Valorant
Valorant
Riot’s new effort to combat chat toxicity in Valorant is on-point
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games is once again trying to rid Valorant of toxic players in a new real-time text evaluation system. Valorant community is not for the weak-kneed. Riot’s FPS roped in players from some of the best games in the shooter genre. Fortnite, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive were the top three to contribute to Valorant’s player base. Naturally, the game was crammed with nurtured players from the outset who were …
Valorant
Cypher, Harbor finally buffed in Valorant patch 5.10
Fariha Bhatti
Competition in Valorant is about to get steep. Patch 5.10 brings Cypher back into the game, with some buffs for Harbor on the side. The latest Valorant patch is a big one. Besides some game changes, Fade, Cypher, and Harbor will get long-due tweaks to mix things up in ranked Valorant. The duo of Cypher and Fade has been on Riot’s radar for some time now, but Harbor’s low pick …
Valorant
How to get the VCT Game Changers drops by tuning in
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant Game Changers Championship is around the corner, bringing exciting free prizes and steam drops for the fans. Riot Games announced a year-long circuit for women and other marginalized genders to partake in Valorant’s cut-throat esports. In 2022, VCT Game Changers has developed enough to have its own Championship. Eight teams have made it to the ultimate podium of Game Changers from the globe, who will now lock horns for …
Valorant
Who is Harbor’s voice actor in Valorant?
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games recently unveiled the voice behind the beefy controller Harbor, and it’s a name familiar to League of Legends fans. Valorant agent 21, Harbor, recently joined the protocol with abilities to block bullets and sights. He loves cricket, enjoys a nice plate of samosa, and is currently on the run from REALM. Gameplay-wise, Harbor has been decent, but his cheeky voice lines have impressed the Valorant community. We finally …
Valorant
Official Valorant YouTube channel hacked by crypto scam
Nicholas James
The official Valorant Esports YouTube channel was briefly hacked on November 6, resulting in all of its videos going unpublished in favor of a scam stream promoting cryptocurrency. The pattern of malicious actors hijacking popular YouTube channels to promote cryptocurrency scams to their audiences isn’t new, but it’s the first time Riot Games has fallen victim to the scheme. The interruption was only brief, but it certainly kept things interesting …
Valorant
Valorant map nine codenamed Jam could be located in India
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant’s next map is codenamed Jam, and while it doesn’t give away any key details, leakers have connected the dots to figure out the map’s origins. Earlier in 2022, Riot Games settled on the magic number seven for Valorant map rotation, kicking Split out of active duty. But that doesn’t mean that the developer would stop adding new locations. Similar to Apex Legends and other titles, Valorant might have rotations, …
Valorant
Players are causing mayhem in Valorant with this Raze bug
Fariha Bhatti
A new Raze Boom Bot bug is creating a monstrous noise audible throughout the map. The party monster Raze is equipped with an Initiator-style robot that blows upon detecting enemies. It’s easily one of the deadliest damage-dealing abilities in Valorant, but it can also be used to blanket footsteps and just annoy enemies. A new glitch is making the rounds for that hilarious last reason. Players have discovered that the …
Valorant
Is Toast going pro in Valorant? Dapr interested in joining team
Fariha Bhatti
Popular Twitch streamer and OfflineTV member Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang is considering going pro in Valorant, but he wants the cream of the crop on his team. Valorant esports is at its pinnacle in 2022. Riot Games has announced a separate off-season when exciting third-party tournaments would occur, but professional teams also use this time for roster swaps. Plenty of top Valorant players are waiting to be picked and Disguised …
New Halloween Soulstrife skins bundle leaked for Valorant
William Davis
Valorant
Soulstrife skins will add gothic flair to any Valorant arsenal, but the knife is only appropriate for the edgiest of players. Prominent Valorant leaker ValorLeaks has revealed a new set of gun skins coming to the game. The set, titled Soulstrife, is a Halloween-themed bundle that takes inspiration from ghosts. Unsurprisingly, the Ghost, Phantom, and Spectre are all included in this bundle. Here’s what we know how much Soulstrife will …
How to unlock all Valorant agents quickly in 2022
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant currently has 21 agents, but the journey to unlock them all can be a tall order if you’re new to the game. Riot Games’ character-based FPS features an extended cast of 21 agents each capable of different actions. But players must work hard to unlock all characters as Riot only allows five free agents, which are as follows. Brimstone Sova Sage Phoenix Jett But it’s pretty easy to unlock the rest. There are …
Sova’s dart attached to Yoru’s clone is a hilarious but useful trick
