Common mistakes every Valorant player should avoid

Valorant is first and foremost a game of skill, but there are a few common mistakes most players fall into during matches without even realizing it. Not to worry though, as the internet has once again provided a solution.

Riot’s new tactical FPS game seems to be getting more and more popular by the day, so much so that it’s could be the main competition for CSGO, according to some.

This popularity is helped by the fact that Valorant has a large and loyal player base, many of whom have been grinding it out since grabbing a key in the closed beta days.

Though the game certainly has come a long way since then, there are a few key mistakes that a lot of players continue to make – according to Valorant YouTuber Dragonmar.

On Reddit, Dragonmar laid out four of the most typical mistakes they’ve seen from reviewing Gold-rank gameplay VODs. Gold is a nice middle of the road as far as Valorant Ranks go, so even if it’s not where you’re at right now, you still might learn something:

1. Wide-Swings
2. Playing too passive on Post-Plant
3. Forcing too often and giving up on Eco Rounds
4. Overcommitting on Attack (Not Rotating)

The first mistake is players exposing too much of their character when looking around an angle, what’s called “wide-swings.” This can be fine in certain situations, but most of they time aggressively peeking exposes too much of their agent’s hitbox, making for easy pickings.

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“Fixing this is pretty simple. You’ll need to focus on jiggle peeks, and peeks that only engage one position at a time,” the YouTuber wrote. “You can do this by staying tight with your aim and your movement. The second you expose yourself to the right side of short, you’ve failed.”

Playing too passive after the spike has been planted is exactly what it sounds like. That doesn’t mean you should go charging in guns a blazing though, but instead look at where your teammates are posted up and look to snag some trades.

“Winning post-plant is all about trades,” the Reddit post explains.”You should always be looking for opportunities to where if your teammate peeks you can quickly follow it up. Don’t play passive in a position where nobody else is watching the entrance to site.”

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Next up, “forcing” is is when you buy low tier, armor, and utility to try to give yourself the best chance at winning the next round, instead of saving to buy full in the next.

“Stop forcing so much. Start saving. Buy a shorty. Change your mindset!” suggested Dragonmar.

Finally, to avoid overcommitting during attack, it’s important to not get stuck dying for an area you’ve spent a lot of resources on if things aren’t necessarily working out.

“I’m sorry you’ve used three smokes on B, but we just saw 4 players on that site, let’s sprint to the other now. Don’t get TOO attached to what you use, and start thinking MORE about where the enemy is not.”

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Like we mentioned, if any of these missteps sound at all familiar, it might be worth taking a look at the full post on Reddit and the video included in this story if you want every single last detail.