I'm gonna try to balance every initiator.

Warning: this is a very long thread.

I meant to do this every agent a few days back, but could only get to the duelists, so I decided I'm gonna do this role by role. This time I'm doing the initiators. If you haven't seen the duelists thread, feel free to check it out: https://www.vlr.gg/378092/im-bored-im-gonna-try-to-balance-every-duelist

This is work just like last time. I'm gonna propose potentially absurd changes to each agent, regardless of whether or not they need changes, but I'll try to justify the changes regardless of how ridiculous or far-fetched they may be.

Feel free to give any comments or feedback you may have.

Sova has always been a staple. In pro play, he's been a must on maps like Ascent, Haven, and Breeze for as long as anyone can remember. In casual play, he's the first initiator anyone ever has access to, with him being one of the five agents you get starting out. Needless to say we've all grown quite used to always seeing him being played. So are people leaning into him super heavily? Yes. Is that a bad thing? Not really, honestly. The initiator class is very balanced right now, so even if Sova's still the most popular, it's not by a very sizeable margin. But I have to make a change regardless, and it kind of has to be a nerf because he's the most used initiator in the game. I only have one idea for it, but it's kinda stupid and mostly pointless. So here it is, I guess.

• Hunter's Fury (X) damage reduced from 80 >> 75
• Hunter's Fury (X) time to fire increased from 1 >> 1.15 seconds

Fade is the lesser picked of the two recon initiators. This is in part due to the map pool, but also in part due to the fact that some of the agents Fade is great when paired with (e.g. Raze, Yoru) are seeing less play than earlier this year. None of that is to do with Fade herself, though. Fade is a great agent with great capabilities. I honestly don't really think I need to go crazy with the Fade changes—maybe just some quality of life stuff, maybe a slight buff to an an ability or two. These changes hope to fulfill just that.

• Prowler (C) duration increased from 2.5 >> 3 seconds
• Seize (Q) decay increased from 75 >> 90 HP
• Seize (Q) windup decreased from 0.7 >> 0.15 seconds

Breach is an agent that's also seen his fair share of play on almost every map in VALORANT. And although some of his maps are a lot better than others (e.g. Fracture vs. Lotus), there's no denying he can always find value. However, there is one part of his kit that's been a bit underwhelming at the highest levels of play for a while, which is his flash. It's the easiest traditional flash in the game to dodge, and that's mostly due to how much time you have to react to it. This change aims to bring Breach's flash more in line with other flashes in terms of effectiveness.

• Flashpoint (Q) windup decreased from 0.5 >> 0.35 seconds

KAY/O is a very interesting agent. Although his molly is potentially the worst in the game (yet somehow has the most team kills in VCT franchising) and his flash received nerfs a while back, he continues to be a very dominant force in the meta. This is due to his other two abilities, which suppress enemy utility—a great benefit to his team and a great detriment to the other. KAY/O is by no means overtuned, but the ability to suppress enemy utility for free is a little too powerful as-is. These changes are focused toward balancing his kit, removing some of the power of his knife and transferring it to the molly.

• ZERO/point (E) suppression timer reduced from 8 >> 6 seconds
• FRAG/ment (C) rework: now has half-ticks between each tick, dealing 15-40 damage (min-max)
• FRAG/ment (C) inner radius increased from 1 >> 1.5 meters, outer radius increased from 4 >> 5 meters

Skye is currently the least picked initiator in VCT, having seen a sharp decline in play since the removal of the recharge on her flashes. After all, what good is an initiator without rechargeable utility? Even though she still sees play on Bind and Split (the latter of which is now out of rotation), the changes took too heavy a toll on Skye. These new changes aim to rework those nerfs, change the way that they were implemented in a way that's more fair to the nature of the initiator class

• Guiding Light (E) cooldown added (40 seconds)
• Guiding Light (E) charges reduced from 2 >> 1
• Guiding Light (E) windup time increased from 0.3 >> 0.35 seconds

Gekko is the newest initiator in the game, and he's had quite a lot of success thus far. He's also received quite substantial buffs since his inception, to account for his rather underwhelming power on release. He's currently in a pretty good state, but I feel there's one ability that's a bit too easy to shoot. This change aims to correct that, while balancing it to make sure it isn't too overwhelming.

