Alex Gibson
S Tier – Chamber
Best Valorant Agents, Ranked
Valorant’s big daddy sentinel, Chamber was a very interesting addition to Valorant’s roster toward the end of last year and has firmly solidified his presence in the meta since. This is largely due to the fact that he offers an alternative to Jett for those who like to use the operator, partly because he can quickly teleport away from danger (similar to Jett’s dash) but mostly because he gets an operator for his ultimate. Chamber became so much of a menace, in fact, that he’s recently endured two pretty hefty nerfs. And yet, the Agent is still absolutely one of the strongest in Valorant as of Patch 5.08. Sure, his kit is more expensive and generally less effective now, but you can still kill an enemy without being traded, and you still get two of the most powerful weapons in Valorant to play with. Chamber’s ultimate, in combination with a scoped Sheriff called the Headhunter, means that he offers tremendous econ value to his team. Chamber can use powerful weapons when others have to save after a round loss, meaning that he in turn has more money the next round to either rebuy expensive weapons or buy for his teammates. This sort of passive ability is, in some respects, rather boring, but you can’t deny its effectiveness. Despite his aggressive capabilities, Chamber is a sentinel, a defender, and he is best played as such. Using his Trademark traps to slow rushes or flank watch, Chamber can then use his firepower to lockdown Spike sites. He’s well-suited to those with sharp aim, but playing him properly requires more strategy than you might think. Chamber Abilities
Trademark – PLACE a trap that scans for enemies. When a visible enemy comes in range, the trap counts down and then destabilizes the terrain around them, creating a lingering field that slows players caught inside of it. Headhunter – ACTIVATE to equip a heavy pistol. ALT FIRE with the pistol equipped to aim down sights. Rendevouz – PLACE two teleport anchors. While on the ground and in range of an anchor, REACTIVATE to quickly teleport to the other anchor. Anchors can be picked up to be REDEPLOYED. Ultimate: Tour de Force – ACTIVATE to summon a powerful, custom sniper rifle that will kill an enemy with any direct hit. Killing an enemy creates a lingering field that slows players caught inside of it.
S Tier – Fade
Valorant’s newest initiator, Fade, has stormed into the meta. It took a little while for her potential to be realized, but there’s no doubt that her kit feels OP compared to other Agents in her category at the moment. So much so that we think Fade is probably due a nerf in the future. Fade’s abilities are quite unique, but her focus on intel-gathering makes her most comparable to Sova. Unlike Sova, though, Fade’s intel-gathering is much closer ranged, and it’s designed to be played in combination with her Prowlers — an ability similar to Skye’s Seekers. It also doesn’t really require as much practice with lineups to be effective (though you will still have to have a few up your sleeve). As a result, she’s very strong as a sort of pick-up-and-play character, perfectly suited to ranked. That doesn’t mean Fade is suitable only for Ranked, though. Far from it, in fact. As an Agent for co-ordinated competitive play, her potential is absolutely sky-high due to the fact that so much of her utility can be combined with other Agents in the game. We’ve already seen during the Valorant Champions Tour that Fade is replacing Sova on maps like Ascent in some cases, and she’s versatile enough to be used on maps like Icebox and Breeze as well.
C – Prowler EQUIP. Fire to send a creature out which will travel in a straight line looking for enemies AND/OR Trails. Q – Seize EQUIP an orb. Upon hitting the ground, it will lock in place and begin to cook for .5s. E – Haunt EQUIP an orb. FIRE to throw the orb. If the Eye sees opponents, it will REVEAL them and apply a TRAIL debuff that lasts 12s. Can be reactivated in the flight to drop the projectile earlier. X – Nightfall FIRE to send out a wave of dark mist. If the mist comes in contact with an enemy, they will be TRAILED, DEAF, and DECAYED for 12s.
