VALORANT: A Walkthrough
1. GAME MECHANICS
Valorant, which is set in a world that resembles Earth in the future, starts out with 10 players split into the Attackers and Defenders teams. Players select and lock in their desired Agent before any match even begins in the lobby.
The objective is to win 13 rounds in a row first. Players must either complete the objective given to them or eliminate all members of the other team to achieve this. For Attackers, this entails detonating a spike (or a bomb in the game). They have to set the spike till it successfully goes off, then they must protect it from the opposite team. If the spike explodes or the group is successful in eliminating the other team, they score a point for their side.
The Defenders are entrusted with defusing the device as soon as they can on the other end. The players must defuse it within a set amount of time. If this attempt is successful, the group scores a point.
The Valorant tutorial does a good job of helping you understand the basics of the game. It also helps you to alter your mouse sensitivity and get a feel for the basic controls. But it doesn’t give you some essential information you need to know to get better at the game. This Valorant beginner’s guide will introduce you to some important gameplay mechanics, as well as provide some more tips to help you win matches.
This first advice will be known to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players. With a knife in your hand, you move faster. Therefore, make an effort to always draw your knife when you’re moving or turning in a safe area. Get your knife out while you are concealed from view even if you are moving stealthily toward an angle. You’ll get priceless seconds back.
Movement accuracy
Speaking about moving around, running and walking are less realistic in Valorant. But after you stop moving, it only takes a little while to reach 100% accuracy. Practice holding off firing for the brief period of time it takes for it to stop. When mastering this mechanic, the practice range is your best buddy.
You create a lot of noise while running as you continue to struggle with movement mechanics. You can be heard arriving from a great distance by enemies. You must walk if you want to conceal information about your movements. You can consult the mini-map for direction to determine the precise distance that the audio from your footsteps travels. When you run, a huge grey ring appears around your player. Be aware of where players might be and what it will mean for you if they hear you as you attack a bomb site or rotate.
Your bullets can kill adversaries through some materials thanks to the virtue of bullet penetration. And certain weapons are more effective at breaking through walls than others. Only wooden items can be shot through by low-penetration weaponry. Stone and wood can be shot through by weapons with medium penetration. And only weapons with a high penetration rate can pierce metal targets. Some of the game’s objects are just uncrackable. See how to determine when your shots are penetrating by looking at the illustration below.
You must get used to controlling your finances during a Valorous duel. Each round, you cannot purchase everything you want. And if your team cannot afford to purchase the same expensive equipment, you should not buy it. You must all work together because Valorant is a team game.
2. GAME MODES
Game Modes are various types of playable modes in VALORANT. Most game modes fall into one of two categories: deathmatch-style or plant/defuse-style. Five game modes are available to players at once, with four of them being permanent (Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, and Deathmatch) and one rotating every time a patch is applied (Escalation, Replication, and Snowball Fight).
The match is played as a best of 25 match in the usual non-ranked style, with the first side to win 13 rounds winning the match. The Spike is a bomb-like weapon used by the attacking side. They have to deliver and turn on the Spike at one of the various designated locations (bomb sites). If the defending team can deactivate the spike or the 100-second round timer expires without the attacking team activating the spike, the defending team receives a point. If all members of a team are eliminated before the spike is activated or if all members of the defending team are eliminated. If the attacking team successfully protects the activated Spike for 45 seconds it detonates, destroying everything in a specific area, and they receive a point. In contrast to overtime for competitive matches, sudden death occurs when both teams have won 12 rounds and the team that won that round wins the game. A team may also ask for a vote to give up if they decide to forfeit a game after 4 rounds. A team only has three opportunities to forfeit: once in the first half, once in the pistol round of the second half, and once more in the second half. If the vote reaches 4 (as opposed to 5 for competitive), the winning team receives all the victory credit for every round needed to get them to 13, while the forfeiting team receives losing credit.
The first team to win four rounds wins the match in the Spike
Rush mode, which is a best-of-seven round format. Except for their ultimate, which charges twice as quickly as in ordinary games, players have all of their abilities fully charged at the start of the round. The attacking team’s players are all equipped with spikes, however each round only one spike may be used. Every round, a different gun is assigned to each player, who starts with the same weapon. There are numerous different power-up orbs and ultimate point orbs in the standard game.
Competitive matches have a win-based ranking system that gives each participant a rating after 5 games, in addition to being the same as unranked matchups. Before engaging in this mode, players must have reached level 20. In July 2020, Riot introduced a “win by two” requirement for competitive matches, where teams will alternate playing rounds on attack and defense in overtime until a team wins by securing a two-match advantage. Players receive the same amount of money for buying weapons and skills throughout each overtime round, as well as about half of their ultimate skill charge. Players may choose to stop the game in a draw after each set of two rounds. After the first set, this requires 6 players to agree, followed by 3 after the second, and finally only 1 player. The competitive ranking system has levels ranging from Radiant to Iron. Every rank has three tiers, with the exception of Radiant, which is designated for the top 500 players in an area. Both Immortal and Radiant have a number attached to them, giving players a way to gauge where they stand in relation to other players of a similar level .
