Complete guide to Valorant: Esports sensational

The main game modes in Valorant include "Unrated" in addition to "Competitive" games. Both are plant or defuse-based and follow similar game rules—two teams of five, attempt to create or stop the explosion of the bomb (spike).

The two sides are:

The Attackers: They win by eliminating all the defenders or planting the spike and successfully defending it from being defused. The spike can only be planted in select areas at the bomb site.

The Defenders: They win by defeating all attackers and defending the bomb sites by preventing attackers from putting the spike in less than 100 seconds.

The main difference between both the games in modes is that unrated games are more relaxed, while competitive games can be more strenuous because they determine your rank in the competitive arena.

AGENTS in Valorant

• Brimstone
• Omen
• Killjoy
• Viper
• Cypher
• Sova
• Sage
• Phoenix
• Jett
• Reyna
• Raze
• Breach
• Skye
• Yoru
• Astra
• Kay/o

Valorant currently boasts of 17 different Agents, all with different abilities. However, while all abilities are different, a select few abilities have similar effects. Some of the most common effects are blinds, concussions, flashes, and vulnerability.

Flash: Flashes will make the player's screen white, with its duration mainly depending on the flash's position. Agents are impacted the longest when the flash is directly on their screen. In comparison, if the flash is triggered in line of sight but behind on the player's side, they will only be shortly impacted.

Nearsights: Nearsights drastically reduce the vision range of the affected players. Blinded enemies can only see a small distance from their front, but they can also discern the general area of fire coming from outside the area.

Concussion: A concussed target will see their screen slightly altered, the sound impacted, and their rate of fire/movement decreased. The vulnerable targets are likely to suffer double the damage during the time they're affected.

Mastering an Agent takes time and plenty of hours. Each Agent has a unique playstyle and different angles of approach on a given map. This means you need to learn a way of playing and behaving in a given match for each of them.

Best Valorant Agents for beginners

Sage and Sova probably take the crown as the best Agents to start playing out of the five available Agents at the start of the game.

The recon abilities in Sova make it easier for beginners to find enemies (and to learn angles, positions, and strategies).

Her unique Shock Bolt ability lets you experiment with some pretty fantastic plays, including bouncing arrows around corners.

With Sage, her Resurrection ability is one of the most potent abilities in the game and ideal for players who want to play for their team.

This is her Ultimate (which means you won't have access to it every round) but her other control and support abilities, like Healing Orb and Slow Orb, still make her a viable pick.

Maps in Valorant

There are currently six maps in Valorant. This puts it a bit behind other competitive shooters, but it means that a beginner can quickly pick up the game and learn the different maps.

All six maps in competitive rotation are:

• Ascent
• Bind
• Breeze
• Haven
• Split
• Icebox

Each map is split into conventional FPS lanes and different "bomb sites." Some maps, like Bind, have different means of getting around the map (like Teleporters). Most of the maps are well-balanced — ex-professional Counter-Strike players mainly designed them.

The developers are not averse to making changes to the maps, so it's good to stay on top of patches and meta-changes.

Of all the Valorant maps, Bind is likely the one you've seen the most as a casual spectator: it's highly favored in competitive play.