In Valorant, everyone knows the importance of the pistol and second round of a half, which sets up the foundation of a team’s economy for the rest of the game. With massive developments of the meta over the past year, there are many different strategies that you can employ in the second round of a Valorant half.
One of the most important factors in getting rounds in an offensive or defensive round of Valorant is maintaining a strong economy. Generally, better guns and more utility increase your chances of winning a round. Thus, it follows that the more rounds you can purchase rifles and utility, the more rounds you will win.
In Valorant, the economy system rewards players based on factors such as round win/loss, kills, and spike status. For a full guide, check out Valorant Economy 101.
An integral part of setting up a strong economy for a 12-round half of Valorant is being strategic about what you buy in the earlier rounds of the half, namely the second round. This round is significant, as the outcome of the pistol and second round determines which team leads the half in both score and economy.
This article will cover the philosophy behind a second round buy, and a variety of second round loadouts, taken directly from VCT LOCK//IN, where the 32 best teams around the world competed in the first franchised tournament in Valorant history.
To properly illustrate the context of a second round, we need to separate these strategies into whether the team has won or lost the pistol round. This is because the goal of a team in the second round depends on the economy going into the round in the first place.
If your team won the pistol round:
This directly translates to these objectives, in order of importance:
Thus, you need to find the balance in investing enough credits to comfortably win the round, while finding ways to prepare yourselves to win the third round, which provides a massive advantage going forward.
Overall, the concept of buying Light versus. Heavy armor is fairly straightforward. On a round loss, the enemy team will have 1900-2500 credits, depending on the # of kills and whether the spike is planted. Aside from the Marshall and the Sheriff, the weapons that can be purchased cannot deal 150 damage in a single shot. Thus, buying heavy armor increases the chances of winning duels against weaker weaponry at a cost of 600 additional credits.
A similar logic can be followed with the selection of weapons. If we know that the enemy team will likely have no armor or light armor, we should opt to purchase weapons that deal enough damage to eliminate the enemy while leaving additional credits for armor and utility. Typical weapons that fit this category include the Spectre, the Bulldog, or the Ares.
However, an additional consideration is the validity of the weapon going into the following round. Under the assumption that the enemy has accumulated enough credits to get heavy armor and a rifle, weapons such as the Spectre and the Ares become less effective. Thus, there is a consideration about whether to invest in a more suitable weapon such as the Bulldog, the Guardian, and in some cases, a Phantom or a Vandal.
What if we wanted to spend less money to save? How should we coordinate buys among a team of 5 players? Let’s take a look at some examples from LOCK//IN:
This loadout is very safe and consistent and is a loadout that you might commonly see in ranked play. Players prioritize purchasing a Spectre or Stinger, in order to purchase Heavy armor and near full utility. The heavy armor is sufficient in soaking up damage from pistols, and the utility plays a role if the team relies on set plays and executes. A downside to this loadout is that SMGs are unable to eliminate a player with a single headshot; if the opposing team purchases Marshalls or Sheriffs, they have a good chance of winning duels in their favor.
Similar to the previous loadout, all players on team have a consistent buy, purchasing Bulldogs, and whatever utility and armor they are able to afford with the leftover credits. Some members opt to purchase heavy armor, while others opt to purchase extra utility. This will depend on each member’s game plan, and whether it is based more on setups or taking gunfights. The Bulldog is superior to SMGs, as the alternate burst fire can be on par with other rifles, giving FNATIC a more of a chance to win the third round against Phantoms and Vandals. The downside is incomplete armor and utility, which may or may not be important to a team’s game plan.
This loadout involves different buys across the team. Three members do an SMG + full utility loadout, while the other two purchase Vandals with light armor. The idea behind purchasing rifles is that winning this round enables you to be on par with the weaponry the opposing team will have on the third round. However, the Light armor provides a risk of losing a duel, and thus giving up a Vandal to the opposing team. To counteract this risk, three of the members will purchase Heavy armor and SMGs, being in a position to trade out their teammates, in addition to picking up the Vandal over the Spectre if needed.
