Hi guys! First off, I don't mean to hate on the skins! I love the creativity so far and hope they continue putting out fun sets :)

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As the title reads, the goal of the post is to show that there may be a legitimate case for the option to disable VFX/upgrades on certain guns. I am using the BlastX Odin as an example but feel free to include other skins/VFX combos that you think pose a similar problem.

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As a frequent (no-skill) Odin-user, I am big on wallbangs and the impact they can have on a match. With the Standard Odin, there is both an audio and visual component to let the player know whether they are penetrating or ricocheting. Dark holes appear when penetrating where ricochets cause light dents accompanied by a cartoonish ricochet sound. See below video.

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Standard Odin Skin

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For the upgraded BlastX Odin, the player only has the visual component to signal a successful wallbang. Dark holes appear like normal for a wallbang and darts appear for ricochets. Forgetting that a dark hole and dark dart provides less of a contrast than a dark hole and light dent, there is no audio change! This makes wallbanging from a distance (think Ascent Backsite B to B Main) more difficult. See below video.

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Upgraded BlastX Skin

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The problem is that to unlock variants for a skin, the weapon must be fully upgraded. Once fully upgraded, the player has no ability to disable VFX or other upgrade components.

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Valorant, despite all the memeing we do, is a competitive shooter. We all play the game for fun; part of that fun is skins and the atmosphere they create but a bigger part is playing challenging matches. In those high-stress, memorable matches we use every one-off footstep and exposed elbow we can get to earn a competitive edge. In the heat of the game, the little things matter. We should expect the ability to keep a competitive edge, or maybe just level playing field, when we purchase skin sets.

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Again, no hate on this one. I've been really impressed with the quality of updates and great dev communication over the past year. I'm hoping this serves as just some food for thought for QOL changes and future skin designs.

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TLDR; Some skin upgrades provide the player with less information than the base skin. Variant skins are always amazing but require players to fully upgrade their weapon to unlock. An option to disable certain upgrades from weapons to allow players to fully enjoy skin sets while keeping their competitive edge should be considered.