Just one day after the debut of VALORANT Episode Four:Disruption, it's clear that the game's biggest meta shake-up isn't the introduction of new Duelist Neon, but rather the re-emergence of Ares.
Episode Four began with the introduction of Patch 4.0, which included significant nerfs to the widely used Specter and an improved rate of fire for the Ares. Specter nerfs include forward firing error when spraying and increased recoil multipliers when running/jumping, making long range sprays and close sprays more inaccurate.
This nerf paved the way for the Ares to become the popular new weapon choice in second-round buys and feat buys, with an in-game cost of just 1,550 credits. The Ares was already a decent gun for its price with a high rate of fire, good damage output, high wall penetration, and a large clip size. But now the rate of fire is even higher and the removal of the spin cycle means its kill time is significantly reduced.
The popularity of Ares has the entire VALORANT community talking, but it's not all positive. Take a look at the VALORANTS subreddit and you'll see a few posts from players unhappy that the Ares kill speed is now faster than the Phantom or Vandal, which each cost twice as much as an Ares. Ares' presence effectively turns the second round into a buying round for each side, regardless of the outcome of the gun round.
The pros are talking too, with most saying the Ares is now under control. Just search "Ares" on Twitter and you'll see a full stream of pros talking about it. XSET's dephh IGL called it "an Odin's value on steroids", while the Cloud9 sheet said it's "essentially [an] mag extended Stinger." TSM Academy IG Payen shared a screenshot of his team's match in an NSG tournament, showing nine Ares used in the third round.
The rise of the Ares brings back memories of the Stinger meta from the start of 2021. Eventually, the Stinger's rate of fire and accuracy were nerfed significantly in patch 2.03 and then again in patch 3.0, l weapon is no longer used much. at all. If and when nerfs come for Ares, ideally Riot can find that sweet spot where Ares isn't summoned all the time but also isn't rendered useless.
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