Phoenix mains were wondering why the fiery Agent stopped making his signature “jokes over, you’re dead” call-out after Valorant Patch 1.09.
He’s not alone, too. It also appears Sova stopped screaming “nowhere to run!”
Both Agents were found to have voice line bugs after the Patch 1.09 update. Fortunately, Riot assures its player base that the bugs are now fixed.
Voice comms
Hearing the voice lines of Agents when they use their ultimate abilities is crucial in every Valorant match, as they indicate what is happening across the map.
These lines allow your team to understand what’s happening during the match so you can brace yourself or formulate a counter strategy, for instance, when the enemy Raze pulls out a Showstopper.
After Valorant Patch 1.09, however, a couple of Agents had their ultimate voice lines removed— Sova and Phoenix. The voice line bug made the pair even more annoying to play against.
Without hearing their ultimate lines, players aren’t reassured if they’re totally safe. In particular, they won’t realize Sova is activating his ultimate until they see the big Hunter’s Fury charging their way.
The bug, of course, sparked player outrage. With Sova and Phoenix losing their audio cues, they were sneakier than they should have been. It proved disadvantageous to those playing against these Agents.
Some players took it to social media to rant their confusion over the said voice line bug:
“Is anyone else having audio problems with Phoenix and Sova when they ult? They don’t say “JOKES OVER YOU’RE DEAD!” or “I AM THE HUNTER!” 100% of the time now”
“GAMEBREAKING BUGS YOU CANNOT HEAR SOVA ULT PHOENIX ULT ”
“yeah I didn’t hear a Phoenix and Sova ult today”
Ninja, one of the biggest names in the gaming scene, also expressed his frustration about the matter:
“Valorant currently unplayable. nothing but DC’s in Ranked and Customs, not to mention cheaters in high elo matches constantly. Sova silent ULT glitch, Cypher ult breaks ur ear drums. Really hoping for some hot fixes ASAP”
Fast fix
Fortunately, Riot fixed the problem in just 24 hours after the release of Valorant Patch 1.09. The dev team have isolated the issue, and hopefully fixed the voice line bug for the two Agents involved.
Another issue they fixed is about the game crashing after the update.
If players alt-tabbed at the wrong time, or pressed tab as a new round loaded in, they would be immediately kicked from the game.
They may try to rejoin the match, but by the time they do so, their team would have often conceded a lot of rounds or the match already concluded in a defeat.
With the immediate hotfix, Riot is hoping that issue will no longer plague their player base.
“1.5 hours from now (@ 9pm PT), we’re shipping a patch for APAC + EU/CIS/TR regions to fix a bug with games occasionally freezing and (hopefully) a bug where Phoenix and Sova’s ultimate VO lines don’t play.
If we’re stable: Americas gets this patch at 11pm PT. Thanks everyone.”
Currently, the patch is live in all regions though it remains unclear if the hotfix is working as intended. There’s also no guarantee that the other Agents do not have sound cue issues, like in Sova and Phoenix.
