Valorant Patch Notes 13.06 Release Date: Warden Rifle, Gauntlet Mode, and Agent Mastery

Barring any last-second technical delays, the Valorant patch notes 13.06 release date lands on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.

Riot is sticking to its traditional Tuesday rollout routine, meaning regional servers will go offline sequentially for maintenance:

• North America (NA / LATAM / BR): Downtime begins around 06:00 PT (09:00 ET) and usually wraps up near 10:00 PT.
• Europe (EMEA): Maintenance kicks off in the early hours of Wednesday, September 23, around 04:00 BST / 05:00 CEST.
• Asia-Pacific (APAC) & Korea: Servers go dark on the morning of September 23, spanning roughly 14:00 to 18:00 KST/JST.

As always, ranked queues lock 90 minutes before downtime starts. Don’t try squeezing in that “one last match” to hit your rank-up game at 05:45 PT, or you risk getting booted mid-defuse.

Meet the Warden: Can Anything Really Unseat the Vandal?

The undisputed headliner of 13.06 is the Warden Rifle, a brand-new primary weapon priced right at 2,900 Creds.

For years, full-buy rounds have boiled down to a binary choice: Phantom for close-range sprays through smoke, or Vandal for the iconic one-tap tap-firing. The Warden attempts to carve out its own identity for players who want sniper-level precision without burning eco on an Outlaw or an Op.

How It Handles:

• The Good: Zero damage falloff. A clean headshot deals a flat 200 damage, and body shots hit for 50, regardless of whether you’re five meters away or staring down Breeze’s A-Long. It also comes standard with an integrated 2x magnified optic on ADS.
• The Catch: You only get 18 rounds in the mag, and the cyclic rate of fire is noticeably sluggish.

If you have crisp, deliberate crosshair placement, the Warden feels like a laser. But if you panic-spray the moment a Neon slides around the corner, you’re going straight to the spectator camera. It won’t instantly replace the Vandal for everyone, but anchor players holding deep sightlines on Haven and Ascent are going to have a field day.

Gauntlet: Glitched – Riot Leans Into Pure Chaos

If you need a break from the sweaty, comms-heavy stress of standard Competitive, Patch 13.06 brings an experimental 2v2 mode called Gauntlet: Glitched.

Instead of a standard 5v5 setup, eight pairs of players (16 total) enter a fast-paced round-robin bracket. The twist? You don’t pick your standard agents. Everyone spawns as modular “Robo-Agents” handed a random assortment of abilities.

As your duo stacks round wins and frags, you earn upgrade currency to buff abilities and tack perks onto your weapons between bouts. It’s fast, completely unhinged, and the closest thing Valorant has seen to an actual arcade brawler.

Goodbye Agent Gear, Hello Agent Mastery

The old contract-based Agent Gear system has felt outdated for years. Once you unlocked an agent’s pistol skin and spray, there was zero reason to ever look at their progression tab again.

Patch 13.06 scraps that system entirely in favor of Agent Mastery, splitting progression into two tracks:

• Act Levels (Seasonal): A seasonal ladder where you earn Mastery Points just by playing your favorite picks. Climbing tiers unlocks temporary portrait upgrades and flashy border accents that show up in the Agent Select screen. When the Act resets, your Act level wipes, meaning that shiny border actually proves you’re in active form, not just coasting on hours logged two years ago.
• Lifetime Levels (Permanent): The grind for dedicated one-tricks. This track never resets and hands out unique sprays, voice lines, agent cards, and Agent IDs—modular banner profiles that let you display your top stats, signature badges, and custom stances.

If you have 600 hours on Omen, your profile will finally look the part.

Quality-of-Life: Finally, Range While Queuing

The patch also slips in several overdue quality-of-life adjustments that players have begged for since beta:

• Shooting Range in Queue: You can finally shoot bots in the Practice Range while waiting for high-Elo or late-night queues to pop. No more staring blankly at the main menu timer for eight minutes.
• Menu Redesign: The home UI gets a cleaner footprint, pulling your party voice, store tabs, and patch notes into an easier-to-reach layout.
• Console Rollout: Players on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 in Australia and New Zealand get official server support with this patch.
• Competitive Flex Preview: Career profiles now feature a dedicated hub for milestones ahead of Riot’s wider year-long competitive challenges.

Patch 13.06 Quick Reference

Between learning the recoil reset on the Warden and flexing your agent hours on the new Mastery boards, there is plenty to dig into once the servers come back up on September 22. Make sure your Riot Client is updated early so you aren’t stuck patching while your duo is already testing the new rifle in the Range.

Frequently Asked Questions: Valorant Patch 13.06

What time does Valorant patch 13.06 go live in North America?

Maintenance begins at roughly 06:00 PT (09:00 ET) on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. The servers are expected to come back online by 10:00 PT, at which point the patch will be live for NA, LATAM, and Brazil servers. Competitive matchmaking queues close 90 minutes prior to maintenance to prevent mid-match disconnections.

How much does the Warden rifle cost in Valorant patch 13.06?

The Warden rifle costs 2,900 Credits in the in-game buy menu, placing it in the exact same price bracket as the Phantom and Vandal. It features a flat 200-damage headshot profile across all ranges, zero damage falloff, an integrated 2x ADS optic, and an 18-round magazine.

What happens to old agent contract gear in Valorant 13.06?

The legacy Agent Gear contracts are completely retired in Patch 13.06. All cosmetic items, pistol skins, and titles you previously unlocked through contracts are permanently retained in your collection, while future agent-specific cosmetic unlocks now route through the new two-tier Agent Mastery framework.

How does the new Agent Mastery progression system work in Valorant?

Agent Mastery divides agent progression into two distinct tracks:

• Act Levels (Seasonal): A recurring ladder fueled by Mastery Points that grants dynamic Agent Select borders and portrait flair. This track resets at the start of every new Act.
• Lifetime Levels (Permanent): A permanent progression track that never resets, rewarding players with exclusive sprays, agent voice lines, custom stance poses, and customizable Agent ID player cards.

How do you play Gauntlet Glitched mode in Valorant?

Gauntlet: Glitched is an arcade tournament mode accessible via the main Play menu. Eight two-player duos (16 players total) compete in a fast-paced round-robin bracket. Players use modular “Robo-Agents” equipped with randomized ability kits and spend currency earned from kills and round wins to buy dynamic perk and ability upgrades between bouts.

Can you enter the practice range while waiting in queue in Valorant patch 13.06?

Yes. Patch 13.06 introduces background matchmaking support for the Practice Range. You can queue up for Competitive, Unrated, or Arcade game modes and load directly into the Shooting Range to warm up against bots until a match is found.

When will Valorant console launch in Australia and New Zealand?

Official console matchmaking servers for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S will go live in Australia and New Zealand alongside the regional rollout of Patch 13.06 on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.

Why is competitive queue disabled before Valorant patch 13.06 maintenance?

Riot Games disables ranked queues roughly 90 minutes before scheduled server downtime to prevent players from losing Rank Rating (RR) or receiving AFK penalties due to sudden server disconnections while a competitive match is in progress. Casual modes remain open until servers officially go dark.