In this article, we will be taking a deeper look at the Shadow Slinger himself: Omen. We’ll go over his role as a Controller, what his kit does, some tips for each ability, as well as how to use each one on both attack and defense!
In a game like Valorant, having utility that provides crowd control is important to help your team push onto site when attacking, and slow down enemy pushes when defending. Valorant is unique because this responsibility is tied to an entire Agent Class, Controller, and while it might not seem like the flashiest job to have, making sure your team has this kind of utility can be essential in making rounds go in your favor. Omen is a breath of fresh air when looking to select an agent that provides crowd control and vision denial. His kit is unique with the versatility that it provides for him and his teammates. In this article, we are going to dive into what makes Omen such a great pick, and why you should consider locking him in during your next match!
What Omen wants to achieve for his team is simple. On attack, Omen’s responsibility is to make sure he cuts off vision and divides sites and other angles in unison with his team’s utility so that taking a site or an area can be achieved as quickly and safely as possible. On defense, Omen wants to block common entry points and angles when playing on site and cover other aggressive angles that the enemy might hold when trying to play default. Achieving this is a very easy task when playing Omen, and he has many different ways to approach these situations.
Omen excels at adapting to the enemy team’s playstyle and exploiting their habits, while also rendering the enemy unaware as to what his next move might be. His kit allows him to constantly keep the enemy on their toes, not knowing what he will do next. However, while pulling off cool clips with his abilities is fun, communication and working with your teammates are a must. One botched push or bad smoke can lead to a lost round, so it is best to make sure you are always filling in your team on the information you gather as well as what you plan on doing next so executing plays goes a lot smoother.
Compared to the other Controller Agents in the game, Omen has a very unique kit at his disposal. Understanding what each ability he has does, as well as the limitations and interactions each one of his abilities have, will allow you to play him to his fullest potential, making executes and team-oriented plays a lot easier. Not to mention, Omen is also very efficient when left in solo situations. His kit is very powerful when in the right hands, but just like any other agent, it is only good if you make it good. So, let’s take a deeper look at his abilities and how they work!
Dark Cover is Omen’s smoke, and there is a lot to go over for this ability. This is Omen’s signature ability, meaning that at the beginning of every round, he will always get at least one charge for free. You can also purchase one extra charge along with the one you receive for 150 credits, capping out at two charges. When used, Omen will equip an orb to be thrown within the ability’s range, indicated by the meter that appears on the screen when the ability is activated. When the orb reaches its destination, it will turn into a large smoke, covering the area around where it lands for fifteen seconds. This ability can quite literally be thrown anywhere, as long as Omen is within range of the desired destination.
Dark Cover is unique because it is currently the only smoke in the game with a cooldown, meaning even if you use both of your smokes in a round, you can use more if the thirty-second cooldown ends and the ability refreshes. This is extremely important to keep in mind and utilize, especially during longer rounds. On both attack and defense, an extra use or two of your smoke is extremely useful when trying to do things like defending, defusing, and planting the spike. Another thing to keep in mind regarding this is, that even if you only have one charge of your smoke, it still recharges after it is used, which is very useful on ECO or save rounds when you can only afford one smoke. If a smoke is used and then refreshed, the icon will turn yellow on the HUD, meaning you will have to purchase a charge again the next round.
An interesting thing about Dark Cover is that the smokes are hollow on the inside. Unlike Brimstone’s Sky Smokes and Viper’s Poison Orb, if you are inside a Dark Cover Smoke, you can see inside of the smoke, and your vision is not limited. This is important to keep in mind because Omen can play inside of his smokes when he wants to. This creates an area of uncertainty for the enemy team, and it can be a smart idea to mix up when you play in your smokes, and when you play off of them. It will make the enemy think twice before trying to push through a certain area that is smoked off.
Since Dark Cover’s range and placement are so versatile, one thing to consider learning when playing Omen is one-way smoke setups. A one-way is a smoke that is placed in such a way that you can see a glimpse of the enemy, usually their feet or torso, but they cannot see you. This can lead to some cheeky kills, as well as some great angles for not only you but for your teammates as well. Since the range of Omen’s smokes is so large, you can set up a one-way for your team from across the map if they vocalize that the enemy is pushing near them.
