Mastering Valorant: Essential Tips to Ace the Game

Valorant is a popular tactical first-person shooter game that has taken the gaming world by storm.

With its unique blend of agents, weapons, and abilities, Valorant offers players a fast-paced and strategic gaming experience.

In this article, we will explore the key elements of Valorant, different game modes available, basic strategies to excel in the game, tips on improving your aim, best agents for beginners, effective team communication, and common mistakes to avoid. For tips for leveling up fast, make sure to check out our comprehensive guide.

Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting out, this article will provide you with valuable insights to ace in Valorant.

What is Valorant?

Valorant is a 5v5 tactical and technologically advanced first-person shooter game that was developed and published by Riot Games. Riot Games announced project Valorant, codenamed Ares, with the statement that the game would be their take on the competitive 5v5 Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CS: GO) style game. The game is free to play and download, available on Microsoft Windows, and from April 2020 closed beta has been accessible to players who received an invite, as the game uses a dedicated set of servers in several regions.

The game is pitched as a superficially simple two-team game, one team attacking and one defending with plant/defuse the spike on sixteen maps each timed at around 6 minutes. The complexity arises from plus 3 agents (with more to come as the game is developed), each with their unique play style arising from special and ult abilities and guns delivered via a growing set of blast-priority, assault(7), pistols(3), sniper(2) and shield(1) categories coupled with how to improve one is able to add in the esoteric skills from spraying, moving, strafing etc.

What Are the Key Elements of Valorant?

The key elements of Valorant that players need to be aware of are skill, map knowledge, agent abilities, economic management, positioning, understanding of enemy mechanics, reaction time, crosshair placement, accuracy, communication, proactivity, physical well-being, and mental alertness.

Skill is the bedrock of player success in Valorant. Skill is referred to as Aim AND movement ability in FPS games. It must be consistently honed by playing the game daily and going on practice maps before playing the game.

Map knowledge and agent functionality can help players use their agent’s abilities more effectively by understanding the environment and goals within a map. Every gamer uses a different layout, and different agents mean different abilities, so it is best to find one agent and map and start prevailing with it.

Hiko, a famous Twitch streamer, shares the following tip regarding Valorant’s economic system: he uses the Tilde (~) button to keep track of his economic status. The economy is the most important aspect of having all the required-and-expected tools on the battlefield and it is, therefore, important to establish that there is an element of save rounds in the game if the previous rounds were lost.

Positioning and good crosshair placement can allow players to react faster and get kills. Understanding enemy mechanics allows players to prepare how they will attack and defend against their enemy, and using the enemy economy is one of the important factors in win-loss. Players should be especially aware of what expensive weapons the enemies use and pick them up.

Communication can help the team cooperate and understand what’s going on in the game most effectively. A study conducted by the University of Cambridge on the role of gaming in social life argues that games provide an ideal playing environment for talking, cooperation, and teamwork. Proactivity, physical well-being, and mental alertness are few of the key elements that need to be shown while playing the game.

Mental alertness helps build the game plan and make it easier to achieve success, and physical well-being and proactivity can help with concentration, managing screen time, and keeping the body healthy – all of which are fundamental for any regular top performer in any field.

GAMANIDA, an esports talent, shares that training can improve player performance in terms of esports elements. Reaction-time trainers are highly beneficial in achieving high precision and productivity. ValorantObjectifZero, Valorant Kovaak 2.0 Aim Trainer, and FAST AIM/REFLEX TRAINING MAP have hundreds of different courses and allow gamers to play with different aspects of their own choosing. The Maps in Valorant are one of the best ways of training in an environment that is almost identical to the actual game itself and experimenting with different weapons, spray patterns, and tactics to see what works best.

