Mastering Valorant Aim Without a Mouse: Tips and Tricks

If you’re a fan of the popular first-person shooter game Valorant, you know how crucial aiming is to your success in the game.

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to play Valorant without a mouse? We discuss the challenges of playing Valorant without a mouse, how to improve your aim in the game, different aiming techniques, and whether you can still excel in Valorant without having top-notch aim.

Let’s dive in and discover how you can up your game in Valorant!

What Is Valorant?

• Valorant is a first-person shooting (FPS) eSport game developed by the gaming company Riot Games.
• The game was announced with the codename Project A on October 15, 2019, and was launched with the official title Valorant on April 7, 2020.
• Valorant’s main focus is on round-based, attacking, and defending tactical team play focusing primarily on gunplay over any other abilities.
• Teams comprise five players who must play a series of 25-round matches. To win, all players on the attacking team must defuse a bomb, referred to ingame as the Spike.
• Valorant has 17 agents with unique abilities, four different weapon categories, in-game economy, and a buy round system for weapons and abilities similar to CS: GO.
• Teams alternate between attack and defend until either team wins the match by taking out the enemy team, having the bomb defused, or via bomb explosion. Ranking and competitive tiers are based on the ELO rating system.

What Is Aiming in Valorant?

In Valorant, aiming can refer to the aiming movements that players perform with their mouses or it can refer to the overall goal of killing opponents, which encompasses many aspects of aiming. The main components of aiming referred to here are the visual components as opposed to environmental, strategic, or team aspects.

Basic aim refers to the movements players use to make small adjustments or to switch between opponents, so that their crosshair is over an opponent when they take a shot. This is also known as acquiring a target and pursuing a moving target. Headshot aim refers to riots metrics for ensuring headshots or burst headshot mechanics with weapons like the vandal or phantom at varying distances.

Spray control refers to keeping one's crosshair aligned with the center of a targets mass while their entire clip is being shot. Recoil control refers to the diagonal spray pattern that kicks in after half the magazine is depleted and extends to the entire clip. Shooting fast at lower areas, then pulling hard up to the left, the dragging down, up to the right, and finally just slightly dragging up will compensate for these different pistols.

A bag is a simplistic style thrown far, where the initial aim determines if the shot will fly off course. If the crosshair is aligned with the target prior to the first shot at any distance, it is much more likely the shot will connect than if using a more structured aiming style.

Why Is Aiming Important in Valorant?

Aiming is especially important in Valorant as it is an important measure of a player’s aim skill potential which is key concentration skills required for performance in the game. Concentration skills are defined as the ability to remove extraneous attention and focus on a specific target (Driskell et al., 1994; Hamilton et al., 2008), and aim is an indirect measure of this. Goodman et al. found that grip technique can significantly affect a user’s action space awareness; this means that Aiming influences a player’s awareness of their surrounding action space and in turn, helps them strategize and coordinate with their team. At the very least, regardless of their strategy, players must make kills to give themselves a numbers and perception advantage.

Can You Play Valorant Without a Mouse?

You can play Valorant without a mouse provided you enable the controller agents in your game settings. The game’s name for that function is ‘Controller Rotation’. This can be a viable alternative for people with accessibility issues preventing them from using a mouse. The main point to remember if you play Valorant without a mouse is that your performance will be lower, as the mouse is the superior input tool for the game.

What Are the Challenges of Playing Valorant Without a Mouse?

The main challenges of playing Valorant without a mouse are precision and ergonomics. A trackpad, touchscreen, joystick, or gamepad provide less accuracy than a mouse which often results in worse multiplayer game performance. Additionally, trackpads and other non-mouse peripherals lack the speed needed to be competitive against opponents using a mouse. Some specialized trackpads can be used for better gaming performance, such as the Razer Tartarus v2, however, their cost significantly exceeds a standard mouse and are often uncomfortable in different ways compared to a standard mouse.

How to Improve Your Aim in Valorant?

You can improve your aim in Valorant by practicing often, having the appropriate sensitivity and DPI settings on your mouse or touchpad, keeping the game’s default crosshair settings, adjusting your mouse’s feet height, switching your crosshair design often, training your aim using aim trainers, and of course, having the appropriate hardware which fits best with your style and approach to the game.

