Valorant
Valorant
Valorant agent 22 teased as a chill initiator who likes Boba tea
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant just released Harbor, but the game is now ready for agent 22. The first teaser shows a chill guy in sneakers and skinny jeans. Valorant now has 21 agents scattered across four categories, but they are still not enough. Players want more, and Riot is delivering. In a new State of the Agents video, Valorant’s character producer John Goscicki dropped a teaser and hints about the upcoming agent. Agent …
Valorant
Valorant replay is now possible, but it’s not what you think
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant doesn’t have a replay, but Aimlab’s Run it Back is the closest to replay players have. Valorant is no longer a baby-esports. It has a gigantic circuit that spreads worldwide, filtering out the best from every region and country. But unfortunately, the in-game practice system is poor and unsuited for advanced esports. After almost three years of release, Valorant still doesn’t have a replay system, the most crucial pillar …
Valorant
Bugged Fracture door cost pro Valorant team a round in VCT LOCK//IN
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant bugs are many, but some are so deadly that they can impact the round outcome of high-stake games. This fracture door bug during VCT LOCK//IN shows no bug is too small. Fracture is no longer a new map in Valorant, so there’s no excuse for a game-breaking bug to exist still. During a VCT LOCK//IN game between LOUD and Gen.G, a weird bug occurred, misleading one of the players. …
Valorant
How to tweak Valorant crosshair settings in 2023
Fariha Bhatti
If you’re new to Valorant or FPS genre in general, you will find yourself whiffing all shots in the game. However, tweaking your crosshair to personal preference can make a huge difference. Check out our best crosshair settings in Valorant. In Valorant, crosshair can make or break the game. Now, you can always copy the crosshair codes of pro players, but in our opinion, it’s best to find the settings …
Valorant
Valorant community unhappy with VCT LOCK//IN co-streamer list
Olivia Richman
Big Valorant content creators are calling out Riot after they were left off the list for the VCT LOCK//IN watch party. Like most big esports events, only certain streamers will have permission to co-stream the VCT LOCK//IN watch party. This means that they can show the event on their stream to watch with their viewers. The list of content creators given this privilege usually includes pro players and popular streamers, …
Valorant
Fan-favorite Swiftplay game mode is now permanent in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
When Riot rolled out a burning hot patch, 5.12, everyone was fixated on Chamber’s nerf, and the new Swiftplay mode slipped into the background. But it’s still the most popular and will now stay in Valorant full-time. Valorant currently has five game modes: Competitive, Unrated, Spike Rush, slot for PVP, and Deathmatch, along with a Practice Range. Overall, Valorant has nine modes, if you include Snowball fight, Replication, and Escalation …
Valorant
These two Valorant agents are still the best to climb ranks
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant community collectively agrees that Episode 6 is the toughest one so far. But, these two agents can help climb the rank ladder. If you’re a regular Valorant player, you’d have noticed that Project: A characters still reign all categories. A few new agents have managed to break the monotony, but other than that, the original lineup is everyone’s go-to pick. Stats reveal that two agents have stayed a staple …
Valorant
Kay/O anti-flash bug is so powerful that players are confused
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant agent Kay/O has been at the center of many “vision-after-death” bugs, but this recent one on Haven has players confused. Is it a flash-related bug or an intended mechanic? Valorant, like any other FPS game, has its fair share of bugs. Some are negligible, but others are game-breaking. Thankfully, Riot fixes them reasonably quickly — but some bugs take a bit more work. They appear like your regular in-game …
Valorant VCT LOCK//IN bundle has the greatest knife melee ever
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games is taking in-game cosmetics to another level by introducing VCT LOCK//IN Capsule, dubbed Misericórdia. The Valorant developer recently confirmed VCT-partnered team skins, and while they are still under wraps, Riot has unveiled a brand new capsule on a similar beat. VCT LOCK//IN Misericórdia features colorful knives, nodding at the teams participating in VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: LOCK//IN Brazil. The year’s biggest Valorant tournament so far is approaching, and …
These are the must-know callouts for new Valorant map Lotus
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant’s latest map Lotus is still new, which means players will need at least a month to familiarize themselves with its complex layout. Our callouts on Lotus should help you get started. Riot Games brings Valorant’s iconic map-specific gimmicks back in Lotus, but in a surprising twist, there are too many of them to handle. Besides its large size, Lotus comes with revolving doors, a silent drop, a breakable wall, …
