VALORANT Act 4: The New Map Summit, Retake Mode, and Patch 13.00

VALORANT Act 4: The New Map Summit, Retake Mode, and Patch 13.00

On June 23, 2026, Riot shipped Patch 13.00 and kicked off Season 2026 Act 4, one of the biggest content drops VALORANT has had in a while. It headlines with Summit, the game's thirteenth standard map, adds a new 3v3 Retake mode, reshuffles the competitive map pool, rolls out a broad agent balance pass, and drops the premium Blackspyre skin collection. There is no new agent this act, which puts the spotlight squarely on the map and the meta.

This is a news explainer: what actually launched, how Summit's signature mechanic works, what changed in the map pool and the agent roster, and where the season goes next. (A note on the date: Riot's official patch is dated June 23; some regions and early coverage cited June 24 because of rollout timing.)

What's new in Act 4?

Summit: VALORANT's 13th map

Summit is set at the Yue Yuan Men Radiant Training Academy in Zhangjiajie, China, the mountain academy where Sage trained before she joined the Valorant Protocol. It is a standard three-lane layout with two sites, A and B, and it is the thirteenth map in the competitive pool.

The signature mechanic is a set of three droppable walls, one near A, one at Mid, and one near B. Each wall is tied to a 125 HP switch that defenders can access. When the switch is destroyed, the wall descends and then crashes down, destroying any utility and killing any agent caught underneath it. Once a wall is down, it stays closed for the rest of the round, permanently cutting that sightline or rotation. Small gaps at the top still allow ability throws and limited peeks, so a dropped wall reshapes a lane without fully sealing it. Summit also adds a rope ascender from B Gym up to B Tower and a silent-drop lane from B Tower down to B Drop, giving attackers off-angle and flank options on B.

How the map pool and ranked changed

Act 4 reshuffled the competitive rotation. Two maps came in and two went out:

Riot also softened the learning curve for ranked. For the first two weeks, RR losses on Summit are cut by 50% while wins still award full RR, and there is a dedicated Summit-only queue in the Swiftplay format for seven days after launch.

Retake: the new 3v3 mode

Retake is a compact post-plant mode built around a single scenario. A few seconds into each round the Spike auto-plants at a visible location, dropping both teams straight into a 3v3 fight over it. Sides swap every round: one team defends the plant while the other pushes in to defuse. There is no economy to manage. Instead of buying, you pick from two cards each round that set your loadout, so every round is about the fight rather than the save. The first team to five rounds wins. It is a quick, high-tempo way to drill retakes and clutches without the structure of a full match.

Patch 13.00: the meta shifts

With no new agent this act, the balance pass is the story. Sentinels got a broad round of buffs:

On the other side of the map, five initiators had their signature ability cooldowns cut from 60 to 50 seconds: Sova, Fade, Skye, Breach, and KAY/O. Gekko's buddy reclaim cooldown also dropped from 20 to 15 seconds. Omen got a change too, though it is an audio-clarity update to Shrouded Step rather than a numeric nerf, making his teleport easier to hear and counter.

There is no new agent in Act 4. The most recent addition remains Miks, a Controller released back in March 2026 as the game's 30th agent, so the current roster is unchanged going into this update.

More in Patch 13.00: ranked, matchmaking, and the Inbox

Beyond the map and the agent pass, Act 4 shipped a batch of systems changes worth knowing:

• A new Inbox in the client gathers curated, non-urgent notifications in one place, tracking things like gifts, Premier updates, RR refunds, report feedback, and Act intros.
• Ranked Rating tuning: Riot adjusted how RR is calculated so a climb feels less like you are stuck in place.
• Tighter matchmaking: on PC, competitive matches now aim to keep the average rank of the two teams within a single sub-tier of each other.
• Premier Stage V26A4 kicks off, with matches starting July 1 and playoffs on August 15 and 16. You need a Premier Score of 600 or higher to qualify.
• Weapon tuning: the Bandit was adjusted with faster recovery (0.45 to 0.4 seconds), better tap efficiency (3 to 4), and reduced pitch recoil (4 to 3).

The Blackspyre collection

The premium cosmetic drop for Act 4 is Blackspyre, a dark, gothic-industrial "void" set priced at 8,700 VP. It covers the Phantom, Sheriff, Spectre, and Ares, plus a melee called "The Divide." A new battlepass launches alongside it.

For collectors, a fresh flagship bundle is the kind of cosmetic that feeds into how a loaded account is valued down the line.

Where Summit debuted: Masters London

Summit got its first public showing at VALORANT Masters London 2026, revealed through an all-star showmatch ahead of the patch. The event itself delivered a landmark result: on June 21, 2026, Leviatan beat Paper Rex 3-2 in the grand final to win the organization's first-ever trophy, ending Pacific's four-event Masters streak. Eighteen-year-old Neon (Bruno Rodriguez) took MVP, and the final peaked above one million concurrent viewers, the most-watched Masters of the year.

What's next for VALORANT?

The next major beat on the calendar is Champions 2026 in Shanghai, reported for late September into October, which would be China's first time hosting the event. Beyond that, expect the usual mid-act patches to tune Summit as pros and ranked players learn the walls. Riot separately announced Vanguard On-Demand on June 24, an optional, hardware-gated change that lets the anti-cheat launch only when a Riot game is open rather than at system boot.

What it means for players

For competitive players, Act 4 is a reset worth logging in for: a brand-new map to learn, a friendlier ranked window to learn it in, a rotation swap, and a meta that leans toward sentinels and faster initiator tempo. For collectors, the Blackspyre bundle is the headline cosmetic. And with the map pool and ranked systems shifting at once, this is one of those moments where rank and account value move together.

FAQ

When did VALORANT Act 4 release?

Patch 13.00 and Season 2026 Act 4 went live on June 23, 2026, per Riot's official patch notes. Some regions and early coverage cited June 24 because of rollout timing, but June 23 is the official date.

What is the new map Summit?

Summit is VALORANT's thirteenth map, set at Sage's former Radiant training academy in Zhangjiajie, China. It has two sites and three droppable walls, each tied to a 125 HP switch, that can permanently cut a sightline or rotation for the round and crush any utility or agents beneath them when they fall.

What is Retake mode?

Retake is a new 3v3 post-plant mode. The Spike auto-plants each round, there is no economy (you pick from two cards), and the first team to five rounds wins.

Is there a new agent in Act 4?

No. Act 4 did not add an agent. The most recent agent is Miks, a Controller released in March 2026.

How much is the Blackspyre bundle?

The Blackspyre collection is priced at 8,700 VP and includes the Phantom, Sheriff, Spectre, Ares, and the melee "The Divide," alongside a new battlepass.

Which maps changed in the rotation?

Summit and Sunset rotated into the competitive pool, while Fracture and Pearl rotated out.

What else changed in Patch 13.00?

Beyond Summit and the mode, Patch 13.00 buffed sentinels and cut initiator signature cooldowns from 60 to 50 seconds, added a new client Inbox for non-urgent notifications, tuned Ranked Rating so climbing feels less sticky, tightened PC matchmaking to keep team ranks closer, kicked off Premier Stage V26A4 (matches from July 1, playoffs August 15 to 16), and tuned the Bandit rifle.

Who won VALORANT Masters London 2026?

Leviatan won, beating Paper Rex 3-2 in the June 21 grand final for the organization's first Masters title. Neon was named MVP.