Practice in the Shooting Range

P racticing in the Shooting Range is key. This includes learning the spray patterns of different weapons as well as focusing on precision and crosshair placement. Valorant integrated a target tracking program in 2021 to the Range for this very purpose. Not only does it allow you to monitor how well you are aiming over time but it can also show you where your crosshair placement versus target placement is off and in need of improvement. Start with a stationary target between 10-15m. Ensure a large portion of the target is within the default, unscoped crosshair and move your mouse as little as possible while taking into account the spread of the bullets. When you are hitting 30 or more in a row, raise the difficulty by adding movement to the practice and increase the distance. Then keep bumping the difficulty until you have narrowed your aiming errors to a minimum.

Adjust Your Mouse Settings

Mouse DPI is a measure of the mouse’s speed, and you lower it by reducing the sensitivity of your mouse. This can be done directly on the mouse itself or on your computer. Once you have lowered your mouse’s sensitivity, it is recommended that you also adjust your in-game mouse sensitivity making use of valorant’s sensitivity conversion system.

Use Aim Training Programs

Utilize mouse and keyboard aim training systems for gaming or a controller-free aim training system like 3daimtrainer.com or coach amdrs’s guide, which can help teach you how to aim without your mouse directly affecting the point of aim. Daily drills with several web-based systems are free such as AIM400KG, AimBooster, Kovaak’s FPS Aim Trainer, 3D Aim Trainer, or Clash.gg.

Analyze Your Gameplay

One of the most helpful tips is to really analyze your spoken gameplay, according to most Valorant streamers and professionals. Listening in on your toxic friend for two minutes can both make you a better player and de-tilt you if you take away the useful or funny moments.

Listen to that last game you just played that greatly upset you during a busy portion of the match, recommends comedian and ex-pro player shroud in his tweet. Stress is not their fault it’s your choice to play with them. Listen to see if the laughing made it worth it. Did you get anything else out of that game yourself? If not, did someone else? There’s always positive takeaways from playing.

So try to find those before too much time passes and the game is over.

What Are the Different Types of Aiming Techniques in Valorant?

The different types of aiming techniques in Valorant are flick-shotting, tracking, peaking, strafing, snapping, counter-strafing, quickscoping, no-scoping, jiggle-cycling, bunny-hopping, and crouch peeking. Each of these techniques has their own applications and values for a skilled player. Here are some of their features to keep in mind when you are playing.

• Flick-shotting – for flicking shots on stationary or moving targets
• Tracking – to maintain a constant aim on moving targets
• Peaking – to lean quickly in and out of cover without overexposure
• Strafing – to make harder targets for your enemies while maintaining aim direction
• Snapping – to focus on quickly relocating to a target after a move/shoot situation.
• Counter-strafing – to restore movement accuracy when strafing in the opposite direction.
• Quickscoping – to fit charge and scope time between movers and movers during sniper fire
• No-scoping – for snipers to get a close-range kill shot without having to quickscope first
• Jiggle-cycling – to clear near the border of a barrier held by the opponents
• Bunny-hopping – to keep your opponents tracking aim off amid limited hops
• Crouch peeking – to stay safe while approaching target.

Wrist Aiming

Wrist aiming is the process of using high sensitivity to make adjustments and find targets quickly, so named due to the only joint used for pointing the mouse on the pad being the wrist. This requires a reducing of monitor size field of vision (MFOV), sometimes significant, but compensating for this with high mouse sensitivity settings will maximize its capabilities, up to a certain point.

It is characterized by the player’s wrist resting on the gaming chair arm or desks’ edge, then clearly defining in their mind the initial position and target followed by specific aiming and horizontal/vertical communication based on that target. Control over wrist aiming is carried out by having pixel-perfect aiming abilities and sniper-like accuracy, adding the advantage of adaptability in paint aiming. Crosshair positioning becomes easier. This type of aiming is seen to be effective to a point, but the majority of gamers recommend against using only it. It requires small, precise mouse adjustments for the wrist, and the wrist is simply not able to reach the required degree of movement and control while the elbow and shoulder are unmoving, leading to a less accurate and jittery performance.

Arm Aiming

Arm aiming is a type of aiming where the whole arm moves to aim the mouse with varied forearm input. In The Evolution of Aiming by Zied K., arm aiming is divided into the following categories based on percentage of forearm versus arm input while aiming. Individuals are encouraged to use a movement they find most comfortable. In Counter-Strike terminology, arm aiming is known as wrist flick aiming mehhod. Philip ‘Aimtrainer’ who got fed up by his inability of not reaching his dreams as professional Counter-Strike player created Aimlab, an aim trainer tool. He did the same as what is seen on the evolution of aiming animation video below.

