VALORANT players have discovered that Viper’s poison orb can stick to the buy phase barrier in a few spots on Pearl, allowing players to set up one-way smokes that are tough to counter.
The buy phase barrier prevents either team from entering crucial parts of the map before the round begins, creating a balanced and equal experience. The barriers are only meant to keep the players from entering the rest of the map, but a new bug is allowing Viper players to use the barriers to their advantage.
VALORANT player SkySincro uploaded a short clip that shows how Viper’s orb can stick to the buy phase barriers on Pearl in some locations. The orb sticks to the surface and stays suspended in the air after the barriers disappear, allowing players to create one-way smokes. The orbs stick in at least two different spots on the barriers, giving the defenders extra ways to stop the attacking team.
This is almost guaranteed to be patched soon since it impacts the game’s competitive integrity, especially at higher ranks. Viper players can easily create unfair one-way smokes with the exploit, making it tough to enter the area as an attacker. It’s unclear if the glitch occurs anywhere else on Pearl, but players should be aware of the issue until it’s addressed.
Pearl has only been available on the live servers for a couple of days, and issues like this will likely continue to appear throughout the next couple of weeks. But Riot Games usually quickly addresses any significant problems, like this barrier glitch.
