Valorant
News
shroud blasts “pay-to-lose” animations of Ruination skins
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant’s anticipated “Ruination” bundle is actually not that good, at least according to Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek who thinks the League of Legends-inspired skin collection may ruin your games. Riot Games’ cross-title event came to Valorant in the form of Ruination skins. The bundle created a good bit of hype among players with both its ties to LoL and its stylish dark embellishments and emerald glow. However, Shroud says that the flashy …
News
Valorant patch 3.01 brings Viper buffs, fixes ultimate
Fariha Bhatti
Viper’s kit has seen a significant tweak in the recent patch 3.01, which wasn’t mentioned in the notes. The poisonous controller Viper’s kit was recently buffed, making her one of the most picked agents in Valorant. Another subtle tweak to Viper’s Pit in 3.01 will help players effectively utilize her ultimate in higher ranked games. Riot fixed Viper Ultimate! Thank you!IT WASNT MENTIONED IN THE PATCH NOTES, so might be …
News
Riot hotfix addresses bug that let players ride Sova’s dart across
Fariha Bhatti
Sova players in Valorant have been exploiting a hilarious dart bug and Riot Games has finally shut down the trolls. The rocket dart bug has now been fixed. Valorant players recently discovered a weird glitch in the game, which lets them ride Sova’s dart to different corners of the map. Unfortunately for the trolls, the developer has already patched up the broken bow and arrow. On June 7, a Valorant …
News
Valorant agent 18 name leaked, unique abilities teased
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant’s cast recently expanded with the addition of cyber initiator Kay/O, but it seems Riot Games is firing on all cylinders to load up the roster. Data miners and leakers have already rummaged through the game’s files and discovered some details regarding the 18th Valorant agent. Floxayy and ValorLeaks, who have unearthed information ahead of major Valorant updates in the past, found the code name for a potential new agent. …
News
Valorant ranked distribution shows most players stuck in Silver
Fariha Bhatti
Are you a hard-stuck Silver in Valorant? The ranked distribution in patch 3.0 may make you feel a little better about your rank. Constant tweaks to Valorant matchmaking ranking have made it harder for less skilled players to keep on track while climbing. Stats by Valking has revealed that about 35.3% of players in the current patch are stuck in Silver, the highest percentage number of any rank. The ranked …
News
Tarik starts a Twitter war by saying Valorant is harder than CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
Tarik “tarik” Celik’s recent jab on Twitter has revived the old debate between Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant players who are always eager to argue which game is the best. Former CSGO professional and popular Valorant streamer tarik took Twitter to express his opinion regarding the difficulty level on both shooters. However, his light tweet managed to spark a whole new drama within the first-person shooter community. Sorry to my …
News
Valorant may be getting LoL crossover with Ruination skin line
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends is about to begin its enormous Ruination event and it may appear in Valorant as well. A new skin line has been leaked, which hints that the League of Legends universe is officially coming to Valorant. The skin bundle was first teased in Kay/O reveal, in which the new agent was sporting a glowing, blue Guardian. League of Legends’ Sentinels of Light event will begin on July …
News
Which is better, Phantom or Vandal? TenZ gives his answer
Fariha Bhatti
The Phantom versus Vandal debate is far from over. Tyson “TenZ” Ngo has once again fired the conversation by explaining why Phantom is mechanically more powerful. Sentinels’ professional player TenZ may switch his mouse sensitivity like clothes, but the Phantom has remained his top pick since the game’s release. Amid the debates over which rifle is more OP, the pro player has explained why he thinks everyone should prefer Phantom. In …
Is shroud returning to pro play? Top streamer considers VCT
Fariha Bhatti
News
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek may be returning to the competition, but it would be in an entirely new tactical title this time around. The popular streamer has a long account in esports as one of the most popular professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players of his time. In his recent stream, shroud has confirmed that he’s looking to compete “casually” in the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour: Open Qualifiers 3. shroud quit competitive …
Cypher camera bug is providing him with wall hack on map Breeze
Fariha Bhatti
News
The Morrocan spy Cypher has been using his intel-gathering devices for nefarious motives, a Valorant player has discovered. Cypher is tasked with accumulating information for his aggressive duelists on maps where watching flank and area coverage can be a challenge. However, a new glitch discovered during a game of Valorant Champions Tour shows that his camera has a wallhack-like bug devised in it. Imagine y’a une cam de cypher tu …
Weird Valorant audio bug is confusing players on Ascent
