VALORANT Patch 13.02 raises Phoenix's Ultimate cost, delays AROS: Replication

Phoenix takes a quiet but meaningful hit

Riot Games shipped VALORANT Patch 13.02 on July 28, and the headlining Agent change is a simple one number going up. Phoenix’s Ultimate cost has been bumped from six to seven orbs, a single-orb adjustment that nonetheless carries real weight for a Duelist who has built a reputation on farming his way to Run It Back faster than almost anyone else on the roster.

According to Dot Esports, Phoenix’s popularity among Duelists has climbed noticeably over the past few months, and his ability to repeatedly cycle his Ultimate has been a persistent talking point. Riot acknowledged as much in the patch notes. “Overall we are happy with the state of Phoenix’s balance,” Riot wrote, as reported by Dot Esports. “This is a small touch to address the frequency with which he is able to cast his ultimate to be more in line with other characters.”

One extra orb might not sound dramatic, but in a game where Ultimate timing can swing a round, the margin matters. Phoenix players will need to be a little more patient or a little more deliberate about when they pop their abilities to build that final pip.

All Random One Site: Replication hits a wall

The bigger news for a portion of the player base is what is not coming. All Random One Site: Replication, first teased back in May, has been delayed indefinitely. Riot confirmed in the patch notes that the mode has no new release date, and the studio was upfront about the awkwardness of that announcement.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly as we know a lot of you were looking forward to this mode,” Riot wrote, according to Dot Esports. “We are still targeting a future release date and will let you know when we have more to share.”

The mode was designed as a mashup of two existing formats. All Random One Site already pits teams against each other on a single site each round, with cheaper abilities and Agents that shuffle every round. Replication, meanwhile, had players on a team run the same Agent. Combining those two ideas meant every round could look wildly different, with one team stacking five copies of the same Agent on a single bomb site. The chaos had obvious appeal, and the delay stings a little for the players who were circling it.

Retake keeps growing

While one mode waits, another one keeps expanding. Retake is picking up three new maps in this patch: Split, Corrode, and Lotus. That brings the total number of sites available in the mode to 18, according to Dot Esports.

Retake launched back in Patch 13.00 and has found a comfortable niche as a low-pressure warm-up option. Adding maps like Lotus and the returning Split keeps the rotation fresh and gives players more variety before they head into ranked.

Bug fixes round things out

Beyond the headline changes, Patch 13.02 brings bug fixes touching more than ten Agents across PC and consoles. There is also a fix for door and ability interactions on Summit, which had apparently been causing issues worth addressing.

It is a mid-sized patch overall. No map overhauls, no weapon rebalancing, no new Agent. Just Riot trimming one number on Phoenix, tidying up Retake’s map pool, and buying more time for the mode that was supposed to make things gloriously messy. That mode will come eventually. For now, Phoenix mains get to spend a little longer earning their comeback.