S Tier – Jett
Following Jett’s big Tailwind nerf earlier this year, she’s much less capable as a defender and operator player but remains very capable on attack. The rebalancing of her kit has been very effective, helping to focus her utility on what it’s supposed to be good at — quickly taking space and attacking from awkward angles. Still, Jett’s ability to quickly dash, jump, and glide allows her to move across the map quickly and hold what would typically be suicidal angles for other Agents. This makes her a superb Operator player, and even after the introduction of Chamber, whose teleport ability and Ultimate is strong enough on paper to replace her in this role, she remains capable in this role. When it comes to using her ultimate, Jett players need to be sure they have excellent aim since her Blade Storm is a one-hit kill if you can score a headshot. What’s more, it’s accurate even while on the move, and she’s able to unleash all five knives with a single right-click for close ranges. The flipside, though, is that if you miss your shots the ultimate has done nothing useful for your team. Still, with a utility kit that’s both excellent for Jett and useful for her team, she’s easily one of the best Agents in Valorant, albeit not a great one for beginners. Jett Abilities
Cloudburst –Throw out a cloud of fog that obscures vision on impact. Hold down the ability button to bend the cloud’s in-flight trajectory. Updraft – After a brief wind up, propel yourself upwards. Tailwind – Immediately dash a short distance in the direction you’re moving. Ultimate: Blade Storm – Arm yourself with several deadly throwing knives that deal moderate damage and kill on headshots. Scoring a kill restores all daggers. Left-click throws a single dagger. Right-click throws all remaining daggers in a short-ranged burst.
A Tier – Sova
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The meta is trying to shift away from Sova following a nerf to his owl drone and shock darts, but Sova remains a king at the very top of the tier list. Thanks to his ability to illuminate enemy targets with both his surveillance arrow and owl drone, Sova offers important intel for his team, allowing them to catch attacking rushes before they happen or recon sites for enemies before his team enters. He is invaluable on almost every map in the game. Sova is an Agent who is both fantastic to learn as a beginner and equally a useful part of any high-elo squad. He’s the eyes of the team, making it easier for both yourself and everyone else to spot targets. And when you want to strike back at targets, his Ultimate is a powerful offensive attack that can blow through walls. This can be used at the start of a round to gain a pick or more defensively to either attack or defend the spike plant/defuse. Outside of games played on Split and Fracture where his darts offer less value, you won’t see many professional games at the pro esports level that don’t feature Sova. For this reason, he’s an easy S-Tier pick. Sova Abilities:
Shock Bolt – Fire an explosive bolt that emits a damaging pulse of static energy upon impact. Owl Drone – Deploy a pilotable drone that can fire a dart that will Reveal enemies who are hit. Recon Bolt – Fire a bolt that deploys a sonar emitter. The sonar pings tag nearby enemies, causing them to be revealed. Can be destroyed. Ultimate: Hunter’s Fury – Fire up to three deadly energy blasts that spear across the entire map. Each hit enemy takes heavy damage and is marked.
A Tier – Raze
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When it comes to purely offensive utility, there’s no Agent stronger than Raze. Her Boom Bot, Grenade, and Showstopper can kill multiple enemies in a single hit, which not only makes her incredibly strong in a duel but can force enemy teams away from pushing areas for fear of taking damage. This allows Raze to control entire areas and win space for her team, whereas other duelists’ utility tends to help only at the individual level. Raze’s most unique ability is her Blast Pack which boosts her (or another player) in a direction, either upward, sideways, or forward. This gives Raze the ability to reach areas of the map other Agents can’t, as well as quickly escape or fast-entry, similar to Jett’s Dash. In a pinch, you can even use it offensively to damage enemies or send them flying away. The Blast Pack works best, though, in combination with Showstopper ult. It’s best used to elevate her into the air after bringing out the rocket launcher so she can better spot targets. Raze is the meta duelist on Bind, but she’s also ever-more frequently being used on maps she was previously considered poor on, such as Icebox and Ascent. Perhaps only with the exception on Breeze, Raze is actually viable on more or less every other map. Raze Abilities
Blast Pack – Instantly throw a Blast Pack that will stick to surfaces. Re-use the ability after deployment to detonate, damaging and moving anything hit. Cluster Grenade – Fire to throw the grenade, which does damage and creates sub-munitions, each doing damage to anyone in range Boom Bot – Fire will deploy the bot, causing it to travel in a straight line on the ground, bouncing off walls. The Boom Bot will lock on to any enemies in its frontal cone and chase them, exploding for heavy damage if it reaches them. Ultimate: Showstopper – Fire shoots a rocket that does massive area damage on contact with anything.
