Top Valorant Agents for new players: A beginner’s guide

If you’re just starting out in Valorant and are unsure which Agent to choose, you’re not alone. Valorant offers a wide variety of characters, each with unique abilities that can feel overwhelming for newcomers. However, certain Agents are much easier to pick up and play, making them ideal for new players. This guide will help you identify the best Agents for first-time players, helping you contribute effectively to your team without getting slowed down by complex mechanics.

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Best Duelist for new players: Phoenix

Among the Duelists, Phoenix is the stand-out agent for new players. His abilities are straightforward and versatile, allowing new players to easily engage with opponents and survive tricky situations. Phoenix’s Curveball is one of the simplest flash abilities to use, allowing you to blind enemies around corners without needing precise aim. His Blaze wall, a wall of fire, can block enemy vision while dealing damage to anyone who passes through it.

One of Phoenix’s biggest advantages for new players is his self-healing ability. His Hot Hands ability not only damages enemies but can also heal him if used wisely. Additionally, Phoenix’s ultimate ability, Run It Back, gives you a chance to aggressively push enemies without worrying about dying, as you’ll respawn after the effect ends.

Best Controller for new players: Brimstone

Brimstone is one of the easiest Controllers for new players to master. His primary role is to help block enemy vision with smokes, and his abilities make this task very accessible. Sky Smoke allows you to deploy up to three smoke grenades at once using a simple map interface, making it easy to control key areas.

Additionally, Brimstone’s Stim Beacon is a useful ability that increases the speed and firing rate of teammates within its range. His Incendiary grenade can also be used as a Molotov, to deny entry to certain areas by damaging enemies on contact. Finally, his ultimate, Orbital Strike, deals heavy damage over a wide area, making it a deadly tool for clearing objectives.

Best Sentinel for new players: Sage

Sage is the go-to Agent for new players looking to play a supportive role. Her abilities focus on healing and crowd control, which are crucial in any team composition. Her Healing Orb can restore health to both herself and teammates, and Barrier Orb creates a wall that can block enemy movement and vision.

Sage’s Slow Orbs are also incredibly beginner-friendly, creating zones that slow enemies and make them easier to track. Lastly, Sage’s Resurrection ultimate allows her to bring back a fallen teammate, making her invaluable in critical situations.

Best Initiator for new players: KAY/O

KAY/O is an excellent Initiator for beginners because of his simple yet effective abilities. His FLASH/drive is an easy-to-use flash grenade that blinds enemies. The flash is a easy enough transition for FPS players who are used to Call of Duty or Couter-Strike flashes. His ZERO/point is a throwable knife that suppresses enemy abilities within a certain range, when it collides with a surface.

Additionally, KAY/O’s FRAG/ment grenade can deal significant damage with minimal effort, since it is used a short term Molotov. His ultimate, NULL/cmd, suppresses enemy abilities in a large radius and increases fire rate. If you are fragged down while in his ultimate, you gain the increased HP and the ability to be revived by a teammate. This, in turn, makes it easy to disrupt opponents and control the battlefield.

Hopefully, utilizing these agents can grant easier and simpler matches for new players. As always, the beginner agents may seem simple enough to start playing, but each agent’s skill ceiling is being raised each day. Some beginner agents are even used in professional plays because of their high skill-ceiling. As you climb the ranks, some agents become less viable in a general setting, and adapting to the meta, or mastering a certain agent will always be the better option for the long run. Keep your eyes on the patch notes to make sure your main agents are not buffed or nerfed without your knowledge. Lastly, keeping up to date with the Valorant patch notes ensures a smooth and streamlined matches. Good luck Radiants!