VALORANT players think one change could finally fix Neon

Rituraj Halder Published October 12, 2026

Ever since her movement buffs, Neon has become a nightmare in Valorant lobbies. Players at every level have struggled to counter her erratic hitboxes.

Now, with rumors swirling ahead of Patch 13.07 about potential balance tweaks, including some significant nerfs to her movement, the Valorant community has shared what they think could be the perfect changes for fixing the absolute brokenness of the Agent. 

What is the best way to fix Neon in Valorant?

The community proposes two major adjustments:

• Increase mid-air speed back to how it was previously.
• Remove the ability to shoot mid-slide entirely.

The reasoning behind this rework addresses the root cause of player frustration. Neon’s core identity has always been about high-speed entry and disrupting defender crosshair placement. 

However, allowing her to slide around corners with near-zero weapon movement error gives defenders no time to react to a target moving at hyper-speed while simultaneously taking lethal damage.

By completely disabling her ability to draw or fire weapons during the slide animation, Neon is forced to use her mobility purely for positioning, site entry, or baiting out enemy utility.

To compensate for her loss in movement, reverting her mid-air speed nerfs restores the fluid, high-skill movement mechanics that Neon mains loved, which allow skilled players to execute bunny-hops and evasive strafes without turning every gunfight into a low-skill run-and-gun spraydown.

How did the fans react?

The potential for these changes to come in the patch 13.07 rumors have sparked a lot of discussion across social media, where players remain split on how hard Riot should hit her kit.

On X, @0_caiman said, “Honestly bro they should remove the slide, they could make it like a jett dash instead or maybe like a stim boost. But leaving it the slide with no pull out is probably a worst agent kill than yoru’s nerfs. And this is coming someone who despises neon”

Over on r/VALORANT, the community also pointed to weapon-draw speeds as the main culprit. One user noted that “Neon’s issue was never her movement alone; it’s how fast she can pull out her gun after sliding. If she can’t shoot mid-slide, defenders actually stand a chance if they hold the angle”.

In my opinion, removing mid-slide firing while restoring her mid-air strafe velocity is the healthiest path Valorant can take for this Agent. In a shooter like Valorant, giving a character so much movement while having a very slender model just makes it unfair to everyone else in the lobby. A misbalanced agent also interferes with VALORANT betting stats.