A Tier – Omen
Omen is back! Finally, the Agent’s buffed utility following Patch 4.04 has, in combination with Astra’s big nerf, brought the mysterious controller into the meta. Omen can now smoke faster and for longer, while his teleports are also speedier. Overall, Omen is an extremely versatile Agent who can be played somewhat passively as a controller or aggressively thanks to his teleport trickery. His greatest asset is that he can both smoke and flash. Further, both those abilities are arguably the most powerful of their type in the whole game — Omen’s smoke can reach almost anywhere on the map from any position, and his flash can travel through walls and blind entire teams. Omen’s ultimate is still a little underwhelming since most enemy teams will be wise to his position after teleporting. However, it is occasionally useful for a quick rotation, and since Omen can see the area he’s teleporting into, it can actually be deployed simply to gain intel on the enemy’s whereabouts before quickly canceling. Omen Abilities:
Paranoia – Send out an Ethereal shadow in a straight line, Nearsighting anyone it touches. Shadow Walk – After a delay, dematerialize and teleport a short distance. Signature Ability – Dark Cover: Cast out a stealthed ethereal orb that bursts into an obscuring sphere of shadow at its final location. Can be charged to increase distance. Ultimate: From the Shadows – Select anywhere on the map to teleport and reform. When arriving, appear as a Shade, that will go back to your original location if killed. Once the teleport is complete, become Incorporeal for a short time.
A Tier – Brimstone
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After patch 4.04’s big buff, Brimmy with the stimmy is no longer a meme: he’s legitimately one of the best controllers in the game. His smokes now deploy faster, are larger, and last for even longer. But the big change is to the stim beacon itself, which now boosts player movement speed as well as the rate of fire. If you want to fast execute, Brimstone is the controller for you. As with any controller, Brimstone is all about controlling the maps with his utility, blocking off sightlines with his smokes, and flushing enemies out with his Molly. The key difference with Brimstone in comparison to Astra and Omen is that his smokes have a limited range. It’s a disadvantage that doesn’t make him viable on some maps, but the speed with which his smokes deploy –now enhanced after the latest patch–, and their overall effectiveness at blocking lines of sight, make him superb for explosive executes. Brimstone’s Orbital Strike ultimate is, of course, his most powerful asset, and you can get creative with its use. You could, for example, instantly take out an entrenched enemy position, or you could save it for a post plan situation and activate it when the enemy is attempting to defuse. Brimstone Abilities
Incendiary – Launch an incendiary grenade that deploys a damaging field of fire. Stim Beacon -Target a nearby location to call in a Stim Beacon, giving all players near it Rapidfire. Signature Ability – Sky Smoke: Use your map to call in orbital deployment smokescreens that obscure vision. Click to set the locations, and confirm to launch. Ultimate : Orbital Strike – Use your map to target a location, launching a devastating orbital strike that pulses for high damage over several seconds.
