As it currently Stands, VALORANT's in-game economy is pretty well-balanced and simple when compared to the likes of CSGO. Much like the rest of this game’s design, it has ease of use and low learning-curve in mind. That being said, there are quite a few options, strategies, and mechanics that you will have to get your head around if you want to play at a higher competitive level. So, in this guide we will go over these mechanics and strategies to make your games a little easier to manage.

Basic Economic Mechanics

Starting Credits – You’ll start off with 800 credits in the first round of each half (the pistol round) which will allow for limited purchase options.

Kill Bonus – A bonus of 200 credits is awarded for every kill an individual makes in a round. Unlike games such as CSGO, kill bonuses are not tied to the weapons used, including knife kills. This helps to lower the economic complexity of Valorant matches by a fair margin.

Spike Plant – If you are on the attacking side, planting the spike will grant your entire team a 300-credit bonus upon moving on to the next round. While it may appear as an insignificant sum, being able to get as many plants as possible is crucial to maintaining your dominance (theoretically, you could accumulate 3,600 credits per person during your attacking half if you planted every round). Note that planting takes approximately four seconds, so even if you’ve wiped out your opponents you should aim to plant the spike in the short window before the game resets for the next round.

Loss Bonus – This is where some people can get a little confused, but thankfully it is not that bad once you wrap your head around it. The first (and minimum) loss bonus your team will receive is 1,900 credits, which rises by an additional 500 credits with each consecutive round loss (also known as a loss streak bonus). The maximum loss streak bonus you can receive after three consecutive losses, will total 2,900 credits. If you go on to win a round your loss bonus is reset to the minimum, so if you lose again you are set back to the basic 1,900 credit bonus.

Win Bonus – The win bonus is simple. If you manage to win a round your team members will each receive 3,000 credits.

Maximum Credit Limit – There is a limit of 9,000 credits for each individual in a game. This is more than enough to fully buy for yourself, as well as purchasing for other team members if required. Don’t be that person who sits on a pile of cash and refuses to reinvest it back into your team.

Round Development

Pistol rounds – In these rounds you have few choices to make, you either buy a new pistol and light armour, armour and agent abilities, or pistol and abilities. Alternatively, you can save as many credits as you can in the hope you will win the first round and turbocharge your economic advantage early on. The outcome of this round is integral to your next strategic choice with regards to your economy. If you lose, you’ll want to save and if you win, you’ll want to buy up. However, as we shall see, you can also choose to force buy despite being in a bad economic situation.

Save (or ‘eco’) rounds – This is an important strategy to enact as soon as you have limited funds. Save rounds require your entire team to hold off on the large purchases and play with the knowledge that you most likely will lose a round in order for you to continue purchasing larger weapons and abilities in the rest of the game. A general rule of thumb for Valorant save rounds is to aim to have at least 2,000 credits in the bank so that you can buy fully next round (alternatively you can check to see if your 'min next round' statistic is at least 3,900 credits). You will be relatively safe if you spend all of your credits above this cut-off line, for example, if you have 3,000 credits and your team decides to save, then you should buy light armour, a pistol, and perhaps an ability to maximise your chances during the save round. However, you could just decide to save all your credits completely if you think that would be more beneficial.

Force buy rounds – If you are in a poor economic situation, you may decide to force buy as much as you can with the money you have, in a bid to disrupt your opponent’s momentum. This is a risky strategy, but sometimes forcing the purchase of armour and rifles or SMGs is going to pay off. Doing this can level out the economy between sides and give you an opportunity to accrue more credits, thus increasing your chances of winning rounds. It is important to keep an eye on your enemy’s financial situation, as it gives a clear indication of how they might play during rounds and consequently tells you how you should respond.

Full buy rounds – This is pretty self-explanatory. If have won the first round or perhaps multiple rounds in a row, you’ll want to utilise your credits to gain the most from your agent’s abilities. Full armour, rifles and a full range of abilities are essential if you want to enact higher level strategies. A full buy round will cost approximately 4,500 credits per player, so make sure that you each have enough in reserve to consistently buy. Keep track of your excess cash and bear in mind the loss/win bonuses if you want to have an idea of your ability to buy each round.

Final round of the half and tie-breaker rounds – It should become obvious to you that in the last round of the half you’ll want to use all your credits regardless of your win/loss status (as your economy resets as you go into the second half). Buy whatever you can and make room for a few abilities also. Tie-breaker rounds are slightly similar in this regard. If you find yourself in a game that is 12-11, you should also buy fully regardless of win/loss status, as the economy going into the final tie-breaking round and will reset. The tie-breaking round will give everyone 5,000 credits and reset ability points. As it is the very last round of the game, you should look to fully buy as it will be your last chance to clinch the win.

Top Tips

- Do not tilt buy. There is nothing worse than digging yourself into an economic crisis by force buying each round in frustration. It is better to save your credits and reassess how you are approaching rounds, rather than burning your money and making the same mistakes.

- Always pick up dropped weapons if you have none yourself or will be unable to buy them next round. This is especially important if you down an opponent holding an Operator, Phantom, or Vandal, and even more important if you are on a save round and want to capitalise on your kills.

- If you end up playing with a few solo queued players, or perhaps you have a full team, make sure to keep up communications so that everyone buys and saves at the same time. It is important your team is on a similar economic footing if you want to play cohesively and win.

- If your opponent’s have large cash piles, it might be a good option to force buy to disrupt or balance out the economy. Sometimes saving rounds will only get you so far and you’ll have to take on more risk by buying if you want a chance and bringing a game back. You do not want your opponents to max out their savings and win the match by attrition.

- If you want to efficiently keep an eye on the economy, you can check the 'min next round' statistic which will be under your name in the buy menu. This will tell you the minimum amount of credits you will receive after a round (you should look to have approximately 3,900-5,000 credits for a full buy).

- You can change up your eco rounds by deciding to purchase sheriffs or shotguns and hold passive angles, or by having one or two players go 'glass cannon' by buying rifles and no armour. Your choice will depend entirely on your team's abilities and confidence levels during games. The key takeaway for eco rounds is to play together and trade kills in order to capitalise on the rounds that are not in your favour.

If you liked this content, be sure to check out our other useful agent guides on our blog page.

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