• Dizzy (E) HP increased from 20 >> 60
• Dizzy (E) windup increased from 0.35 >> 0.5 seconds
• Dizzy (E) blind duration increased from 1 >> 1.2 seconds
• Dizzy (E) blind fade time decreased from 1 >> 0.6 seconds

Alright, that's all the initiators. These changes are a lot more tame than my duelist ones—that'll change once we get to the other classes. Thank you for reading, and I'll answer replies once I wake up.

ewww

sova and skye changes are good but
there's absolutely no need to buff fade breach and gekko because they're already hella strong
kayo idk

Gekko with an unbreakable flash

idk about that sounds pretty op

can the seize insta kill plz
-Tryeue1

sova needs buffs not nerfs (i main sova totally not biased there )
also 60hp for dizzy is crazy
dizzy on pistol would be crazy with 60 hp

Hire this guy

One thing I'd add is to make Fade's seize faster. I feel like it should seize you instantly. Too many times a player will get caught in the initial seize but step out before it fully develops. Other than that, pretty solid.

In my opinion, I would make such a performance on a Geka flash drive, if it works, it blinds only the person who sees it first, and not everyone after a while, and reduced the response time. I would have returned the fact that the sky flash drive could be broken and increased the radius of the teleport Chamber

i think sova/fade are balanced with each other, the only reason sova's pick rates are higher atm is because new maps are all made for sova

insane that you dont touch the gekko ult, thats the whole reason he is absurd rn

A good Gekko player can farm Gekko ult what, 3 times minimum in a half? That's 6 ults if they get reused. If anything he needs a nerf.

I'd nerf Gekko's little guy to only half defuse. Don't know if it's good or bad though.

Bro, Kayo's fragment is one of the best mollies in the game, at the very least in pro play. It simultaneously clears hell while holding the heaven choke on Ascent, can clear a two-level area with a thin floor (no other molly can do this), and is very well-suited for line ups.

Pro tip: When there is a piece of util with only one charge and no refresh, it is giga busted. (omen flash, gekko molly, brim molly, brim stim, deadlock wall, new viper molly, kayo molly)

Sova is pretty balanced so there’s nothing to change.

The Skye buff is odd. I think Riot prefers to have agents slot into their own niche instead of seeking out an even “power level.” It’d make more sense to make her dog the recharging signature and have her buy flashes instead. This gives her a stronger presence as the only agent with potentially 3 drones in a round. Your change would force her to decide whether to use the flash for info or to initiate fights which would just make her weaker than Gekko who can do both at the same time.

Gekko already has his own niche and your buff makes him oppressive during pistol rounds but weaker on gun rounds due to the windup. I think a better change would be to remove the possibility of teamflashes and increase his ultimate by one point since that’s what makes him noticeably stronger than his peers.

I like Fade’s prowler buff but it nearly makes Skye’s dog obsolete. The windup for the seize is also necessary because it forces intelligent usage for maximum value — lineups with re-activation for vertical drop — instead of just chucking it down a lane every round. Near 0 windup makes the seize more oppressive than any molly for stalling pushes making it nearly as bad as a deadlock seize but with the added bonus of instakilling anyone caught with a nade/molly combo.

Kayo fragment buff makes it strong enough to break KJ lockdown alone. It needs to be tweaked. I’m cool with the suppress nerf though.

I think a Breach wind up duration buff is the right direction but done in the wrong way. Instead of making it harder to dodge, add an alt fire option that sends out a delayed flash by 0.75 seconds, allowing you to better play off of it with your gun out ready. This gives you the option to swing as the flash is being dodged, allowing for solo playmaking.