Valorant’s tutorial does a decent job of explaining the basic mechanics of the game, but there are a plethora of hidden secrets and tricks that, when put to use in a match, can help you get the edge over your opponent. You’ll likely figure most of them out over many hours of play, by why hinder yourself in the early stages? To help you set up a winning streak as soon as possible, we’ve put together a quick list of Valorant tips, tricks and secrets that you may not know, but will absolutely help you improve at the game.
Valorant tips, tricks and secrets you need to know to improve
© Riot Games
General
Ultimates:
- Ultimate points are earned through kills, deaths, spike plants, spike defusals, and collecting orbs across the map.
- Like Overwatch, Ultimate calls are different between friendly and enemy players. Learn to recognize the calls for each Agent.
The Spike:
- It takes 4 seconds to plant the spike, 45 seconds to detonate, and 7 seconds to defuse.
- The Spike can be defused halfway (past the central bar) and will retain that half even if you stop to move or take a fight. One player can defuse half, then leave the second half for another player to finish.
- The spike explosion instakills anyone in its radius, even if you walk into it after it reaches maximum range. Wait until it shrinks if you have to move back in.
Other:
- You can tell if a shot can penetrate a wall based on the impact it makes; penetrating shots show a white puff of smoke and leave a hole with a large ring. Non-penetrating shots produce yellow sparks and leave a crack without a central dot. Check this reddit post for reference.
- You can climb ropes silent by holding shift (the walk key) Many enemies don’t expect this yet, though that’s likely to change as players grow used to the game.
- You also have decent accuracy while on ropes. So don’t be afraid to hang out while you shoot if using a pistol, SMG or shotgun. Snipers? Not so much.
- Bind’s teleporters aren’t just for people. You can throw items and equipment like Raze’s grenades through to score stylish kills. The TP will eject items at speed, and open the doors as they arrive. Check out this clip of the devs putting it to good effect.
- Speaking of teleporters, when you go through them, you don’t need to activate the door immediately. Staying inside can cause enemies on the far side to hesitate and lose precious time on an attack.
Agents
© Riot Games
All:
- Many agent abilities show a lot of information on the minmap. For example, when lining up Viper’s poison wall, you can look at the minimap to see where the wall will land when aiming up toward the sky. This can be used to produce perfect cover across an entire plant site.
- Some abilities can be picked up again. Collect items like Cypher’s Spycam or Vipers gas emitter before time is up to save buying them again the next round.
- Most “smoke” abilities are color-coded to show if they’re created by friends or enemies. Jett and Brimstone’s smokes both feature red colors when created by the enemy team.
Sova:
- Sova’s recon dart only detects with line of sight. Hide behind walls or boxes to avoid detection. You can see the dart’s location on the minimap.
Jett:
- Jett’s Blade Stome ultimate has no movement inaccuracy. Don’t be afraid to go fast and press your advantage over enemies with guns.
- If you press jump and use Updraft at exactly the same time, Jett will gain even more height from the combo.
Sage:
- Sage’s wall isn’t just good for blocking enemy attacks. It can also provide ridiculous angles to peak from, or block the bomb off in unusual locations. Take a look at a couple of clips posted here on Reddit by thefreshyyx by clicking here.
Raze:
- Raze can detonate her own explosive packs to pull off her form of rocket jumping. This not only works as an aggressive peak, it can be used to boost up to unusual spots.
Omen:
- Get creative with your teleports. Hide the transition inside your smoke, or play mindgames with his ultimate like teleporting to the same spot you’re already in so enemies won’t expect you.
That's it for our list of Valorant tips tricks and secrets to get better at the game for now. If you have any gems of wisdom of your own, share them down in the comments below! If you're still learning the game, be sure to read our guide to understanding Valorant's economy, and head over to our breakdown of all weapons and armor as well. For more news, guides and features about the game, click here to take a trip to our game hub!