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
A brand new way to scan information has arrived in Valorant. It uses a hilarious interaction between Yoru’s clone and Sova’s dart. Sova is quite a useful agent in large locations. His intel-gathering devices are helpful, but they’re no fun on their own. Luckily, players have discovered a hilarious way to milk out Sova’s dart and corner enemies. But you must have Yoru on your team to act out this …
Skilled players can now go pro in Valorant through Premier mode
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games is bringing a new way for hungry players to take the competition to a new level through Valorant Premier mode. Valorant Immortal leaderboards are crammed with skilled players to the extent that Riot had to cap the count. Clearly, Valorant has too many talented players that are hungry for more. So to quench their thirst for competition, Riot has introduced a new system that’d challenge players to achieve …
Sage’s bug that prevents resurrection still exists in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
An old Sage bug that blocks her revive is rare, but it still exists in Valorant. Earlier, players discovered a weird bug that undermines Sage’s ability to resurrect teammates. Many encountered a strange blockage in Sage’s ultimate that prevented her from reviving teammates. Since she’s the only healer in the roster as of now, this bug was quite a game-breaker. Still, players let go of it since it was scarce. …
Valorant rank variance might be why you can’t escape Silver in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant matchmaking and rank rating can be confusing for green players, but if there’s one thing you should boost, it’s your rank variance. Riot Games uses MMR (matchmaking rating) to create a pool of similarly skilled players who can compete with one another. But how do rank-ups happen if all players within the same MMR continue locking horns with each other? Rank variance decides the pace with which each Valorant …
Corbin’s Light gun buddy memorizes Valorant player who died of cancer
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Episode 5 Act 3 battle pass includes a priceless, meaningful gun buddy dedicated to Corbin, a fan of Valorant who died of cancer. Riot Games has always made a point of acknowledging hard-working, creative, and wholesome players. Since all Valorant items can be bought with money, except for fist bump gun buddies, Riot uses this coveted item to acknowledge players. Besides the charm, the developer adds references in battle …
Oni Phantom might return in Valorant Give Back bundle 2022
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games is bringing the Give Back bundle back. Players have voted for their favorite contenders and we might have results soon! The Give Back bundle in Valorant is Riot’s way of helping those in need through its popular FPS game. Fifty percent of proceeds from weapon skins and 100% from accessories go towards the Social Impact Fund. The good cause is the main reason behind the Give Back bundle’s …
How do Harbor’s water-based abilities work in Valorant?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
After months of anticipation, Harbor is finally here, along with his tidal waves and a bullet-ricocheting Cove. Valorant agent 21 is officially here after escaping the cunning claws of Captain Greaves, who was after a priceless cuff. Who rightfully owns the bracelet still remains a mystery, but we do know why both Earths were after it. The magical artifact supplies water-based powers to the wearer, allowing them to bend the …
When is Split returning to Valorant? Here’s what we think
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Split may not have been the most popular Valorant map before, but it sure became a favorite after Riot removed it from the active pool. So, when is it coming back? Valorant Episode 5, Act 1 locked the active map pool at seven. Riot Games decided it no longer wants to field all maps in rotation as they may overwhelm new and old players. Learning eight maps when one of …
Enabling 2FA in Valorant can get you a free Keep It Safer gun buddy
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games has been pretty generous with in-game cosmetics this year, and now it’s going all out by rewarding players with free weapon adornments. Prime Gaming subscribers, VCT viewers, and regular Valorant players already benefit from freebies, but Riot has new plans to reward those extra cautious with their accounts’ security. To guard the accounts with exorbitant skins and progress, Riot introduced 2FA (two-factor authentication), but a few were actually …
Harbor’s stubborn Cove is destructible, here’s how to counter it
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Harbor’s bulletproof bubble stands out from the rest of his water-based kit for its potency, but Cove comes with an easy counter. Harbor’s action-packed teaser featured abilities powered by a cuff that appeared overpowered at first glance. In actuality, Valorant agent 21 is pretty well-balanced. The water bender harnesses energy from a rare artifact on his wrist to aggress enemies and keep them at bay. While the rest of his …
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.
