Valorant
Valorant
Are you playing the wrong agent? Learn about roles in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Have you been pushing sites as Killjoy? You probably don’t understand all the roles in Valorant and may want to switch your agent. Riot Games took a page out of the hero shooter playbook by adding clear roles for characters to fill. Valorant players understand their responsibility in a team, which ultimately leads to a better gaming experience. However, toxicity still persists in Valorant as some players fail to understand …
Valorant
Valorant map bind was recreated in Minecraft, and it’s amazing
Fariha Bhatti
Remember when a player recreated Ascent in Fortnite? Valorant has now reached Minecraft, and it’s an amazing sight to see. Within a year of its release, tactical shooter Valorant has garnered a loyal count of around 14 million players. Unlike some other shooters, Valorant’s player base includes fans of a broad variety of games including Overwatch, Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and even Minecraft. This variety has bolstered Valorant’s popularity in …
Valorant
Riot reveals new Yoru rework and it could be OP
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games has fulfilled its promise of making Yoru a master of deception. The first teaser of his rework shows that he’s cloned himself into a flash. Something strange happened to Yoru during his weak Dimensional Drift. The agent has come out with a clone of himself that baits enemies into flashing themselves. The new Yoru rework looks tremendous as it brings a unique blind to the game. Valorant’s most-anticipated …
Valorant
Here’s how to use Viper’s ultimate perfectly on every map
Fariha Bhatti
When we talk about the most powerful ultimates in Valorant, Viper tops the list. Despite its viability, many players don’t know how to use Viper’s ultimate in Valorant. The venomous agent carries a tanker full of toxic gas. She uses her toxins to kill enemies slowly, but she really lets loose when she has her ultimate. Her lethal gas emits in a large area, affecting all enemies that come into …
Valorant
When is the next Valorant Night. Market?
Fariha Bhatti
The latest Valorant skins are pricey, extravagant, and tempting. But fret not, Valorant Night. Market is coming soon and it comes with some cut prices. In 2022, Valorant has over 25 skin bundles that include innovative designs for all guns. However, some of these skins are fancy enough to empty out your entire wallet. Riot Games introduced Night. Market in 2020 to make these pricey weapons affordable for all. The …
Valorant
This mysterious pig may be hinting at a new Valorant agent
Fariha Bhatti
Some cute animals hanging out on a Valorant card may be hinting at a new agent. Or is it just another returning agent in disguise? Banners in Valorant aren’t just for decoration. Developer Riot Games often hides cheeky hints about new agents, maps, and reworks in these cards. Many cards drop clues about Valorant lore to help players better understand their favorite agents. The community has created its own Valorant …
Valorant
Viper’s smoke can destroy Skye’s tiger and it’s hilarious
Fariha Bhatti
A Valorant player has made a unique discovery. Not only does Viper’s smoke hack block off vision, but it also destroys Skye’s creatures including her Tasmanian tiger. This new trick proves that you can never know everything about Valorant. After almost two years, 18 agents, and seven maps, new interactions are still being discovered. For example, this new little Viper smoke hack may not be as helpful, but it sure …
Valorant
What happened on Ascent? Release date, lore of the popular Valorant map
Fariha Bhatti
Ascent’s is Valorant’s most lore-heavy map after Fracture. Here’s everything you need to know about this scenic location. Valorant was originally released with three maps and a practice range. Soon after the beta, Riot dropped Ascent with a bang, featuring a scenic spot set in Italy, Venice. However, not many players know the story behind the floating huts in Ascent. Ascent was part of the original map pool, but it …
Mysterious agent 8 may be involved in Yoru’s rework
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games promised a Yoru rework, but Valorant developers are likely going to be creative with it. New lore suggests that Yoru was briefly stuck in time, which is the reason behind his upcoming changes. Few Valorant agents were as famed as Yoru was prior to his release. But the agent turned out to be a bust after months of glitz and anticipation. He lacked the elements of a duelist, …
How many Valorant cinematics are there?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant’s immersive universe has mind-bending lore that can be sort of confusing to follow. Luckily it can be understood through striking cinematics. How many cinematics are in Valorant, and what do they mean? When Valorant was released, no one paid any mind to the same agents being on both teams. It’s how character-based games often work, right? However, Riot added a hot new twist to the genre by explaining why …
Here’s all you need to know about Valorant ranks in 2022