After Raze and Killjoy ship, Valorant calls Sage “mommy”
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant recently confirmed that Killjoy and Raze were queer in a romantic post of the two sharing a kiss. Now, the developer is feeding the community by calling Sage “middle-seat mommy.” The Valorant community is deeply in touch with the game’s lore. Each map and agent is connected with a deeper storyline of the mirrorverse and the dispute after the Radianite. But it’s not all about bloodshed and betrayal. Lore …
The best Valorant player in the world is 14 years old
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
A 14-year-old Valorant player has proved that age is just a number by claiming the top spot on the Radiant leaderboard. Valorant’s rank ladder is no picnic. Climbing from one rank to another has become even more challenging in Episode 6, but skilled players won’t feel a difference. However, things get interesting in Immortal and Radiant, where rank isn’t enough. Instead, the best players in the world compete for the …
Valorant VCT partnered team skins to be released 2023
William Davis
Valorant
VCT partnered team skins might come to Valorant sooner than players expect. Data miners have discovered early indications that team skins are in development by Riot Games, who is yet to confirm the information. Valorant has a new look in 2023. The competitive side of the game has been reorganized to make room for the International Leagues. These are three on-LAN leagues covering different regions with 10 permanent teams each, …
Tarik is at the bottom of his own Pro City ranking
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Pro City by Tarik may have sounded crazy initially, but it’s in full swing, and players love it. But the creator himself is repping a position at the bottom of the leaderboard. Valorant’s tragic ranked situation has led many to turn away from the game entirely. Those who stayed true to the game had their loyalty tested when crypto-throwers plagued the queues with wagering, win trading, and match-fixing. This situation …
Valorant Team Deathmatch will let players use abilities
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant will have a new and better Team Deathmatch mode, Riot has confirmed. Riot Games has finally heard the woes of serious Valorant players who didn’t deem the current Deathmatch appropriate for practice. Complaints of poor spawns, kill-based DM, and more were plenty, and Riot has finally decided to expand the practice pool. In the latest video, Anna Donlon and Andy Ho have teased new Valorant modes, including a Team …
Valorant store checker is a game-changer for skin collectors
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant skin collectors don’t want to miss a single market rotation, but staying glued to the screen all day is impractical. Luckily, the Valorant store checker exists! The Valorant market isn’t precisely the best in gaming. For over 60 bundles, Riot has added mere four slots that change every day. Players must wait for months to shop for their favorite skins, so when they appear, they must be in-game to …
Try these best Valorant agents on Lotus to climb ranks
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
The latest Valorant map Lotus isn’t an easy nut to crack. Its complexity puts the skill of the best Valorant players to the ultimate test. These agents can help you win on Lotus. Valorant map nine Lotus has three bomb points, but that’s not what makes it a challenging locale. The rat corners, small alleys, and flank opportunities can turn a game into a horrorshow if you don’t have the …
How to join Tarik’s private Valorant Discord
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
As if cheaters and smurfs weren’t enough headache, Valorant has a brand new problem in crypto-throwers. Valorant streamer Tarik “tarik” Celik has a solution of 10-player private leagues, but it doesn’t solve the predicament in the long run. Valorant ranked is plagued with all sorts of problems, but Riot makes notes of solving them immediately. However, crypto-betting is in full swing, and Riot is yet to comment. But players are …
Fan-made medieval Breeze looks like CSGO map Inferno
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
A Valorant player has reimagined Breeze in Medieval Engineers, causing it to resemble multiple different CSGO maps. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a classic shooter, but it’s not medieval-old. Still, a Valorant player’s rework of Breeze in the Medieval Engineers game looks like an amalgam of Inferno and Cobblestone, the two iconic maps. Breeze is a modern location set on a picturesque island. Rock music, cutting-edge tech, and greenery surround the …
Valorant players are exploiting Lotus’ broken doors
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Lotus is a new map in Valorant, which is why players had expected glitches. But its rotating door is actually littered with bugs. Valorant’s map nine is complex and challenging, but players are eventually finding their footing. Since it’s still new, bugs were given. However, players have noticed game-breaking glitches with Lotus’ revolving doors. The loud barriers are providing select agents with wall hacks. Right before patch 6.01, Riot toned …
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.
