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Kay/O is a war machine built to destroy radiants with powerful suppression abilities and an ultimate unlike any other. They’re also VALORANTS newest initiator. Here’s how to make the most of them.
Valorant’s newest agent is a radiant hunting robot with great tools to initiate fights and shut down the enemy. KAY/O will be a terror in your games if you happen to get caught a little out of position. With one of the most unique ultimates to grace Valorant (so far), the game's newest terminator has skills that are just as intimidating as he looks. KAY/O caters to an aggressive playstyle that allows whoever is behind the keyboard to create space for their teammates and put them in favorable positions only he can provide.
Fragment (C ability)
KAY/O equips and fires a projectile that explodes multiple times after making contact with the ground. It pulses three times, dealing 60 damage at the center of the blast and 29 on the outer edge. While players have time to escape the near lethal dose of electrical damage, catching an unsuspecting player can end their round quicker than them saying, “I’m going to peek that Operator.”
Fragment has a large area of effect and can punish players for planting or defusing the same way Viper or Killjoy do when they use their area denial abilities. You won’t always be there to confirm kills on enemies damaged by fragment, so look to pair this ability with your teammates. Just like any other ability, you’re vulnerable in the casting phase, but using it to help your teammates confirm picks is a great way to guarantee value from its use. It can turn the tides of a round if you catch multiple foes in it, especially after using your zeropoint to see how many enemies are already in the location.
Flash Drive (Q ability)
This is a two charge flash ability that’s about as close as you can get to CS:GO’s pop flashes. You can lob or throw flash drives to varying effects. With a very short fuse, lobbing it over smaller cover like crates and then turning to clear the area will net you and your team plenty of easy pick offs, but it is primarily for you to take advantage of yourself. Left clicking sets the fuse for 1.6 seconds while right clicking cooks it to 1 second even.
The unique part of KAY/O’s flash comes from treating it like it’s counterpart from CS:GO. Throw a flash and quickly look away, either to the side or behind you if need be, and it will mitigate the flash effect. This only brightens your screen for a fraction of the time it would have if you happened to be, unfortunately, staring directly into it as it detonates. While it works the same way for avoiding opposing team flashes, the short fuse and ability to bounce it off of objects gives KAY/O a huge advantage. Whether pushing, countering a push, or just using it to clear a confined space like trailer on Bind, flash drives are always worth the purchase.
ZERO/point (E ability)
One of KAY/0’s most important abilities, Zeropoint, sends out a throwing knife that causes an AOE effect, temporarily denying anyone caught in it from using their abilities. It can be thrown just about anywhere, like the end of a choke point or across half the map and onto the bomb site opposite of you. You’ve got options. Fortunately, you don’t have to stick your target but rather catch them in this ability’s surprisingly large radius that ZERO/point creates. When the opposition is caught in it, an icon will show KAY/O how many enemies were caught in the trap along with exactly which agents got caught.
Lasting for 8 seconds after the effect begins, enemies will either trade shots or try or reposition to wait out the effect. ZERO/point is a great tool to use on pushes that go through narrow chokes, or where you tend to know an enemy will hold. Catching an unsuspecting enemy with a surprise ZERO/point can be game over, turning them from hunters lying in wait, to sitting ducks. There will always be chances to use this utility, and never a bad time to use it. Clear a corner before pushing, stop Jett from dashing away, or disable Killjoy’s turret, the usefulness of ZERO/point is almost boundless..
ZERO/point can also travel across the map, offering lineups similar to those you’ll see used by see Viper. Do a little research and it should be pretty clear just how oppressive KAY/O is. When your ability can more or less cover the entire bomb site, even throwing it to help a teammate across the map might be your best play in a round.
Ultimate: NULL/cmd
KAY/O triggers his ultimate, radiating out a suppression blast that will temporarily disable the abilities of any enemy caught in it. It will pulse about four times over the course of the ultimate and it’s radius is about fifty metres. This ult is a great entry tool, especially if combined with your flash ability. When pushing, it will often suppress an enemy on defence, leaving them vulnerable while your team pushes onto site.
While in his ultimate, KAY/O benefits from a fire rate buff, similar to Reyna’s ultimate or Brimstone’s stim beacon. This gives him every advantage while clearing a site. KAY/O encourages aggression from his players, especially during their ultimate, which is definitely still the case when it comes to the last effect of his ultimate.
If KAY/O is killed while ulting, one thing will happen, and it won’t be KAY/O dying… technically. When downed during his ultimate, KAY/O experiences a sort of armor lock that leaves him immobilized on the floor, wherever he happened to have been downed. Players see an error command on screen and must wait for a teammate to revive them or the enemy to whittle down all 800 temporary hit points he gains in that state.
Yes, you read that right, 800 extra hit points for Mr. Roboto. In that state, there is nothing for you to do except wait. Enemies never quite expect how surprisingly beefy KAY/O is when he gets downed, and drawing the enemy focus opens up chances for your friends. If you can get a revive off, you get a redo and can continue the round, after performing the duties of the entry fragger.
Buy strategies
KAY/O has one charge of his Zeropoint by default, but for only two hundred credits, his flashes are a must buy, even if you can only afford one in the early rounds. The free pistol is still in a strong place as a solid option so that you can spend on your abilities early on. As an initiator, your abilities will be extremely important for getting the team onto site. These are never a bad purchase.
Fortunately it isn’t tough to maintain all of your abilities, barring two or three consecutive losses in a game. Look for weapons that are significantly boosted by fire rate buffs as well when you plan on ulting with KAY/O, the extra fire rate on the LMG’s as well as the phantom and spectre are downright controlling when paired with someone who can boost their fire rate.
