotation system consists of seven active maps, and for a new map to be added an active map needs to leave, as developers have explained they don't want more than seven active maps.

Because of that, the Valorant competitive map rotation suffers changes from time to time, with new maps coming in, while old ones leave to be reworked. The last time this rotation changed was in September when Sunset and Breeze entered the active map pool and Pearl and Fracture were removed from it.

Valorant
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It will be four months since that change took place when Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 goes live, so there is a strong chance a new map is coming to the game. We can also see one of the old and reworked maps coming back.

Despite nothing being confirmed as of yet, there is hope the map rotation will change in Valorant Episode 8 Act 1, and that a new and exciting map will make its way into the game.

New agent

In 2023, Valorant introduced three new agents, Gekko, Deadlock, and Iso. All of them have a unique ability kit and can impact the game in different ways.

We expect Valorant to follow the same formula in 2024, with at least three new agents coming to the game. As mentioned above, Riot Games wants to start 2024 with a bang, and what better way to do that than by releasing a new agent?

Valorant agent Iso
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Iso was the latest Valorant agent released.

So there are good changes we will see a new agent coming to Valorant in Episode 8 Act 1. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but some leakers have touched on that possibility.

Hopefully, Riot Games will give us some information about it soon, and either confirm or deny the introduction of a new agent to Valorant at the beginning of Episode 8 Act 1.

Balance changes

When a new Valorant Episode goes live, it's normally followed by a patch that introduces some important balance changes. We don't expect Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 to be any different, so Patch 7.13 should go live on the same day the Episode releases.

Valorant Patch 7.12
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Valorant Patch 7.12 introduced some changes to Skye and Gekko.

We expect this patch to introduce plenty of agent changes, with some receiving a buff, while others get nerfed. The patch will most likely also address major bugs, and performance issues, among other things.

A new game mode is on the way?

As of right now, there is nothing that indicates a new game mode is coming to Valorant on Episode 8 Act 1. However, that doesn't mean there isn't s small chance Riot Games is planning to introduce an exciting mode to celebrate the arrival of a new year.

Valorant
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Team Deathmatch was the last mode to arrive at Valorant.

A new game mode could do wonders for Valorant, potentially revitalising the game and the player's passion for it. It could also captivate new players. For now, we can only wait and see if a new game mode is in the plans for Episode 8 Act 1.

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