1. 100% arm aiming: Aimer7 who uses an elbow-anchored, low sensitivity style.
2. 75% arm aiming: Most players as an average value.
3. 50% arm aiming: Superstitum who uses his wrist as a hinge in 1x scope and his arm to track targets with non-zoomed scopes.
4. 25% arm aiming: Not common but can be found in professional players.
5. 10% arm aiming (wrist aiming): Scream who is criticized for depending only on his wrist during his play and is placed in the wrist aiming category

Arm aiming takes more desk space than fingers or hand aiming, but uses less than wrist aiming does. Aimer7 believes that sensitivity overly dependent on arm movement can be difficult for some users.

Finger Aiming

Everyone lets their fingers hang from their hand so naturally we think they rest on a beveled edge, but feet are best vibration isolators since they have (at rest) 0 Hz (like a tuning fork. So in this context finger aiming is using them as pure feedback for some target far away, just as you would use your feet as a ruler to measure distance in a dark room. They are used strictly for measurement purposes and do not participate in the aiming process whatsoever.

Which Aiming Technique Is Best for You?

Techniques differ between individual users. However, thumb trackball mice appears the best-prepared middle-ground scenario for a vast majority of users. These mice can provide differences between typical mice and ring and pinky finger mice, while being easier to operate for the common populace as opposed to pen mice.

Can You Be Good at Valorant Without Having Good Aim?

Yes, you can be good at Valorant without having good aim. To be good at Valorant without having good aim, focus on selecting agents with lesser-required aim, and better positioning. Prove your worth in other parts of the game, thus setting yourself up to establish and build on connecting IGL ability.

In-game leader (IGL) is a term borrowed from sports and is used in both professional and recreational competitive gaming environments. The player or coach who makes the decisions and calls the shots as a team captain, setting the team’s strategy and tactics as the game progresses to achieve victory. Players must find their strengths and be realistic about them.

If they aren’t confident on their aiming ability, they should focus on other parts of their game which do not require heavy aim, such as being more assertive or aggressive in making calls. Team positioning and roles should be well-coordinated with good communication and synergy. As a team player, community contributor, IGL, or content creator, players can excel at Valorant even without the best aim.

Conclusion

You can play Valorant without a mouse using a keyboard as a dual-pointing device for character movement. Players with difficulty using mouse substitutes such as trackballs or joysticks may find increased enjoyment in gaming by changing their competitive mouse-input game playing style.

This case study of an amputee who uses joysticks for gaming highlights the challenges many face with finding optimal options for the Safeguard column in OPTIMISTIC. But MobileUO, Splashtop, or voice, motion, and gaze tracking technologies offer completely new ways to play, and the Tactical column of Customizable in OPTIMISTIC may bring variable sensitivities and which-to-use-how scenarios. However, NoteBloc shows promising potential rather than using the folding chairs, music stands, and media holders from the Functional column of OPTIMISTIC.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Aim in Valorant Without Mouse?

Can I aim in Valorant without using a mouse?
Yes, it is possible to aim in Valorant without a mouse by using certain techniques and settings.

How to Aim in Valorant Without Mouse?

What are some techniques for aiming without a mouse in Valorant?
Some techniques include using a controller, adjusting your sensitivity and crosshair settings, and utilizing aim assist.

How to Aim in Valorant Without Mouse?

Is it possible to be as accurate without a mouse in Valorant?
While it may take some practice, it is possible to be just as accurate without a mouse by using the right techniques and settings.

How to Aim in Valorant Without Mouse?

Can I use a trackpad to aim in Valorant?
While it is possible, using a trackpad to aim in Valorant may not be as effective as using a mouse or controller.

How to Aim in Valorant Without Mouse?

Are there any disadvantages to aiming without a mouse in Valorant?
Some players may find it more difficult to aim without a mouse, as it requires a different set of skills and adjustments compared to using a mouse.

How to Aim in Valorant Without Mouse?

Are there any successful players who aim without a mouse in Valorant?
Yes, there are some players who have found success in aiming without a mouse in Valorant, but it may not be suitable for everyone.