A Tier – KAY/0
KAY/0’s arrival to Valorant’s roster wasn’t an immediate hit, but a buff to his utility soon after his launch made him much more powerful. A subsequent buff then made his molly even stronger than before, damaging players through walls and reducing the need for precision lineups. And then Riot Games pulled the plug and dialled KAY/0 back; he’s since been nerfed so that his right-click flash is less potent. Even still, we think KAY/0 is still among the best initiators in the game. He’s not quite S tier anymore, but he isn’t far off. KAY/0’s strength is, of course, his ability to suppress enemy utility using his Zero Point knife, which also has a dual purpose in that it gathers intel as well. This, in combination with a flash that can be used either aggressively or as a support for teammates, makes KAY/0 powerful for sight entries. His ultimate takes suppression to the next level, nullifying utility in a radius around him while increasing his own rate of fire. If KAY/0 is downed, he can be revived, Fortnite-style! His suppression continues all the while… On defense, his intel gathering is useful for obvious reasons, while his flashes and frag/ment molly are useful for slowing enemy pushes. Altogether, KAY/0 offers a unique set of attributes to any team composition, and he’s viable on every map in the game. All of this makes him easily still an A-tier agent. KAY/0 Abilities
Frag/ment – EQUIP an explosive fragment. FIRE to throw. The fragment sticks to the floor and explodes multiple times, dealing near lethal damage at the center with each explosion. Flash/drive – EQUIP a flash grenade. FIRE to throw. The flash grenade explodes after a short fuse, blinding anyone in line of sight. Zero/Point – EQUIP a suppression blade. FIRE to throw. The blade sticks to the first surface it hits, winds up, and suppresses anyone in the radius of the explosion. Ultimate: Null/CMD – INSTANTLY overload with polarized radianite energy that pulses from KAY/O in a massive radius. Enemies hit with pulses are suppressed for a short duration. While overloaded, KAY/O gains combat stim and can be re-stabilized if downed.
A Tier – Skye
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Skye has been knocked down a little over the past 12 months from what was at one point a near S-Tier status. Her flash was nerfed not once but twice, most recently in Patch 5.07 which reduced the flash time on birds that haven’t traveled very far but increased on ones that do. The result is an Agent that actually fits her concept much better now. Skye is very much a support Agent who flashes for teammates, not a secondary duelist as she more or less was at one point. In comparison to other initiators, Skye packs a more varied belt of utility than other Agents like KAY/O, Fade, and Sova. Not only do her flashes blind enemies but they actually telegraph their location with a voice cue that Skye’s entire team hears. Her Trailblazer, too, is a fast-moving scout similar to Sova’s drone that can actually inflict damage and stun, while her ultimate ability also seeks out enemy positions. Skye also benefits from her ability to heal teammates, which makes her unique amongst the initiators. Indeed, Skye arguably possesses the most diverse range of utility in Valorant, capable of supporting and playing aggressively in equal measure, which makes her an A-Tier choice.
Trailblazer: Summon a controllable Wolf that can concuss and damage enemies by pressing Fire when active. Guiding Light: Send a Hawk forward or around corners, with the ability to flash enemies it encounters by pressing E again. Regrowth: Heal allies in proximity, but does not heal Skye. Reusable until depleted. Seekers: Send out a trio of seekers that find enemies and nearsight them.
A Tier- Neon
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Valorant’s speedy duelist has found herself sprinting up the meta tier list in recent months. Now able to slide sideways and backwards, as well as a redesign of her ult that makes it more powerful when aiming for the head, Neon has become a meta choice on maps like Fracture and Breeze. Once thought of as a bit of a useless addition to the roster, Neon is fast becoming a favorite among duelist players across ranked and pro play. The most useful part of her kit, which has come as a bit of a surprise, is her stun. It’s extremely fast, bounces off walls, and can be fired twice to quickly take space from enemy teams. It’s been successful in recent professional esports competitions such as Champions, sometimes proving a series decider for the teams who have a talented Neon main on their side. Neon Abilities
Fast Lane – FIRE two energy lines forward on the ground that extend a short distance or until they hit a surface. The lines rise into two walls of static electricity that block vision and damage enemies passing through them. Relay Bolt – INSTANTLY throw an energy bolt that bounces once. Upon hitting each surface, the bolt electrifies the ground below with a concussive blast. High Gear – INSTANTLY channel Neon’s high power for increased speed. When charged, ALT FIRE to trigger an electric slide. Slide charge resets every two kills. Ultimate: Overdrive – Unleash Neon’s full power and speed for a short duration. FIRE to channel the power into a deadly lightning beam with high movement accuracy.
