A Beginner’s Guide to All Valorant Agents
What are Valorant agents?
Valorant is a 5v5 tactical shooter where each player plays as a character called an “agent”.
There are currently eighteen agents in the game: Astra, Breach, Brimstone, Chamber, Cypher, Jett, Kay/O, Killjoy, Neon, Omen, Phoenix, Raze, Reyna, Sage, Skye, Sova, Viper, and Yoru.
Each agent has four unique abilities (including one ultimate).
So far, the agent abilities range from traditional utility from realistic shooters such as flashbangs and smoke grenades but also include magical/futuristic themed abilities like conjuring walls and sonic arrows that act like a radar.
If you want to know who the best agents are in the current meta, check out our Valorant agent tier list!
How Valorant abilities work
Each character gets an ability they can use for free each round.
The two other non-ultimate abilities must be purchased at the gun shop during the buy phase like you would a grenade in Counterstrike.
This means that they have finite uses meaning that players should use them conservatively. Abilities cannot be spammed on cooldown like you can in Overwatch.
Lastly to cast an ultimate, you need a certain amount of skillpoints. Skill points can be grabbed around the map (gives one to all team members), earned through kills (1 kill = 1 point), or passively with each round.
Are you able to choose the same character multiple times?
From the revealed gameplay so far, it appears that each player must pick a different character. We have not yet seen two of the same character on one team.
How to unlock Valorant characters
Some starter agents will be available but others will have to be unlocked through progression/battle pass system.
The system will probably be similar to blue essence in League of Legends.
Are Valorant characters from League of Legends (“Valoran”)?
No, Valorant takes place in a near-future Earth, so it does not take place in the same world as League of Legends.
All Valorant Characters (so far)
In the following section, we’ll give you a quick overview for every Valorant agent with links if you want to learn more.
If you found this article looking for how to beat a particular agent, check out our other post on How to Play Against Every Valorant Agent.
Astra
Astra debuted as one of the most unique agents in Valorant due to her abilities that you can place anywhere on the map.
[Learn more about Astra]
She’s a controller that can play the game like a chess match, being able to set her team up with smokes, stuns, and blackholes.
Breach
Breach is designed to be an initiator who excels at playing through walls and opponents that are positioned to hold chokepoints.
[Learn more about Breach]
His mechanics go through terrain and across the map to CC and kill enemies.
Brimstone
Brimstone is a tactical commando with versatile abilities that involve using the minimap.
[Learn more about Brimstone]
He can call down smoke grenades, fire napalms that act like molotovs, buff allied agents with additional firepower, and call down an airstrike.
Chamber
Chamber functions as a sentinel but is by far the most aggressive when compared to his counterparts. His Rendezvous (teleport) ability allows him to peek risky angles and find opening picks for his team, much of the time if he teleports in a timely manner he can escape unpunished.
[Learn more about Chamber]
He is great both on attack and defense rounds, and provides a lot of economic value to the team with his Tour de Force sniper and Headhunter pistol.
Cypher
Cypher is a spy who’s a master of gathering information through his camera and trip wires.
[Learn more about Cypher]
He’s great on defense as he can hold a lot of real estate on his own, but he can also be useful on offense since by limiting potential flank routes or making preventing a defusal easier.
Jett
Jett is the most mobile agent in Valorant, making her an ideal duelist, especially when she gets her knife ultimate.
[Learn more about Jett]
She doesn’t provide much utility outside of a smoke grenade but she can dash to engage/disengage or get up to high positions with her boost jump.
KAY/O
KAY/O is a valuable asset to any team due to his “Suppression” capabilities that prevent enemy agents from using their abilities
[Learn more about KAY/O]
In addition he’s very versatile with a flash and molly, as well as a potent engage ultimate that allows his teammates to resurrect him after he dies for a short amount of time.
Killjoy
Killjoy is a German genius who uses an arsenal of turrets, mines, and traps.
[Learn more about Killjoy]
She provides an incredible amount of information gathering, area control, and is the only agent that can disarm her enemies.
Neon
Neon can traverse any map rapidly with her sprint and thrives at catching enemies off-guard by repositioning herself quickly. Additionally, her slide allows her to engage in a manner that makes her very hard to track and gun down.
[Learn more about Neon here]
Unlike other duelists who are pretty self-sufficient when it comes to fragging, Neon’s all in type playstyle works a bit better when there is synergy with Initiator and Controller utility.
Omen
Omen is a flanker who is able to get behind enemy lines with teleports and strike from sneaky angles.
[Learn more about Omen]
He has some utility in the form of a smoke grenade and another ability that can go through walls and obscure the vision of enemies.
Phoenix
Phoenix is a pyromancer with an explosive playstyle, utilizing fire to control the flow of battle. He can use them to create walls, as flashbangs around corners, and of course, as an AoE molotov.
[Learn more about Phoenix]
Naturally, he has an ultimate that suits his name as he can activate it, fight and die, and then come back to life where he originally activated it.
Raze
Raze is the de facto explosives expert of Valorant with some of the most kill potential in the game.
[Learn more about Raze]
Her kit has everything from a remote detonated grenade and a cluster bomb to a rocket launcher and even an exploding Roomba-like robot.
Reyna
Reyna is a vampire whose abilities are fueled by kills.
[Learn more about Reyna]
What she lacks in utility is made up for by her raw killing power.
She can inflict Nearsight on her enemies, heal herself, turn intangible, and even turn invisible.
As a result, she’s one of the best duelists and skirmishers in the game.
Sage
Sage is currently the only “healer” in Valorant with a defensively-oriented kit, with a healing orb she can use on herself or an ally.
[Learn more about Sage]
She’s able to use ice abilities to slow and block off her enemies (her ice wall can also be used to boost allies to high ground).
She has one of the most powerful ultimates in the game with a resurrection.
Skye
An initiator who can provide a lot of information to her team through her animals. Her dog can clear out spaces and concuss opponents if found; it functions similarly to Sova’s Owl Drone when it comes to clearing space.
[Learn more about Skye]
Her flashes can be set off very quickly and this makes them hard to dodge consistently even at high elo. Not only this but her flash alongside her Seekers are great information gathering abilities.
She’s an Initiator + Support hybrid that can help her team by engaging, scouting, and healing.
Sova
Sova is a master archer who is able to bounce his arrows to scout enemies or kill them around corners. He also has a handy owl drown that can be used to mark where an enemy is.
[Learn more about Sova]
He can use his ability to track his opponents in combination with his ultimate, which allows him to fire three bursts of lightning through walls.
Viper
Viper wields toxic gases that run off of a refillable reserve. She can emit poison from a grenade or create a line wall with the vapors.
[Learn more about Viper]
Her ultimate basically creates a poison “room”, making her a great bomb planter.
Yoru
Yoru is a tricky duelist that is built to lurk, acting as the worst nightmare to potential flankers. His kit allows him to deceive enemies and bait out utility by faking site executions on the attacker side.
[Learn more about Yoru]
Yoru is soon to receive a rework since he has been underperforming in both ranked and pro play. There has been a lot of speculation around his new abilities being very strong and he might just find himself jumping some spots up to the top of our VALORANT agent tier list.
Thanks for reading! For more tips and tricks for all agents, head to our dedicated Valorant agent feature!