Agents

There are 18 agents in Valorant, which have distinct abilities that structurally alter the game. Choosing and mastering the right agents can be crucial to success. Agents are categorized by duelist (offensive), initiator (informative and team enabler), bronzer (crowd control and defensive play), and sentinel (defensive and team-supporting) playstyles. Agents are further characterized by their abilities. To best select an Agent for your playstyle, try the Agents available in the Free onboarding course, complete the Agents video on the official Valorant website, or try the Go shooting segment course.

Weapons

Guns in Valorant come in five tiers: S, A, B, C, D. S-tier guns are Rifles, SMGs, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, and the Light Shields. A-tier weapons are light assault rifles and the Heavy Shields. B-tier weapons are the heavy automatic rifle, light pistols, and the Light Shields. C-tier guns are handguns and the Classic Pistol. D-tiers are melee weapons such as the Tactical, the Frenzy, and the Ghost. These ratings determine how easy it is to kill an enemy.

Abilities

The abilities that agent characters possess play a huge role in the progress of the game in Valorant. Abilities consist of basic abilities that characters have from the beginning of a game, including normal guns and knives, as well as ultimate abilities that agents earn over time as they kill and assist. Ultimate abilities are far stronger than basic abilities but are not available very often. Because of this, players must be very strategic with how they use their ultimate abilities, and using them effectively can change the trajectory of the game. The amount of damage an ult can do generally ranges between 90 to 134 as in the cases of Jett (updraft), Phoenix (blaze), and Skye (seekers). The cooldown time for an ultimate corresponds to the power of the ult and the frequency of potential use. For example, it will take multiple times longer to cool down Sova’s Hunter’s Fury (points required: 7) compared to Phoenix’s Hot Hands (points required: 1).

Learn abilities, work on how to use them effectively, and gain intimate knowledge of enemy abilities when exploring how to get better at Valorant are some possible approaches. Get to know some of the higher utility agents and choose them if possible, as agents with higher utility usually have low point requirements for their ultimate abilities and will be able to use them more frequently. Agents with a large range of abilities, such as Sova, can help you understand how to respond to various situations, which will make you more versatile and well-rounded in the game.

What Are the Different Game Modes in Valorant?

There are only two game modes in Valorant as of November 2021, further simplifying this tactical shooter. Spike Rush has 4-minute rounds where the spike defuse time is shortened to 7 seconds. Besides this, Spike Rush includes special rules and ordinance randomization per match to add variety. Only 4.5 wins are needed to finish it quickly with the best-of-nine round system. The traditional Unrated or Rated mode has standard rules and no round timer. The best-of-25 system makes games longer. Unrated games still only last around 35 minutes on average.

Standard

Standard refers to the most traditional strategies in Valorant such as crossfires, peeks, trade kills, smokes, and molly spots. Crossfires are achieved by standing two (or more) teammates in advantageous spots with the goal of minimizing exposed angles, maximizing damage potential, and providing quick trade potential. Peeks – called jiggle peeks – are quick, short peeks into an angle as opposed to a full peek without showing the opposing shooter a window of opportunity to shoot at you.

Trade kills are when you or your defenders instantly take out an attacker who has killed one of your defending teammates. Smokes and molly spots refer to including some agents with smoke screens and From software’s popular map on riot mode which hosts All Random Deathmatch (ARDM) and Molle sports which is to eliminate all enemy agents within 50 rounds.

Spike Rush

Spike Rush is a less intense fast lane for learning agents and weapons operating mechanics and abilities, as well as map strategies. Spike Rush is shorter and the maps are less occupied. A match of Spike Rush typically ends faster. Playing this mode gives you an opportunity to quickly assess all agents and weapons. Icebox is the only exception among the Spike Rush maps as it has been seen that players don’t prefer playing more of the map on this mode.

Deathmatch

Deathmatch is a performance training mode for the maps in Valorant that you can queue for. And even though a single Request Like button exists in the episode 1 game section of your settings, you can change it to show up in CvC and Spike Rush as well. At the beginning of each deathmatch session, players are randomly assigned as Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. They have an unlimited number of lives and ten minutes to get as many kills as possible. The game is played on the Gun Game mode map. The player’s operative agent is reselected whenever they respawn for a new weapon.