B Tier – Harbor
And that brings us to Harbor, Valorant’s brand-new (as of Patch 5.08), water-bending controller who might not be as strong as he first appeared. We’ve been play-testing Harbor in early access for a few days, and while his interesting kit has some combination potential, he doesn’t feel especially strong enough to be considered a meta controller on all but one or two maps. Interestingly for a controller-type Agent, Harbor isn’t that capable on defense. His kit feels much better suited to attack as it’s able to be deployed fluidly and rapidly for site executions. The bendable wall and moving cascade is excellent for pathing and scaling on to sites, but it doesn’t work very well for delaying enemy pushes in the same way that every other controller does. The big surprise is that Harbor’s bullet-proof Cove ability is underwhelming. That’s because it can be destroyed in a matter of seconds, which not only removes the protective layer but actually sees the smoke completely disappear. That means it doesn’t really have any one-way value; it can’t be used to smoke off choke points, and it doesn’t even protect a planter for more than a few seconds. Not good for an ability that costs 350 credits! Of course, it’s early days yet for Harbor. We’ll have to see how he settles into Valorant’s meta across ranked and pro play. For now, though, our verdict is that he’s a bit of a wet blanket to play. Harbor Abilities
High Tide (E) EQUIP a wall of water. FIRE to send the water forward along the ground. HOLD FIRE to guide the water in the direction of your crosshair, passing through the world, spawning a wall along the water’s path. ALT FIRE while bending to stop the water early. Players hit are SLOWED Cove (Q) EQUIP a sphere of shielding water. FIRE to throw. ALT FIRE to underhand throw. Upon impacting the ground, spawn a water shield that blocks bullets. Cascade (C) EQUIP a wave of water. FIRE to send the wave rolling forward and through walls. RE-USE to stop the wave from moving further. Players hit are SLOWED. Reckoning (X) EQUIP the full power of your Artifact. FIRE to summon a geyser pool on the ground. Enemy players in the area are targeted by successive geyser strikes. Players caught within a strike are CONCUSSED.
B Tier – Sage
There was a time when Sage was very much at the top end of Valorant’s meta, but she’s fallen from grace a little recently due to a combination of nerfs to her kit and the fact that there are other Agents (specifically, sentinels) with more useful utility. Still, Sage is a strong pick for solo queue ranked play and also slots easily into many compositions in the scrim/esports environment. Beyond her ability to heal and revive, her wall is extremely useful for entering sites and using as a shield to plant the spike. Even with the latest changes to Icebox, she’s still likely to prove a must-pick on that particular map. Of course, her slowing orbs are also very handy for halting rushes and preventing peeks from defenders. They take the sting out of onrushing attackers or interrupting any defenders looking to enter a Spike site and defuse. They can also be combined with other utility that inflicts damage, such as Brimstone’s molly/ultimate, in clever ways. Sage Abilities
Slow Orb: Cast out a radiant orb that breaks into a slowing field upon impact with the ground. All caught in the field are slowed, grounded, and make noise when moving. Barrier Orb: Conjure a large, solid wall. Right-click to rotate the wall before casting. Signature Ability: Healing Orb: Heal an ally or yourself to full health over a few seconds. Ultimate: Resurrection: Target a friendly corpse. After a short delay, revive them with full health.
B Tier – Breach
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Breach has fallen in and out of favor since Valorant’s launch, and he’s never really been a universally popular pick at the pro level. Things are starting to change a little recently though, as we’re seeing more and more EMEA and NA teams pick Breach where it was just Eastern team that did before. At the ranked level, Breach is a powerful supporting Agent that can be used at all elos effectively. He’s the ultimate rush initiator thanks to his unique utility that flashes, concusses, and even damages enemies through walls. You want Breach leading the charge and then setting up teammates across the map to combo utility. His most powerful asset is his flash, which makes peeking around corners easy. They’re best-used in tandem with other teammates, with Breach flashing and then a teammate quickly peeking to get a frag. There’s just no better Agent for clearing an awkward corner, and his utility is effective in so many other situations, like disrupting a rush or a Spike plant. Breach Abilities
Aftershock – We’re waiting for some news on what Aftershock does. Flashpoint – your standard Flashbang-style non-lethal throwable. Fault Line – A stun grenade that slows an enemy and throws their aim off-kilter. Ultimate: Rolling Thunder – Again, we’re waiting for an update on what this Ultimate Ability is, but early playtesters have reported that it’s impressively powerful.
