Valorant Episode 5, Act 1, kicks off next week, introducing a brand new map called Pearl, as well as the usual new battle pass and premium skin bundle. But there’s more than just new content coming, as Riot Games has now unveiled Patch 5.0 which introduces a host of interesting changes to the game. Most notably, there’s a brand new rank being added to Competetive called ‘Ascendant’ that sits between Diamond 3 and Immortal 1.

Today’s Patch 5.0 notes explain:

“We believe our lower ranks have a few too many of you, especially Bronze and Silver. When we were looking at rank distribution, we realized that if we were to move some of you up and out of those lower ranks, it would overpopulate Platinum and Diamond. So by adding a new rank we can better distribute you across ranks, keep the prestige of high ranks, while helping better define the skill level of each rank.“

The notes go on to highlight that those who finished last season below Ascendant (Iron 1-Diamond 3) are likely to experience a bump up in rank, while those above will find it harder to work their way back toward the rank they finished this Act. That said, it’s less severe of a reset this time around as it was for Episode 4. The maximum rank you will be able to achieve after placements is Ascendant 1.

Beyond the new rank, there isn’t really much to Patch 5.0, except for the fact that Split is being temporarily disabled for both Unrated and Competitive due to a host of bugs. You can read more about why in Riot’s dedicated map pool article.

Here’s the full Patch 5.0 notes:

Map Updates

New Map Pearl

  • This queue is a standard, Unrated mode that will give players a chance to practice the new map before they see it in Competitive play.Pearl-only queue will be available for 2 weeks, then after that Pearl will enter Competitive.

Split

  • We are temporarily removing Split from the map pool in Unrated and Competitive queuesThere are reasons! You can read more about our decision in our map pool update article.

Competitive Updates

NEW RANK: Ascendant

Bugs

  • Fixed a bug on Haven that was preventing players from using their spray on a wall in A GardenAgentsFixed a bug where Jett could equip a weapon during TailwindFixed a bug where Agents revealed by Sova’s Recon Bolt or Fade’s Haunt would sometimes briefly appear in an incorrect location on the minimapFixed a bug where the scope visual effect would sometimes disappear when aiming with Chamber’s Tour De Force

Game Systems

  • ●Fixed a bug where using an Ultimate point orb or defusing the Spike at maximum range could cause channeling and progress bar animations to flickerFixed a bug where the use channeling progression bar does not update if the player disconnects and reconnects during the matchFixed a bug where some weapon equips could play the wrong equip speed animation, which could visually misrepresent when you were able to fire. Some situations impacted by this bug were:Cypher exiting SpycamCapturing Ultimate point OrbsCanceling and completing Spike plantFixed a bug where the use channeling progression bar does not update if the player disconnects and reconnects during the matchFixed a bug where some weapon equips could play the wrong equip speed animation, which could visually misrepresent when you were able to fire. Some situations impacted by this bug were:Cypher exiting SpycamCapturing Ultimate point OrbsCanceling and completing Spike plant

In case you aren’t up to speed with all the festivities around Valorant’s new map and everything coming in Episode 5, check out our recent trailer reveal article. Stay tuned throughout today as we’ll be revealing a host of other new upcoming Valorant features and content coming to the game soon.

  • We believe our lower ranks have a few too many of you, especially Bronze and Silver. When we were looking at rank distribution, we realized that if we were to move some of you up and out of those lower ranks, it would overpopulate Platinum and Diamond. So by adding a new rank we can better distribute you across ranks, keep the prestige of high ranks, while helping better define the skill level of each rank.

  • Cypher exiting SpycamCapturing Ultimate point OrbsCanceling and completing Spike plant