Is Sentinel Meta Nerfed in Valorant’s 8.0 Update?

Online competitive games are no stranger to having metas, where a certain build, character or weapon is perceived to be much stronger or better than all the options available.

The same can be seen in Valorant, where certain roles have seen their fair share of dominance over a certain period of time, whether it be Initiators, Duelists, Controllers or Sentinels. In the most recent meta, Sentinels have been a dominant pick; However, that is set to change after the Valorant 8.0 update, which has resulted in the Sentinel meta being nerfed.

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Changes to Sentinels in Valorant Patch 8.0

The 8.0 patch in Valorant was a major update that had significant implications on the Sentinel meta. That said, these changes might have gone unnoticed by many casual players due to being overshadowed by the introduction of Outlaw, a new gun Valorant, and the map changes to Icebox and Lotus. Nonetheless, the changes made to the Sentinel meta will have a major impact on both the casual and competitive scene. 

The Valorant 8.0 update saw major nerfs to Killjoy and some quality-of-life improvements to Deadlock. Since Killjoy has been the top Sentinel in the recent meta, people are questioning if this nerf is intended to nerf the Sentinel meta in general. To understand this in detail, let’s dive into all the changes that were made to both these Sentinels.

Killjoy Nerfs

Killjoy Turret Change | #VALORANT

> Turret FOV Range lowered from 180 -> 100

— Mike | Valorant Leaks & News (@ValorLeaks) January 5, 2024

Killjoy has been the subject of a considerable amount of nerfs aimed at her Turret (E) ability. These nerfs have effectively decreased the radius of the Turret to reduce its recon capability. Now, Killjoy players will have to be more careful of how and where they place their Turrets in their setups.

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Deadlock Buffs

Deadlock Changes Release Today | #VALORANT

~ Barrier Mesh max length increased from 6m to 10m

Sonic Sensor:
~ Now can be redeployed during the round.
~ Pickup distance increased from 12m to 27m
~ Time to concuss: 1.0s -> 0.5s
~ Enemies Destroy time reduced by .15s pic.twitter.com/qRvIxxxWa2

— Mike | Valorant Leaks & News (@ValorLeaks) January 9, 2024

Deadlock has been a pretty underwhelming agent in the Valorant, but that is set to change in the Valorant 8.0 update. This update has introduced a series of changes that buff up her kit, mostly targeting her Sonic Sensor (Q) and Barrier Mesh (E) abilities.

In the latest update, Deadlock’s Sonic Sensor (Q) ability has been made recallable in the middle of rounds, just like Killjoy’s Alarmbot. Sonic Sensor’s Pickup distance has been increased, the time to concuss when triggered has been decreased, and the time for enemies to destroy the Sensor has also been lowered. Other than that, the Barrier Mesh (E) ability has also seen a buff where the max length of each of the walls has been increased.

Is Sentinel Meta Nerfed?

After looking at the nerfs received by Killjoy and the buff received by Deadlock, it is hard to say whether this is an overall nerf to the Sentinel meta. There is no doubt that Killjoy has been a dominant pick in the previous meta due to her defensive and offensive capability.

While Killjoy has been the best Sentinel agent in Valorant for some time, you can’t say that the Sentinel meta is nerfed as a whole due to this one nerf to one agent. This nerf is mainly aimed at reducing Killjoy’s dominance over other Sentinels like Cypher and Sage.

This change will most likely encourage players to try out other Sentinel agents instead of Killjoy. Riot Games have also buffed Deadlock, who is also a Sentinel, to improve her kit moving into the new meta.

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Final Thoughts

The Sentinel meta is not going away anytime soon in Valorant, so if you are a player who enjoys playing the Sentinel role, you don’t have anything to worry about. The Sentinel role, just like any other role, is always viable in all metas. A good thing about Valorant is how balanced the game is and how each agent is a viable pick in every meta if you know how to play it and are familiar with their strengths and weaknesses.