Valorant
Valorant
Valorant patch 2004 removes Vandal, allows Wingman to shoot
Fariha Bhatti
Wingman will now be able to use weapons in Valorant, but only for the month of April. Valorant is getting refreshing changes in patch 2004. Everything players have been asking for is now coming true as Riot hands a weapon to Wingman so he can do a crime. The new jaw-dropping changes will likely remain functional for the month of April only, so go ahead, pick Gekko, and have a …
Valorant
Valorant map Bind undergoes major changes for its return
Fariha Bhatti
Bind is returning to Valorant soon, but Riot has made some major changes that players would like. When each map in Valorant goes out of rotation, it typically ends up in the workshop for some much-needed tweaks. Bind has spent almost two months in the workshop, and it shows. The new-look Bind has small but significant changes that would shift how this map is played in Valorant. Riot has announced …
Valorant
Leaks point to a new daily reward system in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games is boosting the incentive for playing casual game modes in Valorant by introducing a daily reward system. Valorant’s most-played game mode is ranked, but not everyone has the time to commit to a 30-minute-long session. So, busy players often play Spike Rush, Swiftplay, Escalation, and other game modes to kill time. Unfortunately, the incentive for playing these games is pretty low. For this reason, many dedicated Valorant players …
Valorant
Here’s the next Valorant Night Market release date
Nicholas James
The next Valorant Night Marker is arriving very soon, so grab your lucky rabbit’s foot and hope you can snag exactly the skins you want at a discount. The next Valorant Night Market is rumored to be arriving early next month, so fans can look forwards to spinning the wheel for their most-desired skins. The arrival of a new Night Market is always a highly-anticipated event since it allows fans …
Valorant
Counter-Strike 2 just gave Valorant players an idea for next agent
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike 2 hype is also getting to Valorant, as players come up with an agent idea inspired by Source 2 smokes. Counter-Strike 2 has new smokes that react with the environment and let bullets pass through. If you’re committed to exploiting the new feature, you can even defuse the smoke entirely for a few seconds using HE or Negev. While this game-changing feature sounds exceedingly annoying, it also encourages gunplay. …
Valorant
Is it possible to dodge Gekko’s flash in Valorant?
Fariha Bhatti
Gekko’s flash, also known as Dizzy, is unforgivable if you’re hit with it. But is it possible to dodge it? Gekko is equipped with Moshpit, Wingman, and Dizzy. These three friends are incredibly powerful, but Dizzy stands out for its unique flashing mechanics. The blue paintball doesn’t excuse any enemy — if it sees you, it flashes you. Typically, flashes are avoidable in Valorant. They can be dodged by looking …
Valorant
Gekko is already an S-tier Valorant agent
Fariha Bhatti
Gekko hasn’t even completed a full month in the Valorant roster, and he’s already dominating the pick rate chart. Valorant agent 22 had wagged many tongues upon his arrival. A Wingman who can defuse the Spike? Unacceptable. But, his ultimate and flash were less viable, so players let go of the cute sidekick. The downsides to his abilities were plenty, which made up for the overpowered Wingman. However, two weeks …
Valorant
TenZ’s life-size Valorant Reaver Operator is incredible
Fariha Bhatti
Could you imagine having your very own real-life Reaver Operator? Well, TenZ does, thanks to an incredibly talented fan. Valorant fans are creative; that’s no secret. They are always busy whipping a pistol skin out of scrap, creating a functioning turret, or sometimes a fully-fledged 3D Killjoy statue. Riot’s response to their artwork and effort is one reason that motivates them to make better art. The fist bump gun buddy, …
Angle Snapping can help you aim better in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
It’s possible to achieve the perfect aim in Valorant despite accidental wrong movements and errors. Angle snapping can help pop heads! Valorant is all about aiming and accuracy. No matter you good you are at the utility, you need a crisp aim to win high-stake duels at the end of the day. Old-time players eventually build muscle memory to find heads, but new players may struggle. Even some regular players …
How to convert your sensitivity between CSGO and Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant is a unique game, but it has a lot in common with Valve’s own FPS Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Both games have similar core gameplay, which is great because now you can convert your CSGO sensitivity to Valorant. Valorant and CSGO have a lot in common, but both shooters are unique in their own way. While CSGO players may have difficulty adjusting to Valorant’s agent abilities, most FPS skills easily …
Is Riot nerfing Valorant agent Killjoy?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games might be considering a nerf for Valorant’s techie Killjoy. Gekko’s arrival to Valorant has completely transformed the meta. From Wingman planting the Spike to an intel-gathering flash, Valorant has changed a lot. Now, the developer is considering more tweaks for established agents to balance out the roster. Killjoy is one of the most balanced Valorant agents in the current meta, but Riot is still exploring more modifications. According …
Valorant mobile leaked PBE files hint at imminent release
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games hasn’t forgotten about Valorant mobile. Leakers claim the release date is soon! The rumors of Valorant mobile have been swirling since 2021. Besides confirmation of its existence from Riot Games and a few screenshots, nothing more is known about the mobile counterpart. In the past few months, even leaks had slowed down, leading players to assume that Riot has likely put it on the back burner or, worse, …
Shroud says CSGO is “four times harder” than Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is known as the king of FPS, and he thinks CSGO is the superior game when it comes to mechanics. Valorant’s release in 2020 saw hundreds of players bid farewell to CSGO. shroud and Tarik “tarik” Celik were the most notable streamers to switch games due to their storied legacy in CSGO. Both former top professional players had started streaming Valorant, with shroud briefly dabbling …
Sentinels planning to bail SicK out of jail, reports say
Olivia Richman
Valorant
Sentinels may be trying to bail Hunter “SicK” Mims out of jail. SicK, a substitute Valorant player for Sentinels, was arrested earlier this month and charged with trespassing after a hostile altercation at a Ferrari car dealership. The bail was set at $5,000. Leading up to this incident, SicK had been dealing with some mental health issues. These struggles are what led him to leave the Sentinel’s main Valorant roster …