The deathmatch mode was released on August 5, 2020. 14 players participate in a 9-minute free-for-all match, and the winner is the player with the most kills at the end of the contest or the player with 40 kills first. All abilities are deactivated during the game, which indulges in pure gunplay, and players spawn in with a random agent and full shields. Green health packs that restore the player to maximum health, armor, and provide each of their firearms an additional 30 bullets drop after every kill.
The “gun game” concept present in Counter-Strike and Call of Duty: Black Ops is similar to the Escalation game mode, which debuted on February 17, 2021. However, it is team-based rather than free-for-all, with 5 players on each squad. Twelve weapons will be randomly chosen by the game as you progress through it. There are two ways to win: if one team completes all 12 levels successfully, or if one team is on a higher level than the rival team during the first 10 minutes. This is similar to previous gun game variants in that a team must obtain a particular amount of kills to go on to the next weapon. Similar to Deathmatch, the game mode is designed for only gunfights, therefore players spawn in as random agents who are unable to use skills. However, everyone has access to weapons like Raze’s boom bot, Sova’s shock darts, and Sova’s rocket launcher. Green health packets that fully refill the player’s health, armor, and ammunition are dropped after a kill. Additionally, the game mode has auto respawns enabled, which spawns players at random places on the map.
Players vote for the agent they would like to play as during the agent pick phase of the Replication game mode, which launched on May 11, 2021. The game chooses one player’s vote at random at the conclusion of the time period or after everyone has cast their ballots. Even if one of the players hasn’t unlocked that agent, the entire team will then play as that agent. The players trade sides after the fourth round of this best-of-nine game. With a predetermined sum of credits, players can purchase weapons and shields. Capabilities are pre-purchased. Every round, weapons and shields are refreshed.
A limited-time game mode called Snowball Fight was introduced on December 15, 2020, and it is only accessible during the Christmas season. It is a Team Deathmatch game mode that requires 50 kills to win. Players spawn in as a random agent and abilities cannot be used. The single weapon accessible is the snowball launcher, which employs a projectile-based arc and instantly kills but is slow. There is endless ammunition. Throughout the course of the game, a “portal” will appear and give gifts with a random power-up inside of each one.
3. GAME MAPS
Set in Omega Earth, this two-site three lane underwater city map is located in Lisbon, Portugal and is designed traditionally that features no mechanics and complexities.
Set in Alpha Earth, it is a top secret research facility map that is located in New Mexico, USA. Defenders spawn in the center of the map while Attackers spawn outside.
Set in Alpha Earth, a tropical island location with historic ruins and seaside caves map located in the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantic Ocean. It features second floors for long range battle and wide open spaces due to its large map.
Set in Alpha Earth, it is a secret arctic kingdom excavation site map located in Bennett Island, Russia. It is a complex map that contains a lot of verticality and elevation and it features ziplines for strategic purposes.
Set in Alpha Earth that is located in Rabat, Morocco, it is a map that contains two one-way teleporters and the map doesn’t have a middle section.
Set in Alpha Earth, it is a forgotten monastery map that is located in Thimphu, Bhutan. It is a map that contains three bomb sites which creates more challenge.
Set in Alpha Earth, it is a surrounded city skyline map that is located in Tokyo, Japan. It features ropes for players to ascend and descend on the elevated middle area of the map.
Set in Alpha Earth, it is an airborne island that is located in Venice, Italy. It features a large open area in the middle of its map. Its mechanical doors require a switch to open and are permanently closed, which requires that they be destroyed in order to be accessed.
4. AGENTS/CHARACTERS
In Valorant, varied jobs are where the agents excel; some are stronger on offense, while others are stronger on defense. Some can keep your allies hidden from adversaries, while others can break into sites using force. You can get all the information you need to triumph from the last few.
Riot separated the agents into the Duelists, Initiators, Sentinels, and Controllers positions with the release of Valorant. Check out the infographic below, which shows what each agent accomplishes, and pick which one best fits your playstyle before giving them a try:
For more details about these agents, you can check this link:
https://playvalorant.com/en-us/agents/
5. Guns/Weapons
Knowing that different weapons move at differing speeds is another useful fact. The next fastest weapons after the knife are SMGs and sidearms, with the exception of the Shorty and Sheriff. Following the Rifles and Shotguns are the Shorty and Sheriff. The Heavies and Snipers are the slowest, finally. While spinning with these strong but heavy weapons, you should always have a knife at the ready. If you feel threatened, you could also want to stroll around with a gun. As a general rule in Valorant, you will move more slowly when carrying a rifle the heavier it is or the more awkward it appears.
Check this link for a detailed explanation of each gun:
https://playvalorant.com/en-us/arsenal/
FRIENDLY GAMER ADVICE:
Experiences in playing FPS multiplayer online game such as Valorant might vary with each individual. There are circumstances that the people you play with are toxic; people who flame you for not being competitive enough; those who talks trash to you for no reason. Sometimes, there are pretty wholesome people as well that you can also play with; that no matter what you do, they still remain being sport and even encourages you to just play freely without hesitating. Always keep in mind that no matter what these random people that you queue or play with might do or say to you, don’t forget your purpose why you even “played” a game in the first place; and that is to relax and enjoy. Good luck and have fun!
