Valorant change to the Tactical Knife would let players deny ult charges

Pulling out the Tactical Knife for a kill in Valorant has very little reward for the potential risk it poses, but issuing a small penalty for the humiliating death would add some value to the attempt.

Even with the extra Creds a knife kill awards, some players would rather pull out a pistol than sneak up for a would-be melee elimination. However, redditor ‘Novamosaqui’ thought of an alternate prize for making use of the knife’s lethality – at the cost of the victim’s Orbs.

“Make knife kills deny ult charge,” Novamosaqui suggested. “This way, you get a tangible but not game-breaking tactical reward for knifing people. Also, it just feels right.”

They don’t mention any change to the amount of cash a knife kill gives players. With the additional effect it has on the opponent, takedowns with knives would start to give strategic advantages teams can bank on.

Players are getting used to adding which Agent is holding what site when they make a callout to relay information.

Many players agreed with the idea, noting that this form of punishment is more aligned with the important elements in Valorant.

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Pulling up the score screen to see which opponents are close to having their ultimates, and then making a one-off strat to deny them, could add an interesting layer to Valorant’s combat.

That kind of targeting might not be something the Valorant developers would be keen to include in their game, since the glory of a knife kill should suffice.

“Hmm… While I do love the idea of providing a reward for knife kills (since they’re WAY harder to obtain), do you think it’s fair to equate rewarding one person with penalizing another?” Insights & Strategy developer at Riot Games Chelsea ‘aeneia’ said.

The dev noted that not everyone might enjoy the give-and-take approach, in that getting knifed would give an Orb to the killer while taking an Orb from the victim.

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“I feel rewarded by not only humiliating, but debilitating another player’ doesn’t seem like it would translate for everybody,” she added.

Having the knife out is the quickest way of getting around the map, and for the time being it seems like that will be it’s only benefit it offers other than the extra money per kill.