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Valorant characters guide: all agents and abilities explainedHow to dominate as any of the Valorant characters
How to dominate as any of the Valorant characters
Valorant’s cast of characters is the game’s most pivotal departure from the venerable Counter-Strike formula. Each of the 11 Valorant agents differs from the rest in their four unique abilities, which must be used tactfully and precisely if you want to turn the tide of battle. OurValorant characters guidewill walk you through all 11 agents and all 44 abilities on offer, with practical tips on how to crush the competition with each agent.
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Valorant characters overview
Aside from their abilities, Valorant characters are all functionally identical. They have the same hitboxes, the same movement stats, the same health pools. But every single ability in the game can be used to great effect to help sway the outcome of a round, or even a match.
Let’s take a closer look at the abilities and strengths of each agent in turn, starting with the most recent addition to the Valorant characters roster.
Reyna - abilities & tips
Reyna is unique in that her Dismiss and Devour abilities share charges, and both require you to consume a Soul Orb - a shadowy orb that floats for 3 seconds above the corpse of anyone you kill. Because of this, Reyna is extremely momentum-based: her abilities encourage her to push from kill to kill until no enemies are left. And with the power of her Ultimate behind her, this is very much a possibility.
If you want to learn how to make the most of Reyna’s complex but cutting-edge abilities, be sure to cast your eye through ourReynaguide.
Breach - abilities & tips
Breach is a menace to play against. You’d be forgiven for taking one look at the very long windups to each of his abilities and discard him, thinking that any opponent would easily be able to step out of the way of that Aftershock or Rolling Thunder. But Breach’s true power is not in ending fights, it’s in starting them.
The sheer scale of Breach’s area-of-effect abilities make him the best in class at flushing out players who are holding positions around corners. Much like Sova, his skillset allows him to threaten opponents without exposing himself in the process. Which makes him the perfect initiator for almost any fight.
For full details on Breach and how to use his abilities to great effect, check out our in-depthBreachguide.
Brimstone - abilities & tips
Brimstone is known mainly for his signature, Sky Smoke - and rightfully so. This ability is what gives Brimstone the ability to control the map with ease, calling down very long-lasting smokes anywhere on the map. In many ways, Brimstone is the man in the van - he’s the one responsible for making sure his team are well equipped for the coming battles, regardless of where on the map they may be.
But that’s not all there is to Brimstone: he’s also a remarkably well-rounded Valorant character. His Incendiary grenade is excellent for zoning small areas; his Stim Beacon can lend an edge in challenging fights; and his Orbital Strike is likely responsible for more kills than nearly any other ability in Valorant.
If you want some practical advice for becoming a top-tier Brimstone specialist, look no further than ourBrimstoneguide.
Cypher - abilities & tips
Unlike Brimstone, Cypher is decidedly not a well-rounded character. Instead, he is a specialist in every sense, with each of his four abilities giving you a different method of gathering intelligence. His Spycams are amazingly useful for scouting around corners; his invisible Trapwires are very difficult to avoid; and his Ultimate ensures that no enemy can go anywhere without your knowledge.
If you want to become a true surveillance expert with this crafty Valorant agent, a good first step will be to read through our dedicatedCypherguide.
Jett - abilities & tips
At times, there can be no doubt that Jett is the most difficult Valorant character to kill. Her combination of Tailwind and Updraft give her a freedom of mobility that other agents can only dream of possessing. And it can be very hard to headshot a Jett that’s dashing about like crazy, or floating through the air where you wouldn’t normally expect to find an enemy.
But she’s not just about mobility. Her Cloudburst smokes, while short-lived, can be curved around corners to reach all sorts of interesting areas. Which lends the perfect cover from which to burst through and use your Ultimate, Blade Storm, during which all your shots are 100% accurate, ignoring any movement or firing errors.
To become a true whirlwind of knife-throwing death, be sure to read through ourJettguide for tonnes of detailed info and tips.
Omen - abilities & tips
Omen is the master of misdirection and mindgames. His two different kinds of teleports combine with his two vision-obscuring abilities to create an atmosphere of paranoia among his opponents. Opponents of a good Omen will be constantly asking themselves things like: did he teleport into that Dark Cover, or is it a ruse to pull me out from behind cover? Did he use his Ultimate to teleport into our spawn, or did he teleport somewhere else and I’m about to waste twenty seconds searching for him when I could have been helping my team?
