Valorant’s New Hindering Debuff Explained

With the release of Season 2025 Act 2 on March 5, 2025, Riot Games is not only introducing a new agent but a brand-new and powerful debuff as well in Valorant. Since the start of the Valorant beta, we have only had 14 different debuffs that include negative and positive impacts. However, with Waylay, for the first time ever, we are getting a new debuff in Valorant. Keep reading as we explain Valorant’s new Hindering debuff in detail in this guide.

What is Hindering in Valorant?

Hindering is a negative debuff that the new Valorant agent, Waylay, can apply on enemies with her abilities. Once the Hindering effect is applied, the players will have multiple negative status effects. This is similar to how Concuss works in Valorant. Here is a list of all slow status effects Hindering debuff applies to the player in Valorant:

• Fire Rate
• Recoil Recovery
• Equip Time
• Reload Speed
• Movement Speed
• Jump Speed

Once an ability with the Hindering debuff hits an enemy, all the statuses above will be slowed for them. This means, players will have slower firepower and equip speed while having a movement restriction similar to that of the Concuss effect.

There are a lot of agents who can apply Concuss, including underrated Valorant agents like Breach. Currently, Hindering can only be applied using Waylay’s abilities and ultimate in Valorant.

June Cuervo, the Game Designer at Riot Games says, “Waylay is the tip of the spear for your team.” And this new debuff contributes hugely to that as Waylay can slow down enemies when she forces her way through the enemy lines with her movement abilities. Now, that begs the question –

Can Hindering Debuff Change the Valorant Meta?

Well, if you are wondering whether hindering can replace other debuffs in Valorant, no it cannot. However, if you look at the negative status effects that Hindering applies, you will understand how strong it can be with a duelist or initiator agent. So, I won’t be surprised if I see more agents in the future with abilities that can apply the Hindering debuff.

While it is a powerful debuff to shut down enemies in corners and chokepoints in larger Valorant maps, Hindering has lesser usefulness. The key point behind having this debuff is spearheading enemies at once. It can also be a great counter for Jett or Raze. Thanks to its ability to lower jump speed, Hindering is a great duelist counterdebuff.

And that is how Hindering debuff works in Valorant. Still have doubts about the new debuff effect introduced with Waylay in Valorant? Post your questions in the comments below, and we will try to answer them right away.