What Are the Basic Strategies in Valorant?

The basic Valorant strategies are organizing buy phases, establishing early round map control, and holding sites with defensive rotations. According to the Psyche of an Invader episode of Valorant IGN, half of the battle starts at the agent selection screen. Understanding the weapons and economy and playing them to your advantage is critical. For example, saving econ if they know that they probably won’t be able to win this round is one of the key aspects that separates professional and non-professional players, she explained.

Map Control

Map control is something that has little to no value when all of a player’s attention is given to their own champion. By honing your map awareness, you can work on controlling the map more effectively. Map control in Valorant is essential, and cannot be stressed enough. You need to know about controlling geographic locations, the use of various agents, and learning to work as a team on map control. Hillen Clark (2021), an esports journalist at Fansided’s Daily Esports page, postulates that map control is having alternative plans to the very second. A prime example of this is if you are a player holding an angle that catches the defenders off guard and disrupts their strategies (players waiting to breach), map control becomes very essential.

Team Composition

Team composition refers to the set of agents’ unique abilities that any one team is composed of and how well those abilities complement one other. At its core, team composition helps in boosting offensive or defensive abilities based on the strengths of each of the agents in the team.

In Valorant, team composition plays a significant role in the course of a match. There are currently 16 agents, each with their unique combat and support abilities which allow for a vast number of combinations. To understand which compositions work well, start with the following easy case. Reyna, Phoenix, Yoru, Jett, and Raze are duelists with powerful attack / initiation abilities. A strong team composition could be 3 initiators (Yoru, Raze, Phoenix), 2 duelists (Jett, Reyna) tested during a match to assess the synergies between the agents. Make sure your team has at least 1 agent with smoke ability, 1 agent with flash ability, and 1 agent with healing or support abilities. Remember to combine these utilities with the good approaches you developed while playing other agents. Strengthen your weak areas with this great agent composition for Valorant. Pick your favorite agent to complement our best team compositions for Valorant.

Economy Management

Economy refers to the cost, benefits, and time associated with the creation and management of signed money. In Valorant, an individual’s economy determines what weapons, shields, and abilities an individual can or cannot buy. This in turn influences how a team should execute strategies to either engage or camp through each round.

The key to effective economy management in Valorant is planning for future purchasing power of a team all the while keeping in mind they must react to what an opposing team decides to complete. Typically the easiest way to decide is to base purchases on only what one’s team can afford, e.g. if few or no players on one’s team can buy then don’t buy yourself. If one’s team can buy but plans to save then purchasing the best and key weapons becomes of paramount importance. Since there is a balance of the tank economy that largely benefits good but not expensive weapons around pistols and abilities upgrades.

The following are tips for managing one’s economy in Valorant:

Always Ask Yourself Whether It’s a Good Buy – It’s important to question whether it’s a good purchase. If the answer is no, then wait. If the answer is yes, then buy it. Often, pro players will even sit out a round or two to make sure they have the right weapon to give them an advantage in coming rounds. Do Not Save Overall – If the rest of one’s team decides to save, stick with them and save as well. If your team decides to spend, buy the necessary weapons or equipment to give the team the best chance.

Plan for Future Purchasing Power – It is a good idea to keep some money in reserve each round so that one has purchasing power next round. If one is up against killer opponents, then sometimes a force-buy with light shields is a good idea. In fact, in such a scenario most pros do this, saving the money on being killed to buy armor for next round.

Economy Help When Pro Players Hardly Do – Professional players often do not appreciate economic aid or eco-round tactics. Opting instead to play their best. For public players out there, eco rounds can often help. This means saving on weapons in a round and making do with little to no purchase. This allows them to have more purchasing power in future rounds.

How to Improve Your Aim in Valorant?