Even without this wonderful double-whammy of misdirection, Omen would still be useful for similar reasons to Brimstone. He can smoke out areas, and initiate fights with his wall-piercing Paranoia projectile. But add in his teleport, which allow him to get to areas you’d never expect an enemy to be, and you’ve got yourself a truly terrifying agent.
Check out ourOmenguide for an in-depth primer on winning rounds and matches as this mysterious and powerful Valorant agent.
Phoenix - abilities & tips
A good enemy Phoenix is a nightmare - possibly more so than any other single Valorant agent. Why? Two reasons. First: his Curveball. While it can be a source of great annoyance for the Phoenix’s own team if he accidentally flashes his own squadmates, when you know how to use the ability it is a dangerously powerful counter to enemies that are holding corners waiting for Phoenix to round the corner. Which is how about 50% of all Valorant fights begin.
Second: Phoenix’s passive ability to heal in his own flames makes him a remarkably self-sufficient and hard-to-kill adversary. Like Sage, if you’re unable to finish off a Phoenix then you can expect them to return after a few seconds with full health, as though nothing had happened. And his Ultimate ability combines both these strengths, giving him an excellent power for safely pushing around corners, and also healing him up to full health when he zips back into his own body.
To kickstart your journey with this high-skill-ceiling Valorant agent, check out our in-depthPhoenixguide.
Raze - abilities & tips
Raze is the direct damage-dealer of Valorant, a fact which has led many to believe she is overpowered - or at least, not a good fit for the direction of the game. I’m of the opinion that while she may need some slight balance tweaks, in truth she is just very good at punishing players who are out of position, a fact which makes her extremely powerful in lower MMR matches.
OurRazeguide is packed with practical and powerful top tips for dealing death and destruction as this bombastic demo expert.
Sage - abilities & tips
When all’s said and done, Sage is probably the most powerful agent in Valorant. And funnily enough, despite being commonly thought of as the healer, the reason for her prowess is more about her two Purchasable abilities. Her Barrier is not only an excellent tool for slowing or halting an attack in its tracks, but it can also be used to elevate herself or her teammates to unusual positions. And her Slow Orb is a fantastic zoning ability which drastically reduces the mobility of any character who attempt to wade through the slow.
Armed with these abilities, it’s not uncommon for a lone Sage to effectively hold off an entire enemy team long enough for her allies to rotate and join her in defence. Add to this her heal, which can be used multiple times per round (including on herself) and her Ultimate, which brings back a dead ally with full health, and you’ve got a tremendously powerful and well-rounded support character who can make or break entire matches.
To become a true master of Sage’s skillset, be sure to read through the tips and tricks in ourSageguide.
Sova - abilities & tips
Sova will grow with Valorant itself, and I fully expect to see him alongside Sage at the very top of the meta after some time. The reason for this is quite simple: his Recon Bolts and Shock Bolts have the highest skill ceiling of any abilities in Valorant, and there is no end to the mischief Sova can cause and the intelligence he can gain with these two abilities.
Like Cypher, Sova excels at scouting out enemies - but unlike Cypher, Sova has the toolset to punish those he finds, either with one of his bouncing “holy-shit-that-came-outta-nowhere” Shock Bolts, or with his lethal map-piercing Hunter’s Fury Ultimate. And with players discovering new, absolutely crazy lineups for Recon Bolts that cross the entire map to land at fantastic positions for revealing the entire enemy team, Sova’s utility as a team player is near-peerless.
Sova takes a great deal of practice to master, but ourSovaguide will quickly help you get to grips with this powerful agent.
Viper - abilities & tips
Finally, we have Viper - another fairly self-sufficient Valorant agent with a unique aspect to her toolkit. Two of her abilities rely on fuel, a resource unique to Viper which depletes in order to maintain those abilities, and refills when the abilities aren’t active. This helps balance out the fact that Viper’s abilities are extremely long-lasting, often remaining in place for entire rounds.
For all the latest and most practical tips and tricks on this poisonous Valorant agent, look no further than our dedicatedViperguide.
With that, we’ll conclude this Valorant characters guide. But we’ve got plenty more to offer for any Valorant player looking to increase their skill and knowledge! Click any of the links below to head over to a different Valorant guide.
