Is the Bucky the most overpowered gun in the Valorant?

Nicholas James Published 12/02/2021

With running and gunning nerfed into the ground, the next overpowered gun strategy that may need to be addressed is the Bucky.

Shotguns in Valorant are currently very strong and viable, with the Bucky being the most overpowered of the bunch. Thanks to its alternative slug fire on the right-click, the gun becomes oppressive at medium to long-range and can outduel rifles. The gun is also increasingly popular in casual and professional games on certain maps like Split that have a lot of enclosed areas where shotguns can thrive.

Exhibit A pic.twitter.com/15pmIYydku
— TSM drone (@Dronecsgo) February 8, 2021

How powerful is the Bucky?

The Bucky can kill enemies instantly at short to medium range as long as all of the pellets from either a left or right-click. The gun is also the cheapest primary gun in the game, costing only 900 credits.

This means that players can have a one-shot kill gun in any round, outside of the first, that can beat rifles in duels at some ranges. This allows the gun to be powerful in many different scenarios, from eco and save rounds to half-buy and full-buy rounds. The Bucky also has a low fire rate of 1.1 seconds but can reload after shooting without increasing its fire rate, ultimately creating a shotgun with a 15 bullet magazine.

The gun has also crept into professional play. Some teams have been running shotguns regularly, like certain Korean teams that forego SMG’s on early rounds and invest in the Bucky early. There are also teams like Fnatic who have had their entire team buy Buckys on certain maps and have found success with the strategy.

Will the Bucky be nerfed in Valorant?

According to one Riot employee, the gun will be looked at with no commitment to changes in the future. With the patch cycle of Valorant, it may only be a month before investigating the issue becomes fixing it.

those look frustrating for sure, i’ve be investigating the bucky soon but don’t have anything concrete to share for a bit.
— Nicholas Wu Smith (@Nickwusmith) February 9, 2021

While the call for a nerf has been loud, the gun is not as omnipresent and oppressive as other historically overpowered weapons have been. The gun may need some fine-tuning in terms of damage, or cost, but at least the developers are aware that changes may need to be made.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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