B Tier – Killjoy
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The limited range of her utility, and the fact that it can be easily destroyed by other Agents’ utility, means that Killjoy only has limited application in the current meta. That being said, she’s very strong on the maps she’s good at,such as Ascent, Split, Icebox, and Haven. Indeed, Killjoy is arguably still the ultimate Agent for locking down a Spike site. Her Turret, Alarmbot, and Nanoswarm make life extremely difficult for enemy teams to breach her site, while her Lockdown will send entire teams running for the hills to avoid being detained and easily killed. Killjoy isn’t likely to score high frags in a game, but then again she doesn’t really have to. She’s a team player, facilitating other players to go and make plays while they rely on her to hold the rear or defend the site. Killjoy Abilities
Alarmbot – Equip a covert Alarmbot. FIRE to deploy a bot that hunts down enemies that get in range. After reaching its target, the bot explodes, applying Vulnerable. HOLD EQUIP to recall a deployed bot. Turret – Equip a Turret. FIRE to deploy a turret that fires at enemies in a 180-degree cone. HOLD EQUIP to recall the deployed turret. Nanoswarm – Equip a Nanoswarm grenade. FIRE to throw the grenade. Upon landing, the Nanoswarm goes covert. ACTIVATE the Nanoswarm to deploy a damaging swarm of nanobots. Ultimate: Lockdown – Equip the Lockdown device. FIRE to deploy the device. After a long windup, the device Detains all enemies caught in the radius. The device can be destroyed by enemies.
B Tier – Viper
Up until recently, Viper would have probably made our A-Tier, but a recent nerf has sent her tumbling down to B. Wielding poisonous utility that is designed to control areas of the map for her team, Viper can block off areas with her wall and smoke, and then stain the floor with a deadly toxin that does damage to anybody caught in its puddle. Unfortunately, though, her poison now drains faster than before, and both her wall and orb suffer from a longer cooldown. Her molly, too, which was one of the most effective post-plant weapons, has been reduced in time by a second. We still expect Viper to remain a must-play on maps like Icebox and Breeze for her wall’s ability to block a huge sightline, but her overall strength has definitely been taken down a notch. Viper Abilities
Snakebite – Fire a projectile that explodes into a pool of damaging acid. Poison Cloud – Throw a gas emitter that you can reactivate to create a poisonous smoke cloud at the cost of fuel. The emitter can be picked up and thrown again after a short cooldown. Signature Ability –Toxic Screen: Deploy a long line of gas emitters that you can reactivate to create a tall wall of toxic gas at the cost of fuel. Ultimate: Viper’s Pit – Emit a massive toxic cloud in a large area that lasts as long as Viper stays inside the cloud. Enemies inside the cloud are highlighted.
B Tier – Astra
Oh dear, the age of Astra is over. After dominating the meta for nearly a year, and more or less changing the way Valorant is played at high elo and pro esports level, the big Astra nerf has knocked her all the way down to C. A month ago, she would have easily made our S-Tier. If you haven’t read the patch notes for 4.04, Astra’s ability to constantly smoke, suck (Gravity Well), and stun enemy teams as they enter chokepoints has been throttled. She now only has 4 stars instead of 5, and the cooldowns for all of her abilities have been increased across the board. By design, Astra is supposed to be the ultimate controller-type Agent, with her Astral Plain ability giving her a tactical view of the battlefield to lay down flashes, smokes, and a gravity pull that sucks enemies into its path. Her ultimate, meanwhile, sections off areas of the map, blocking bullets and audio to disguise rushes or whatever plan she’s masterminded. Astra can still do all of this, but she’s just much less effective at it. We can still see her being played on maps like Ascent and Fracture, but elsewhere, Omen and Brimstone are likely to replace her moving forward. Astra Abilities
Nebula – Activate a Star to transform it into a Nebula (smoke). Nova Pulse – Activate a Star to detonate a Nova Pulse. The Nova Pulse charges briefly then strikes, concussing all players in its area. Gravity Well – 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. Dissipate – 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. Ultimate: Astral Form / Cosmic Divide – 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. 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 two points you select. Cosmic Divide blocks bullets and heavily dampens audio.