Players can improve aim in Valorant by using the following techniques:

1. Use the Range: The firing range and Aim Trainer custom game provide a safe environment to jump into and develop your skills. The range is a user’s best friend.
2. Map your Sensitivity: Use third-party programs to map DPI and sensitivity. Hicks from Dignitas believes a lower sensitivity from 800-2400 DPI (1000-1500 DPI) can improve crosshair aiming skill.
3. Reinforce Basic Good Habits: Make sure you move only when firing light weapons like the Sheriff. Stop moving if you’re using heavier weapons such as the rifle or machine guns.
4. Learn Recoil Patterns and Build Control Skill: Shoot walls to get a good handle on the basics of recoil management. When you feel proficient, head to the firing range.
5. Use your Armor: 100, 50, 25 are the hit markers to hit someone if they are armored. Practice shooting them when they are moving around, learning to strike the right balance with decisions based on weapon choice.
6. Consider learning from the Pro: Watch youtube Aim tutorials created by pros like Tenz and ShahZam.

Practice in the Shooting Range

The shooting range in Valorant is an efficient map to practice your aim. It offers numerous settings, from the Ultimate Abilit y for every hero to stationary robots, and moving targets. It is important to spend at least 5-10 minutes daily in Valorant’s shooting range to secure a little progress whether it be practicing a new weapon or warming up before a match.

Adjust Your Sensitivity

Sensitivity in FPS games refers to how much or how little one has to move the mouse or thumbstick in order to get your character to move a certain amount. The Edpi (effective dots per inch) or cm/360 (the distance in centimeters needed to move the mouse to do a complete 360 degrees of turning) are different ways to look at sensitivity settings and there is even a different multiplier for looking in different vertical and horizontals directions beyond turning.

Riot Games notes that the default sensitivity settings in Valorant begin at 0.798 and prefer players not to touch them unless they want tighter control which requires lowering the sensitivity or the ability to look around more quickly by improving the sensitivity higher.

Shroud picks is CS:GO sens to 450 DPI and Radianite sens to 92. The best way to currently adjust is through trial and error after beginning with the base settings with the cm/360. Once a player is comfortable with the setting, they can modify it further if necessary. Shroud turned his eye-test into a reality by making sure his 90-degree turn cm was equal to his Herman Miller gaming chair’s velocity of spin.

Use Aim Training Tools

Two very popular aim training tools among the Valorant, CS:GO, and eSports communities more broadly are Kovaak 2.0 and aim lab. Both can be extremely useful as firefight trainers and can be used for working on specific mechanical skills such as flicking, tracking, and target-switching.

Aim training tools for Valorant provide VR scenarios which focus on realistic decision-making and qualitative aspects of aiming while providing consistent and rapid feedback on performance.

It may also help with overcoming the Psychological Momentum Mechanism. Arguably the hardest and most important type of aiming is the entry fragger. As an entry fragger if you have overall poor aim, you likely ruin more rounds than you win. Regardless of rank, entry fraggers should practice individually in aim trainers at least 2-3 hours per week focusing on defeating opponents in aim quality.

What Are the Best Agents for Beginners?

The best agents for beginners to ace in Valorant are agents who do not require good aiming skills such as Brimstone, Sage, Viper, Sova because they are more support agents, and Phoenix and Cypher who are easier to play due to having more simple abilities. These agents are simple to understand, have straightforward interactions, and fit into most team compositions. The best overall agents for beginners are probably Sage, Brimstone, and Viper.

Sage is particularly strong because she helps the team make up for mistakes, perfect for a new player who doesn’t know what kind of trouble teammates will get themselves into. Her abilities are also simple to understand. Brimstone’s kit is all about providing utility to his team. Viper can teach the important concept of pacing and economy of power. Begin by practicing with these agents to get better at playing and eventually ace in Valorant.

How to Communicate Effectively with Your Team?

