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Tag Archives: rework
Europe’s debt market strains force some governments to rework trading rules
Oct 31 (Reuters) – Some euro zone countries have eased rules for the banks that manage the trading of their government debt to help them cope with some of the most challenging market conditions in years, officials told Reuters.
Out of 11 major euro area debt agencies Reuters contacted, officials in the Netherlands and Belgium told Reuters they have loosened various market-making obligations dictating how actively these banks should trade their debt.
France, Spain and Finland said their rules are already structured to automatically take account of market tensions. Germany and Austria said they do not set such rules.
As the European Central Bank unwinds years of buying the region’s debt, while the war in Ukraine, an energy shock and turmoil in Britain are making investors wary of loading up on government bonds, debt managers are adjusting to a less liquid, more volatile market.
That in turn, could raise borrowing costs for governments, already squeezed by climbing interest rates and energy-related spending, and bring more uncertainty for institutions, such as pension funds, which seek in government debt safety and stability.
Euro zone government debt bid-ask spreads, the difference between what buyers are offering and sellers are willing to accept and a measure of how smooth the trading is, have risen up to four-fold since the summer of 2021, data compiled by MarketAxess (MKTX.O) for Reuters showed. The data tracked German, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch bonds, markets which account for the vast majority of euro zone debt with nearly 8 trillion euros outstanding.
LOOSENED OBLIGATIONS
Wider spreads mean more volatility and higher transaction costs. So governments expect, and some formally require their primary dealers – banks that buy government debt at auctions and then sell to investors and manage its trading – to keep those tight.
In markets with formal requirements, they also face other “quoting obligations” to ensure the best possible liquidity. Those obligations have been loosened in some countries to account for heightened market stress.
Jaap Teerhuis, head of dealing room at the Dutch State Treasury, said several of its quoting obligations, including bid-ask spreads, had been loosened.
“Volatility is still significantly higher compared to before the (Ukraine) war and also ECB uncertainty has also led to more volatility and more volatility makes it harder for primary dealers to comply,” he said.
Liquidity has been declining since late 2021 as traders started anticipating ECB rate hikes, Teerhuis said. The Netherlands then loosened its quoting obligations following the invasion of Ukraine.
Belgium’s quoting obligations also move with changes in trading conditions. But it has relaxed since March the rules on how many times per month dealers are allowed to fail to comply with them and has also reduced how much dealers are required to quote on trading platforms, its debt agency chief Maric Post said.
The two countries also loosened rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. Belgium’s Post said that lasted only four months in 2020, but it has kept obligations looser for much longer this time.
Finland said it has not changed its rules, but could not rule out acting if conditions persist or worsen.
Outside the bloc, Norway has also allowed dealers to set wider bid-ask spreads.
In Italy, debt management chief Davide Iacovoni said on Tuesday it was considering adjusting the way it ranks primary dealers each year to encourage them to quote tight spreads. Such rankings can affect which banks get to take part in lucrative syndicated debt sales.
Debt offices where obligations adapt automatically said attempts to enforce pre-determined bid-ask spreads in volatile markets would discourage primary dealers from providing liquidity and cause more volatility.
“If the market is too volatile, if it’s too risky, if it’s too costly, it’s better to adjust the bid-offer to what is the reality of the market than to force liquidity,” France’s debt chief Cyril Rousseau told an event on Tuesday.
Britain’s September sell-off highlighted how liquidity can evaporate fast in markets that are already volatile when a shock hits. In that case, the government’s big spending plans triggered large moves in debt prices, forcing pension funds to resort to fire sales of assets to meet collateral calls.
‘FRAGMENTED MARKET’
Allianz senior economist Patrick Krizan said with bond volatility nearing 2008 levels, a fragmented market for safe assets was a concern.
The euro zone is roughly 60% the size of the U.S. economy but it relies on Germany’s 1.6 trillion euro bond market as a safe haven – a fraction of the $23-trillion U.S. Treasury market.
In the case of a volatility shock “you can very easily fall into a situation where some markets are really drying up,” Krizan said. “For us it’s one of the biggest risks for the euro area.”
For example, the Netherlands like Germany has a top, triple A rating. But like other smaller euro zone markets it does not offer futures, a key hedging instrument, and so far this year the premium it pays over German debt has doubled to around 30 basis points.
