VALORANT Patch 4.05 is significantly reducing the power of Brimstone’s Stim Beacon, lowering the amount of the ability and increasing its cost. 

Patch 4.04 changed multiple agents, shaking up the Controller meta and allowing other agents to appear more in competitive and professional matches. Brimstone finally became a viable option as the update buffed his Sky Smoke and Stim Beacon. The Stim Beacon now provides a speed boost alongside the Rapid Buff, significantly improving its benefits. 

While many fans were excited about the update, Riot Games has slightly nerfed the Stim Beacon in Patch 4.05. The Stim Beacon now has one charge instead of two, and the cost increased from 100 to 200. This will force players to use the Stim Beacon sparingly while not nerfing the ability into the ground. 

Patch 4.05 also introduces other changes like crosshair codes. Players can now generate crosshair codes to share with friends or other players, allowing them to use a desired crosshair with ease. You can copy and paste the code directly into the settings, recreating the crosshair in-game instantly. 

The new Controller meta is a breath of fresh air as several agents are viable choices on different maps. This is more entertaining than the Astra/Viper meta, where only two agents were viable on almost every map. Hopefully, the Brimstone nerf will not affect his pick rate drastically, and we’ll still see him in professional matches.