Riot Games shipped VALORANT Patch 13.06 on September 22, 2026, calling it the biggest patch of the year. The update introduces the Warden, a new 2,900-credit scoped rifle; replaces Average Combat Score with a new Performance Score system; overhauls agent progression entirely; and adds Gauntlet: Glitched, a limited-time 2v2 mode. It is a lot to absorb at once, and most of it touches ranked play directly.
The Warden: A Third Rifle at 2,900 Credits
The Warden is an automatic rifle with a built-in 2x magnification scope. It deals flat 50 body damage at all ranges—no falloff—200 on a headshot, and 42 to the legs. Fire rate sits at 6.5 shots per second, the magazine holds 18 rounds with 36 in reserve, and reload time is 2.5 seconds. Wall penetration is medium, same tier as the Vandal and Phantom it sits alongside in the shop.
The flat damage profile and scope make the Warden a sightline weapon. Holding a long angle no longer requires choosing between the Vandal’s one-tap headshot potential at range and the Phantom’s spray control up close. Instead, the Warden offers a middle path: consistent body damage everywhere, with the scope helping land those shots at distance. Whether it replaces either rifle in the meta or becomes a niche pick for specific maps will sort itself out in the first week of ranked.
Riot Games confirmed the Warden will not appear at VALORANT Champions 2026. It may debut competitively at the Game Changers Championship the following month.
Performance Score Replaces ACS
Average Combat Score is gone. In its place, Riot Games introduced Performance Score, a 0–500 number that now determines MVP and scoreboard position in Competitive, Unrated, Swiftplay, and Premier. The patch notes describe it as measuring “more than just damage and kills to paint a fuller picture of your contributions to a match.”
Riot has not published the full weighting formula, so the exact value of a flash assist versus a trade kill versus a clutch remains opaque for now. What is clear: raw damage output no longer guarantees top of the scoreboard. Players who utility-dump and die with 200 damage but zero kills will see their contribution reflected more visibly, and players who pad damage without round impact will see their position drop.
Agent Mastery Replaces Agent Gear
Agent Gear is out. Agent Mastery is in. Every agent now has 10 Act Levels that reset each act, plus permanent Lifetime Levels. Portrait Accents unlock at Act Levels 4, 7, and 10. All previously unlocked Agent Gear rewards remain in inventories, but progression itself starts from zero—previous playtime does not carry over. If a player had Agent Gear maxed on an agent, that agent’s Mastery Level is still one.
This is a clean slate for everyone, which means the cosmetic hierarchy resets. Expect a scramble in the first weeks of the act as people grind back to the levels they were at before.
Gauntlet: Glitched and Other Additions
Gauntlet: Glitched is a limited-time 2v2 mode that replaces Retake in the rotation. Sixteen players enter as eight duos, drafting abilities from randomized pools across different agents. Abilities upgrade from Level 1 to Level 3, and at Level 2 they have a random chance to “glitch.” Riot Games gave two examples in the patch notes: “Send out Raze’s Boom Bot and decide when it goes boom. Clock it.” and “Make Gekko’s Wingman really, really big. They grow up so fast.” The mode runs across four arenas remixed from familiar map spaces.
The Practice Range can now be accessed while in the matchmaking queue, or players can start matchmaking from inside the Range. This is not supported in Premier, Deathmatch, or any mode without Agent Select. Home and Lobby have been merged into a single hub with a reworked Global Navigation bar. Further Mode Select updates are planned for Patch 13.08.
On the anti-cheat front, Riot’s boosting detection system—powered by Vanguard—has banned approximately 1,600 accounts per day, totaling over 90,000 accounts since July 20, 2026.
What This Means for Ranked Players
Three things change immediately for anyone queueing Competitive or Premier:
- Scoreboard position is no longer about damage. Performance Score rewards round impact and utility use. Players who relied on high ACS to justify a playstyle should expect their ranking to shift until they understand the new weighting.
- The Warden adds a third option in the rifle tier. It rewards holding angles and landing scoped shots. It will not appear at Champions 2026, so tournament VODs will not show it yet—ranked is the testing ground.
- Agent progression is reset. Every Mastery Level starts at zero. Portrait Accents must be re-earned this act. This is cosmetic only, but it affects anyone tracking their agent-specific grind.
Known issues at launch: the Masterful rank threshold display is incorrect (cosmetic, fix planned next patch), and console players may experience bugs with Range queue selection. Riot also teased Map Rating for Patch 13.08 and Competitive Flex for Patch 14.00, the latter described as evolving throughout the 2027 season based on ranked achievements.