Valorant
News
New Valorant agent Yoru leaked alongside Episode 2 Battle Pass
M Alzamora
Valorant fans got their first look at Valorant’s 14th agent, Yoru. The stealthy agent is the evolution of Shatter, possessing abilities that differ only mildly from the possibly scrapped agent. In a Reddit post on December 2, a leak revealed all of the agent’s abilities and their descriptions. Additionally, photos of Valorant’s new Yoru menu screens and the contents of its Episode 2 battle pass were also leaked. Yoru’s abilities …
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These post-plant Brimstone incendiaries are better than an ult
Fariha Bhatti
While every agent ability in Valorant is useful to some degree, Brimstone’s deadly incendiary works wonders in Ascent on the attacker side. Brimstone’s Orbital Strike is one of the most effective ways to secure a spike post-plant, but players won’t have an ult ready for every single round. This is where Brimstone’s basic kit comes in and dominates the bomb site. The agent has three sky smokes, a stim beacon, …
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Valorant supports say ranking system stacked against them
Nina Forneloza
Buzz has been circulating within the Valorant community that support players are being unfairly judged by the ranking system. The vast majority of multiplayer-focused games have had some sort of complaint about the way the ranking system determines where players sit on the leaderboard. Valorant is no exception, and because it is so early in the game’s life, it’s only natural for there to be growing pains in the rankings. …
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New Sage trick on Ascent protects spike with her wall
Nina Forneloza
Some clever Sage players have discovered a new hack with her wall on Ascent. Enemies must destroy the wall to get to the spike, allowing more time for the planting team to thwart enemy sabotage. The trick is to place the spike behind some generators on Point A. Here’s how to do just that: Position the spike directly in the middle behind them, and place Sage’s wall on the rightmost …
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This Killjoy nanoswarm lineup on Haven makes retakes easier
Fariha Bhatti
Haven is a tricky map to play as the defenders due to its large area and three bomb points. However, Killjoy can prove to be a great threat on this map if used correctly. Maps in Riot’s tactical shooter are unique and differ widely from one another. The other maps’ distinctive characteristics don’t impact the meta as much as Haven’s unique feature: three bomb points. Attackers on this map greatly …
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Valorant players say chat bans are bad for competitive play
Olivia Richman
Valorant players are frustrated with the game’s chat restriction punishment system. Players can be banned from using voice and text chat in-game if they break the game’s Community Code. This is something players agree to when they first launch Riot’s first-person shooter, acknowledging that they won’t use certain words and phrases or display a negative attitude. When the game detects that inappropriate words and phrases are being used, whether they …
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Fan recreates Valorant map Split with a realistic touch
Fariha Bhatti
A fan has recreated Valorant’s Split in a realistic and sinister fashion. The fan’s preview is way different than the original Riot’s Split in terms of colors and aura. u/D112235 created a detailed preview of Split’s attacker side with dark undertones. As haunting as the image was, the realistic preview and intricate design was nothing short of incredible. According to the creator, the sole image took him more than an …
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Valorant devs claim nerf to running accuracy is finally coming
Olivia Richman
Top pro Valorant players and casual gamers alike have been frustrated with the accuracy of running and shooting in Valorant since the game’s closed beta. Now it seems that Riot has finally decided to address this concern. In tactical shooters such as Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the usual technique is to strategically approach or guard a site by moving deliberately. This is in part because players are given higher …
Valorant introduces fun toy-inspired BlastX weapon skins
Olivia Richman
News
“Introducing BlastX!” Just in time for the holidays, Valorant is rolling out toy-inspired weapons that bring out the kid in every agent. The BlastX line features an aesthetic taken from the ever-popular foam-based Nerf weapon line. Coming in purple and green with suction darts, these vibrant weapon skins will really “stick it to the bad guys.” The official trailer for the BlastX skin line really drives the 90s toy inspiration …
Ninjas in Pyjamas reportedly adds Ex6TenZ to Valorant roster
Steven Rondina
News
Ninjas in Pyjamas is reportedly set to inject some veteran talent into its Valorant roster. According to 1pv, NiP is set close to securing a deal with Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans. Ex6TenZ is best known for his time on the French Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene, notably placing in the top four at the 2013 DreamHack Winter Major with VeryGames. From there, he played with a variety of top French CSGO teams …
