Mastering Soundboard Techniques in Valorant: A Comprehensive Guide

Curious about soundboarding in Valorant? Wondering why it’s crucial for your gameplay?

This article will dive into the ins and outs of utilizing sound cues to your advantage in Valorant. Understanding different in-game sounds and communicating effectively with your team will be covered.

We’ll also explore the benefits of soundboarding, common mistakes to avoid, and how to level up your skills through practice.

If you’re looking to enhance your gameplay in Valorant, keep reading to learn more!

What is Soundboarding in Valorant?

Soundboarding in Valorant involves utilizing audio recording and playing devices to manipulate personal voice chat and in-game sounds to disrupt matches. Valorant soundboarding is helpful in defeating an opposing team competing for the audio attention of legally sharing audio channels. When other players on your team can not speak in voice chat, soundboarding is often used as a form of voice trolling.

Soundboarding refers to a subculture prevalent in online games such as Valorant. This group uses software such as Clownfish for voice manipulation, Soundpad for audio file access on the taskbar, or advanced sound card manipulation software. In-Game soundboard trolls use VOIP or voice over internet protocol systems instead of gaming channels. They record and play audio snippets related to the game they encounter in their daily gaming across all genres. The ultimate goal of an in-game soundboard troll is to aggravate players on the opposing team. Though humor is often the intention, it usually results in teammates becoming frustrated – thus reducing the soundboard user’s chances of winning the match and ultimately ranking up.

Why is Soundboarding Important in Valorant?

Soundboarding is important in Valorant because the game’s tight tactical gameplay with small teams of 5v5 in small maps that are optimized for sound and provide information on footsteps and other sounds, places a premium discerning sound strategy. Soundboarding lets the average player get better and have a more satisfying experience regardless of level. Proper use of a Valorant soundboard not only makes it easier for the player to make shot calls, get information, but can reduce the time needed to develop an instinct or metronomic pattern that is natural for high FPS play. A feeling, while giving the player an idea of what is happening when they don’t directly witness it.

Because the game has a sound system optimized for headphones and the sound system transfers important sound information between the player directly and other players, the removal of these intermediary sounds carry a significant strategic advantage.

This instructional video highlights the importance of sound in Valorant, and the many elements of the game on which it impacts.

How to Use Soundboard in Valorant?

You can use a soundboard in Valorant to play any combination of 8 sets of up to 8 sounds, but you must first select them from outside the game. You must first record the audio clips of the sounds using any recording software. Then you assign hotkeys to get to the Soundpad in Windows. By default, the key combination you press to start using it is CTRL + ENTER. They can be sounds of any sort, in any of the 8 sets but must be in OGG or WAV sound file format in the Soundpad software. In the description of the sound file, set numbers and hotkeys that will trigger them once you get into the game of Valorant can be included. Once you have selected your files and hotkeys, you will be at the playback step in Valorant.

Understanding the Different Sounds in Valorant

Every unique agent and object has different sounds in Valorant. The most common sounds in Valorant include footstep noises, reloading sounds, firing, crouching, bomb planting, bomb defusal, and agent-specific abilities.

Half-Brit at Slide Advantage Ltd states that all agents have unique quiet and noisy sounds for different actions and equipment have sounds that include metal rattling and clicks based on what the player is doing. Study the sounds of each agent and different equipment and understand their context. This is the most important approach to sound boarding.

Utilizing the Mini-map

The second technique for how to soundboard in Valorant is utilizing the mini-map. Even though there is no radio-style voice chat for talking about the mini-map, active sound usage in conjunction with scanning it periodically can help to determine the enemies’ position in advance, whether they are rushing a site, or the location of your SU teammates before you start pushing a site so you can adapt on the fly.

Communicating with Teammates

Another reason soundboarding in Valoran t is helpful is because it provides a casual way to communicate with your randomized team during a match, saving one-click radio commands and/or chat for only important messages. Once in a blue moon, someone on your team who would be so easily offended that even using this system to inform them they are muted will be the trigger they were waiting for. But those people are on the decline, as are the half-human, half-machine lifeform referred to as cyborgs opposite to half biological, half mechanical lifeforms like the Borgs from Star Trek. Only one of those groups of people play video games, and moving on will be best for the fun of the team and therefore for your own success in the match.

What are the Benefits of Soundboarding in Valorant?

The benefits of soundboarding in Valorant are to inform you and your team of important events and occurrences happening outside your own field of vision in the game. On this note, the most important application of soundboarding is for locating enemies so that your team can prepare and not be surprised, establish positioning and when to rotate, in order to facilitate strategies and planning, create distractions in order for your team to have a flanking advantage, and capitalize on errors opponents make which can give your team a significant advantage.

