Master the Game: How to Play Astra in Valorant

Curious about the mysterious agent Astra in Valorant and how to master her unique abilities?

Learn everything you need to know about Astra, from her background to her playstyle.

Discover her powerful abilities, learn how to unlock her, and get valuable tips on playing her effectively.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, find strategies, common mistakes to avoid, and advanced techniques to dominate the game with Astra by your side.

Let’s dive in!

What is Valorant?

Valorant is a free-to-play first-person shooter game developed and published by Riot Games, which specializes in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games. Valorant was released for Microsoft Windows on June 2, 2020, and was introduced after about six years of development.

Valorant is a team game, where every player is a member of a 5-person squad. The gameplay follows the standard rules of an attack/defend mode with the attacking team attempting to plant a spike and the defending team trying to prevent them. At the start of a match, players will select an agent character with its own unique abilities, just like in Overwatch dueling against an enemy squad while trying to adapt or capitalize on the layout of the given map.

Who is Astra in Valorant?

Astra is a Controller agent added to Valorant in Episode 2, Act 2 during the Fourth YR of development. She is from Ghanzi, Botswana. Astra has control over vast artificial biotic functions and a deep hypnotic bond with the cosmos herself with the power to build or create structures. Astra must be able to predict the future movements of her enemies as her skills require her to be deployed before the enemy reaches the location. This requires vision as well as radiating the control to successfully use her skills. Spearhead the assault of her entire team using nebula or detonate during round beginnings from within a safe smoke cloud. Astra has the power to change the training program in a continuous, real-time way to give the best advantage to her team, rewarding predictive players with major game wins in Valorant.

What Are Astra’s Abilities?

Astra has four abilities including an Agent Abilities and two Stars:

1. Gravity Well (C): Activate to form a gravity well in Astra’s location. All Agents at the center are dragged towards the center before being crushed. Astra can reactivate the ability after 2 seconds to reverse gravity.
2. Nova Pulse (Q): Activate to throw an energy pulse with a nova effect, affecting anyone in its radius with concuss. Agents caught in the vortex effect are blind and sluggish.
3. Barrier (E): Activate to create a solid wall out of her energy. Difficult for enemies to see through, but spectacularly easy to see from her side.

How to Unlock Astra in Valorant?

To unlock Astra in Valorant, visit the Agents screen, click her featured Agent unlock card, then hit the Unlock button to purchase her unlock price of 900 Valorant Points (running a price of $7.99 USD for the minimum purchase of 1000 Valorant Points). Individual additional items such as upgrades to the Agent contract typically start at 1200 Valorant Points per level, following the same pricing scheme. See Riot Games’ Astra introduction article for other ways to unlock via the Battle Pass and how to earn her for free during the Radiant Stars event.

What is the Best Way to Play Astra in Valorant?

The best way to play Astra in Valorant differs by individual to map to team composition and is thus difficult and inaccurate to describe. There are critical concepts to be mindful of, some of which do have a tendency to remain constant. But they are rules of thumb, not absolutes, and as players grow and introduce the agent into newer playstyles and strategies, they will evolve.

For a general understanding of the best way to play Astra in Valorant, the following terms are useful to keep in mind:

• Controller Agent: Astra is a take/deny agent who denies a zone for the enemy and helps her own team take an area.
• Anchor Agent: Astra can be an anchor agent by leaving one of her Stellarite Stars at a bombsite to delay the enemy on a methodical retake.
• Initiating Agent: Astra is a very strong agent in initiating a push for her team. She can utilize her Suck (Gravity Well), Suck (Nebula/Dissipate), Divide (Prism), and Nova Pulse Involve to prevent enemy pushes and give her team the upper hand by assisting them to push forward. She can send her Astral Form to scope the map and call out enemy movements.

