Patch NotesVALORANT13.02

Valorant Patch Notes 13.02 (28th July 2026)

Phoenix's ultimate becomes harder to access, a new mode misses its window, and Retakes expands with three fresh maps in today's patch.

Nathan Lees28 July 20267 min read

Patch 13.02 lands today with a single but deliberate agent adjustment, a notable mode cancellation, and a collection of bug fixes spread across the roster. The headline change targets Phoenix, whose ultimate has become too accessible relative to other characters in the agent pool. By raising the ultimate point cost from 6 to 7, Riot is making Run it Back harder to spam throughout a round, forcing Phoenix players to choose between building ult economy or investing in utility and weapons.

That one-point shift has real teeth. Phoenix now sits at the same ultimate economy as Omen, Cypher, and Gekko, moving him away from the cheaper tier occupied by agents like Jett and Reyna. The practical consequence is that Phoenix can no longer reliably cast his ult twice per half on full buy rounds without exceptional round wins; teams will need to play around ult availability more carefully, and opponents gain predictability in how often they'll face a revive. Riot's framing. That this addresses "the frequency with which he is able to cast his ultimate". suggests Phoenix was seeing play patterns the studio viewed as imbalanced, even if his overall win rate was acceptable.

The bigger story here is AROS: Replication, which Riot has delayed indefinitely. The studio acknowledges it was a known target for this patch and explicitly states it will not ship today, promising a future announcement. This is the second time Riot has pulled back on a mode release in recent patches, signalling either development friction or a shift in priorities. For players who were anticipating a new way to play, this is a genuine setback, though Riot's transparency about the delay is preferable to a silent slip.

Retakes receives three map additions: Split, Corrode, and Lotus join the rotation, expanding the mode's variety. This is a straightforward content win for players who favour that mode, though the patch notes do not clarify whether these replace existing maps or expand the pool further.

The bug fixes are surgical rather than sweeping. Deadlock's Annihilation had a particularly nasty issue where it could deal 900 damage to Omen during From the Shadows. A clear exploit that needed removal. Waylay receives two separate fixes addressing unintended clipping and dash speed exploits on Icebox and elsewhere. Jett's Tailwind and Updraft delay after Cloudburst, Gekko's Wingman voiceover and frame-rate death issues, and Cypher's Neural Theft disconnect are all addressed. Chamber's Rendezvous teleport failure and Vyse's indestructible Razorvine under suppression round out the roster work.

What remains unaddressed is any mention of AROS: Replication's scope or mechanics in future patches, leaving players without a timeline or feature clarity. Phoenix's ult adjustment is conservative, a single point, which may or may not shift his presence in competitive play. The patch is stable maintenance work with one deliberate balance touch and one delayed promise.

Full Patch Notes

▲ Buff▼ Nerf✓ Fix◆ Tweak

VALORANT Patch Notes 13.02

Phoenix ult change, new maps added to Retakes, and loads of bug fixes.Game UpdatesEmily “ghoulies” Hu

Hey there, I’m Emily. I’ll be joining the Global Community team at Riot as an intern this summer, nice to meet you all! Hopefully y’all are staying cool with this summer heat, got a couple things for you to check out here :D

Here’s what’s happening in Patch 13.02:

Phoenix adjustment to address frequent casting of Run it Back.
We are delaying AROS: Replication, we’ll let you know when we have news to share.
Split, Corrode, and Lotus added to Retakes!
Some Agent bug fixes.
A fix for some door/ability interactions on Summit.

GLHF and see you all on the server!

AGENTS UPDATES

Phoenix
- Overall we are happy with the state of Phoenix's balance. This is a small touch to address the frequency with which he is able to cast his ultimate to be more in line with other characters.
  - Ultimate points increased from 6 to 7.

MODES UPDATES

RETAKE
- Split, Corrode, and Lotus are being added to the map pool for RETAKE.
AROS: Replication
- All Random One Site: Replication will no longer be released in this update. We don’t take these decisions lightly as we know a lot of you were looking forward to this mode. We are still targeting a future release date and will let you know when we have more to share.

BUG FIXES

Agents
- Omen
  - Fixed an issue where the Shrouded Step's obstructed placement indicator is missing.
- KAY/O
  - Fixed an issue where NULL/cmd’s visual and death audio effects would not play when his downed timer expired.
  - Fixed an issue where NULL/cmd’s death animation played incorrectly after being revived.
- Cypher
  - Fixed an issue where Cyber Cage displayed incorrect visual effects when cast.
  - Fixed a rare issue where Cypher disconnected while casting Neural Theft.
- Gekko
  - Fixed an issue where the incorrect voiceover could play when Wingman planted the Spike.
  - Fixed an issue where Wingman could unexpectedly die while planting or defusing the Spike under very low frame rate conditions.
- Miks
  - Fixed an issue where the M Pulse ability icon and tooltip could be in the wrong place or missing on certain screens.
- Reyna
  - Fixed an issue where the Dismiss icon remained grayed out after eliminating an enemy.
- Chamber
  - Fixed an issue where Rendezvous could fail to teleport Chamber back to his anchor.
- Waylay
  - Fixed an issue on Icebox where Lightspeed and Refract could allow Waylay to clip into the walls of B Tube.
- Jett
  - Fixed an issue where Tailwind and Updraft could experience an unintended delay after using Cloudburst.
- Raze
  - Fixed an issue where Boom Bot could briefly travel through solid geometry while locking onto airborne enemies.
- Deadlock
  - Fixed an issue where Annihilation could incorrectly capture Omen while he was using From the Shadows, resulting in unintended damage of 900100 damage.
- Vyse
  - Fixed an issue where Razorvine could become indestructible if it was deployed at the same moment Vyse was suppressed.
Maps
- Summit
  - Fixed an issue where Agent utility could sometimes be crushed by the door when it was already closed.

BUG FIXES

General
- Fixed a cosmetic issue where Packets Received/Sent Rate graphs showed incorrect values when the game is running at extremely high framerates.

BUG FIXES

Agent
- Chamber
  - Fixed an issue where Tour de Force missed haptic feedback when equipped and fired.
- Yoru
  - Fixed an issue where Fakeout was missing aim assistance functionality.
- Waylay
  - Fixed an issue where using Lightspeed and immediately equipping the Spike or a Flex item could grant unintended dash speed and distance.
Gameplay Systems
- Fixed an issue in game modes with no abilities where selecting Agent Info from the Settings menu could close the menu instead of displaying ability information.

Sources

playvalorant.com

Tags:Patch Notes VALORANT

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Written by

Nathan Lees

Gaming journalist and founder of XP Gained. Covering patch notes, breaking news, and updates across 160+ games.