Valorant first impressions and overview with former CSGO pro Maniac
The Valorant closed beta launches on April 7, meaning players will finally have a chance to get hands-on with Riot Games’ highly anticipated FPS.
Some fortunate players have already had some time playing the game, however, and Dexerto has teamed up with former CS:GO pro Mathieu ‘Maniac’ Quiquerez to bring you insight into the game and help you hit the ground running.
Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know to get you started with Valorant.
Riot GamesWhat is Valorant?
Valorant is a tactical FPS featuring round-based, 5v5 gameplay. Much like CSGO, teams will play as attacking and defending sides, with the attacking team looking to plant the “spike” at one of the target sites, and the defenders attempting to stop them from doing so, or defuse the spike if it’s been planted.
It’s a very familiar game mode to anyone who has played Counter-Strike or Call of Duty’s Search and Destroy, with each player having one life per round. In Valorant, the winning team is the first to hit 13 rounds.
How do agents work in Valorant?
Each player must pick a unique character, known as agents. There are currently nine Agents in the beta version of the game, and there can be no duplicates on a team. Unlike League of Legends, however, where there can only be a single version of each champion in any game, both teams can use the same agents.
- Read more: How to play the Valorant closed beta
Each agent has access to four unique abilities – two regular abilities, one “signature” ability, and one powerful ultimate ability. The regular and signature abilities must be purchased each round using the in-game currency, while ults charge up throughout the game.
Riot GamesValorant weapons and economy
Taking another leaf from CS:GO’s book, Valorant uses an economy system, with players having a certain amount of ‘Creds’ to spend each round on abilities and weapons. Players can earn Creds for securing kills, and also an amount depending on the outcome of each round.
Different weapons have varying handling and damage characteristics, and with a fairly high level of recoil in most cases once you start spraying it will definitely take some practice to learn how to remain accurate beyond the first few bullets. In most cases, players are going to be rewarded for high precision, aiming for quick headshots and short bursts over full-on sprays.
Dexerto’s Take: Information is key
From his hands-on experience with the game, Maniac highlights that information is one of the most important elements of Valorant. With maps featuring three sites as opposed to CSGO’s two, it’s perhaps even more important for both teams to try to figure out exactly where enemies are and where they’re headed, so they can react accordingly.
Some agents particularly excel in this area – such as Sova, with his Owl Drone and Recon Bolt, and Cypher with Spycam and Neural theft abilities – and having these available on a team may well prove vital.
That should be everything you need to get you started, but keep an eye on Dexerto for more detailed breakdowns of the game’s various agents, weapons, and more.