# VALORANT 12.08 — VALORANT Patch Notes 12.08

- Product: VALORANT (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/valorant)
- Vendor: Riot Games
- Date: 2026-04-28
- Version: 12.08
- Original notes: https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/game-updates/valorant-patch-notes-12-08
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/valorant/releases/12.08
- Labels: Platforms: Windows, PlayStation, Xbox

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Introduce Skirmish: Ascension, a new limited ranked experience for Skirmish with 1v1 and 2v2 queues, staged weapon progression, and a competitive FTW ranked ladder
- **added** — Add Ascent to the Competitive and Deathmatch queues
- **added** — Bring back Premier for PC with Stage V26A3 starting May 6
- **removed** — Remove Bind from the Competitive and Deathmatch queues
- **removed** — Remove Knockout limited time mode
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Miks' Bassquake would cause the minimap cone to blink on use
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Veto's Chokehold could detect enemies behind rotating doors on Lotus
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where KAY/O's ability VFX were not appearing if used right after KAY/O casts NULL/cmd
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Neon's High Gear slide was not playing SFX for moving across different surface types
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Tejo's agent select animation would sometimes cut off the smoke from the explosion
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Gekko's Dizzy would only target an enemy if their head was visible
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where during Dimensional Drift Yoru could not see invisible abilities like Vyse's Shear or Cypher's Trapwire even if close enough to them
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Viper's Toxic Screen SFX would activate repeatedly when Veto walked into it with Evolution active
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where players resurrected by Sage inside of Viper's Decaying abilities would not gain Decay
- **fixed** — Fix a bug where Tejo's Armageddon would sometimes cast targeting spawn instead of the intended location
- **fixed** — Fix an issue in settings where audio sliders weren't moving correctly
- **fixed** — Fix an issue where trying to exit the client while a replay was paused wasn't working

It’s Ash again! Patch 12.08 is bringing you an exciting new update to Skirmish called Skirmish: Ascension as well as another map rotation. Here’s the TLDR;
- Skirmish: Ascension - a new, experimental ranked experience with its own competitive leaderboard on our FTW site
- Ascent is in, Bind is out
- [PC only] Premier is back!
- More bug fixes
ALL PLATFORMSMAP UPDATES
- Map Pool Updates
- ASCENT is IN the Competitive and Deathmatch queues.
- BIND is OUT of the Competitive and Deathmatch queues.
MODES UPDATES
- NEW LIMITED TIME MODE
- Introducing Skirmish: Ascension, a new limited ranked experience for Skirmish.
- We designed this mode as a fast, skill-forward competitive experience where gunplay stays primary, but selected abilities create more tactical decisions and replayable duels. Pick from a curated roster of Agents, each equipped with a single ability, and fight through staged weapon rounds in 1v1 or 2v2. Compete on the [FTW ranked ladder](https://ftw.riotgames.com/en-us/valorant/challenges/skirmish) to earn rewards and prove you are better. Available for Act 3.
- Mode Details
- Agents & Abilities
- Choose from 14 Agents, each with one ability from their kit
- Jett (Tailwind)
- Waylay (Refract)
- Chamber (Rendezvous)
- Cypher (Cyber Cage)
- Omen (Shrouded Step)
- Phoenix (Curve Ball)
- Yoru (Clone)
- Iso (Contingency)
- Sage (Barrier Orb)
- Raze (Blast Pack)
- Vyse (Arc Rose)
- KAY/O (Flash/Drive)
- Breach (Flashpoint)
- Veto (Crosscut)
- Staged Weapons
- No economy. Weapons escalate through stages as the match progresses
- Rounds 1-4: Pistols (Bandit, Sheriff)
- Rounds 5-8: Low-tier rifles (Guardian, Bulldog)
- Round 9+: Vandal and Phantom
- Queues
- 1v1 and 2v2 with separate matchmaking
- Round Structure
- First to 10 rounds wins
- FTW Ranked Ladder
- Competitive leaderboard segmented by server, region, and platform
- Separate leaderboards for 1v1 and 2v2, tracked independently
- Rank Tiers
- Iron: 0
- Bronze: 700
- Silver: 1100
- Gold: 1500
- Platinum: 1800
- Diamond: 2100
- Ascendant: 2400
- Immortal: 2700
- Radiant: Top 100
- Rewards
- Combat Ready player card: Complete 3 Skirmish: Ascension matches
- Trade Me player card: Complete 15 Skirmish: Ascension matches
- Titles awarded by highest rank achieved on either ladder
- Skirmish Competitor: Gold to Platinum
- Skirmish Expert: Diamond to Immortal
- Skirmish Legend: Radiant
- LEAVING LIMITED TIME MODES
- Knockout is heading out. Thanks for playing!
BUG FIXES
- Agent
- These were fixed in Patch 12.07 but missed the notes.
- Fixed a bug where using Miks’ Bassquake would cause the minimap cone to blink on use.
- Fixed a bug where Veto’s Chokehold could detect enemies behind rotating doors on Lotus.
- Fixed a bug where KAY/O’s ability VFX were not appearing if used right after KAY/O casts NULL/cmd.
- Fixed a bug where Neon’s High Gear slide was not playing SFX for moving across different surface types.
- Fixed a bug where Tejo’s agent select animation would sometimes cut off the smoke from the explosion.
- Fixed a bug where Gekko’s Dizzy would only target an enemy if their head was visible.
- Fixed a bug where during Dimensional Drift Yoru could not see invisible abilities like Vyse’s Shear or Cypher’s Trapwire even if he was close enough to them.
- These are new fixes in Patch 12.08.
- Fixed a bug where Viper's Toxic Screen SFX would activate repeatedly when Veto walked into it with Evolution active
- Fixed a bug where players resurrected by Sage inside of Viper’s Decaying abilities would not gain Decay.
- Fixed a bug where Tejo’s Armageddon would sometimes cast targeting spawn instead of the intended location.
PC ONLYPREMIER UPDATES UPDATES
- Welcome to Stage V26A3! Matches start on May 6.
- Contender and Invite Division schedule changes:
- There are only 6 weeks of matches this stage – the matches are still each Saturday from May 9 - June 13.
- Playoffs now take place across multiple days.
- The first round of playoffs takes place on June 20.
- Teams that advance from

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/game-updates/valorant-patch-notes-12-08]_