B Tier- Phoenix
Phoenix has finally been buffed! Patch 5.01 delivered some much-needed changes to Phoenix’s kit –mostly just improving the flashes–, which has brought him back into the spotlight. He’s once again feeling like a meta pick on maps like Ascent and Haven, and we’ve even seen professional teams use the Agent on Breeze recently, too. As alluded to already, it’s the faster and longer-lasting flashes that have really made him a stronger pick, as well as the fact that Agents like Skye and KAY/O are less powerful than they once were. Phoenix feels as though he’s fulfilling the role he was intended to perform, solo-flashing for himself out of smokes and around corners to devastating effect. His ult is also better now, restoring armor when before it would remove it after being used. There’s also a faster weapon re-equip time when using his flame wall, which helps him take advantage of surprising enemies when aggressively pushing. Jett, Raze, and Neon are still better duelists overall, but Phoenix now isn’t a meme, and he’s well ahead of Reyna and Yoru in terms of overall value.
Hot Hands – Throw a fireball that explodes after a delay or upon impact with the ground. The fire zone damages enemies, and heals you. Blaze – Cast out a flame wall that blocks vision and damages anyone passing through it. You can bend the wall when casting by turning while holding left-click. Curveball – Cast a curving flare that bursts into brilliant light after a brief delay, temporarily blinding all looking at it. Left-click curves it left, right-click curves it right. Ultimate: Run it Back – Mark your current location. If you die during this ability’s duration, or when this ability’s duration expires, you’ll be reborn at the marked location with full health.
C Tier – Reyna
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Reyna had for the longest of times been left alone by Riot Games, but small but notable recent buff has definitely improved her capabilities. As of Patch 5.07 her flash now has infinite range, and she can re-equip her weapon much faster than before. Is it enough to bump her up to B and replace other duelsits as meta picks on certain maps? Not really, but she’s now even better for ranked. Yay. Indeed, Reyna is one of Valorant’s most popular Agents to play across almost all but the very highest of elos. She’s a favorite for her ability to frag, heal, then frag again. And when she really wants to suck the life out of the enemy team, Reyna’s Empress ultimate turns her into a complete kill machine. So why is she still C-Tier, then? Well, the problem with Reyna is that she’s basically useless unless the individual playing her is popping off and scoring frags. She’s very one-dimensional, and with the exception of her flash, her utility doesn’t help out her team in the slightest. For Reyna to hold sites effectively, she requires teammates to pour utility into helping her. Reyna’s big niche that does actually make her excellent on certain maps is that she can Dismiss after scoring a frag. This makes her invulnerable for a short amount of time, which means she can frag and then leave an area without taking damage. On a map with lots of corners, such as Icebox, it allows Reyna to land “one and done” kills without dying when other Agents would be instantly traded out. That’s a small niche, though, and ultimately almost every other duellist offers utility that better helps the whole team. Reyna Abilities
Devour: Enemies killed by Reyna leave behind Soul Orbs that last 3 seconds. INSTANTLY consume a nearby soul orb, rapidly healing for a short duration. Health gained through this skill exceeding 100 will decay over time. If EMPRESS is active, this skill will automatically cast and not consume the orb. Dismiss: INSTANTLY consume a nearby soul orb, becoming intangible for a short duration. If EMPRESS is active, also become invisible. Leer: EQUIP an ethereal destructible eye. ACTIVATE to cast the eye a short distance forward. The eye will Nearsight all enemies who look at it. Ultimate: EMPRESS – INSTANTLY enter a frenzy, increasing firing speed, equip and reload speed dramatically. Scoring a kill renews the duration.
