How to use Yoru's reworked abilities in VALORANT Season 4 Act 2

The stealthy duelist from Japan has spent his first year at the bottom of pretty much every tier list. With the new updates, could we finally see him sneak to the top of the ranks?

Released in January 2021, Yoru recently celebrated his first year as part of the VALORANT Agent roster. Sadly, his limitations and lack of viability compared to the rest of the Agents made him a non-factor in competitive play.

Developer Riot Games promised a rework of Yoru almost immediately following a release. The studio finally delivered with patch 4.04, the beginning of Season 4 Act 2. Now Yoru has been buffed to the point where he is almost an entirely different character. To get you caught up to speed, we're breaking down the changes to Yoru's abilities and tips on how to use them.  

Fakeout

Yoru's Fakeout received a massive overhaul in the rework. Before, it merely mimicked the sound of footsteps to mislead enemies on his location. Now it deploys a full-body copy of Yoru that can be used in various ways. Press FIRE to instantly activate the decoy. ALT FIRE places an inactive version, which can be activated with F. Yoru's clone can only run forward in a straight line once it is activated. 

Teammates can easily identify it, but the decoy looks identical to Yoru to enemies. If it is shot, it will turn to face whoever fired and explode after a short time. This creates a flash in their direction, blinding all enemies caught in the radius. The decoy has 150 HP and will remain active for up to 10 seconds if not damaged. The flash from an explosion lasts a little over three seconds. Fakeout's charges have also been reduced from 2 to 1. 

Tips and tricks

Image source: Riot Games

The new and improved Fakeout is suddenly a deadly part of Yoru's arsenal. It creates an intense mind game for enemy teams. There is no absolute way for them to be sure if Yoru is real or a decoy. This, paired with its blinding properties, make it a lethal way to initiate an approach. 

Send the decoy out and have your teammates follow behind it. Try to do it so that you ambush the opposing team. Enemies are likely to aim for the lead Agent in a group, which in this case is the decoy. After the explosion blinds one or more foes, your teammates can pick them off for easy eliminations. If you are still lurking nearby, you should try and jump into the fray to offer damage support. However, always assess the situation before jumping into a fight. If your enemies thwart the Fakeout and take out your team, it might be best to retreat and regroup.

Conversely, use an inactive decoy when your team is on the defensive. An inactive clone will be marked with a puddle and can be freely spawned as long as Yoru is a short distance away. The clone will run in whichever direction Yoru was facing when he planted it. Try to set it up near chokepoints where you think enemies will approach from. It's great to use in Spike sites while planting or defusing. Pair it with intel abilities like Sova's Recon Bolt or Skye's Seekers to find enemy locations. Time things just right to surprise them with the decoy and blind them for their aggression. 

Countering Fakeout is now more or less a guessing game, but there are ways to tell if it is the decoy. The first is that it always runs in a straight line. It never walks, strafes, turns or crouches. It's rather easy to spot when the decoy is used by itself and in open areas. It's in team fights and narrow corridors where the surprise element makes Fakeout a problem. Once you've identified the decoy, the best tactic is to just ignore it. It will only explode if provoked and will disappear after ten seconds. You can even intentionally miss in hopes of drawing out the rest of Yoru's team without detonating the decoy. 

Gatecrash

For the most part, Gatecrash remains the same after the rework. Yoru's Signature Ability allows him to teleport a short distance between two locations. He also has the option to trigger a fake teleport. This is where the only change to Gatecrash lies. A fake teleport will now leave a "puddle" on the ground as if Yoru had actually teleported. Enemies who see it might be misdirected, thinking Yoru is now lurking around them. This creates even more mind game tools Yoru can unleash on enemies.

As of Patch 5.12, a pair of changes were made to Gatecrash:

• Health decreased from 100 HP to 60 HP

• Cost decreased from 200 to 150 creds

Dimensional Drift

While not as drastic as the changes to Fakeout, Yoru's Ultimate Ability was also adjusted in the rework. Interestingly enough, Dimensional Drift received a series of both buffs and nerfs. Here is a complete list of changes:

• Duration increased from 8 to 10 seconds - It is now 12 sec as per Patch 5.01

• Yoru is not revealed to enemies during Dimensional Drift

• Yoru is now able to cast all utility out of his ultimate

• Nearsightedness during ability is removed

• Unequip delay time increased from 0.6 to 1.2 seconds. This was again decreased from 1.2 seconds to 0.8 seconds with Patch 5.01

• Yoru's footsteps can now be heard within 15m of his location

• Cast delay added upon casting Dimensional Drift. This prevents the invulnerability frame while casting. 

The significant new addition to the ability is that Yoru can now use all of his other abilities during Dimensional Drift. This allows him to combine his utility with the intangibility gained from his Ult. If you're in a sticky situation with a nearly empty ability meter, use Gatecrash to escape before the intangibility wears off. Blindside is extremely useful since Yoru still can't equip weapons during Dimensional Drift. While it blinds enemies and deals no damage, it is still Yoru's only way to afflict enemies in any way during his Ult. 

Yoru is no longer revealed to enemies during Dimensional Drift, giving him an added layer of stealth. His vision during the Ult is also not distorted, although it retains the blue filter. This compliments his new capability to cast utility while in Dimensional Drift. Yoru is now a force to be reckoned with when active since he can see clearly and use his full toolkit while intangible. Furthermore, the duration for his Ult has also increased by two seconds. 

Dimensional Drift also received some newfound nerfs to keep it from being overpowered. The most noticeable is that Yoru's footsteps are now audible to enemies within 15 meters. This prevents him from sneaking up on enemies undetected and removing the mask (which unequips the Ult) for an ambush. Now that Yoru can use other abilities during his Ult to set up a firefight, his opponents need some way to counter. 

The new cast delay is a huge nerf that will be hard to point out for some but significantly affects Yoru's intangibility. Before the rework, it was popular for Yoru players to use Dimensional Drift as a quick way to get out of danger. The delay time to unequip the mask has also been doubled. These changes make continuously equipping and removing the associated mask a much riskier option. 

How are you liking the Yoru rework? Do you think he will finally be a threat on the competitive scene? Join us on Discord and let us know all your tactics for climbing up the G-Loot leaderboards with the new and improved Agent.