Riot Games has released the official patch notes for Valorant Update 1.10, which is part of Valorant Act III. We already know about the new Icebox map and new Agent Skye. However, it looks like the latest update also brings an overhaul of the FFA deathmatch game mode.

Since deathmatch launched in Valorant, fans have been complaining about short match times and the always-on radar pings that reveal enemy locations. Now, the radar pings have been disabled, with the exception of the first radar ping when spawning.

Another major improvement is that now whenever players kill an enemy, they will receive a full automatic reload of their weapon. That is; unless it’s the Ares or Odin, which will only reload 30 of their ammo.

In addition, there can now be 14 players in a deathmatch game (instead of the previous 10). Players also need to get 40 kills to win now (instead of the previous 30), or for nine minutes to pass. The respawn system has also been improved; as players now get a total of 900 XP for every completed deathmatch.

• Increased player count 10 >>> 14 players
• Updated spawning algorithm to encourage safer spawns
  • Now that we’ve fixed some tech on the backend, we can support up to 14 players without compromising on our commitment to 128 tick-rate servers. With 10 players, you’d sometimes have to run 10 or 15 seconds to even find a fight, which can really kill your flow. Sometimes you’d also spawn way too close to enemies. This was because we had to artificially increase spawn density because of the low player count. Now that the player count has increased, we’ve re-tuned our spawning algorithm to try and give more consistently safer spawns.
• Removed periodic location pulse, and you’ll now only receive a pulse right when you respawn
  • Now that there are 14 players on the map, the pulse feels completely unnecessary. We’re keeping a single pulse for players right when they respawn so that they can help get their bearings and find a quick fight without getting caught off guard.
• Increased match length, first to 40 kills (was 30), time limit upped to 9 minutes (was 6)
  • We felt like the match length was a little too short to get into a real groove, especially now with more players, so we’re bumping the duration and kill limit up a bit.
• Kill Reloads: On every kill, players get an automatic, immediate full reload of their active weapon (Ares & Odin get 30 bullets back)
  • It already felt a little frustrating to have to reload in Deathmatch, and now that player count is higher, reloading feels like even more of a deathwish.
• XP gain increased from 500 to 900 XP
  • Honestly, 500 XP felt a little low for Deathmatch. We’re bumping this up to 900 to account for the increased match length with some extra on top.