In a first-person shooter, sensitivity is a gamer's indispensable tool, the foundation your aim is built on. This guide will teach you how to find the right sensitivity for you, and how to integrate your unique sensitivity into Valorant.
Each player is their own individual, with their own sensitivity that can be as low as .30 or as high as 2.7. Whether it'd be easy or difficult, the journey to finding the right one that fits you and your playstyle is essential to playing Valorant to the best of your ability, because it is what your aim depends on. All it takes is patience and understanding of your comfort level with your mouse and crosshair.
This guide will demonstrate how to find your right sensitivity, cover the pros and cons of different levels of sensitivity, and how to refine your choice. With the perfect sensitivity for you, you will be able to aim with ease and maintain consistent accuracy as you build upon this sixth sense.
Sensitivity is a measurement that determines how quickly you can move your crosshair based on mouse movement. It is set to 1 by default, but you are free to adjust the scale to your liking in Settings -> General -> Mouse -> Sensitivity: Aim. The scale correlates with the speed of your aim. The lower the number, the slower the crosshair's movement. The higher the number, the quicker the movement. It is all dependent on you and your comfort level with your mouse.
But how do you discover this comfort level? Luckily enough, Valorant has implemented a tool that not only serves as an aim trainer but also a sensitivity finder: the Range.
The main indicator that your sensitivity may not be right for you is if, when aiming, your crosshair falls short of your target and/or flies past your target. In this case, your crosshair may be too slow or two quick for you, respectively. To familiarize yourself with the speed at which you aim, go to the Range and practice with the bots.
Start with whatever sensitivity you have; it doesn't matter what you start at, because you're going to be refining it from there. Spawn a bot to use it as a point of reference to gauge your sensitivity. The next step is where your patience is put to the test.
Beginning from any point that is not the bot, flick your crosshair onto the bot's head. If it falls short, raise your sensitivity. If it flies past, raise your sensitivity. You can change your sensitivity without going into the menu by using the boxes on the range display, using the squares on either side of where it displays "Aim Sensitivity" - the left side decreases and the right side increases. The bigger box increases/decreases .10, while the smaller boxes add/subtract .01. This process is meticulous and tedious because sensitivity can be as precise as to the tenth of a decimal. Take breaks if you must, but eventually, you will find that sensitivity allows you to aim exactly at the bot's head within a comfortable amount of mouse movement.
Aside from flicks, tracking is also a factor to consider for sensitivity. Can you track a moving target accurately? Choose the option at which the bots strafe left and right and try to follow the movement of their heads. If your aim falls behind, consider raising your sensitivity. If your aim is too ahead, lower it! Assessing the speed of your aim's movement in correlation with a moving target provides you a deeper comprehension of your mouse control, thus assisting in establishing a more precise sensitivity.
Althought sensitivity may seem like a strictly in-game mechanic, there are also outside factors that may affect your journey to finding your sensitivity that must be considered.
Outside factors that may affect your sensitivity are the characteristics of your mouse and the desk space you work with.
Consider the DPI (dots per linear inch) of your mouse, which is the sensitivity of the mouse itself outside the game. The lower the DPI, the slower your cursor movement. The higher the DPI, the faster your cursor movement. This unique element of your mouse carries over into the game. If your in-game sensitivity is high with a low DPI, your aim may move the same distance as low in-game sensitivity with a high DPI.
The mouse itself can also be a factor, particularly the weight. There are light and heavy mice. A light mouse may prompt a lower sensitivity because you are able to move it easier, whereas a heavy mouse may prompt a higher sensitivity because it requires more muscle to move.
Lastly, desk space is the amount of space you can move your mouse in. If you have little desk space, then it is in your favor to have high sensitivity to compensate for the restriction of your mouse movement. If you have a lot of desk space, then you have more freedom with bigger mouse movement, thus more flexibility with a lower sensitivity.
Now with an understanding of the process of finding the right sensitivity, let’s dive into the pros and cons of low and high sensitivity in the context of Valorant.
The pros of low sensitivity involve precision, such as micro-adjustments, holding angles, and tracking.
Micro adjustments are when you make slight corrections to the placement of your aim. For example, if your aim is to the left of your opponent’s head, you’d want to micro-adjust it to the right to aim at their head. Lower sensitivity is ideal for this because, with a slower movement, you are more precise in your adjustments.
Holding angles with a lower sensitivity reduces your room for error. With a slower aim, you won’t lose the angle if you were to accidentally move your mouse because it won’t travel that far.
Tracking is beneficial versus moving opponents. A lower sensitivity provides you more steadiness in tracking opponents, thus consistent accuracy.
The cons of low sensitivity involve physical mouse movement. A slower aim speed prompts bigger and longer mouse movement. If you have little desk space, you may find yourself swiping your mouse across multiple times to turn wide degrees.
The pros of high sensitivity involve the rate at which you can kill, such as the ability to flick, the speed at which you move your aim, and facing multiple enemies.
A flick is an act of moving your crosshair on your target quickly. With speed involved, it is ideal to have higher sensitivity as it allows you a faster movement of your aim to your target with less mouse movement. This increases your chances to kill in the face of multiple enemies because you would be able to move your aim from target to target fast.
The cons of high sensitivity involve the gamble of precision for micro adjustments and holding angles.
It may be harder to micro adjust with higher sensitivity because an aim that moves too fast can result in less precision in the slight adjustments that may be as little as a pixel. As for holding angles, higher sensitivity allows for more chance for error because the slightest movement of your mouse can move your crosshair by a lot, which risks losing the angle.
Now with your discovered sensitivity, the last step is to refine it. To refine it, you must practice with it. The more you aim with your sensitivity, the more it’ll become second nature. There are numerous ways to practice it, such as games and or the Range. Outside of Valorant, aim trainer programs may help you too, like Aim Lab or KovaaK 2.0. It is all up to your preference on how you want to approach your practice.
However, as you are practicing your sensitivity, you may find some of the slightest nicks in the speed of your aim that urge you to change it. It is okay to change your sensitivity once in a while to fit your instincts that may develop the more you play, but do not change it too often. Every time you do so, it resets your intuition of the speed of your aim, resulting in overestimation or underestimation of where your aim lands from being familiarized with your past sensitivity.
Sensitivity blossoms consistent aim, so it will be in your favor to perfect a specific one to mastery.
So, what is the best sensitivity?
There is no correct answer. Everyone has their own unique journey to determine their sensitivity. Don’t feel ashamed if yours is higher or lower than another because as long as you play what you feel is best for you, then you will succeed wherever you go.
