Ask most people who the best agent is in VALORANT, and they will tell you Sova, hands down. No one can do what he can do, not even the other initiators. If you can play Sova well you will most likely be the most impactful player on your team. Today, with the help of Showliana, we’ll be teaching you the ins and outs.
Shock Bolt lineups can be flashy and get you the occasional picks, and Recon Bolt lineups are super useful for clearing areas, but more important is when to use your arrows,where to be with your team, and how to use your other utility. We talked with professional Sova main Juliana “Showliana” Maransaldi from the Dignitas Valorant squad about what makes a good Sova player and how to improve.
You can learn any agent, each with their own kits that make them useful in their own ways. So, why Sova? Sova is a perfect agent for creating space, grabbing information, and shock darts that can clear a corner or deny a defusal. His kit is also extremely unique, no other agent can grab information as easily and as detailed as he can.
What makes Sova so strong is that he gets a lot of info. There are a lot of other characters that can grab information, like Skye flashes, but Sova is the only character that can grab really specific information. You could play without Sova, but I don’t see any reason not to because of how strong he is.
What makes Sova such a good agent pick furthermore, is his versatility. Sova is extremely viable on every map currently, excluding Split, but even on Split, he has some utility that makes him useful.
While I said lineups are not the most important thing, they are still very useful. If you are going to play Sova at the top level, you don’t have to be a ‘Lineup Larry’, but you’re going to have to at least have a few lineups per map. You can either look at guides available online (like here for example!) or you can make your own in a custom match.
If you plan to make your own, keep these tips in mind:
Ok, so you have some cool lineups, now what? Now, you need to learn when to use your darts during the round to be effective. To help with answering this question, we asked Showliana when and where you should be using your utility.
Credit to u/whalelord332 on Reddit for the clip
Let’s get the obvious out of the way and tell you that you should absolutely be using your arrows when executing onto a site. Whether you’re taking a site as an attacker or retaking a site as a defender, his arrow is almost a requirement to create space and give info so you and your team can effectively play on site.
What if you’re not taking a site and playing a slow default, what are you doing then? The answer really depends on the situation, but a pretty good idea would be to go for mid control. Each map, excluding Bind and Fracture, has an open middle area where getting control of it can decide the fate of a round. A well-placed Recon Bolt can easily allow your team to push out through the middle knowing where enemies are and are not.
If we’re not hitting a site, I would usually throw a dart towards middle to help my team.
Another great use of Sova’s Recon Bolt is during clutch situations. Since you don’t have a team to watch an angle for you, your bolt can work as an extra pair of eyes, scanning an area so you don’t have to look there, allowing you to focus on other aspects during a clutch to make the round go smoother. Although it is important to say that throwing a Recon Bolt also reveals your location, so think carefully before using it!
So to recap, use Sova’s Recon Bolt to:
One of the biggest mistakes I see a lot of Sova players make is using their Owl Drone, or to be more specific, not using their Owl Drone as much as they should. Sova’s Owl Drone is one of the strongest abilities in the game and if you have it, you should use it every round.
Most of the time I use my drone if the other team is playing super passive and not giving us any info, especially if my scan doesn’t get any info.
One of the most frustrating situations in a game is when you’re an attacker and the defenders are not giving you any information at all, and are playing extremely passively. Thankfully, Sova’s Owl Drone is the perfect counter to that. Popping an Owl Drone is a near-guaranteed method to grab information from a passive team.
Another great opportunity to use an Owl Drone is if you have your ultimate, as the Owl Drone reveals an enemy multiple times over a short period of time, while a Recon Bolt will only reveal an enemy 3 times over a fairly long period of time. With that faster revealing, you can be super accurate with hitting your Hunter’s Fury and almost always get a confirmed kill with enough practice.
But keep in mind there is no one perfect way to use your Owl Drone, you just have to see how the enemy team is playing and drone accordingly. If the enemies are pushing fairly quickly, make sure to Drone early. If they are playing slowly, make sure to use your Recons first, wait a bit, then give your Drone a try.
So to recap, use your drone:
Sova’s utility is near required for any execute or team play in VALORANT, so it is important to tell your teammates when you have your utility or not, more so than any other agent in the game.
I’d say it’s crucial for at least retakes, a retake relies on flashes and Sova scans (Drone or Arrow), so you need to trigger those at the same time and coordinate with your team. If Sova doesn’t have his scan yet, you need to tell your team when you have it.
Furthermore, it is important in a post plant scenario to coordinate your Shock Bolts and Hunter’s Fury to deny defusal, with other Agent’s utility, like Killjoy or Viper. For example, if you threw a Shock Bolt on the Spike at the same time as Viper’s Snakebite, you would be wasting the Shock Bolt because Viper’s Snakebite already gets the enemies off the Spike. Always make sure to call when you are going to use it and not to use yours when someone calls that they are going to use their utility on the Spike.
Here are a few quick tips when using Sova to give you a slight edge in-game:
Sova is an extremely strong agent as VALORANT currently stands and getting good at him will certainly help you climb the ranks and improve as a player. Keep in mind that getting good at Sova, like any other agent, does not come instantly, but over time. Keep at him and you will eventually see results and will have a lot of fun with his kit!
Sova is a really fun agent. It looks hard at first, but there are a lot of guides on how to use him. Even on Split, Sova can be strong if you know how to play him. Just learn the lineups and with time and experience, you’re going to figure out when to use him.
We hope you enjoyed reading this guide and we sure hope you found the guide useful. Good luck on mastering VALORANT’s best agent and shock darting the competition!
