Valorant Season 2026 Act 5 Patch Notes Revealed: All Changes

Riot Games has officially revealed the patch notes for the highly anticipated Valorant Season 2026 Act 5 update. Although this new Act is relatively light on content, it introduces several important adjustments across competitive and deathmatch modes, alongside a brand-new Aeris skin line, a new Battle Pass, Premier mode changes, and a series of bug fixes. Notably, this update also finalizes the map pool for the upcoming Valorant Champions 2026 tournament.

The headline change for map rotations across all platforms involves Breeze and Abyss. Abyss has officially been added to the competitive and deathmatch queues, while Breeze has been removed from both. In addition to the map pool shifts, patch 13.04 addresses multiple agent and stability issues. Agent fixes resolve a problem where Cypher's Spycam minimap icon rotated incorrectly, correct Viper's Snake Bite equip animation from an enemy's point of view, and fix Deadlock's GravNet visual effects disappearing after a player reconnects. For stability, developers resolved an issue where repeatedly switching between Clove's Meddle and Ruse could cause player freezes and disconnections.

For PC players, Premier mode welcomes Stage V26A5 with matches set to start on August 18. This specific stage runs for a shortened duration of five weeks instead of the usual seven. Teams achieving a Premier Score of at least 450 qualify for Playoffs scheduled for September 20, whereas qualification for Contender and Invite divisions continues to rely on team placement. Furthermore, Contender and Invite Division teams will experience a two-day playoff format, with the first round taking place on September 19 and advancing teams returning for the finals on September 20. PC bug fixes also correct a cosmetic bug preventing transforming melee weapons, such as Kuronami 2.0 and Nocturnum, from animating properly during inspection.