Your Complete Guide to Valorant Act 5 and Patch 13.04

Season 2026 Act 5 is officially underway, with Valorant Patch 13.04 arriving on August 18, 2026. Here’s the quick rundown: Abyss is back in both Competitive and Deathmatch, Breeze has left the rotation, bug fixes land for four agents, and the Aeris Collection is now available in the store. Because this update brings no weapon adjustments and nothing in the way of agent buffs or nerfs, the map change is the only thing that can alter how ranked feels during this act. Below, we’ll follow WISHGM through every Patch 13.04 change, the parts that remain untouched, and what it all means for your climb this act.

Valorant Patch 13.04: When It Arrives and What Changed

Patch 13.04 launches Season 2026 Act 5. Agent buffs? None. Nerfs? None. Weapon adjustments? Also none — a departure from the last few updates. Riot's attention this time went to bug fixes, cosmetics, and map rotation, making this a much calmer opener than the Act 4 update. In Valorant, then, direct balance changes won't move any agent's power level. During this act, the only shifts you'll see in your matches will stem from the new map pool.

Abyss Rejoins the Rotation in Valorant Patch 13.04, While Breeze Steps Out of the Map Pool

This Valorant update's biggest headline centers on a swap in the competitive map rotation: Abyss rejoins the Competitive and Deathmatch queues, while Breeze drops out of both.

Abyss adds verticality, plus tight angles over long distances — things Breeze never really provided. Sightlines still matter, but now almost every site makes you account for several levels of elevation. Where Breeze favored flat, wide-open duels and let Operators dominate nearly every round, Abyss instead rewards coordinated pushes and solid communication between teammates stationed at different heights.

Team building gets shaken up more by this one swap than by any agent tweak. Picks that gain value this act include duelists who excel with verticality and sentinels capable of holding long angles. Veterans may recall Abyss playing very differently back in the Act 3 update, so don't count on the same lineups carrying over.

Fixes for Agent Bugs Land in Valorant Patch 13.04

A handful of pesky bugs affecting particular agents have been addressed by Riot. Nothing here touches ability values — what gets corrected instead is behavior that clearly wasn't meant to happen in the first place.

Easily the most notable entry here is the Clove fix. Some players were getting disconnected outright when they swapped between abilities at high speed, and the fallout could mean losing a full round — or something even worse. For Clove mains, then, one truly maddening problem is now gone.

Valorant Patch 13.04: Prices and Skins in the Aeris Collection

Arriving with Act 5, the Aeris Collection gives Valorant a bundle themed around cardistry and magic, with cards at its heart. Skins are included for four weapons — the Vandal, Bandit, Guardian, and Marshal — while the Suit of Aeris melee weapon completes the set.

The true star of this bundle, though, is the melee. With each attack it changes shape: first a dagger, then a sword, and by the fourth strike a greatsword. The bundle also packs a Flex accessory that can occasionally swap in Riftbound card designs — a treat for anyone who follows Riot's other titles.

Still on the fence? Weigh the purchase against how often the Marshal or Bandit actually makes it into your loadout. The price tag only makes sense when most of the guns in a bundle get regular use, after all. Should you decide to grab it, you save yourself a step at checkout by sorting out a beforehand. As for making the top-up, WISHGM is the best platform: players get to top up for less there, and it's a great money-saver.

Premier Changes in Valorant Patch 13.04: Stage V26A5

A structural change is also headed Premier's way this patch. Stage V26A5 will last five weeks of matches rather than the usual seven that players are accustomed to — a squeeze that leaves less breathing room. Hit a Premier Score of 450 or higher by September 20 and your team qualifies directly for Playoffs. Contender and Invite divisions, however, still qualify based on final standings instead of score thresholds. So squads grinding Premier this act should track their score closely, since a slow start is harder to recover from on a compressed schedule.

How Valorant Patch 13.04 Changes Abyss: Best Agents by Role

Patch 13.04 doesn't touch agents directly, so anything that shifts in your matches comes down to the Abyss and Breeze swap. Several patches have come and gone since Abyss was last part of the competitive pool, and plenty of agent adjustments landed in the meantime. That means the habits you built during your last run on the map may no longer hold up.

For teams that favor a slow, controlled style over aggressive entries, running two sentinels at once — Chamber alongside Sage — is a defensive setup that genuinely works. Reyna, meanwhile, struggles here. The site spaces are simply too open and too big for a solo duelist to find consistent value, so she's better suited to a flex secondary role.

Matches on Abyss will likely feel rougher for the first week or two while everyone relearns rotation timings, jump spots, and drop points. Whenever a map comes back after a long absence, unfamiliar verticality tends to cause accidental deaths, so take your early games slower than usual.

Conclusion

Patch 13.04 reads as a low-key update on paper, yet the map swap by itself is enough to redraw the competitive landscape. Abyss makes its return with verticality intact and teamwork rewarded, while Breeze exits both ranked and casual queues for the time being. Nagging agent bugs finally get cleaned up — welcome news for Clove players especially — and the Aeris Collection hands collectors a fresh premium pick to think about. Anyone grinding Premier should also watch the shortened Stage V26A5 schedule closely. Riot kept this patch lean with Champions Shanghai approaching, but for Valorant players, the Abyss comeback is what defines Act 5's opening weeks. Get your Abyss rotations dialed in early, and you'll sit a step ahead of the rest of the ranked pool.