Efforts by debt officials are welcomed by European primary dealers, whose numbers have dwindled in recent years because of shrinking profit margins and tougher regulation.
Two officials at primary dealer banks said that fulfilling the quoting obligations in current conditions would force them to take on more risk.
“If (issuers) want private sector market-making, it needs to be profitable, or why would anyone do it? And it can’t be if rates move around 10-15 basis points a day,” one said of moves of a scale that had rarely been seen in these markets in recent years.
($1 = 0.9970 euros)
Reporting by Yoruk Bahceli and Dhara Ranasinghe; additional reporting by Belen Carreno in MADRID, Lefteris Papadimas in ATHENS and Padraic Halpin in DUBLIN; editing by Tomasz Janowski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
NASA Scientists Probe Dark Energy – Time To Rework Albert Einstein’s Theory of Gravity?
Dark energy illustration. Credit: Visualization by Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute. Simulation by Martin White, UC Berkeley and Lars Hernquist, Harvard University
Could one of the biggest puzzles in astrophysics be solved by reworking Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity? Not yet, according to a new study co-authored by
A new study marks the latest effort to determine whether this is all simply a misunderstanding: that expectations for how gravity works at the scale of the entire universe are flawed or incomplete. This potential misunderstanding might help researchers explain dark energy. However, the study – one of the most precise tests yet of Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity at cosmic scales – finds that the current understanding still appears to be correct. The study was from the international Dark Energy Survey, using the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope in Chile.
The results, authored by a group of scientists that includes some from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (
This image – the first released from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. Some of the galaxies appear smeared or stretched due to a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. This effect can help scientists map the presence of dark matter in the universe. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
More than a century ago, Albert Einstein developed his Theory of General Relativity to describe gravity. Thus far it has accurately predicted everything from the orbit of Mercury to the existence of black holes. But some scientists have argued that if this theory can’t explain dark energy, then maybe they need to modify some of its equations or add new components.
To find out if that’s the case, members of the Dark Energy Survey looked for evidence that gravity’s strength has varied throughout the universe’s history or over cosmic distances. A positive finding would indicate that Einstein’s theory is incomplete, which might help explain the universe’s accelerating expansion. They also examined data from other telescopes in addition to Blanco, including the ESA (European Space Agency) Planck satellite, and reached the same conclusion.
Einstein’s theory still works, according to the study. So no there’s no explanation for dark energy yet. However, this research will feed into two upcoming missions: ESA’s Euclid mission, slated for launch no earlier than 2023, which has contributions from NASA; and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, targeted for launch no later than May 2027. Both telescopes will search for changes in the strength of gravity over time or distance.
Blurred Vision
How do scientists know what happened in the universe’s past? By looking at distant objects. A light-year is a measure of the distance light can travel in a year (about 6 trillion miles, or about 9.5 trillion kilometers). That means an object one light-year away appears to us as it was one year ago, when the light first left the object. And galaxies billions of light-years away appear to us as they did billions of years ago. The new study looked at galaxies stretching back about 5 billion years in the past. Euclid will peer 8 billion years into the past, and Roman will look back 11 billion years.
The galaxies themselves don’t reveal the strength of gravity, but how they look when viewed from Earth does. Most matter in our universe is dark matter, which does not emit, reflect, or otherwise interact with light. While physicists don’t know what it’s made of, they know it’s there, because its gravity gives it away: Large reservoirs of dark matter in our universe warp space itself. As light travels through space, it encounters these portions of warped space, causing images of distant galaxies to appear curved or smeared. This was on display in one of first images released from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
This video explains the phenomenon called gravitational lensing, which can cause images of galaxies to appear warped or smeared. This distortion is caused by gravity, and scientists can use the effect to detect dark matter, which does not emit or reflect light. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Dark Energy Survey scientists search galaxy images for more subtle distortions due to dark matter bending space, an effect called weak gravitational lensing. The strength of gravity determines the size and distribution of dark matter structures, and the size and distribution, in turn, determine how warped those galaxies appear to us. That’s how images can reveal the strength of gravity at different distances from Earth and distant times throughout the universe’s history. The group has now measured the shapes of over 100 million galaxies, and so far, the observations match what’s predicted by Einstein’s theory.
