An Overview of All VALORANT Characters: Agents & Roles
A guide on each Valorant agent and their abilities, and how you can fill any role: Controller, Duelist, Initiator, Sentinel.
Whether you’re queuing to play casual or competitive matches in Valorant, there will be a time where a player will ask either you or another player to fill, where you’ve probably heard someone ask, “Hey player 5, can you play smokes?” Though something like this may occur, it’s your choice whether or not you would like to play a role that your teammate(s) suggest, as it is highly recommended to play any agent that you are comfortable playing as, rather than a character that you are not entirely sure of on how to play.
With all the agents we are provided with, it is certain that every agent has their own level of difficulty given the simple things such as mechanics and utility knowledge needed just for getting the basics down for that agent. We are given the four roles of Controller, Duelist, Initiator, and Sentinel, in which each and every one of them are unique in gameplay, play style, and their overall impact in the match. With that being said, we’ll run down all the agents' abilities and playstyles that you are comfortable with learning when filling.
Image from Beginner’s Guide on the Official Valorant site. All current agents may not be shown, but the definition of the roles still follows.
Controller
Smokes are without a doubt the most impactful and strongest necessity in any match and map you will play. It’s certain that we’ve all had at least that one game where no one in the team was a Controller to provide smokes, in which this was indeed an unfun gaming experience. Given the various utilities that the Controller agents are able to provide for us, it’ll be beneficial to learn at least one agent even if it isn’t someone who you would play often. Just like any other agent in any role, finding the one that makes you feel most comfortable is what matters the most to help you and your teammates catch a dub.
Astra: Has the ability to set her team up with smokes, stuns, and blackholes that traps anyone within them. It might take a while to try and learn Astra, but it is definitely worth it considering her extremely beneficial abilities and the global view for her utility.
Brimstone: Has the ability to deliver utility precisely and from the minimap, which is quite a limited distance compared to Astra and Omen. Incendiary grenades can be used to clear corners and/or prevent pushes. Sky smoke allows for long-lasting smoke clouds that block vision in the desired area.
Omen: Has the ability to blind anyone in the direction of his paranoia, can teleport a given distance across the field, and can use his ultimate to teleport anywhere on the map.
Viper: Has the ability to throw a Poison Cloud that can be redeployed at a different location and can throw up a Toxic Screen (a tall wall of toxic gas), in which both abilities cost fuel. Like Brimstone, her Snake Bite utility can be used to clear corners and/or prevent pushes. Viper is a highly suggested agent to have on a team when playing on Breeze.
Duelist
We all know that it’s most common for people to instalock a Duelist, but there will for sure be that game where either you instalock a Duelist as well or, luckily, fill in as a Duelist. Each of the five current Duelists have unique abilities that although they have the same role, they may have different playstyles. Which Duelist do you see yourself entrying with?
Jett: Is hands down the most mobile agent in the game. Although she doesn’t provide much utility for the team outside of a brief Cloudburst to block sight, she can dash with her Tailwind to engage or disengage and get to higher elevations with her Updraft ability, in which enemies won‘t expect to be on an off angle. With this, Jett is an ideal duelist to have on your team.
Phoenix: Has the ability to throw fireballs, known as Hot Hands, that can damage enemies and heal him. His vision-blocking wall of fire, the Blaze, can allow for a short-distance rotation or a fake. Phoenix is a great agent when it comes to manipulating the flow of the match and being an entry for his team.
Raze: Has abilities that work more towards mobility and damage, which makes her a unique duelist. Her Boom Bot can be used to find any enemy intel, Blast Packs for breaking enemy utility or for mobility, Paint Shells as a simple cluster grenade, and Showstopper, her ultimate, equips her with a rocket launcher. Given this, her utility allows her to have a higher kill potential than most of the other agents.
Reyna: Has abilities that are solely reliant on the users’ capability of getting kills and assists. Her Leer nearsights the enemies and cannot blind her own team, but at the cost of her blind being weaker than those possessed by other agents. Using Devour after an elimination or assist allows Reyna to rapidly heal for a short duration of time and will decay over time. Dismiss takes up a soul orb just like Devour, in which dismissing will render her invulnerable for a short duration. It’s best to play Reyna if you are confident in eliminating the opponents using your raw skill.
Yoru: Has abilities that allow for faking out opponents and moving into positions the enemy won’t expect. A common strategy when using Yoru is to combine his Gatecrash with Dimensional Drift to run into an area for intel, then to teleport back to the stationary portal.
Initiator
Given the name, an Initiator initiates the team to enter enemy ground, in which they excel on offense with their support for not only Duelists to entry, but for the entire team to gather intel on enemy whereabouts. Although most Initiators are equipped with flashes, Sova is the only Initiator that provides the team with precise enemy location when tagged.
Breach: Has abilities that set up his team for aggressive plays and can crowd-control through walls, roofs, or terrain. His Aftershock is a great utility to clear corners, cubbies, or any location an enemy may possibly be in.
KAY/O: Can suppress enemy abilities and force them to rely on their raw skill without their abilities. ZERO/POINT is a throwable blade that suppresses anyone within its radius, which is a great way of revealing who is in the vicinity of the blade. With an ultimate that allows him to emit an immense amount of energy from his location that suppresses enemy abilities, KAY/O is definitely an agent that creates a drastic change to how the match is played.
Skye: Has abilities that can help aid her team by engaging, scouting, and healing her team within a certain radius. While the Guiding Light is a hawk that can transform into a flash, it can also be used to gather intel on if an enemy is in the vicinity of the hawk.
Sova: Has abilities that can track his opponents if tagged by an Owl Drone, caught in the line of sight by a Recon Bolt, or shot by his bow with three long-range energy blasting ultimate, the Hunter’s Fury.
Sentinel
With just three Sentinels currently in the game, it can be known that Sentinels are the best agents to rely on when holding down a site on their own while their team is off elsewhere, whether it be rotating in or out. Each of the three Sentinels abilities and utilities differ from each other in many ways, in which Cypher is more vision based, Killjoy is more damage based, and Sage can delay enemy pushes and chokepoints.
Cypher: Has abilities that are best used on defense and can also be useful on offense for limiting potential flankers or providing safety for a plant/defuse using his Trapwires, Cyber Cages, and even his Spycam.
Killjoy: Has abilities that provide a great amount of intel with her Alarmbot if an enemy or their utility is within its radius, as well as the Turret that shoots enemies in LOS from a distance. The area control depends on the placements of her utility, and can deal damage to enemies and possibly delay a push with her Nanoswarms. Combining the placement of an Alarmbot next to a Nanoswarm can make the enemy vulnerable and possibly even destroy their health if there is much Nanoswarm damage.
Sage: Has abilities that can heal allies and delay the opposing team from pushing a site, which of course makes her a great defensive and supportive character. Her Slow Orbs slow the enemy down and the Barrier Orb blocks off her enemies, which can also be used to boost onto higher elevation.
Conclusion
With the rundown on each agent and their specialties and playstyles, it's certain that each agent has their own level of difficulty no matter the role. Picking an agent you don’t entirely know how to play definitely puts you in a position where you are more of a burden to your teammates rather than being helpful to the team. It’s never too late to learn a new agent(s), and it will definitely make you a better player once you get to fully understand and acknowledge how different agents are played.