How to plant the Spike with Gekko without dying
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Gekko is your latest initiator in Valorant — and he’s too good. Why? Besides instant death, Gekko can also plant the Spike. Valorant agent 22 Gekko is overpowered, which has been established during the short time of his release. Moshpit delivers instant death, his Dizzy is undodgeable, and his ultimate is a Skye-Killjoy combination. Besides, Gekko can plant the Spike without stepping into the line of fire. Wingman is just …
Kyedae responds to cancer hate after winning Best Valorant Streamer award
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
QTCinderella’s streamer awards were a success, but they were not without controversy. Kyedae “Kyedae” Shymko won Best Valorant Streamer, but some in the community aren’t happy with the results. On March 11, about 300 streamers gathered at Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles for the annual Streamer Awards hosted by QTCinderella. The event saw 381,000 concurrent viewers watch their favorite entertainers live. From fun banter and brutal roasts to heartwarming speeches, the …
xQc reportedly close to signing Valorant team Turtle Troop
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Twitch’s top streamer Félix “xQc” Lengyel is eyeing Valorant as his next venture, as reports of Turtle Troops joining the “juicer squad” pick up steam. xQc is purely a variety streamer. He’s created a massive fanbase that continues to grow in 2023. But, following in the footsteps of fellow streamers, xQc could be the next streamer to buy a Valorant team. However, it doesn’t come off as surprising, considering xQc’s …
Complete guide to playing Gekko, Valorant’s OP agent
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant’s sixth initiator Gekko is easy to learn, but smart players can execute incredible tricks out of his simple toolkit. Here’s how to play Gekko in Valorant to easily win your games! Valorant agent 22 Gekko is equipped with a flash, stun, and molotov. His ultimate is a mix of Skye’s Seekers and Killjoy’s Lockdown, making him a robust jack of all trades. Some may even say that Gekko needs a …
Valorant players think new agent Gekko needs a nerf
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant agent 22 Gekko has officially been unveiled, and streamers are enjoying him. But the community thinks he’s breaking the game. Valorant agent 22 Gekko hasn’t even officially arrived and he’s already causing a debate. Clips of Gekko pulling off ridiculous stunts are going viral, and players are theorizing all scenarios where his Wingman could basically kill Valorant. Counterarguments to Gekko being too OP are many, but most think he …
Valorant patch 6.04 fixes bugs and introduces Gekko
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant patch 6.04 is here, bringing Gekko, Oni 2.0, rank reset, and bug fixes. Time is flying for Valorant players. We just got Harbor, and Riot is already rolling out the sixth initiator, Gekko. Patch 6.04 marks the entrance of agent 22 Gekko, along with minor bug fixes. Players should look forward to a drastic meta-shift because Gekko seems like trouble. Valorant agent 22 is officially stepping into his initiator …
Riot Games has long looked to expand its footprint beyond the success of popular MOBA League of Legends, and one of its biggest successes to date in this regard is the tactical shooter, Valorant. Blending traditional first-person shooter elements with unique and flashy hero abilities, Valorant seeks to combine the best attributes of tactical shooters and hero shooters into one cohesive experience.
Based on player feedback, the game has largely succeeded in accomplishing those aims. It’s not an easy balance, and it’s one that is arguably still tenuous, but Riot Games seems to be doing as good a job of it as most fans have hoped for.
What type of game is Valorant?
Valorant is a first-person shooter that represents a unique blend of the tactical shooter and hero shooter subgenres. There are some games that represent similar gameplay elements, but not many that offer the exact experience that Valorant puts forward to players.
The tactical shooter genre is often considered to have been defined by the release of the original Counter-Strike, a multiplayer mod for famed single-player PC title Half-Life that later became a standalone game of its own. While most multiplayer FPS games to that point emphasized prolonged battles between opposing players zipping around the game at high speeds, Counter-Strike slowed things down significantly and made players much more susceptible to each other’s firepower, requiring players to take a more tactical approach to play.
That slower and more tactical approach, combined with the lightning-quick nature of action when it does occur, proved reliably popular. That popularity can still be seen today with the ongoing success enjoyed by the Counter-Strike franchise, and it’s this gameplay type that represents the core of Valorant. It’s no accident that former Counter-Strike developers were drafted by Riot Games to help create Valorant during the game’s formative stages.
What differentiates Valorant from CS and other tactical shooters it that each of the game’s characters, called agents, wield a number of unique abilities. Some are typical for tactical shooters, like flashbangs and smokes, while others are wildly different, such as an ability that transports two players to an isolated dueling arena for its duration.
These agent abilities are more reminiscent of hero shooters, a subgenre that arguably got its start with the Team Fortress games but has best been popularized by Blizzard title Overwatch. The abilities, combind with the tactical considerations that are at the core of Valorant, separate it from most any other FPS experience available for play.
How does Valorant esports work?
Like many other popular competitive shooters, Valorant does have a thriving esports scene. That scene is differentiated by the way it’s run and controlled by developer and publisher Riot Games. Riot uses a model based on the success of its League of Legends esports scene, which sees the globe’s competitive players and team’s separated by region. These regions play out their own competitions in their sections of the world before coming together at regular intervals for international tournaments featuring the best teams from each individual region.
While League of Legends once boasted a variety of regions and regional types, Riot sought to simplify that model when setting up esports for Valorant. The game has only a handful of major regions, and these regions are held as largely equitable, each sending their best teams to international events leading up to the year-end VALORANT Champions event.