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant players have come across a weird audio bug on map Ascent that could potentially be game-breaking in ranked matches. Sound is key in tactical shooters for gathering information that teams can action on. A player discovered that you can mislead enemies on Ascent by walking on the ledge of the catwalk. Patch 3.0 was a big one that added a new agent, overhauled the economy, and changed a lot …
Skye’s flasher hawk can shield you from Raze’s ultimate rocket
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant players have discovered a new exciting mechanic where they could destroy Raze’s expensive rocket with Skye’s cheap flasher hawk. Raze’s Showstopper is one of the deadliest ultimates in Valorant, recently landing her on the developer’s nerf radar. However, players have found a new way to tackle her Showstopper. Skye is one of the underrated agents among casual players but her toolkit is popular among Valorant professionals who pick her …
This easy tip might help you land more headshots in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
News
Are you tired of whiffing easy shots in Valorant? A new trick could drastically improve your crosshair placement. Developer Riot Games has bolstered Valorant’s gunplay to great effect in a recent patch update. With running accuracy getting a nerf and weapons becoming cheaper, players finally have a chance to flex their crisp aim after all of their time spent practicing. However, poor crosshair placement can ruin your games and make …
shroud discusses how Kay/O will change Valorant’s ranked meta
Fariha Bhatti
News
Professional Valorant players have frequently ranted about the poor ranked experience, but Michael “shroud” Grzesiek thinks Kay/O’s kit is designed to fix things to some degree. The War Machine Kay/O dropped with a bang with his sleek, holographic dagger and flashbangs reminiscent of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Popular streamer shroud is already a massive fan of the new Initiator, and he believes that Kay/O will change ranked forever. “Nobody knows how to …
Jett’s dash is still breaking Cypher’s tripwire after patch 3.0
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant Episode 3 Act I brought tons of tweaks to the game and nerfs to overpowered agents. But, players are reporting that Jett’s kit hasn’t changed at all. Episode 3 isn’t your regular patch update. Instead, it included massive changes for ranks, agents, and weapons, but still, a nerf to Jett’s dash had the attention of all the players. However, players are complaining that Jett can still utilize her Tailwind …
Valorant players want an “accept match” option like in CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant has all the ingredients of a top-notch first-person shooter but it never had an “accept match” feature. Players think that it’s about time Riot Games add the option to its tactical game. Riot Games has always taken player feedback into account to make Valorant’s competitive experience better. This time, the players have demanded a common feature of match confirmation before the game starts. Do you think #VALORANT needs a …
NVIDIA hud removal is making flash capabilities in Valorant dysfunctional
Fariha Bhatti
News
NVIDIA GeForce’s settings have been messing with the Valorant flashes. Annoying Valorant flashes recently got tweaked in patch 3.00, but an unofficial NVIDIA nerf is rendering them useless. Players have discovered that the blindside effect can be turned off by removing the HUD from NVIDIA settings. The GE force Experience may help you record cool plays to flex on your followers and friends but it can also help you get …
CSGO-style butterfly knife is coming to Valorant soon
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant’s lavish inventory has all sorts of vibrant and insane skins that players have spent big cash on. However, the extensive store is still lacking the infamous Counter-Strike: Global Offensive butterfly knife. Valorant has easily beaten many other traditional shooters in terms of skin collection. Riot Games has crafted skins themed around forests, agent lore, kingdoms, and different themes that add more meaning to already fierce weapons. While Valorant skins …
Valorant players highlight a wall-hack glitch triggered by Kay/O’s abilities
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant’s smart bot, Kay/O, has received tons of praises for being balanced. But a new glitch is rendering him overpowered in ranked games. Valorant players are no stranger to wall-hack glitches triggered by BlastX wrappers in the past. It seems that Kay/O’s addition hasn’t only shaken up the meta but also the walls as numerous players have noticed a weird bug that exposes the enemies’ position through Kay/O’s triangle pointer. …
Unsilenced Phantom and Spectre discovered in Valorant single-player
William Davis
News
Unsilenced versions of multiple Valorant weapons have been discovered in-game. In Valorant’s single-player modes, players fight against computer-controlled enemies in a variety of sample missions. These objectives are available in The Range and are meant to serve a tutorial for tactical shooter novices. However, the enemy bots carry weapons that aren’t available in multiplayer Valorant. Players are able to pick up the bot’s guns and use them for themselves. However, …
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.