C Tier – Cypher
The current meta, which now includes the latest sentinel, Chamber, doesn’t leave much room for poor old Cypher. Still, though, there are certain maps, such as Split, Fracture, and Breeze, where Cypher is still very viable at all levels of play. Like Sova, Cypher is all about adding situational awareness, adding your party’s dynamic by providing valuable intel. His abilities allow you to track and locate enemy teams while covering a completely different area, meaning Cypher can lock down entire Spike sites solo. He’s trickier to use than Sova, though, since a good Cypher has to understand where to lay traps and cameras effectively. It’s especially hard to implement his abilities when playing on the attacking half. Still, once you’ve learned how to use him effectively, Cypher is a strong sentinel. His kit is more effective for flank watching than any of his rivals, though Killjoy is perhaps better at defending a Spike site, and Chamber can be played much more aggressively. Cypher Abilities:
Free Ability – Trapwire: Place a stealthed tripwire between two walls. Triggering enemies are restrained and revealed for a short time. If the trap is not destroyed, it activates to daze the trapped victim. Can be picked up. Cyber Cage – Toss out a remote activation trap. Reactivate to create a cage that slows enemies who pass through it. Look at a trap and press USE to detonate it, or hold ACTIVATE to detonate all. Signature Ability – Spycam: Place a remote camera. After placing, reactivate to view the video feed. Left-click while in-camera to fire a tracking dart. Recharges when picked up or killed. Ultimate: Neural Theft – Extract information from the corpse of an enemy, revealing the location of their living allies.
C Tier – Yoru
Best Valorant Agents, Ranked
On paper, Yoru’s belt of utility, which allows him to infiltrate behind enemy lines and pull off crazy-cool plays, sounds fantastic. In practice, it has proven far too risky to use effectively, and even when mastered, simply not good enough to replace other duelists. Yoru has recently been overhauled with a major rework of his utility that has been much-anticipated by the community, but even after these changes, we were skeptical he would impact the meta. And that’s largely proven accurate, outside of some incredible but short-lived dominating performances from pro players like PRX’s Forsaken. The problem is that while Yoru is often a nightmare to play against, it’s less that his kit is great and more simply because players aren’t used to having to deal with him. Once you have Yoru figured out, he’s pretty simple to counter. All too often, his teleports go spectacularly wrong and Yoru ends up as easy prey for enemies who can hear his teleport orb. Sure, the body clone is way more effective than the old fake footsteps, but players are learning to identify them much more frequently now. Yoru’s ultimate is certainly now much stronger than before given that he can use all his abilities while invisible, but as an entry-fragging tool it isn’t as effective as, say, a Raze Showstopper. Nor does Yoru’s ultimate provide the economic value of a Jett ultimate. Yoru is a unique Agent, and his utility is capable of producing major wow moments that no other Agent can match. But there’s still too much risk attached to using him over Agents like Jett, Raze, and Reyna.
Fakeout – A body clone that runs in a linear direction and blinds enemies if shot at. Gate Crash – EQUIP to harness a rift tether FIRE to send the tether out moving forward ALT FIRE to place a tether in place ACTIVATE to teleport to the tether’s location Blindside – EQUIP to rip an unstable dimensional fragment from reality. FIRE to throw the fragment, activating a flash that winds up once it collides with a hard surface in world Ultimate: Dimensional Shift – EQUIP a mask that can see between dimensions. FIRE to drift into Yoru’s dimension, unable tobe affected or seen by enemies from the outside.
And that wraps up who we consider the best Agents in Valorant as of Patch 5.08. We’d also like to give an honorable mention to Phoenix, who was excellent all throughout Valorant’s closed beta but has since been nerfed somewhat. Still, he’s a very solid Agent and perfects if you like to push the offensive and lead the team for frags. For more useful tips and guides on Valorant, keep it locked to Twinfinite.
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