Fixing Pearl and the Stinger is a dangerous game

Buying the Stinger on eco rounds is a recipe for success.

Pearl was the eighth map released in Valorant, hitting live servers on patch 5,0, with the start of the Dimension Episode. There was a lot of buzz in anticipation of the release, but fans will always remember Pearl for one thing.  

Pearl changes are welcomed

Pearl replaced Split, one of the original Valorant maps on release and a fan favorite. Taking Split out of the Competitive and Unrated Queues, put a lot of pressure on making Pearl viable. The cracks started to show from the launch and in the first month, where Pearl could be played as a separate game mode. Many games ended in five or six rounds due to surrender votes, and frustration started to build up. The new map was confusing, it had too many corners and a huge labyrinth in the middle. On defense, it always felt like you were getting flanked and shot in the back. On offense, you couldn’t clear an angle without getting outplayed with shotguns. Riot gave the map a few months, trying to see how professional play would react to the new addition to the map pool, and now are making adjustments.

A Site is easier to attack

The mess in the middle of Pearl has been a signature feature since its release. With these adjustments, attacking the A site becomes a lot easier. One of the most significant changes is the removal of the boxes on the A Art entrance. Defenders would die from multiple angles and utility dumps while attackers would waste half of their abilities clearing corners before getting shotgunned.

Another great change is moving this wall on the A Main entrance. With this, you can finally smoke off the entire angle with one smoke, without leaving gaps in coverage. The rat Cubby in B Main finally got removed by lowering the wall, but more importantly, gone is the Jinggg spot.

Before the update, trying to push through B Link meant you had to clear six corners and angles! Now, with the box and wall adjustments, getting cheeky kills is harder.

Removing the boxes and corners in Mid Shops was a great idea, despite it messing up some cool lineups. But on the other side of the map, the same issue will continue to exist, with these corners in A Restaurant.

Valorant Stinger meta again?

Fans across the world had many questions watching Valorant Champions this last month. One of them was: Why is everyone buying Stingers? It was bought as many times as the Bulldog, which is the best buy after winning the pistol round. It was bought more than the Marshall and Guardian, objectively better weapons. The weapon was a lost relic, forgotten among the player base since it was nerfed out of existence.

While the pros tried to show us the Stinger is strong in the right scenarios, Riot made sure to one-up them. Less than a week after Valorant Champions concluded, the Stinger is getting its accuracy buffed on both primary and alternative fire. Now it’s 30% more accurate after six bullets are fired with primary fire and the first shot on alternative fire is now 15% more accurate.

Using ADS to fire three bullets at a time is a great idea on eco rounds if you can hit headshots. While the smaller clip size still hurts it, the Stinger is also more viable now in close-range sprays. Considering it still has the fastest fire rate, buffing its accuracy could be a dangerous thing. Nobody wants the Stinger to be a death laser with no counterplay once again.

Header:Riot Games