Understand Her Abilities

Astra’s abilities consist of Nocturne, Gravity Well, Nova Pulse, and AWP (Cosmic Devide). Nocturne allows her to switch between different global star maps. Gravity Well uses awp or deagle slot and creates a black hole that gradually pulls targets into the center, suspending them inside and applying fragile status. When activated a second time it explodes pulling everyone with 5 meters around the hole inward. Nova Pulse uses the deagle or sheriff slot and launches a star pulse in a straight line that briefly concusses anyone in its range. Her cosmic divide allows her to use the ult orb to place a minimap anywhere on the map. This star map can then be divided to create a large curtain on the map that blocks vision and sounds, except through the curtain.

Communicate with Your Team

To get the most out of using Astra, be sure to communicate with your team. Optimal use of gravity well and nebula smoke orbs require getting the orbs into play as early as possible during the round. This is often best achieved via the assistance of a teammate. If a teammate picks up the SINGULARITY ability, request their assistance to ensure that the orb gets deployed as early as possible. She plays more of a CSGO style of play where the team is perfectly utilized rather than a typical FPS game where random-ish gameplay and just getting frags is the main objective.

Use Her Ultimate Wisely

Astra’s ultimate is Galactic Devourer, which is a very rare and potent tool that allows her to pull her astral form across the map and create a giant purple singularity that hovers over her map where she first left her body. The singularity is like a Vortex Orb that damages and pulls figures inside of it, stopping them from doing much else except securing cover.

The singularity is a great part of Galactic Devourer, but the ultimate also gives Astra some very significant abilities. She can blow up the singularity at any point to cause grey damage over time to anybody within or standing closely outside of it. This is a potent ability that can be used to quickly damage or even outright kill enemies standing inside the singularity, or to hurt those who are waiting and trying not to get hit by it but are within its radius of grey damage. Astra can also snap back at any time to some other location within her now marked body where she can help her team.

Ultimate orbs appear at the start of every round and should be used to great effect either defensively or offensively. Use them offensively to break an entire enemy push. They will have to slow down after a good Astra throws Galactic Devourer into them, leaving them defenseless and making them easy targets for allies or placed near an attacking spike to either hold a position or dispatch the defender trying to defuse it. Astra can throw and load them into the walls close to points on various maps where sightlines are clear, to help her team clear inroads and subject enemies to damage and debuffs.

Coordinate with Other Agents

If you and a handful of teammates are positioned together (in a site where an objective will occur, for example), the Nebula smoke wall and Pulse Star both become much more effective. Every player using Astra can drop a Star that would enable the whole team to cover a wider range of the site during a push. Additionally, they can provide a larger pattern of control as they cover all available corners.

What Are Some Tips for Playing Astra in Valorant?

Consider using Gravity Well to clear omens at back sites. Breakable walls can be used to attach stars and have unusual tricks to clear areas. Utilize quantity and zombies’ pinging. Astra is effective at assisting allies when she is off the passive play and on the aggressive play. Gas, smoke, or any other Astra zap not only causes damage but also provides information on the location of one’s enemies to the whole team. Avoid using Astral Stun while your team is rushing on two sites. It will only obstruct your line of sight. Van Guard recommends holding onto them when defending during a round and then using them early next round which may sabotage enemies to change their attack plan.

Use Her Gravity Well to Control Map Areas

Astra’s Gravity Well can be used to control heavily forward pushed sites where enemies might have aggressive positioning or quickly retake control. It’s powerful to use the Gravity Well behind corners gains and in front of tight choke points as the primary defense mechanism for a site. The device lasts a long time, and entrances will frequently clear if enemies refuse to wade into the singularity.

When utilizing Gravity Well for control, try to place it near a possible rush angle or behind a wall, making it harder for enemies to navigate around. Furthermore, pay attention to sound because enemies are likely to speak about the effects of Astra’s Gravity Well.

Use Her Nova Pulse to Gather Intel

What makes Astra unique is that she can determine the course of action her team takes before heading in any direction with her Nova Pulse. This large control projectile can bounce off walls and releases a concussive hit in a 15-meter area that slows, blinds. and deafens opponents as long as they are in its range. At 200 credits, three-second effectiveness, and 12-second cooldown, this ability can give the user or her teammates the opportunity to push forward into an exposed area. If nobody is there, they can patiently wait for a Radianite Star or pick up orbs while opponents rotate away. Even if there are opponents in the area, attacking with the full team can sometimes be strategically advantageous. To get the best value from this, Nova Pulses can be thrown ahead of the team into popular entryways or slow-roating parts of a map. This ensures that there are opponents nearby to be affected.

