Valorant Patch 9.08 to bring Episode 9 Act 3 and competitive map pool shuffle

Episode 9 Act 2 of Valorant is about to conclude and players are excited about the next chapter along with all the changes it will bring. With Patch 9.08 update, players will finally get the much-awaited Act 3 featuring map, agents, and store updates. As per the official announcement, E9A3 will be released on October 23 at 6 AM PT. Indian players can expect the new act to be released around 6:30 PM.

What is coming in Valorant Episode 9 Act 3?

While the official details for Valorant Patch 9.08 are yet to come, everyone has a general idea of the changes. First off, the competitive map pool rotation will be changed. Lotus, Icebox, Breeze and Fracture will be leaving the map rotations to keep the content fresh.

The new map rotation for premier includes

Ascent (October 30-November 3)
Pearl (November 6-10)
Sunset (November 13-17)
Bind (November 20-24)
Abyss (November 27-December 1)
Split (December 4-6)
Haven (December 11-14)

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There will also be a few changes to Sunset, mostly for the B-Site and the Middle. This came during a dev stream, and a quick look reveals that the developers have tried to make the site more approachable. The effect of these changes, however, the impact can only be measured after its release.

Another thing players have been waiting for is the character balance. Fans have been asking to buff Sage for quite some time and nerf a few other characters. Since the official patch notes have not been released, it is currently unknown which agents are getting love and who are on the Nerf radar.

Along with the changes, players will also have a new battle pass to grind and many gameplay improvements. Valorant was also making a switch to Unreal Engine 5 soon, but Episode 9 Act 3 does not seem to be the one.