To communicate effectively with your team in Valorant, you must be concise and use positive language at all times, especially when giving feedback. Words such as perfect and good work help keep the team’s morale up and motivate them to continue positive reinforcement. You must ping enemy locations, items that need to be picked up, or locations that need to be watched, especially when they are far out from the team’s site location to ensure everyone hears the communication. You must use the chat effectively and limit useless communications.

What Are the Common Mistakes to Avoid in Valorant?

The following are the most common mistakes to avoid:

1. Crosshair placement: To improve accuracy and headshot ability, always keep your crosshair at head height.
2. Peeking: Do not peek a corner without knowing the angles and entry points of where you are moving and what is waiting for you.
3. Gamesense: Do not ignore audio cues, as games such as Valorant depend on sound and noises to provide key help and pinpoint the location of enemies.
4. Communication: Do not ignore communication channels and call enemies, positions, movements, abilities, and health whenever needed.
5. Planting Spike: Do not carelessly plant the spike, and if you do, ensure that you help secure the site first.
6. Smoking and Flashing Randomly: Do not choose agents who can flash or smoke if you will use their abilities randomly.
7. Teabagging and Taunting: Do not teabag or taunt other players as it will disrupt your game and build up unnecessary emotions that may impact your gameplay.

What Are the Best Strategies for Each Map in Valorant?

The most successful strategy nearly all teams should employ is trying to defend the map mid when attacking. There are multiple options for access points to the enemy’s host sites and the ability to quickly change strategy is better served when they contain mid and the attackers have to used more narrow passages. Play around mid, play on mid, hold mid, and control mid are good tactics because of the multiple opponents they provide. To control mid players can play close corners to the two sides of the outer passage and the one inner corner by steel walling mid. To hold mid at least one player should be on each passage at the start.

Match strategy by map:

• Breeze: 3 A Wind, Jungle, Mid and long B presence, 2 B Beach/Lobby, 1 Mid/Tunnel, 2 A Start side split. Viper and KAYO double controller
• Bind: 4 B Hole, 2 A Defender, 2 Mider-Defenders, 3 B Controller, SAGE and BRIMSTONE or Astra, Combined Heal + resurrection or Slow Orb + Stim Pack
• Split: 2 Heaven, 2 B Zeal, 1 Mise, 2 A Defender, 1 A Attack, Phoenix and Sage healing and rez, Reyna and Omen heal and dodge. KJ/Turret = enemy attraction. Sova/Dart, Deception Ace onboard to either line-up slow execution or push exectue. Viper + Breach Control and zone the central area, secondary and ultimate pressure on any of the two sites.
• Icebox: 3 B Icicles +Storage + Mid, 1 A Rafters and Bricks, 1 Mid + Tunnels, 2 B Learners + A Clicker, 1 A Attack, Astra/Smoke YES. Raze for presence and utility all over the map. Sage Res, coupled with another controller agent Brimstone Slow, Viper Zone and Omen pres for B
• Haven: 2 C & C-Vent, 2 B Cyber and Cypher, 1 A Angle, 2 B Control, Jett/Zeld off-site opening. Nova-Vent Queue and Double Alaram-Os. Learn brush smokes and split smokes angles on B with either Viper or Omen. Sage-Kayheal uptake.

Bind Strategies

Raze is the best agent for binding on BIND. She thrives for entry-frags. Her Boom Bot can reach sites first and give player locations before exploding. Her Paint Shells knock enemies out of hiding spots and her Cluster Bombs force enemies to retreat from areas. Dispatch Raze to occupy A Short and put information on where enemy attackers might be headed and plant the Spike. The Aegis Shield defensively protects her from the enemies as she plants the Spike.