Use Her Nebula to Create Safe Passage for Your Team

Astra’s Nebula is useful in creating areas of temporary invisibility. This is very useful when your team is trying to pass through choke points that have common sniper lines of sight. Stand in the middle of the Nebula, and use the Orb to form a wall along one half of the choke point. Your team can pass through this safely to the other side without being seen. Run to the end of the Nebula when it expires, and throw out a new one to preserve the safe exit for your team.

This strategy applies in the opposite direction when you use a Nebula to block vision instead of creating it. In these cases you should always make sure that you leave space for your team to operate on the side of the account where you are not blocking vision. This is not as essential if you are creating vision – in these cases, the wall provides more than enough protection for your team.

So, create temporary safe zones as Astra with Nebula, just as you would provide zone control with Vyper.

What Are Some Common Mistakes When Playing Astra in Valorant?

• Using the Gravity Well and Nebula Smoke interchangeably.
• Using the Gravity Well or Nebula Smoke late in a round.
• Long reload time between Stars placements.
• Placing too many Nova Pulses on stars. Discussing use by team layout is best.
• Ignoring stealthy shots by playing aggressively only.
• Vague communication when using Crowd Control. Astra’s team members need to know what she is planning and where she will be most effective.
• Relying on basic zero tactical Astra movement (she is a support agent with high ID requirement due to Star placements).
• Not using Stars or Stellar Divide as support offensive operators.

Misusing Her Abilities

Misusing an agent’s abilities occurs when they are improperly or recklessly utilized. Astra’s abilities are all map-wide and last for a duration, so the damage done by misusing her abilities is usually limited to man-hour loss and intangible influence on round outcome like hurting team morale.

Here are the main ways to misuse Astra’s abilities:

Activate when unaware of the enemy’s presence: Since Astra’s abilities are all map-wide, if the team attempts to activate them when unaware of the enemy’s location, the defense could be rendered useless by timidity or a counter ability by the enemy team. Make sure to aid teammates’s pushes instead of expecting an enemy flank, even if they PCS a lot.

Activate when teammates are unprepared to assist: Blindly helping teammates push a site during an eco round can be important, but it is essential to ensure that everyone on the team is aware that Astra is activating abilities so that they are ready to support the push. Surprising your teammates by using one of Astra’s abilities can often end up hurting them.

Not Communicating with Teammates

Not communicating with your teammates is a bad practice regardless of the playable agent in Valorant. Even if you are playing with random teammates who you do not know and who do not have microphones, using the in-game ping system is still a good idea. If you are not communicating with your teammates while playing Astra it is difficult to foresee their needs and plan your plays around their actions. Good communication will greatly increase the effectiveness of your abilities and team strategy.

Not Adapting to Different Maps and Situations

There are several ways for changing styles on different sites, but the most common factor is regarding a more collective or an individually tailored site. Huimeng from Flawless Valorant Strategies YouTube’s Channel explains that operators in mid and away areas often favour Astra’s collective styling. Personalized styling is often used for teleporting points by placing one cosmic ability (usually passport) on all three positions while mixing up which of her controlled abilities is left behind.

What Are Some Advanced Strategies for Playing Astra in Valorant?

