After a few days on the test servers, update 8.04 for Valorant has finally been released, meaning that Episode 8 Act 2 is underway. The new season brings a Battle Pass full of cosmetics, some new bundles, and some teasers for its much-anticipated addition: Agent 25.
Release date
According to the countdown appearing in-game, Episode 8 Act 2 of Valorant is set to begin on Tuesday, March 5. The exact start time will vary depending on the region you currently play in.
As per usual, servers will go down for a 3-4 hour maintenance period before the release of the new season. Downtime for North America, LATAM, and Brazil servers traditionally begins at 6:00 PT, meaning that the season should start around 10:00 PT.
On the other side of the pond, European users will have to wait a little bit longer as their maintenance period usually begins the next day. In this case, downtime should start on Wednesday, March 6 at around 4:00 GMT and end by 8:00 GMT.
Agent 25
Agent 25 is the most anticipated addition for this season but it won't be released at the start. The character will be revealed during the finals of VCT Masters Madrid 2024, which will take place on Sunday, March 24.
Apart from a trailer, we'll likely see some sort of showcase on-stage of their gameplay. Given that reveal date, we expect the agent to arrive in the game on Tuesday, March 26 with a new update.
Although their name hasn't been revealed as of yet, new teasers added on maps like Sunset or Plaza after the arrival of update 8.04 confirm that the codename for this character is "FrogRave".
To tease its arrival, Riot shared the following image on the most recent "State of the Agents" article posted on the official website of the game:
The image shows Omen shooting at someone or something while protecting a mysterious person. It is believed that this person is the new agent, so this is most likely our first look at the character.
The first teaser for the agent came in the following Player Card, which was available through Act 1's Battle Pass:
The files of patch 8.03 include a voice message of Fade talking about a guy and seeing "hundreds of butterflies" in an event that happened in a library in Scotland. This not only reveals that the agent is from that country but also indicates that the butterflies appearing on the aforementioned Player Card might be an indication of their abilities.
On top of that, some new voice lines found on the files of update 8.04 indicate that this agent could have the ability to revive allies.
Battle Pass
According to ValorLeaks, the battle pass for this new season will include the following weapon skinlines:
- Retrowave Skinline
- Aquatica Skinline
- Shellspire Skinline
The leaker also posted two images, one to showcase the Player Cards available in the new pass and another one just for the new sprays. Here is the image with all the Player Cards:
And here is the image with all the sprays, which are 15 in total:
Bundles
The new season will also bring a couple of new bundles to the in-game store that players will be able to get using their Valorant Points. In this case, two new skinlines will be available to buy soon.
The first one is called Primordium, and this is the dinosaur and volcanic-themed set that was leaked not long ago. Here is the trailer for the bundle:
You can visit this link to read everything we know so far about this set. On the other hand, a second bundle called Fortune's Hand was leaked, and its cosmetics seem to be more plain than the previous one.
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