Another thing to understand when playing Omen is utilizing your smokes effectively to obtain mid control. Since they only have a thirty-second cooldown, making sure that you are always getting value from them is important. For example, if you have two smokes, always smoking Top Mid when Defending on Pearl, is a great idea, because it makes the enemy either swing out of a smoke which gives you an advantage, or you cover the other option they have if they don’t push out of the smoke. The same goes for attacking, always smoking Boiler on Icebox can be beneficial. Doing this gives you value by utilizing the cooldown feature of Dark Cover to obtain Mid control since you will get another smoke shortly after.
Paranoia is Omen’s blind ability, and it is very strong when used correctly. Paranoia costs 300 credits and only has one charge that can be used per round. Omen equips a shadow, and when thrown out, anyone hit by the shadow will become nearsighted for two seconds. This ability has an extremely long range and can oftentimes cover the entire length of a site if thrown correctly. This ability can also travel through walls and solid surfaces, making it great to control areas for your team when you are attacking or defending from other entry points and angles.
When attacking, it can be beneficial to use in areas with tight quarters where it is hard to avoid, like Garage and A Short on Haven or Lamps and Hookah on Bind. Using it when pushing the site itself is also very important as well. When taking site, using it to divide the site in half is very useful. Even if you do not hit them with the blind, it can still displace enemies into open angles and unfavorable positions, allowing your team to get some quick picks. Working as a team and pairing Paranoia with your team’s utility, like a Breach Fault Line or a Skye Trailblazer can also make taking and clearing sites very easy.
On Defense, Paranoia can make a team think twice about pushing certain areas that Omen is covering. If you hear enemies pushing aggressively, and anticipate them swinging or peeking you, blinding them with Paranoia can help you win a gunfight and escape in a pinch. Paranoia is also helpful for retaking sites. If you are playing retake, using Paranoia then swinging or sneaking onto site while their vision is reduced can swing the momentum in your favor, especially if your team has better numbers and plays with you accordingly.
Overall, Paranoia is a very versatile ability, and it can be used in many different scenarios. One way to use it is if you have a Jett or a Raze, you can blind certain choke points like A Main on Ascent, or Grass on Haven, they can then follow up with their great mobility and get some aggressive picks on defense. Another thing Paranoia is used for is post-plant situations. If you have Paranoia, and the bomb is getting defused, using it can get the enemy off the bomb and even secure a kill. Since the range is so big, even if they fake the defuse, oftentimes they will still get blinded, allowing you or your teammate to swing them and get the kill.
Paranoia can help set up a lot of pushes whether it be to take an area on attack, or for retaking a site. As was mentioned earlier, Paranoia has a very long-range and wide hitbox, so it can cover a lot of sites when it is used. When attacking or retaking as a team, make sure that when you blind an area, you or a teammate are swinging the area that was not hit by the blind. This will make your chances of securing the area much higher by covering all possible angles.
Shrouded Step is a very unique ability that Omen has. When used an indicator appears in front of Omen, left clicking while Shrouded Step is active will teleport Omen to the marked location after a short channel. This ability costs 100 credits and Omen can carry two of them at a time. Be aware that when this ability is used, there is an audio cue that is played that can be heard by anyone within the audio range. Omen also becomes extremely vulnerable when teleporting, so use this ability wisely.
On attack, Shrouded Step can be very good for getting to angles before enemies and slipping past enemies when a lot is going on. Pairing Shrouded Step with your team’s utility can help you get on-site, or in other areas that the enemy team is not covering. Using Shrouded Step with Paranoia is a very common thing to do since Paranoia also takes away the enemy’s audio for a brief moment as well. Just make sure that you aren’t doing this too much because it can be very easy to catch if the enemy is used to it. Don’t always teleport behind the enemy, you can also teleport to a different angle or above them as well if there are any high vertical surfaces.