New Valorant agent Shatter has exploding clone, more abilities
M Alzamora
News
Leaked files show that Riot Games is hard at work on Shatter, the character many believe will be the next agent released for the shooter. Information and teasaers from offical Riot accounts, a hidden image in an Instagram story, and files from the game itself show that the studio is preparing to release Valorant’s 14th agent. The teases began when Riot suddenly posted desktop backgrounds for players to download on …
Ninja accuses rival team of cheating, angers Valorant community
Olivia Richman
News
After beating Tyler “Ninja” Blevin’s Valorant team in the Knights Before Christmas Invitational, Built By Gamers (BBG) was accused of cheating by the popular streamer. A clip of BBG’s Tristan “Critical” Trinacty possibly locking onto a Time In player was being shared around social media. As more people voiced concerns that Critical was cheating, BBG ended up being disqualified from the Knights Before Christmas Invitational, which was run by the …
This is why Killjoy’s pick rate is higher than other agents
Fariha Bhatti
News
When the best agents in Valorant are discussed, Killjoy is often disregarded. However, stats show that the genius of Germany is an underdog that is slowly making her way to the top. Revealed in August, Killjoy is still relatively new to the game. The agent didn’t enjoy the hype that it deserved as Riot showered the game with significant updates that took away the spotlight from Valorant’s tech-savvy sentinel. Valorant’s …
Valorant ranked matchmaking changes have smurfs throwing games
M Alzamora
News
Highly skilled players creating new accounts to play against lower-ranked players isn’t a new thing, but Valorant’s recent change to how players gain access to competitive matches has had a bad side effect. Valorant’s latest changes shook up the way new accounts qualify for the game’s competitive mode and were obviously meant to combat smurfing, expecting smurfs wouldn’t want to invest a load of time into the game just to …
Valorant devs admit rough patches, announce public test server
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant has become one of the most popular first-person shooters in the world and one of the most-watched esports in just six months. But during that time, Riot developers have received a lot of negative feedback about their updates and patch stability. This was addressed in the most recent dev diaries video, where senior producer Arnar Gylfason explained why some patches have been buggy and how the development team plans to …
More Valorant lore is coming in Episode 2 next year
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant fans will finally find out more about the story behind their favorite agents in Episode 2. Creative director David Nottingham recently revealed that Valorant developers are going to start diving into the world behind Riot’s tactical shooter in 2021. Episode 2 won’t only introduce players to new maps and agents, but also the lore behind these new additions. “We will start to confirm some (but not all) of the …
Valorant developers reveal that new Agent 14 will be a duelist
Olivia Richman
News
As Valorant players continued to hunt for clues about Agent 14, character product lead John Goscicki gave some official clues in today’s official “State of the Agents” blog post. And it seems like people’s suspicions about the agent’s potential identity and abilities might be right. The blog stated that the game is “fairly stable” so it’s time to put some “deeper thought” into some agents and classes. Valorant developers kept …
These Sova drone lineups in Valorant can crack open defenses
Fariha Bhatti
News
Sova is one of the most-picked agents in Valorant in both high and low ranks thanks to his ability to open up bomb sites. His kit has all the right tools to help a duelist dash into position and get opening kills. The initiator has his Shock Bolt, Owl Drone, Recon Bolt, and Hunter’s Fury. His abilities allow him to cause substantial damage to the enemy team and gather information, …
You can make Icebox easy with these great Viper jump throws
M Alzamora
News
Viper may not be picked often in Valorant, but that hasn’t stopped her fans from finding ways for her to make a major impact.Even after several passes over Viper’s kit, Riot’s venomous agent is still all about planning ahead. Valorant’s community recently found a new jump throw for the agent on Icebox that forces enemies to try to defuse the Spike in the open while taking damage and contracting the …
Valorant reveals new ranked gun buddies as Episode 1 rewards
Olivia Richman
News
You’ll soon be able to end 2020 with gun buddies that show off your Valorant rank. The first episode of Valorant is coming to a close. But that doesn’t mean players should stop grinding up the competitive ranks. Riot recently revealed on Twitter that players will receive gun buddies in Episode 2 based on the rank they ended up at by the end of Episode 1. “Keep climbing before your …
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.
