With VALORANT having launched globally for all to play and ranked not being available just yet, now is a great time to nail down the basics and crush it when ranked finally goes live! Being a tactical FPS, there are more elements at play than just raw mechanical aim (although it certainly helps to have that) which you need to master to become a better player. Understanding the economy (of both weapon and ultimate) is crucial in this game and that’s what we’ll cover in this post.

Why is Economy Management Important?

Most things in VALORANT cost credits and there are multiple ways to earn credits in this game. As it’s already been covered here, I would suggest giving that a read before continuing here. As you are likely to be placed into games with both complete beginners and CS veterans, establishing a baseline is key. The worst mistake you can make in this game is spending as many credits as possible per round as that not only hinders you but also the team. This leads us to the first and arguably the most important point in this article here. Your credits are not your credits, they are the team's credits. Always remember, good players, are not greedy players.

Pistol Rounds

The first round, or pistol round, of each half, has everyone start with 800 credits. While there is no clear meta regarding these, there are a few “default” choices which you can choose depending on your play style.

• Light Armour & Frenzy, if you want to play up-close or be the entry fragger
• Light Armour & Abilities, if you plan to provide utility to the team (and pick up someone else's gun)
• Ghost & Abilities, if you plan on playing long range
  

Pro tip: Spend all your credits in the pistol round as you can’t “Full Buy” until at least the third round.

Full buy Rounds

The magic number in VALORANT is 3900. That's the number of credits you should average on most rounds as it allows you “full buy”. A full buy consists of:

• Rifle (Phantom, Vandal or Operator) = 2900 credits
• Heavy Armour = 1000 credits
• Abilities = 0 - 500 credits

You should always aim to have credits above 3900 (as this also allows for your abilities to be purchased, if you haven’t already). You should aim to full buy after your team wins a round (and is able to). If one of your team members is unable to, then your teammates should help by buying the guns for the team member. If no one is able to help the team member with the guns, then they need to settle for either a budget rifle or fewer abilities. However, as we have discussed before, it’s not just your credits, it’s the team credits and as such, this situation shouldn’t arise if you keep your economy in check.

Should your team lose the round and you all average over 3900+ credits as well, you should commit to a full buy. If less than 3 people average 3900 credits, do not fully buy as if you lose that round, your economy will be in shambles and your opponent will have an easier time to win the round (while also building up a surplus of credits).

Eco/Save Rounds

Eco/Save rounds refer to saving as much money as possible in the current round, which will allow you to have a full buy in the next round. In most cases, an eco round consists of:

• A Pistol = 0 - 500 credits
• Abilities = 0 - 500 credits

While it would be ideal to win these rounds (and it will give you a huge advantage if you do), your goal in eco rounds is not only to create your economy but also hurting the enemy economy. If you do kill an enemy in the eco round, you can get their weapon, which will help your economy in future rounds and in doing so, the enemy will have to spend their money when they respawn. It’s also not a bad idea to buy abilities in this round and not use them, which will also aid your economy in future rounds. Your goal here isn’t to primarily win the eco round as much as it is to disrupt their economy. If in doing so, you win the round, you gain a lot of momentum!

Force Buy

Just like the name suggests, a force buy involves spending all of your money, even though you don't have the 3900 credits for armour & rifle. It probably includes:

• Budget Rifles or Spectre = 1600 - 2100 credits
• Heavy Armour = 1000 credits
• Abilities = 0 - 500 credits

You can also sacrifice armour for better rifles, but either way, you are at a disadvantage one way or the other. This is also useful for people that can’t also full buy, as it means they are on the same level playing with their teammates.

Ultimate Economy

There is also an ultimate economy which you can better utilize to make sure you are that much more impactful in the game. There are a few ways to get ultimate charges, whether its kills, spike defuse/plants and picking up ultimate orbs. Once your ultimate is charged, any additional actions don’t give you extra charges, they essentially get wasted. If you see yourself having an ultimate available, try to think of using rather than just waiting for “that perfect moment”, as the perfect moment might never come. The more you use your ultimate, the more you’ll know how to better utilize them in future games and will as such be waiting less for the perfect moments but rather make them!

Conclusion

I hope this short guide has helped you gain an edge by understanding the economy of the game better. Always check your economy versus the economy of the enemies, so you know how to better strategise and win! If you liked this article, feel free to hit me up on Twitter or just join our #Digscord in order to meet the people behind Dig that make this thing so great, including the players themselves!