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What is Valorant?
Valorant initially appears to be a cross between Counter strike global and also Overwatch. A competitive shooter that pitches two small teams against one another.
Your team is either set to attack or defend, with the attackers planting a “spike” (essentially a bomb) that the other team need to then defuse or, preferably, prevent you from planting in the first place.
The attacking team can win by either eliminating the defenders or by planting the spike then protecting it from being defused until the timer runs out. The defenders similarly can win by destroying the attackers before they get a chance to plant their spike or defusing the spike after it has been planted.
Each team of five gets to play as both attackers and defenders during a game. Each match has 25 rounds total, with the first team to win 13 rounds being declared the victor.
Even with this many rounds, games can last for as little as eight minutes. Especially if both teams are aggressive.
It’s a fairly simple premise and one that Counter-Strike players will be used to. In fact, anyone that’s played CS:Go will notice a lot of similarities between that and this game.
As well as bomb planting and small teams, Valorant also has a similar weapon purchasing system and gun mechanics too. Some guns won’t allow you to aim down the sight, which is a familiar feeling. The game also involves a lot of stalking and skulking in corners and choke points.
What sets Valorant apart is the hero classes. Each character has different abilities that lets them unleash specials moves after a certain time. That includes simple things like the ability to heal or revive fallen teammates or a special that lets one character have a “do over” when they get shot by teleporting them back to a different place in the map.
Valorant is designed to be as optimised as possible and run on a multitude of machines. The minimum specifications are:
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
- GPU: Intel HD 4000
- RAM: 4GB
- Operating system: Windows 7 or above
To get 144 FPS or higher Riot Games recommends an Intel Core i5-4460 and a GTX 1050 Ti or higher.
Like other Battlepass systems, Valorant’s Battlepass essentially rewards players with cosmetic items. It’s a premium reward system that you need to pay for in order to access, but it is not intended to be pay-to-win.
Valorant’s Battlepass system is broken into acts. Each act lasts two months and does the Battlepass.
The Battlepass has 50 tiers with both free and Premium paths available. You progress along those paths based on the experience points (XP) you earn from completing missions and playing matches.
The Valorant Battlepass consists of 10 chapters and you can play through it for free, but you won’t get the items in the Premium tier by doing so.
The sorts of things you can unlock by playing include weapon skins, player cards, spray, gun buddies and more. You’ll unlock more items by paying for the Premium Battlepass but won’t get any extra edge over the enemy.
We’ve already discussed the basics of how to play Valorant in terms of eliminating the enemy team and/or planting or defusing the spike, but there’s much more to the game than the basic premise.
When a round starts you enter an initial “buy” phase. Where you can purchase weapons to use in that round. The first round of a game invariably starts with everyone using pistols as no one has earnt any cash yet.
Money is earnt by winning and losing, so in the next round you can choose from a wider page of weapon including shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles, SMGs and more.
You can also buy armour and boosts for your abilities here. Gunplay is a main crux of the game as you need to shoot the enemy (for the most part) in order to win or avoid being shot yourself. So it’s worth practising to see what guns you get on with.
Cash is not carried over to the next game, so be sure to spend what you earn in order to win.
The basics of any tactical FPS game apply here. Aim when you can, fire in bursts and use cover as much as you can.
Then use your agent’s ability to gain the upper hand, help your team or prevent the enemy from gaining the advantage.