“There is still room to challenge Einstein’s theory of gravity, as measurements get more and more precise,” said study co-author Agnès Ferté, who conducted the research as a postdoctoral researcher at JPL. “But we still have so much to do before we’re ready for Euclid and Roman. So it’s essential we continue to collaborate with scientists around the world on this problem as we’ve done with the Dark Energy Survey.”
Reference: “Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Constraints on extensions to ΛCDM with weak lensing and galaxy clustering” by DES Collaboration: T. M. C. Abbott, M. Aguena, A. Alarcon, O. Alves, A. Amon, J. Annis, S. Avila, D. Bacon, E. Baxter, K. Bechtol, M. R. Becker, G. M. Bernstein, S. Birrer, J. Blazek, S. Bocquet, A. Brandao-Souza, S. L. Bridle, D. Brooks, D. L. Burke, H. Camacho, A. Campos, A. Carnero Rosell, M. Carrasco Kind, J. Carretero, F. J. Castander, R. Cawthon, C. Chang, A. Chen, R. Chen, A. Choi, C. Conselice, J. Cordero, M. Costanzi, M. Crocce, L. N. da Costa, M. E. S. Pereira, C. Davis, T. M. Davis, J. DeRose, S. Desai, E. Di Valentino, H. T. Diehl, S. Dodelson, P. Doel, C. Doux, A. Drlica-Wagner, K. Eckert, T. F. Eifler, F. Elsner, J. Elvin-Poole, S. Everett, X. Fang, A. Farahi, I. Ferrero, A. Ferté, B. Flaugher, P. Fosalba, D. Friedel, O. Friedrich, J. Frieman, J. García-Bellido, M. Gatti, L. Giani, T. Giannantonio, G. Giannini, D. Gruen, R. A. Gruendl, J. Gschwend, G. Gutierrez, N. Hamaus, I. Harrison, W. G. Hartley, K. Herner, S. R. Hinton, D. L. Hollowood, K. Honscheid, H. Huang, E. M. Huff, D. Huterer, B. Jain, D. J. James, M. Jarvis, N. Jeffrey, T. Jeltema, A. Kovacs, E. Krause, K. Kuehn, N. Kuropatkin, O. Lahav, S. Lee, P.-F. Leget, P. Lemos, C. D. Leonard, A. R. Liddle, M. Lima, H. Lin, N. MacCrann, J. L. Marshall, J. McCullough , J. Mena-Fernández, F. Menanteau, R. Miquel, V. Miranda, J. J. Mohr, J. Muir, J. Myles, S. Nadathur, A. Navarro-Alsina, R. C. Nichol, R. L. C. Ogando, Y. Omori, A. Palmese, S. Pandey, Y. Park, M. Paterno, F. Paz-Chinchón, W. J. Percival, A. Pieres, A. A. Plazas Malagón, A. Porredon, J. Prat, M. Raveri, M. Rodriguez-Monroy, P. Rogozenski, R. P. Rollins, A. K. Romer, A. Roodman, R. Rosenfeld, A. J. Ross, E. S. Rykoff, S. Samuroff, C. Sánchez, E. Sanchez, J. Sanchez, D. Sanchez Cid, V. Scarpine, D. Scolnic, L. F. Secco, I. Sevilla-Noarbe, E. Sheldon, T. Shin, M. Smith, M. Soares-Santos, E. Suchyta, M. Tabbutt, G. Tarle, D. Thomas, C. To, A. Troja, M. A. Troxel, I. Tutusaus, T. N. Varga, M. Vincenzi, A. R. Walker, N. Weaverdyck, R. H. Wechsler, J. Weller, B. Yanny, B. Yin, Y. Zhang and J. Zuntz, 12 July 2022, Astrophysics > Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics.
arXiv:2207.05766
US approves Boeing inspection, rework plan to resume 787 deliveries
The FAA approved Boeing’s proposal that requires specific inspections to verify the condition of the airplane meets requirements and that all work has been completed, a move that should allow Boeing (BA) to resume deliveries in August after it halted them in May 2021, the sources said.
On July 17, Boeing told reporters it was “very close” to restarting 787 deliveries.
The FAA referred questions about the approval to Boeing. “We don’t comment on ongoing certifications,” the agency said.
Boeing did not confirm the approval Friday but said it “will continue to work transparently with the FAA and our customers towards resuming 787 deliveries.”
