Getting killed by an opponent when it seems like you don’t have a chance can be really disheartening. Bad positioning will lower your chances at winning fights and dying less. Understanding how perspective works helps players hold better angles and better positions, which results in more kills and more round wins. Line yourself up for success with this positioning guide!
Perspective in Valorant includes angles and peeking. Angle advantages and peeker’s advantages are two entirely different concepts, however they work together to help players get kills. Understanding how perspective works in the game allows players to more accurately position themselves better to give them an advantage in a gunfight.
Perspective in Valorant is similar to perspective in real life. The closer you are to an object, the bigger it appears. The further away you are from an object, the smaller it appears. This is also true in-game. The closer a player is to a wall, the bigger they appear, the further away they are from a wall, the smaller they appear.
A player’s positional advantage is getting an advantage in perspective. Angle advantage is the advantage of seeing your opponents earlier than they see you. Peeker’s advantage is the advantage a player that peeks has over a player holding an angle. This is based on server connections and ping.Mechanically, the two work very differently, however in-game, they work in tandem to dictate whether a player’s position is good or bad. Another advantage to consider is the Off-Angle advantage. An off-angle is a non-standard angle opponents do not expect. Off-angles should be “bad” angles, but based on how the game is played, they are effective angles to hold.
Now that the different advantage types in perspective are understood, it is easier to illustrate how these are seen in game. A player’s perspective comes from the center of an agent’s head. This means that if a shoulder is in a visible position, but the agent’s head is not, the opponent will be able to see this player, while the player still sees the wall.
Understanding this we can see trends in positioning:
If a player holds closer to a wall, the player will see the opponent later, but the opponent might see the player.
If a player holds further from a wall, the player will see the opponent earlier, but the opponent will also see the player.
If the player holds close to a wall, while the opponent holds far, the opponent will see the player, even if the player cannot see the opponent.
If the player holds further from a wall, while the opponent holds close, the player will see the opponent while they are not visible to them.
Illustration from @RiotTuxedo
The angle advantage goes to the player that is further from the wall separating the two players’ visions. An example of this is in Haven C Long, where the attacker can be much further from the wall than the defender walking down the middle of long. The attacking player will always have the angle advantage if played further back from the wall in front of them.
If there is a corner, in which opponents must play close, peeking as far away from the dividing wall as possible will give the player the angle advantage. If the dividing wall separates the player with an open area, peeking further away will let them see more of the map, however they will be more easily seen.
A player can now position themselves better when taking fights knowing the relationship between angles and perspectives. An example of bad positioning from a player holding an angle can be seen below.
Images from @RiotTuxedo
In this angle the Viper (playing site) uses the wall from the box in front of them to divide her and the opponent (playing showers). In this case, the Viper is closer to the dividing wall and the Jett is further away. This gives the angle advantage to the Jett, who can see the Viper before she sees Jett.
An example of good positioning utilizing angle advantage can be seen below.
Images from @RiotTuxedo
In this situation, Viper is using the wall from showers to separate them and the opponent. This results in her being further away from the wall than Jett. In this scenario, Viper has the angle advantage and is able to see the Jett before the Jett sees her.
To try to negate this advantage, the Jett can jiggle peek. Jiggle peeking is good for gathering info and baiting shots so that opponents reveal their location. However, with perspective in mind, jiggle peeking only works when close to the dividing wall. Jiggle peeking far away from the dividing wall negates the advantage of this specific peek, since the player jiggle peeking will be seen more quickly. Jiggle peeking only works if the player is closer to the dividing wall.
Holding an angle where opponents need to hold W to move forward to peek is best. This allows for an easier shot since the player holding the angle does not have to track lateral movements with a crosshair. Examples of this type of angle are any choke points in the map. Choke points force aggressors to move forward to get to the site.
Due to angles and peeker’s advantage, holding close corners are typically unfavorable. Not only do peekers get an advantage, but it is also the first place opponents check when clearing angles. Holding an off angle away from a corner will negate the opponent’s advantage.
Off-angle positioning makes a player’s positioning unpredictable since they are not holding default angles that are commonly cleared. There are two types of off-angles. There is an off-angle a player can hold that is unprotected. It allows them to slow down an attack or rotate by getting a pick and then quickly escaping. Agents like Reyna, Jett, and Chamber excel at these types of off-angles. The second type of off-angle is a protected off-angle that allows a player to get multiple picks due since it offers readily available cover. This will let them continue taking fights. Taking off-angles catches opponents off guard.
Repositioning after duels allows players to hold different angles while being elusive, even when the enemy team is communicating. Holding a default angle, getting a kill, and then holding an off-angle or an entirely different angle will allow for better positioning throughout the game while being unpredictable.
Understanding how perspective works in Valorant allows players to more successfully position themselves to win duels. Identifying which walls separate a player from their opponents allows them to position themselves in the most effective way possible in any situation that they are in. Peeker’s advantage is prominent in Valorant, so using angle advantages to counter is the best way to defend an angle a player is holding. This allows players to find new positions and angles to hold, so that they remain unpredictable throughout the game.