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games has made a ton of changes to Valorant ranks since the game’s initial release in 2020. Here’s a comprehensive guide for new players looking to understand Valorant ranks in 2022. If you’re new to Valorant, you may be thinking about diving straight into ranked games. Unfortunately, that’s not possible. To unlock ranked play in Valorant, all players must go through a simple process to help Riot accumulate an …
Valorant should copy this great skin feature from CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players have some recommendations for Riot Games. They think Valorant may benefit from a unique CSGO inventory feature. Valorant players can’t get enough of the animated skins Riot continues to roll out. Some time ago, players requested Riot introduce custom inventories to use multiple skins for the same weapon across different games. CSGO players have already been benefiting from a similar feature that lets them easily enjoy …
Here’s how to see your Valorant match wins in 2021
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Have you ever wondered how many games you won in 2021 and how you performed in those games? Valorant Flashback stats may help take a peek at your stats last year. Valorant players are always trying out new strategies and routines that may help them improve. Riot Games’ year-long review can help players work on their weak areas and compare performance with 2020. The Flashback from Riot Games shows how …
Riot unveils new skin bundle Tigris for Lunar new year
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
The coveted Sovereign sword will finally have a worthy rival. Valorant’s brand new skin bundle “Tigris” features a sleek melee and exciting rewards. Riot Games is celebrating the Lunar year with a premium skin bundle. The new Tigris collection and a Lunar new year free pass should roll in soon, so players may want to prepare their wallets. The developer has officially unveiled the new skin line, and it appears …
How to get the Wayfinder shorty skin in Valorant for free
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games has rolled out the first free Valorant weapon skins for Prime Gaming subscribers. Here’s how to get the coveted Wayfinder shorty skin in Valorant for free. Valorant skins can cost a lot, so players are quick to grab free in-game cosmetics. Unfortunately, Riot doesn’t distribute free weapon skins. However, Prime Gaming subscribers can grab a sleek new item for free. Riot Games has unveiled a Wayfinder shorty skin …
Has ranked Valorant gotten worse in Episode 4?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Players are complaining that Valorant doesn’t feel the same anymore in Episode 4. Players believe the ranked experience has worsened since the start of the new episode. Valorant players aren’t happy with the current ranked state. Riot Games has continued introducing new features and updates to maintain checks and balances, but players don’t think that’s enough. In Episode 4, the complaints about Valorant’s ranked matchmaking have reached a fever pitch. …
Valorant introducing community battle pass with fan-made items
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games is taking Valorant cosmetic store to another level with a community battle pass featuring fan art. Exclusive Valorant skins can be pricy, so the developer introduced cheap battle pass cosmetics for those who don’t want to take extra shifts for a pretty Operator. The animated skins have heavily inspired community artists who continued to roll out better versions of battle pass skins. Some of these designs were a …
This is when the next Valorant agent is getting released
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Neon has quickly found her footing in Valorant protocol, and players already can’t wait to learn a brand new agent. However, the new agent may not be coming anytime soon. Riot Games has just extended the Valorant agent roster with the electrifying Neon. The agility hero has successfully adjusted into Valorant’s crowded duelist lineup, but now players want something more. The game looks great ability-wise, but the Valorant community is …
This Sage wall trick guarantees that the spike will explode
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Tired of being a pocket Sage whose sole job is to heal teammates? Impress teammates with this new, game-changing wall trick with Sage. Playing Sage isn’t always fun. Teammates demand healing and revives, offering no chance for actual gunplay. This can make for a boring, passive game. However, learning some barrier lineups can help spice things up. Icebox is a relatively defender-sided map, so protecting a Spike can be a …
Neon vs Jett, who’s the better duelist?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
There’s a new agility agent in town, and Jett mains have a tough decision to make. Should they pick Neon or Jett? We might have an answer. Jett has remained an S-tier agent in Valorant since the game’s release in 2020. The duelist has dominated the charts with her irreplicable movement tactics. No other agent in Valorant could run as fast and fly as high as Jett. After months of …
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.