Boeing has faced production issues with the 787 for more than two years. In September 2020, the FAA said it was “investigating manufacturing flaws” in some 787 jetliners.
In the aftermath of two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, the FAA pledged to more closely scrutinize Boeing and delegate fewer responsibilities to Boeing for aircraft certification.
Boeing suspended deliveries of the 787 after the FAA raised concerns about its proposed inspection method. The FAA had previously issued two airworthiness directives to address production issues for in-service airplanes and identified a new issue in July 2021.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said this week on an investor call that it had 120 of the 787s in inventory and was “making progress completing the necessary rework to prepare them for delivery.” Boeing is “producing at very low rates and we’ll continue to do so until deliveries resume, gradually returning to 5 airplanes per month over time.”
The planemaker had only resumed deliveries in March 2021 after a five-month hiatus before halting them again. Friday’s approval came after lengthy discussions with the FAA.
The regulator had said it wanted Boeing to ensure it “has a robust plan for the re-work that it must perform on a large volume of new 787s in storage” and that “Boeing’s delivery processes are stable.”
The FAA said in February it would retain the authority to issue airworthiness certificates until it is confident “Boeing’s quality control and manufacturing processes consistently produce 787s that meet FAA design standards.”
The agency’s then-administrator, Steve Dickson, told Reuters in February the FAA needed from Boeing “a systemic fix to their production processes.”
A plane built for American Airlines (AAL) is likely to be the first 787 airplane delivered by Boeing since May 2021, sources said. That could come as soon as next month. American Airlines said last week on an earnings call it expects to receive nine 787s this year, including two in early August.
Boeing in January disclosed a $3.5 billion charge due to 787 delivery delays and customer concessions, and another $1 billion in abnormal production costs stemming from production flaws and related repairs and inspections.
Royals Rework Whit Merrifield’s Contract
6:58pm: Merrifield’s escalators are based on the number of days he spends on the injured list, MLBTR has learned. So long as he spends fewer than 110 days on the IL this year, he’ll receive the full $6.75MM in 2023.
6:19pm: The Royals announced this evening they’ve agreed to a restructured contract with infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield. The club has preemptively exercised his 2023 team option, and the parties have added a mutual option covering the 2024 season. Merrifield is represented by Warner Sports Management.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports the financial breakdown of the deal (on Twitter). Merrifield will make $7MM in 2022 and $2.75MM in 2023 (with an additional $4MM in possible escalators). The deal also contains an $18MM mutual option for 2024 that contains a $500K buyout.
It’s an atypical tack for a team to take, but the Royals and Merrifield have had a very productive 12-year relationship. The Kansas City organization is generally regarded as one of the more loyal in the sport, and the Royals front office was steadfast about keeping Merrifield even as they rebuilt in recent seasons. There’s little question club brass is fond of the University of South Carolina product, and that affinity presumably contributed to their decision to exercise his 2023 option a year early.
Of course, there was never much doubt it’d be picked up. Kansas City signed Merrifield to a four-year extension that guaranteed him $16.25MM back in January 2019. That was a very affordable deal reflecting his status as a late bloomer, as Merrifield didn’t break camp on an Opening Day roster until 2017 — his age-28 campaign. With no path to free agency until his mid-30s, Merrifield elected to lock in some guaranteed earnings, while the club avoided his salaries escalating especially high via arbitration.
Under the terms of his previous contract, which had been front-loaded, Merrifield had been slated to make $3.25MM this year with a $7MM club option that would’ve escalated to $11MM for 2023 had he avoided a lengthy IL stint. As Mark Feinsand of MLB.com points out (on Twitter), the renegotiation more evenly distributes the team’s commitments over the next two years, paying Merrifield more up-front while clearing some payroll space next season.
Kansas City’s payroll jumps to around $97MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. The team’s 2023 commitments dip to approximately $36MM. Kansas City isn’t punting on the 2022 campaign, but they’re a bit of a longshot competitor in the AL Central. With young players like Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez set to arrive this year, the 2023 season and beyond should be firm win-now seasons. The front office will have a bit more money with which to work next offseason, while Merrifield is no doubt happy for the immediate raise (and the insurance that preemptively exercising the option guarantees in the event of a catastrophic injury this year).