Some secondary uses are to help with econ management, to indicate strengths and weaknesses of the attacking and defending teams, and help with advanced utility management. During the first half of the Sentry’s Snipe, there was a gunshot which Aphromoo heard at C from their spawn at A. Cloud9 capitalized on the info and began a slow rotate through B. Yoru then Nightmare flanked towards B doors and found no one. C9 was then able to complete their rotate through A, making it a full B site stack. Allowing 100 Thieves onto the site, but they held them perfectly and allowed no plants to occur. MonteCristo put it well when he said that this is what they wanted in the last map, American teams to play with discipline and maturity for the years to come, and they’re seeing it right now.

Improved Communication and Coordination

Communication and Coordination have always been important aspects in achieving victory in competitive games, especially team-based ones. Coordination between teammates with different roles becomes vital in the case of games like Valorant and CS:GO, where strategies are an important competitive element. Not being able to communicate properly inevitably results in a negative impact on the team, leading to losses. Losses can be avoided and achievements magnified by coordinating properly. This commonly includes specifying key points to be cleared, gun/armor purchases, and rotations among teammates quickly rather than typing out long messages. Soundboard usage eliminates the time lapse required for typing messages and thus allows for quicker coordination of strategies. Soundboards are definitely a way to improve gameplay because they minimize time consumption by providing quickness and preciseness to communication.

Better Map Awareness

Maps in Valorant are built for one particular agent, Sova. Whether a player mains Sova or not, this highlights the need for the methodological collection of intelligence about each map. For example, as an attacking player, knowing where defenders sit/hide reduces the element of surprise.

Map awareness shows up in Michau Scigaj’s gameplay as Breach. Much like other duelist agents, Breach is a close-quarters fighter but has a skill set that does freaking everything. Watching one of his games on Icebox, you can see how intimately aware he is of every corner, every wall, every space on the map.

Advancing from B to A, he quickly moves to provide support to his team during a firefight, perfectly flanks opponents, is watched by teammate Wattson, and he lets out this line: It’s possible they go back to A. This is exactly the blend of strategic awareness and callout assertion spectators and listeners should aim to hear from any team, as it plays an important role, reducing the element of surprise from the opponents.

Increased Tactical Advantage

About the most beneficial reasons for using SoundSis are increasing tactical advantage for the team. In simple terms, this means focusing on how to gain a position of strength in relation to your opponent. As the English writer John Aubrey (1659) noted, Knowledge is power. If you have a better tactical understanding of where the enemy is, then you have more power than the opponent, and can make a more informed decision with this knowledge.

What are the Common Mistakes in Soundboarding in Valorant?

The most common mistakes in soundboarding in Valorant fall into three categories, including Physical Movement Mistakes, Over-Reactions and Game Reading Mistakes, and Lack of Communication. Be aware of not doing any of the behaviors mentioned in these mistakes and persist in soundboarding with mental or verbal thought processes to notice possible game-sound mistakes early.

Over-reliance on Sound

Over-reliance on sound is a term used to describe a situation where a player makes their strategies based on the enemy’s movements, thereby allowing the enemy to make the first move. If one relies solely on listening and never adapts, this could lead to difficulty retaliating if the enemy is successfully distracting, causing adjustments to be made post-enemy push.

In the case of Valorant, while sounds can provide an approximate estimation of enemy movements, they should not be used as the sole means of knowing the enemy position. In conclusion, to further improve your play, strive for a balance. Using sound as your primary tool for ascertaining the disposition/positioning of enemies can be damaging once they become unusual targets and provide misinformation. Quickly check how your teammates are performing and depending on their performance, adjust your play.

Lack of Communication

There are many reasons that a player might not be able to communicate or participate to their full ability on Valorant voice chat. This includes not having the time to maneuver to the tactically best location to play Valorant voice chat as a central part of the game (stop and stand completely still at least once a round while speaking); not being a proficient English speaker or not knowing their microphone is already working; talking with someone who is not a team member otherwise known as an auditory intruder; or arbitrarily choosing to honor the C on a C&D team.

If someone cannot communicate on Valorant voicechat, the most effective way to communicate is via pings and chat. Pings are the most important method of communication in such as new games like Valorant as they are universally understood by the game’s key regions. Ping-based and chat-based communication functions not only as a single player utility but also in a team utility due to positioning information that the team member received will likely be shared.

Not Understanding Enemy Sounds

ARESTIC explains that at around 2 minutes, 1 minute, 50 seconds, 30 minutes, and 10 seconds remaining, enemy running users cannot stop. If they do not, there is a 75% to 85% chance they are not the ones with the spiky metal shoes. Upon hearing jumping, he moves to mid doors on A site to Scope mid doors B with his Operator. Realizing an enemy jumps from Health and Vision, ardiis scopes mid doors then moves to double-doors where he also hears the jumping, heads into mid bay, and easily makes the pick on a jumping enemy. On FBX vs NiP Haven-Main VCT 2021, ardiis even hears the perfect spot of the double-doors jump walking back from B, finishing the game with a staggering 3 kills in quick succession. WBALZ points out that on Split, you need to pretend you don’t hear the spike drop to give the illusion that it isn’t on B site.