These are some advanced strategies for playing Astra in Valorant:

1. Cybercaging for advanced stealth flanking
2. Map-wide deactivation of Viper poison orb with multiple Nova Pulses
3. Advanced smoke trajectories for cybercaging to prevent catwalks, garage, mid of venues (out of telegraph stance path usage) door entries and more

Establishing early control of multiple sites before the plant, moving to the next site with the plant as opposition plays rooms not yet cleared, are characteristic of good Astra play. It is also possible to innovate. ‘The Orbist Artifact’ run from TheOhNoSeries on this list innovatively listed what he claimed is every two-orb possibilities on the map, mentioning fascinatingly that the teleport device allows for new possibilities of flanking, similar to how defensive-side Omen agents could flank their opponents. Using quotes around ‘The Orbist Artifact’ because that is not an official or universally recognized name for the six-point star orb formation, just to clarify. Adjust tactics such as how long to wait in one place to the particular mix of A and B sites in a new map.

Combo Her Abilities with Other Agents

In Valorant, Astra’s abilities can be combined with those of other agents for inside or outside the Battlefield area on Rift, the Breeze map, or any other map. She is particularly effective with agent Sova. Astra can send her Nebula Stars before and after Sova utilizes his Recon Drone to help provide safe passage for him to launch his drone.

Astra’s hidden Nebula Stars can be used as an excellent way to blind enemies after Sova’s drone locates them. In a different topology with increased obstructions, positioning her Gravity Well smartly before and after his usage of the drone can prevent his drone from being shot at while collecting vision and enemy location data. Astra also has great synergies with Phoenix, Omen, and Jett.

Use Her Ultimate to Deny Planting or Defusing

Astra’s ultimate Cosmic Divide creates a massive wall that blocks enemy vision in both directions and also blocks bullets. While it is normally used at the start of a round to divide a map or area to help teammates, it is also incredibly useful to be used for denying a plant or to give your team extra time for a defuse. When these situations present themselves, keep an extra point in reserve and have plenty of Ultimate Orbs to be able to quickly purchase the ultimate skill charge at the beginning of the round.

Use Her Abilities to Set Up Ambushes

As her abilities are normally used to catch an ambush, Astra can find ways to place her utility across the map to help her team do the same. Using deploy smoke and a black hole, there are some ways to use this ability to set up an ambush.

1. Deploy Smoke
   • The skill of the deploy function is the most important part when creating an ambush or strike location with Deploy Smoke. If you wish to block an area from vision, place the Nova Pulse itself in the area to clear and then pull out Deploy Smoke. It will instantly blind any enemies attempting to enter the area.
   • This is a great way to assist a rush onto a site, as enemies who approach the entry point will be disoriented. As you can see in Figure 10 below, enemies that approach Astra’s Deploy Smoke entrance are completely blinded, giving an excellent advantage to teammates that are trying to push a location as enemies are extremely vulnerable as they enter.
2. Usage of Black Hole
   • The Black Hole is Astra’s best weapon for Savage surprises as it momentarily distracts and blinds any caught in its area before quickly eliminating them. Make certain that your teammates are aware when you are placing the Black Hole. Notify your teammates a moment in advance when you are sure this is your strike point. Make sure no teammates are within the opposing team’s area of effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Play Astra in Valorant?

What is Astra’s role in Valorant?
Astra is a controller agent in Valorant, meaning she specializes in manipulating the battlefield and providing support to her team.

How to Play Astra in Valorant?

What abilities does Astra have?
Astra has three main abilities – Gravity Well, Nova Pulse, and Nebula. Her ultimate ability is called Astral Form.

How to Play Astra in Valorant?

How do I use Astra’s abilities effectively?
Astra’s abilities require careful placement and timing. For example, her Gravity Well can be used to trap enemies, while her Nova Pulse can be used to reveal their locations.

How to Play Astra in Valorant?

What strategies work well with Astra?
Astra works well in a team composition that focuses on controlling and denying areas of the map. Her abilities can also be used to set up team plays and surprise enemies.

How to Play Astra in Valorant?

What are some tips for mastering Astra?
One tip for mastering Astra is to familiarize yourself with the maps and find creative ways to use her abilities in different situations. It’s also important to communicate with your team and coordinate your abilities.

How to Play Astra in Valorant?

Is Astra a difficult agent to play?
Astra requires a bit more practice and coordination compared to other agents in Valorant. However, with some patience and strategic thinking, she can be a valuable asset to any team.