Valorant patch 4.04 notes: Yoru rework, Agent balance changes, Icebox map update
The Valorant patch 4.04 update is here with the brand-new Yoru rework, Agent balance changes for many in the roster, and a map update for Icebox along with ample big fixes.
Riot Games is continuing its promise of reevaluating the state of Valorant in Episode 4 Act 2 by bringing impactful changes to the FPS title. As such, expect highly-requested changes to finally hit Valorant; starting with the 4.04 update.
Such changes include a makeover for numerous parts of Icebox as well as a slight revert to Omen’s kit that should make his utility feel a lot better to use.
This accompanies even bigger changes for meta Agents like Astra and Viper while giving Brimstone a new buff for his teammates.
Valorant’s Yoru rework
Yoru’s massive overhaul is landing in the Valorant 4.04 patch update.
Riot are finally debuting the Yoru rework that aims to give the Agent more ways to confuse and disrupt his opponents.
Everything from his Fakeout decoy to his Dimensional Drift ultimate ability have been changed, with the goal of giving Yoru more tools to impact a round.
In all, this version of Yoru will hopefully give players more chances to actively distort information around the map while making him a lot more exciting to play.
Astra nerfs in 4.04 patch
Astra is getting cooldown increases across the board.
Riot are tinkering with Astra, who has solidified her place atop the Valorant meta. While the devs are making her abilities a bit more effective, they are also nerfing cooldowns across the board as well as the amount of stars she has.
Her Nebula ability will create a smoke bubble a bit larger than before but its cooldown has been increased from 14 seconds to 25.
It seems the devs are trying to find a good balance between how much influence Astra can have with how fast she can deliver her teammates much-needed assistance.
Omen and Brimstone QoL updates
Brimstone’s Stim Beacon is getting a new buff in Valorant patch 4.04.
Both Brimstone and Omen will get a few decent changes that should give players a good reason to pick them up.
Omen is getting a slight revert to his kit, as his Dark Cover smokes see a massive projectile speed boost from 2800 to 6400 among other changes.
Meanwhile, Brimstone’s smokes will bet a bit wider to match other Controller Agents and his Stim Beacon now gives teammates a speed boost along with its traditional rapid-fire buff.
Full Valorant patch 4.04 notes
For all the details on the Valorant 4.04 update, read the full updates below, courtesy of Riot Games.
Agent Updates
General
Improved the system used to place abilities at targeted ground locations. This update should make it easier to find valid placement locations in tight spaces. These are the abilities affected:
- Omen’s Shrouded Step
- Viper’s pit
- Chamber’s Trademark and Rendez-vous
- Every Killjoy ability
- Yoru’s Gatecrash
- Sage’s Barrier Orb
Omen
Dark Cover
- Cooldown decreased 40s >>> 30s
- Cost increased 100 >>> 150
- Projectile Speed increased 2800 >>> 6400
Shrouded Step
- Cost decreased 150 >>> 100
- Pre teleport delay decreased 1s >>> 0.7s
Paranoia
- Added forward spawn offset, so players adjacent to Omen are not hit
Brimstone
Sky Smoke
- Deploy time decreased 2 >>> 1 second
- Deploy radius increased 5000 >>> 5500
- Smoke height increased to match other Controllers
Stim Beacon
- Now also applies a 15% speed boost in addition to RapidFire.
Astra
Stars
- Max Stars reduced 5 >>> 4
- Cooldown on retrieving a Star increased 14 >>> 25
- Astra can now pick up placed Stars during the Buy Phase to refund their charge
immediately - Max distance of Star Placement increased 10000 >>> 30000 to allow her to place Stars across the furthest corners of maps.
Gravity Well
- Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45
- Gravity Well Size Decreased 525 >>> 475
- Gravity Well no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Gravity Well.
Nova Pulse
- Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45
- Nova Pulse no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Nova Pulse.
Nebula
- Cooldown Increased 14 >>> 25
- Nebula cooldowns are now sequential instead of simultaneous
- Nebula size increased 410 >>> 475
Astral Form
- While in Astral form, pings are no longer blocked by level geometry that Astra cannot see
- Astra’s targeting ring in Astral form is reduced to one ring that reflects the now unified size of all her utility
- Astra’s targeting ring no longer randomly disappears when aiming across some map locations
- Increased the speed of the overlay that covers Astra’s screen when transitioning in and out of Astral form
- Fixed an issue where Stars were placed slightly above the location Astra was targeting.
