There have been occasions in VALORANT where you die early in the round and are able to spectate your teammate’s point of view, showing you the different styles and types of crosshairs they are using. Every now and then you see a unique crosshair that you just have to try, as this new crosshair might help you improve your aim! Let’s discuss how much impact the crosshair actually has on your aim in VALORANT.

I personally use different types of crosshairs, but I find myself cycling between them often. This led me to ask, “Am I handicapping myself by using a unique crosshair? Would I play better with a standard one?”

I decided to find out just how much the crosshair I use affects my gameplay. I set up a controlled test outline I could use to see how crosshairs affected my gameplay. My hypothesis was that crosshairs do not affect your gameplay. The type of crosshair you use does not dictate your accuracy and overall gameplay. The rules I set out for myself were simple:

I would use 4 different types of crosshairs: Standard Cross, Dot, Circle, and Unorthodox.

I would use the crosshair for 3 games each, forfeits would count as half a game.

I would play Duelist or Initiator in each game.

These rules would allow me to have some control over each test. With each match I would write notes on the team composition, how the team was playing, and how I was playing. Now with the outline done, and my hypothesis made, it was now time to research some crosshairs.

Standard Crosshair

“Blurry” Crosshair Numbers: On 1,1 | IL: On 1,6,1,3 | OL: On 0.4,4,3,4 (assume OFF unless stated)

I started with a standard crosshair I have been using for a while now named “Blurry”. It is called “Blurry” because in the crosshair editor it looks really blurry, but it looks crisp when used in game. I started with a standard crosshair as a base to compare the other crosshairs to. I played a total of 4 games, due to one being a forfeit. The forfeiture was from our team; we were beating another team 7-1 and the other team stopped trying. We got bored so we forfeited, so it’s not really a defeat.

Record: 1-3 | Average Combat Score: 236

Best Game:

DEFEAT 11-13 (Jett | Breeze)

28/20/9 MATCH MVP

376 Combat Score

5 First Bloods

Worst Game:

VICTORY 13-10 (Jett | Haven)

15/22/4

188 Combat Score

1 First Blood

This crosshair felt fine and natural. It was not something I was thinking about while playing since it was a standard looking crosshair that is seen in many games. Through the first 3 games, the crosshair was an afterthought. It was not until the last game (my worst game) was I thinking that a different crosshair would have positively affected my gameplay. I was getting outplayed in the final game; when this happens, I look for ways to reset my mental. Changing crosshairs midgame is one way to refresh my game, but I could not do that. It was interesting that the last game, the one I was being outplayed, was the game I was already looking to switch my crosshair. Other than that game, the normal crosshair was fine, even if it was not something I was already using regularly.

Dot Crosshair

“Close Ad” Crosshair Numbers: Off, On 2,3, On, Off | IL: On, 1,1,6,1 | OL: Off, Off, On

Next was the dot style crosshair. I was excited to use this one because I really liked how it looked. I felt my practice on closing overlay ads on shady sites was really going to transfer over to my gameplay (it didn’t). I never really tried using dot crosshairs before, I always thought they were too small for me to use and covered the vital part of where I was aiming. I played a total of 5 games due to forfeits.

Record: 2-3 | Average Combat Score: 121.2

Best Game:

DEFEAT 9-13 (Sova | Ascent)

23/19/5 TEAM MVP

282 Combat Score

4 First Bloods

Worst Game:

DEFEAT 12-13 (Reyna | Haven)

14/21/5

Combat Score 176

3 First Bloods

I really did not like this crosshair and I was a little shocked how much it affected my gameplay. I found myself whiffing easy shots I should have made. Whiff after whiff, game after game it was getting to my mental. Even in my best game, I noted that I whiffed easy shots. Because I started whiffing easy shots, I attributed it to the new crosshair I was using. It surprisingly made me lose confidence, something I did not think a crosshair could make me do. I was done with this crosshair by the final match, and it really flipped my hypothesis around after experiencing gameplay with this crosshair. Who knew a tiny dot could break my gameplay like this?

Circle Crosshair

“Circle” Crosshair Numbers: On 1, 1 | IL: On 1,2,8,4 | OL: On 1,2,2,5

This circle crosshair was a breath of fresh air compared to the dot crosshair I had tested previously. My first game noted that it felt great and natural. The following games noted that I did not even think about the type of crosshair I was using. My final game noted that the crosshair was nice and one I would be using in the future. I played a total of 3 games since there were no forfeits in unrated (shocking).

Record: 2-1 | Average Combat Score: 256.67

Best Game:

VICTORY 13-5 (Reyna | Haven)

21/12/11

Combat Score 299

5 First Bloods

Worst Game:

DEFEAT 11-13 (Pheonix | Bind)

17/19/4

Combat Score 180

4 First Bloods

I really liked this crosshair and the difference in how I played showed. I stopped whiffing easy shots like I was doing with the last crosshair. I noticed that the crosshairs were affecting my mental more than my actual gameplay. If I did not like the crosshair or if it didn’t feel natural, it was psyching me out. I assume that’s what happened with the dot crosshair, so the circle crosshair compared to that one resulted in much better gameplay. This test compared to the dot crosshair test already proved that my hypothesis was wrong, but I still had one more crosshair to try out.

Unorthodox Crosshair

“Quasar” Crosshair Numbers: Off, Off, Off | IL: ON 1,4,2,2 | OL: 1,1,8,1

This crosshair was the crosshair I used that started it all. This was the crosshair that made me think if I was handicapping myself by using this type of crosshair, since it was my most used crosshair at the time. I thought since it was similar to a standard crosshair, I was fine using this one. I was interested in seeing how my gameplay using this one compared to using a standard crosshair. I played 5 games using this crosshair as a result to forfeits.

Record: 4-1 | Average Combat Score: 196

Best Game:

VICTORY 13-8 (Reyna | Split)

24/16/5 MATCH MVP

Combat Score 343

8 First Bloods

Worst Game:

VICTORY 7-5 (Breach | Fracture)

7/10/5

Combat Score 127

3 First Bloods

I noticed right from the beginning that this crosshair was not great for long range duels, as I noted at the end of my first match. Going into the second match I confirmed that statement as I was wondering if the Phantom was a better gun for this crosshair. In my third game, I leaned into that thought by mainly using the Phantom. At the time I was really liking the Vandal, so going back to the Phantom seemed iffy for me, but with this crosshair it was actually better. I noted that going back to the Phantom helped a lot. The crosshair yet again, affected my gameplay.

There were times I wanted to buy a Vandal, but I was not confident I could take the long range duels and win them. This was evident in my Fracture match. After my last match, which happened to be my best match, I realized that this unorthodox crosshair combines the positives of the standard crosshair, with the negatives of the dot crosshair. I like the “t” shape, however like the dot, it covered too much area in the middle. I am not sure why I lost confidence using the crosshair in long range duels, even if it was the one,I used the most before these tests, but that loss of confidence was very real.

Conclusion

The tests that I did on the different types of crosshairs threw my hypothesis right out. I was a little shocked to find out how much these little indicators affected my gameplay. I always saw some players who were cracked using exaggerated or meme crosshairs fragging out, so I had assumed it did not matter what I used. I think it obviously varies from player to player, but I would encourage others to try out different crosshairs to see how they feel.

I felt the standard crosshair was the most natural and neutral. The circle felt the best in my opinion, and one I could see myself using in the future. I concluded that I preferred having a gap in the middle of my crosshairs, as this personal preference positively affected my gameplay. I think it really has to do with the mental aspect of the game rather than the mechanical one and switching between crosshairs allowed me to mentally reset mid game or in between games. The type of crosshair definitely affected my gameplay.