VALORANT Patch 13.09: Hush, Warden, and What Changed

Patch 13.09 is a character-drop patch first and a balance patch second. It introduces Hush, the ninth duelist and the first new agent since the Performance Score system launched, reworks two existing agents, and finally gives the Warden rifle the handling fix players had been asking for. Below is the practical breakdown — what each change means for your games, not just the patch-line list.

For the full current roster including Hush, see the all agents guide.

Hush — the new duelist

Hush is a telekinetic duelist from Guangdong, China. Her kit is built around disrupting and displacing enemies before a kill:

• Telekinesis (Passive) — pick up weapons, the Spike (on attacker side), and interact with switches from an increased range.
• Displacement (E) — throw a device that pulls all players toward its center and concusses them on collision. Resets every two kills.
• Flashbulb (Q) — a throwable flash that can be prepared with alt-fire and redirected toward your crosshair.
• Flow (C) — instantly drop an anchor; if airborne, briefly levitate, then propel toward it. A repositioning tool.
• Suspension (Ultimate) — send a steerable projectile forward; detonate to levitate all players in the area.

Hush is an execute duelist: she is strongest when a team is taking a site and needs to displace defenders or lift them out of cover. Riot warns that Performance Score on her may be inconsistent for the first few days as they tune what good utility use looks like, so don’t over-read early matchmaking quirks.

Clove and Jett adjustments

• Clove nerfs — Pick-me-up movement speed bonus dropped from 15% to 10%, bringing it in line with similar mobility abilities. More importantly, killing Clove after she casts Not Dead Yet now grants the killer one ultimate point and one signature refresh point — so finishing her off is now worth your while instead of letting her escape.
• Jett — her passive was removed from the Buy Menu to match other non-purchasable passives. No mechanical change, just UI consistency.

Warden rifle buff

The Warden (2,900 credits) got the handling pass it needed: the first few bullets have smoothed pitch recoil, and follow-up shot error was reduced — second bullet error 0.25 → 0.20, third bullet 0.60 → 0.50. At its price point it is now a genuinely controllable rifle rather than a niche pick. If you have been avoiding it because the recoil felt unfair, this patch is the time to revisit.

Haste and Snapshot — the buff terminology split

Riot split movement-speed buffs from Combat Stim buffs with two official terms:

• Haste — increased movement speed (Brimstone Stim Beacon, Clove Pick-me-up, Miks Harmonize, Neon High Gear/Overdrive, and Waylay’s Convergent Paths, which is renamed to Haste because the effect is identical).
• Snapshot — the still-image silhouette reveal debuff (Cypher Spycam / Neural Theft).

Both are distinct from Combat Stim, which raises fire rate, equip speed, reload speed, and recovery speed. The Haste buff now shows a timer bar on the UI. This matters because the old system was inconsistent across agents; standardizing the language makes it easier to read what is actually affecting you in a fight.

Competitive and quality-of-life

• Performance Score — added hover text for trades on the scoreboard (PC) and a “learn more” screen explaining the system.
• Map Rating — your Act Best Match now weighs more heavily each Act, highlighting consistency and peaks.
• First Blood Accolade — threshold raised so it appears less often (your historic count is untouched).
• Region — Korea only can now purchase Radianite Points in-game.

What to do about it

None of this demands you change agents, but two things are worth acting on: the Warden is now a real 2,900 buy if your usual rifle feels contested, and Hush rewards coordinated executes — if you queue with a team, she amplifies a planned site take more than solo lurks. The ranked explained guide covers how Performance Score and Map Rating feed your ladder so you can read these changes in context.