Viper
Fuel
- Fuel drain increased 50% when Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud are both active.
- Viper’s fuel bar now turns red when she does not have enough fuel to activate her abilities.
Toxic Screen
- Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8
- Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.
- Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8
- Toxic Screen now has yellow lights that indicate when it is on cooldown
- Removed delay on Toxic Screen disabling when Viper is suppressed.
- Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disabled by suppress.
Poison Cloud
- Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8.
- Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.
- Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8
- Poison Orb now has a yellow light to indicate when it is on cooldown.
- Removed delay on Poison Orb disabling when Viper is suppressed.
- Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disbaled by suppress.
Snake Bite
- Duration decreased 6.5 >>> 5.5
Yoru
Fakeout
- Charges reduced from 2 >>> 1
- Decoy HP: 150
- Decoy is now a full running version of Yoru and can only be sent running forward
- Right -click to place a stationary marker for the decoy
- Reactivate similarly to footsteps to create the decoy that runs forward
- Upon taking damage from an enemy gun, the decoy winds up, turns towards the enemy that shot it, and explodes after a short delay.
- Enemies within the cone are flashed
Gatecrash
- Charges increased from 1 >>> 2
- Cost: 200 Credits
- Cooldown charge refresh removed, switched back to 2-kill reset
- Gatecrash can be faked by pressing F, while hovering over the beacon
- Fake teleport will play audio and portal visuals as if Yoru is attempting to teleport.
- Time it takes for teleport beacon has decreased 1.5 >>> 0.5 seconds
- Teleport beacon’s in-game audio while traveling reduced 22.5m>>>12.5m
- Teleport beacon’s speed has been increased 675 >>> 800
- Upon activating a fake teleport, the beacon creates a small decal on the floor for 30 seconds to indicate location of the fake teleport
Dimensional Drift
- Duration increased 8 >>> 10 seconds
- Yoru is not revealed to enemies
- Unequip delay time increased 0.6 >>> 1.2 seconds
- Yoru is now able to cast all utility out of his ultimate
- Yoru’s footsteps can now be heard within 15m of Yoru’s location
- Cast delay added upon casting Dimensional Drift, preventing the invulnerability frame on cast
Map Updates
Ascent
Icebox
B Site
- Changes to B “Green” lane are focused on improving attacker options and making the space more comfortable to play in.
- Doorway from Attacker spawn building near Green lane moved to the first cubby. This is to give attackers a new way to approach B Green instead of having to enter from two similar positions.
- Green lane slightly widened. This is to make moving through this space more
comfortable. - The B Site rework is focused on adding more importance to controlling the site when attacking and making engagements around the site more manageable.
- Yellow container adjusted and new stack of crates added. As players have settled into Icebox we’ve noticed a lot of rounds revolve around anchoring down behind yellow during post plant situations. This change should allow Yellow to retain some power while adding more value to holding space on the actual site.
- Lower container removed and geometry adjusted into a cubby facing Green. Doorway on the upper container widened and it’s position adjusted. This should allow players to better isolate fights around the site and make utility usable more meaningful.
- Outer wall on B site and crane structure brought in toward the site. Narrowing the site allows for more controllers to comfortably use their utility without having to worry about gaps.
- Building in Back B closed off. We want to encourage attackers to push further and hold more space. Closing off this building should allow players to better anchor themselves in Snowman. It should also better highlight using B Fence to cut off rotations.
- Plant zone on B site adjusted. This change is to encourage more spike plant diversity while retaining some safer defaults to work with. You can now also plant on the bridge from kitchen to upper container as well.
- The changes to mid are aimed at adjusting lines of sight and making these spaces more comfortable to play in.
- Back wall in Kitchen adjusted. This change should help moving through this space feel more comfortable and allow players to more easily clear this space
- Crates added to Orange lane to block line of sight from under tube to danger.
- Boiler ramp geo simplified and slightly narrowed. Smokes will now fully cover Boiler and players should find head peaks from ramp more predictable.
A Site
- A Site can feel overwhelming for defenders so these changes should give them some new options and allow them to better isolate Attacker angles.
- Cover on back A site adjusted. This change should give Defenders a little extra space to anchor on.
