VALORANT patch notes 10.08: Major Yoru nerfs and skin gifting

VALORANT has released Patch 10.08 for Act III of its 2025 season, introducing the long-awaited skin gifting feature.

Patch 10.08 will also bring nerfs to Yoru’s ultimate ability, as well as minor changes to Brimstone and Astra.

Starting with the first bundle of Act III, Riot has finally made it possible to gift gun skins from the Featured Store to other players. Players may send specific items or entire bundles to their friends, while recipients have the option to decline or accept gifts.

However, the gifting is currently limited to Featured Store items, with expansions planned for future updates. All information about the new feature and related rules and restrictions can be found on the dedicated Play Support page.

Yoru has seen an increased pick rate in professional VALORANT since the start of the 2025 VCT season. While his teleports allow for a strong map presence on both the defence and attacker side, his ultimate ability, Dimensional Drift, reigns supreme in VCT lobbies.

Often considered a ‘round-winning ultimate’, Dimensional Drift can be used to gain space and information and to set up deadly plays for Yoru and other agents.

It, therefore, does not come as a surprise that Riot has decided to tone down the strength of this ability. The ult duration was reduced from 12 to 10 seconds with an ult cost increase from 7 to 8 points.

As the rest of his kit remains the same, fans can expect Yoru to continue being a popular duelist choice in competitive VALORANT. Still, players will have to be more mindful about when and how to use the Dimensional Drift efficiently.

In contrast to the anticipated Yoru nerfs VALORANT’s new patch has brought minor changes to Brimstone and Astra. The latter has received a small nerf to her stun ability, Nova Pulse. To better align with other non-ultimate stun abilities in the game, Nova Pulse’s stun duration was decreased from 4 to 3.5 seconds.

This will most likely not significantly impact Astra’s usage in ranked or professional play, as her stun’s duration was never the main star of her kit. Moreover, the agent has been considered fairly balanced with Omen as an often-better replacement.

Meanwhile, Brimstone only saw adjustments to his gameplay and combat clarity. The audio of his molotov, Incendiary, has been updated to be easier to hear, especially underneath smokes.

Finally, with VALORANT’s fifth anniversary right around the corner, Riot is bringing back music from Episode 1 for the game’s menus, character select and Victory/Defeat screens. This trip to the past will also extend to patch 10.09.