On Defense, teleporting to off-angles can be very useful. The boxes right outside of Showers on A Site Bind, the back right column on B Site Breeze, and on top of Mid Tube or B Site Yellow on Icebox, just to name a few. However, be sure to constantly mix things up, and don’t do the same thing over and over again, because the enemies will just start to pre-fire these angles if you do. Teleporting can also be a great way to gather information. Teleporting to an off-angle or behind cover and then jiggle peeking can be a great way to gather information for your team. Just be sure that your teammates are nearby to trade you, or you can escape if you are getting pushed if you decide you don’t want to swing or take a fight.
Shrouded Step has a lot of possible plays to be made with it, and it is up to the user to make the ability useful. Teleporting inside of your smokes, right after flashes, or after a loud sound cue to mask the sound can be useful, just be sure you are teleporting in a safe location. Another thing you can do is fake a teleport. Simply teleporting in place and triggering the sound cue can leave the enemy up to a 50/50 scenario and it gives you an advantage if you know where they are. Overall Shrouded Step has a lot of different ways to be used, so get into a game and start using it so you can see how it best suits you!
If you think someone is playing inside of your smoke, one way you can check is using Shrouded Step. Simply activate the ability to pull up the indicator, and then aim it behind the smoke and sweep your cursor across. If you notice that your indicator stops in the middle of the smoke, and does not go past it, that means there is someone in there. This is because Shrouded Step stops at all solid surfaces including other players. Just understand that this is risky, and you leave yourself open to getting shot, so make sure you have a teammate to spray the smoke if someone is inside of it and you are not alone.
Omen’s Ultimate ability is From The Shadows. When activated a large tactical map appears on the screen allowing the player to click anywhere on the map, after a short channel, Omen teleports to the selected location as a shade, blocking vision on the enemies’ minimap while in this form. After four seconds in his shade form, Omen replaces the shade, appearing at the marked location; this ability costs seven ultimate points. As a shade, Omen can still be shot, although this does not damage Omen, it does cancel the teleport. Omen can also cancel the teleport himself by reactivating the ability.
From The Shadows can be utilized to help take site when attacking. Just make sure that when you are teleporting on site, your team is following up, many times your shade will distract the enemy, and your team can get picks, but if you need to cancel let your team know so they don’t go in and get picked off. Using From The Shadows on the rotate is something to keep in mind as well. If you have the bomb, you and your team can make the enemies use utility and force a rotation, then you can teleport to another site while your team rotates. Just make sure that an enemy isn’t anchoring the site you teleport to, it might be a good idea to have a teammate lurk and clear the site before you teleport.
You can use Omen’s Ultimate on defense to gather information. If you think an enemy is pushing an area, teleporting there to check can help your team predict a push. Even if you see no one, it helps narrow down where enemies might be, which is still providing intel for your team. Another useful method is to teleport for a quick rotation if an enemy is aggressively pushing a site. Just be sure that you are in a safe place, and they are committing, From The Shadows has quite a hefty point cost and you don’t want it to go to waste.
One thing to keep in mind is that the large circle on the tactical map when you are using From The Shadows is the audio range of the ability. Anyone inside of this circle can hear your shade when you arrive at the point that you teleport to, outside of this range, no one can hear your shade, even if you cancel. If you cancel your ultimate, you make a very quiet sound when you reappear to your original spot, if the enemy is distracted or is not listening for this you can make some cheeky plays by faking your teleport. Just be aware that the enemy map becomes visible again when you cancel From The Shadows, so they will know you are no longer in your shade form if they are paying attention.
If you are left in a situation where you do not have control of the Spike, one thing that you can do with your Ultimate is rotate to a site and then teleport on top of the Spike, you can also pick up guns this way. If you do this, you will automatically pick up the Spike or any weapon you are on top of. However, do keep in mind that if the enemy stands on top of the Spike, you can’t pick it up. This is because you cannot teleport on top of a player, so it moves him nearby instead, and Omen cannot use the pickup key to grab the Spike or weapons, he can only get it by teleporting on top of it and having auto pickup on. Being aware of this will allow you to analyze the situation better.
I hope you found this deep dive into Omen insightful, and that you learned something new! Picking a Controller for your team can seem a little boring at first, especially if you are more of an aggressive player, but Omen’s gameplay is very unique and provides a completely different experience! I hope after reading this you consider picking up Omen and enjoy what he brings to the game!