How to Practice Soundboarding in Valorant?

You practice soundboarding in Valorant by following these 5 steps:

• Grasp the Basics: Make sure you know the unique sound properties of each map and the key sound-generating actions of each agent. A number of radar configurations are available online to help you get started.
• Listen: Spend time playing with no music so you get used to listening for footsteps, reloading, shots, and agent-specific abilities.
• Memorize sound signatures: Train yourself to recognize specific gunshots and footsteps.
• Soundboard regularly: During gameplay, switch regularly between audio and visual appraisal of the map to gauge how accurate your soundboarding is.
• Reflect and Study: Post-game reflection and studying is invaluable in developing a proper soundboarding strategy. Study how professional or high-ranking streamers soundboard, as broadcasting platforms can provide endless opportunities to learn from their gameplay experience without having to put yourself on the line.

Soundboarding requires practice in order to become competent. One cannot expect to know everything without experience playing the game or watching streams of those who do. So with just a little practice, you too can rapidly become a soundboarding expert, gaining an edge over opponents in each game of Valorant.

Finally, there is no surefire way to microphone downwards or to find yourself soundboarding properly. You must put in the time on the backend via practice, analysis, and studying from those who can add to your repository of learned material.

Playing with a Full Team

You will group with a full team by friending players on steam. To enroll in a crew, follow this simple two-step process:

1. Find a person for your team. To locate team members, go to community hubs and look for potentially suitable players. You will simply be able to obtain volunteers in public chats, social network databases, and even forums frequented by computer game enthusiasts.
2. Recruit a crew. Click on the ‘Add a Friend’ option by tapping [Shift+ F1] at any moment. You can then search for members by username. You must be patient and friendly since it’s likely that not everyone you meet will be willing to work in a team.

Using Custom Games

Another way to soundboard in Valorant is by using Custom Games. This way does not take much time to set up and is ideal for all those choices and utility decisions that must be made quickly within legitimate practice games before a match or tournament.

To use soundboard technology and do some early tactical preparation, all you need to do is find a player(s) who can help create proper conditions in a game such as disabling other players and being able to spawn utility probabilities much more frequently than in a regular Deathmatch. Anything a player wants to know before a game that requires soundboard technology beyond the aim and use of utility is possible, whether it is general sound areas or more precise information with optic preferences. The soundboard display pop-up is useful for pre-game analysis but can also provide possibilities for player development due to high active practice usage. Because it is not an actual match taking up most of the player’s time, the soundboard usage in Custom Games is ideal for players to explore utility secrets and preferences without pressure and undertaking realistic tactical discussions and analysis for the best upcoming match performance.

Custom games can be set up by selecting Custom Game from the game selection screen and then modifying the game according to the preferences of the player. Within the Custom Game there are values that players should keep in mind to get the most utility pop-ups within the soundboard. While any value can be ideal enhancement, the important aspects to remember for the probability of utility generation are that one agent must remain immortal, use no caps on used inputs, set the end time to infinite, saver account values of at least 3900 to ensure maximum utility purchases, and few or no opponents and teammates.

Watching Pro Players

Watching professional players in Valorant is an optimal way to learn the best ways of behaving and communicating with a team. There are thousands of professional players who stream games but pros like 100 Thieves Hiko, TSM’s Wardell, or Cloud 9’s Tenz are great examples to watch when learning team communication.

Because C9 have several players streaming, it is possible to follow multiple streams from different locations in the game and listen to how they are using their soundboard commands. One of the best reasons to watch the professionals is to understand and categorize when pros are using different strategies as information, motivation/coaching, or disciplining teammates.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Soundboard in Valorant?

1. What is a soundboard in Valorant?
A soundboard in Valorant is a tool that allows players to play pre-recorded audio clips during a game to communicate with their team or taunt opponents.

How do I access the soundboard in Valorant?

2. To access the soundboard in Valorant, you can either click on the “Soundboard” button on the main menu or use the hotkey “Ctrl + B” while in a game.

Can I customize my soundboard in Valorant?

3. Yes, you can customize your soundboard in Valorant by adding your own audio clips or selecting from the pre-loaded ones provided by the game.

Are there any restrictions on using the soundboard in Valorant?

4. While using the soundboard in Valorant, players must adhere to the game’s code of conduct and refrain from using offensive or inappropriate audio clips.

Can I use the soundboard in competitive matches?

5. It is not recommended to use the soundboard in competitive matches as it may distract or annoy other players and could result in penalties or disciplinary action from the game developers.

Is the soundboard available on all platforms?

6. Yes, the soundboard feature is available on all platforms where Valorant can be played, including PC and consoles. However, some console versions may have limited soundboard options compared to PC.