How to play Astra in Valorant: Abilities, tips & tricks
Riot Games, DexertoAs Valorant‘s fourth Controller, Astra may look beautiful but her abilities aren’t for the faint of heart. Here’s a Valorant Astra guide that will provide you with all the knowledge you need to play her effectively.
Valorant’s Controller pool has been pretty limited for some time, but with the game’s introduction of Astra, the Ghanian Agent that bends the cosmos to her whim, Controller mains everywhere are rejoicing.
There’s no Agent quite like her, however, and her abilities look pretty complex at first glance. If you love tactical thinking, then Astra is definitely the one for you. Here are our top tips and tricks that will help you tame the space shattering character.
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Riot GamesValorant Astra: abilities
While Astra’s kit looks baffling at first, it just takes a bit of getting used to. Her kit is entirely selfless, and is focused on setting traps to ensnare enemies rather than one-shot them. Her stars are the perfect tools for concussing and slowing enemies, or misdirecting with her Signature Nebula smokes.
- Ability 1 – Gravity Well (25s cooldown): Place Stars in Astral Form (X). ACTIVATE a Star to form a Gravity Well. Players in the area are pulled toward the center before it explodes, making all players still trapped inside fragile.
- Ability 2 – Nova Pulse (25s cooldown): Place Stars in Astral Form (X). ACTIVATE a Star to detonate a Nova Pulse. The Nova Pulse charges briefly then strikes, concussing all players in its area.
- Ability 3 – Nebula/Dissipate (1 free, 150 Creds, 15s cooldown after Dissipate): Place Stars in Astral Form (X). ACTIVATE a Star to transform it into a Nebula (smoke). Use (F) on a Star to Dissipate it, returning the star to be placed in a new location after a delay. Dissipate briefly forms a fake Nebula at the Star’s location before returning.
- Signature Ability – Astral Form (150 Creds): ACTIVATE to enter Astral Form where you can place Stars with PRIMARY FIRE. Stars can be reactivated later, transforming them into a Nova Pulse, Nebula, or Gravity Well.
- Ultimate Ability – Cosmic Divide (7 points): When Cosmic Divide is charged, use SECONDARY FIRE in Astral Form to begin aiming it, then PRIMARY FIRE to select two locations. An infinite Cosmic Divide connects the two points you select. Cosmic Divide blocks bullets and heavily dampens audio.
Unlike her contemporaries, Astra appears at first glance to have six different abilities. In reality, this isn’t the case. The first part of her Ultimate Ability (Astral Form) brings up a space-themed view of the map and allows her to plot where her stars will go. If you make a mistake, Dissipate is used to remove the star.
The more impactful abilities are her Gravity Well, Nova Pulse and Nebula, with her Cosmic Divide being the most powerful of them all. With the ability to carve the map up however she wants it, Astra’s ult is quite the powerhouse.
How to play Astra
Riot GamesAs aforementioned, Astra’s place within the Future Earth meta is ensuring that her team can use her array of tricks to their advantage. From the backline she’s in charge of cutting off important routes and creating the prime opportunity for her allies to strike.
The most effective way to do this is to utilize her Gravity Well. Dropping it at an important chokepoint will haul enemies into one place and let you line them up to knock down one-by-one. Both A Tower and Mid Window on Haven are prime examples of this.
It’s her ult that’s the real game changer though. Able to slice off sections of the map, it deflects bullets to keep allies safe while planting or defusing, and also muffles sound. If you’re on the opposing side and are forced to walk through the radiant violet wall, you’re truly risking everything.
- Read More: Riot eyeing Skye & Astra changes
Astra has her pitfalls though. Importantly, when accessing her Astral Form she remains seated in one place with no vision of the enemy, making her an easy target. Make sure that you either have a communicative team or find a safe spot to drop your stars from, otherwise, you’re a sitting duck (quite literally).
Additionally, she deals very little damage. If you don’t have a quick trigger finger, you may feel like you’re achieving nothing on the battlefield. Patience is key, but if that doesn’t suit your play style it can take quite a bit of getting used to.
So that’s how to play as Astra in Valorant. Looking for more Valorant guides? Here’s how to play all of Future Earth’s heroes:
Astra | Breach | Brimstone | Chamber | Cypher | Jett | KAY/O | Killjoy | Neon | Omen | Phoenix | Raze | Reyna | Sage | Skye | Sova | Viper | Yoru