Haven Strategies

• Haven
• Name: Haven
• Type: Attacking and Defending
• Governing Body: Kingdom of Morocco
• Cost to Enter One(unverified): Free if you work as a contract killer for the Kingdom of Morocco. Otherwise, there is no cost listed on the entry sign.
• Cost to Enter Two(unverified): $40 / 30. Entrance to the boulevard is included.
• Avg. Size: 1,102 meters squared
• Restrooms: 2 for men, one for women. Both larger restrooms are unisex

In Valorant, there are three sites you can control, and all three must typically be watched. This makes attention management a critical strategy for Haven. Use a three-man stack. For B and C, only leave a well-hidden trap to listen. For A, you can rotate B if you have confidence in reading the opponent or if you discover a bomb is planted on A and there are few enemies remaining as it is too far to rotate to C.

Thanks to the zero cost area, control for defenders is easier to hold than a site in Bind for example. For defenders, always occupy split A. This prevents any quick trades from happening if the enemy decides to zerg-rush a site. If the opponent does not show their hand, slip one player over to C to scout any lurkers. It is also impossible to prevent the rotation from getting to mid from the attacker’s side.

Split Strategies

In the Split episode of Valorant, your 4-person team spawn in one of two different bases and need to work together to attack or defend the B site. When on attack, Marshall from the Twitch gaming channel Phly argues that having 2 people push through Ramen and 2 pushing through B main helps your attacking chances. This allows A-main and mid to be played in a crossfire setup making it more difficult for the defenders to reposition.

What Are the Advanced Techniques for Mastering Recoil Control in Valorant?

The advanced techniques for mastering recoil control in Valorant are the use of counter-strafing techniques, becoming aware of weapon-specific recoil patterns by practicing in the shooting range, using practice maps like Recoil Master on CS:GO, and gaining knowledge about the spray-reset pattern of the weapons.

Counter-strafing is a technique in Valorant where you flick the movement buttons in the opposite direction from where you are moving immediately before getting into a gun battle with an opponent. This method rewards your accuracy as you quickly come to a stop, which improves the accuracy of shoulder battles against your enemy as well as improves the accuracy of subsequent shots. These videos contain detailed guidance and tips on how some of the advanced methods for recoil control in Valorant work.

Understanding Spray Patterns

The key to spraying accurately in Valorant is knowing your weapon’s spray pattern. Players can practice weapon spray patterns in the shooting range or a custom game that is running the Recoil Master practice map by entering the following into the console – workshop_workbench 1075-8173-7248-8008. To understand a spray pattern, time and practice must be dedicated to feeling the gun out. Players are encouraged to run forward, or against a wall to identify what the shape of a Radianite-powered spray pattern forms on the game to see where the bullets run out of ammo. As an overly-obtuse example – reference views of a Figure A and Figure B spray pattern for the Vandal and Phantom respectively from blitz.gg

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to improve aim in Valorant?

To improve your aim in Valorant, it is important to practice consistently in the game’s training mode or in deathmatch mode. You can also try adjusting your sensitivity settings to find what works best for you.

How can I improve my game sense in Valorant?

To improve your game sense in Valorant, it is important to watch professional players and learn from their strategies and decision-making. You can also analyze your own gameplay and identify areas where you can improve.

What agents should I focus on if I want to ace in Valorant?

In order to ace in Valorant, it is important to have a good understanding of all the agents and their abilities. However, some popular agents for aces include Jett, Raze, and Phoenix, due to their strong offensive abilities.

How can I improve my communication with my team in Valorant?

Communication is key in Valorant, and to improve it, you can practice callouts and use the in-game voice chat effectively. You can also familiarize yourself with common callouts for each map to ensure clear and efficient communication with your team.

What role is best for getting aces in Valorant?

While any role can achieve an ace, fragger roles such as duelists or initiators typically have the highest potential for getting multiple kills in a short amount of time. However, it ultimately depends on your playstyle and comfort with each agent.

Are there any specific strategies or tips for getting aces in Valorant?

Some tips for getting aces in Valorant include playing aggressively, utilizing your abilities effectively, and staying aware of your surroundings. Additionally, it can be helpful to coordinate with your team and communicate your plans for a potential ace.