Can Chamber Replace Jett in VALORANT - An Analysis
With the release of the new agent Chamber as another Sentinel in the game, will Riot’s release of Chamber finally be the answer to players asking for a viable operator besides Jett?
With the release of the new agent Chamber as another Sentinel in the game, will Riot’s release of Chamber finally be the answer to players asking for a viable operator besides Jett?
Chamber was released on November 16, 2021 as part of patch 3.10 for everyone to play. Although he is a Sentinel, his kit is somewhat unique when compared to the other Sentinels. Unlike the other Sentinels who have multiple abilities that can be used to stall a push, like Sage with her Barrier Orb and Slow Orbs, Killjoy with her Nanoswarms and Turret, and Cypher’s Trapwire and Cyber Cage, the only stalling ability Chamber has is this Trademark. His abilities as a Sentinel are often called selfish as most of his abilities only help himself and don’t benefit the team.
The only defensive ability he has, Trademark, works similarly to Killjoy’s Alarmbot. Chamber can place a trap that scans for enemies. When a visible enemy comes in range, the trap counts down and then destabilizes the terrain around them, creating a small area that slows players caught inside of it, including Chamber and his teammates. Unlike Killjoys’s Alarmbot, this trap is not invisible; this means players need to place them around corners at high-contested areas. More importantly, Trademark remains active regardless of where Chamber is on the map. This makes Trademark a great ability to prevent flank plays.
Chamber's main ability is called Rendezvous. It allows Chambers to drop two teleport anchor points on the map. Since there is a set range for the two anchor points, players will need to be creative when setting them up. When within the area of an anchor point, pressing his E ability will teleport Chamber to the other anchor point. The cooldown of each teleport is 19 seconds. This allows him to quickly change positions either for rotations or escape. Since the speed of his teleport is extremely fast, this is what made lots of people start using him and is often used similarly to Jett’s Dash. Another addition to this is that the anchors can be picked up and re-deployed elsewhere.
Chamber also has another skill, the Headhunter, which is technically a pocket Guardian. Unlike a Sheriff which cannot one-shot headshot in long ranges, the Headhunter can one-shot headshot from long range and its bullets need to be purchased for the price of 100 credits each. It also has the ability to ADS, which makes it easier to engage in long range fights. Not only is the Headhunter ability good for eco rounds, but it can also be paired with light armor during pistol rounds. This makes him a force to reckon with during pistol rounds, especially with his ability to quickly teleport in and out of danger.
Lastly, his ultimate, which costs 7 orbs, the Tour de Force is effectively the AWP from CSGO. It is much faster than the normal Operator, and will kill an enemy with any direct hit, even leg shots. The ability can be used during eco rounds, similarly to his Headhunter, and it's basically an Operator on eco rounds. Killing enemies will also create a small area that slows players caught inside of it, similar to his Trademark ability.
The question is why are people saying he can replace Jett? Similar to Jett, his abilities are good for eco rounds. Both his Headhunter and Tour de Force can be used during eco rounds, with the Headhunter doing the being doing more or less the same damage as Jett’s Blade Storm. Only difference is the Blade Storm has 100% accuracy even when moving.
Another reason people are saying that he may replace Jett is that Chamber can also be used as an Operator agent. The reason is that his Rendezvous can be used similarly like Jett’s Tailwind to get out of dangerous spots when he is using the Operator. However, unlike Jett who needs to get two kills to refresh the Tailwind ability, Chamber’s “escape” ability doesn’t need him to get any kills since it has a 19 second cooldown and has a longer range.
His ultimate, the Tour de Force, like Jett’s Blade Storm, can be used during eco rounds. It is essentially a better Operator that can create a slowing AoE. Just hold an angle and kill enemies that peek at it without using their utility. Jett on the other hand has her Blade Storm, which cannot one-shot enemies except with a headshot, but she can use it while moving.
So, can he replace Jett with the Operator? Surprisingly, contrary to popular belief, Jett is not the only agent that can use Operator effectively. We have seen many occasions, especially with Team Liquid, where Jett is used instead to enter while the Operator is used by other agents, such as Controllers or Initiators. This shows that at least in pro play, other agents can use the Operator besides Jett.
However, for the ordinary player, Jett is still the best Operator agent due to her flexibility on both defense and attack. Her abilities are also pretty straightforward; her Tailwind doesn’t need any setup while Chamber needs to play off his Rendezvous, giving him less flexibility when compared to Jett, especially on attack. However, Chamber is much better during defense since he has the time to set up the Rendezvous and his ultimate is better than Jett’s Blade Storm during defense. In short, Chamber only surpasses Jett on defense but the game has both attack and defense which makes Jett better since she is more flexible.