The philosophy behind the buy is to have three players purchasing rifles, and two players keeping their pistols from the first round. The goal is to keep at least three players alive for the next round, holding the three rifles purchased. If a player with a rifle dies, the players with the pistols can immediately reclaim the rifle without having to drop a weapon they spent credits on. Even if things go wrong, and multiple players end up falling, the two players that saved completely will be able to purchase a rifle regardless, making this plan relatively consistent. NAVI proved the effectiveness of this loadout, winning Masters Copenhagen in 2022.
In this loadout, FNATIC shows an example of one of the many variations on the NAVI loadout philosophy. First, instead of three rifles, they confidently opt for four. Next, instead of holding a pistol, Boaster chooses to spend a little extra money on the Marshall. This decision revolves around the additional credits spent versus the extra security a Marshall provides in fights against pistols. Variations can be expanded upon, as you can substitute the Marshall out for a different weapon, in addition to changing around the number of rifles on the team.
Taking a look at the other end of things, losing the pistol round indicates:
This translates to the following objectives:
If you’ve lost the round, you need to find the balance between giving yourself a chance at dealing economic damage or even winning the round, without over-investing your limited credits. Typically, forcing on the second round gives your team an opportunity to make the score of the game 1-1. However, losing this round all but guarantees losing the third round. Thus, you want to decide between completely saving, and buying enough to give yourselves a chance into the round.
In this case, it’s almost never a good idea to spend credits on armor and utility. Unless your team is opting to spend all your credits together in unison, having some extra armor or utility won’t help the major difference in firepower.
If your team is opting to completely save, great! You are essentially giving up the round completely, in favor of putting together a stronger buy for the third round. However, players confident in their aim can opt to purchase a Sheriff or a Marshall. These weapons are relatively cheap, being priced at 800 and 950 credits respectively. However, they have the ability to instantly eliminate a player, even if they are at full health and armor. Simply getting two nice shots can turn the round into a 5v3, in addition to the weapons picked up from the eliminated players.
Let’s take a look at some examples of second rounds buys from teams that lost the pistol round at LOCK//IN.
An example of the aforementioned force buy involves players spending all their credits. In the case of NRG, they decide to purchase SMGs, Light armor, and an almost complete set of utility. Depending on the buy of the enemy team, this buy actually gives NRG a decent chance of winning the round based on loadouts alone. The major downside to this loadout is that losing the round leaves the entire team with little to no credits remaining, while the other team will have significantly more credits to work with, putting NRG at a 3-0 disadvantage.
This loadout is pretty self-explanatory: DFM spends credits so that they have enough for at least armor and a rifle the following round, while giving them a chance at winning the round. The Sheriffs can take out a player with an accurate shot, and the partial utility purchased could make the difference between winning and losing the round.
Similar to the previous loadout, NAVI purchase just enough to give themselves a chance while leaving enough credits for the third round. For this loadout, they strictly focus on the gunplay, purchasing no additional utility. For teams that are confident in their aim and firepower, this could be a safe loadout that provides a decent opportunity to win the round.
The core idea behind a “hero buy” is that one player on the team purchases a weapon on the off chance that they can get an elimination or two that snowballs into a round win. Of course, this is highly unlikely. However, the investment of one player also doesn’t make a noticeable difference in the third round purchase, which balances the benefits and weaknesses of this strategy.
DRX: The Full Save
Like the title suggests, DRX tends to play by the book, spending virtually nothing on the second round. For a team with strict protocol, it’s important that they have enough utility and firepower to play the game plans they come up with. Occasionally, they might decide to invest a little more into some extra utility, in hopes that they could be of use in a certain situation.
DRX’s full save
DRX’s save with partial utility
Knowing all these strategies, what should you implement in your games? The truth is, all of these strategies have their benefits and drawbacks, which are further amplified with the strengths and weaknesses of the team using them. The important thing to note is that since coordination might not always be present in your ranked teams, safer strategies that require less teamwork are most popular in ranked. This includes full saves and full buys. However, if you are able to convince your team to run a uniform strategy, the NAVI buy might be a strategy worth trying. Finally, if you are confident in your individual play, you can always opt to buy a hero weapon. Try all these strategies out and find what works best for you!
