Does the Valorant agent roster need a new healer after Skye?

Fariha Bhatti Published 29/03/2022

Valorant currently has only two healers. With teasers of the next agent 20 showing yet another aggressive agent, players can’t help but wonder if the roster could use another healer and reviver.

Valorant has four well-balanced agent categories. The class division assists in understanding roles better, which ultimately helps create balanced team compositions. A lot of the abilities in Valorant are quite similar, but healing powers remain scarce. Only a few agents are bestowed with self-heal, whereas only two can share their gifts.

Now that we’re in Valorant Episode 4 Act 2, it seems like the right time to ask whether the game needs a brand new medic.

Should the next Valorant agent be a healer?

Valorant doesn’t need a new healer despite player requests and time lag between the release of healer agents.

There are 18 agents in Valorant, and only Sage and Skye can share their powers with others. The lack of medics has caused the players to believe that Riot should consider rolling out another agent like Sage. However, there may be no need for a new healer. Here’s why.

Four out of 19 agents in Valorant are equipped with some form of healing. Where Reyna, Sage, and Phoenix can self-heal, Skye carries an ample medicinal tank capable of healing an entire team of five. Both Skye and Sage belong to different categories, allowing teams to have ability variation and a healer simultaneously. So, in practice, all agent compositions have some sort of healing at almost all times.

To add to this, Valorant players were working with only one healer till patch 1.1. Around 13 agents were getting medical attention from only Sage until Skye came around. So, two healers for 19 agents is undoubtedly more than enough in a five-versus-five format of FPS. Skye’s healing kit is more fruitful than Sage’s, so another medic isn’t required.

Apart from the agent count, excess medics don’t precisely sit well in a five-versus-five FPS game like Valorant. Tagging players and finishing them off later in the round is a massive part of any shooter game. Adding more healers would clash with this mechanic. All players getting tagged would receive instant heals, ultimately marring the FPS spirit.

While healers may not be added anytime soon, the game may receive another revive-like ability. Currently, only Sage can bring back the dead, and it may stay this way for a while. However, don’t be surprised if Riot adds a resurrection feature like Kay/O’s re-stabilization.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

View full profile