After just a week since VALORANT Patch 4.0 buffed several under-used weapons, Patch 4.01 has revealed an Ares nerf, amending the previous changes that made it much more powerful. There have been substantial complaints from the community regarding the Ares’ power level since Patch 4.0 was released. Many felt that the changes, which included an increased fire rate and no spin-up, made the Ares too strong relative to other guns in its price tier.
“The Patch 4.0 changes to the Ares made the weapon noticeably stronger, and we were happy to see it show up more in-game,” VALORANT developers wrote in the Patch 4.01 blog post. “However, [its] overall tuning made it too easy to control and the lack of spin up removed some of what made the weapon unique.”
What is the Patch 4.01 Ares nerf?
With Patch 4.01, the cost of the Ares has been raised from 1550 to 1600 to reflect its jump in usage and putting it on par with the Spectre.
The VALORANT developers have expressed that their goal with this nerf was to “make the weapon more difficult to control and bring back some of the weapon’s character.” To that end, the pitch recoil on the Ares has been increased. Pitch recoil refers to the vertical rotation of the gun; in layman’s terms, it means you’ll have to pull down more to control the gun as you continue shooting.
The Ares’ spread has also been changed. Previously, the spread would go from 0.8 degrees to 0.7 degrees after 10 bullets. Patch 4.01 has changed this so that it goes from 1.0 degrees to 0.7 degrees after 13 bullets. Furthermore, the spread and recoil benefits you get from crouching have been reduced from 40% to 25%.