- Head peak on attacker side pipes removed. Where Attackers can peak from on A Site can feel overwhelming. This change should allow Defenders to better isolate where threats can come from.
Competitive updates
Introducing initial testing of a new “deterministic map system” in LATAM. The goal of this system is to increase the variety of maps that players will encounter. If there are no issues, we plan to activate this system (explained below) for all regions within the next few days/week. Although this is LATAM region only, we are including it here as a heads up if we decide to expand. Stay tuned to the official VALORANT channels for updates.
- Deterministic map selection follows 3 rules when picking a map, after players have been selected to play a match.
- The system will look at all maps players have played over the last 5 maps for that mode.
- The system will remove any maps that a player has played twice in the past 5 maps.
- The system will pick the least played map.
- If all maps have been removed due to the “Twice Played” rule, those maps will be added back to the pool and the least played map will be picked.
Bugs
Agents
- Fixed issue where enemies wouldn’t trigger Cypher’s Trapwire in rare situations
- Fixed the boom not showing up for Astra if planted while in Astral Form
- Fixed a bug where Viper’s Toxic Screen audio could play in the next round if it is activated right on round end
- Fixed Yoru’s Gatecrash icon showing up as a big white circle on Brimstone’s targeting map
- Fixed a bug where Chamber’s teleport would sometimes fail when cast immediately after firing the last bullet of Headhunter
- Fixed a bug where Chamber’s Tour de Force would inconsistently spawn slow zones when firing at KAY/O during NULL/CMD
Social
- Fixed an issue with AFKs in Escalation game mode
Esports Features
- Fixed a bug where the timer would overlap itself while viewing the megamap as an
observer
Game Systems
- Fixed an issue where you could tap the scroll wheel to activate the defuse audio without actually initiating a defuse.
Destiny 2 getting major ability cooldown rework this December
Bungie’s 30th Anniversary event, which comes with a host of new content, is fast approaching Destiny 2 with its Dec. 7 release date. Alongside the paid content, players will also get a major balance pack — so major that sandbox discipline lead Kevin Yanes said he’s “fairly convinced” that the upcoming update will be the “biggest balance patch ever.”
While Bungie detailed major weapon changes in its Nov. 11 blog, the Nov. 18 post focuses entirely on abilities. Here are the highlights:
The biggest change here is to ability cooldowns, as it’ll affect every class and every ability in the game. Instead of having universal cooldowns for all Supers, grenades, and melee abilities, Bungie will now tune them individually. This means that Bungie can base ability cooldown directly on that ability’s power.
The example Bungie uses in the blog post is the Hunter’s Flux grenade, which sticks to targets. Its current cooldown is 82 seconds, and it does decent damage to an enemy Guardian or target if the player using it is accurate. Starting Dec. 7, Flux grenades will take 182 seconds to cooldown after use, but they’ll fire faster, stick to all surfaces, deal bonus damage to PvE enemies, and kill an enemy Guardian in a single hit.
Supers will also benefit and suffer from the cooldown changes in Destiny 2. Depending on their potency, some Supers will naturally recharge faster than others. However, players will get bonus Super energy when in combat, especially when using a primary weapon. The Intellect stat, which governs the passive cooldown time of the Super, will no longer be as useful, as Bungie wants players to engage in combat to earn their most powerful ability.
Bungie is also making major changes to several class-specific pain points. The big ticket balance items are PvE buffs to Titan’s Behemoth subclass, improved melee attacks for Warlocks, and major PvP nerfs for one-hit kill abilities like Titan’s Shoulder Charge, Hunter’s Shatterdive, and Warlock’s Hand-held Supernova.
Most of these changes are aimed specifically at PvP modes, with most abilities getting more powerful and useful in PvE. This is a real push from Bungie to balance their PvE and PvP modes differently — something the studio hasn’t always wanted to do.
The general idea behind these changes seems to be that abilities should be as useful — or even more so — in PvE, but that PvP games should focus primarily on gunplay with brief, potent moments of what Bungie calls “space magic.”
The rest of Bungie’s blog post is filled with individual notes that will affect unique abilities and classes. And even in its thousands of words, Bungie is still saving a lot of specifics for the patch notes themselves, which will debut alongside the 30th Anniversary event on Dec. 7.
If you want to see all the previewed changes, we recommend you check out the blog on Bungie’s website and skip down to your favorite class’ section.