Easily the most unique map in all of VALORANT, Haven and its three site spikes stand out as an extreme outlier in comparison to not only the other two maps available during the game’s beta, but to many traditional tactical shooter maps, as well.

With plenty of options on the board in terms of strategy, planning, and execution, Haven stands in an incredibly unique position. Your success on this map is going to be determined completely by your team’s ability to execute pushing strategies and rotate effectively. With an unmatched level of dynamic gameplay on Haven in comparison to any of the game’s other maps, you’re going to need to make sure that your decision-making ability is top-notch when playing here.

In this overview, we’ll break down Haven in its vast entirety and what makes the map stand out when compared to the typical landscape of tactical shooter maps.

Map Overview

The standout feature that Haven has to offer is most definitely its three spike sites. In all other VALORANT maps, as well as most traditional tactical shooter maps, two sites are plenty. But, as far as Haven goes, its three sites are a key mechanic that promotes variation and intrigue. Each round, especially while on offense, you’re going to have to devise a strategy that takes advantage of the map’s maze-like structure, as well as its countless options for pushes and rotations.

Whether you’re making your way to C-site through Mid Doors or rotating to B-site after pushing A-short, the amount of flexibility that you have on Haven is unreal, and throughout the course of each game, you should definitely be taking advantage of all the options that Riot throws at you with this particular map.

Another key feature of Haven is the presence of countless corners and angles. Just like every map in VALORANT, Haven is absolutely loaded with corners for players to hole up in and wait for attackers and rotators alike. And while maps like Split and Bind definitely make it a point to include ample spaces for players to wait out a push, Haven, mainly due to its size and span, is notorious for its overabundance of corners and angles. Knowing where they exist, and how to take advantage of them is going to be crucial in your quest to master the map.

Attacking on Haven

Haven stands out as an attacker’s paradise. With plenty of options to choose from at the top of each round, Haven easily sets itself apart from the rest of the roster of maps as the one particular map where your team can mix things up round in and round out.

What’s even more impressive about Haven is the amount of variety that the map brings to the table in terms of how you approach each spike site. Each site can be reached primarily by two (or in some cases three) different - but distinctly direct - ways. When approaching A-site, Long and Short are going to be the best ways to reach your destination without rotating. When moving to B-site, you can get there directly through the middle of the map, but you can also go through Garage for another quick point of entry. As for C-site, you can approach from either Long or Garage, but you also get to the site by jumping through Window and heading in the back way over by the Defender spawn.

Regardless of how you get to your site of choice, the important thing to remember is that on Haven, the way you utilize the plentiful options that VALORANT throws your way is going to be vital to your success.

Perhaps the biggest tip you can equip immediately in your playstyle when attacking on this map is to keep things varied. Very rarely should you be repeating your pushes back-to-back in terms of style and location. That is, of course, unless the defending team is either simply outclassed or can’t adapt to your overpowering strategy. With countless options at your fingertips, you should be making the most out of your initial pushes on a round-by-round basis. From there, you should be taking advantage of the rotational opportunities that are soon to follow.

Defending on Haven

Playing defense on Haven is a little bit disadvantageous when compared to attacking. Although VALORANT as a whole might favor defenders on an overall scale with its vast array of reconnaissance-focused abilities, Haven is perhaps the only map in the game as it stands right now where attacking is slightly easier than defending.

Due to the sheer amount of options that attackers have on this map, defending teams will often be strapped for resources and strategies in a landscape that is constantly evolving at the whim of the offensive team. On maps like Split and Bind, where only a few entry points to each site can be covered by at least one member of the defending team, playing defense is much easier. On Haven, however, direct sightlines to the attackers’ push are going to be hard to come by.

Ideally, you should be sending two players to A, one to B, and the last two to C. This will make counter-rotating easier and is going to be optimal when it comes to allocating resources. The following chart is a depiction of what a typical defensive setup on Haven should look like.

With this diagram in mind, it’s most optimal to send two players, ideally with angle-focused recon abilities to A-site, while some more long-range, utility-focused defenders head to C-site. If things get heated in the middle of the map, your best bet would be to send a damage-oriented skirmisher to defend B-site.

Building a Composition

Due to the offensive-oriented nature of Haven, you’ll mostly be building your team compositions around the concept of pushing and utilizing the various rotational options that the layout of the map has to offer. Agents that can manipulate sightlines and get to site effectively and with vigor are going to serve up a recipe for success, especially during the offensive rounds.

Whereas you’re going to be drafting for defense and recon on a map like Split, Haven is going to serve as your opportunity to go all-out and select characters that rely heavily on and focus around offensive mechanics. Characters like Phoenix, Viper and even Raze will have a chance to shine on Haven alongside the typical utility-focused characters at the top of VALORANT’s current tier list - characters like Sova and Sage.

The following chart represents a tier list showing each agent on the VALORANT roster and how they stack up on Haven. Keep in mind that characters that can utilize the map’s many offensive lanes and rotational options will find more success on the map.

With this tier list in mind, it’s clear that agents that put an emphasis on offensive playmaking ability and overall well-roundedness are going to be your best bets on Haven.

If you’re looking to find true success on Haven, however, you’re going to need to build a comp that focuses on structure and overall balance. Finding a nice middle ground between offense and defense is going to be crucial on not only this map, but all of VALORANT.