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Yoru: A complete guide to using the sneaky new Valorant agent
Valorant Episode 2 Act 1 introduced a brand new agent to the game, and the warping menace Yoru has some sneaky trips up his sleeve
Yoru is an infiltrating duelist that was introduced in Valorant's Episode 2, Act 1 patch. The character has been designed to be something of an infiltrator, with the developers at Riot intentionally equipping him with abilities that allow him to warp from location to location and create headaches for the rival team.
"Yoru players will be lurking around the map, causing chaos, and getting frags," reads Riot's official description of the character. It seems the studio really wants players to live up to the energetic infiltrator role, and fully embrace the fast-paced chaos the purple-haired agent brings to the map. Yoru can be a tricky character to understand if you're new to the game, and definitely feels like and agent that works better in the hands of intermediate or veteran players.
We've put together a guide below to help you understand how best to use Yoru in Valorant.
Yoru – Overview
To best understand Yoru's purpose in the expanding Valorant roster, it's best to look at what Riot had in mind when developing the character. "The idea of 'Stealthly Infiltration' is something we toyed around with for years, but could never fit in the game," Riot explains in a dev diary. "We felt that if we started from the ground up, we could create an agent that revolved around the idea of 'Stealthly Infiltration' in some way."
There are two keywords you need to have in mind when playing Yoru, then: 'stealth' and 'infiltration'. Yoru is squishy, and won't do well in many one-on-one firefights. The character usually works best if you've planned out a good setup and laid some groundwork before going in for your play. Yoru enters Valorant in a unique space – there are currently no other operatives that play like him. Use that to your advantage.
Valorant streamer and esports personality Lothar dubs Yoru a "demanding but balanced champion,” and we think that's a fair analysis. Though Yoru comes with a "high skill ceiling", most pros (currently) don't think the newcomer is overpowered – he just plays differently to the established Valorant meta. Don't just rely on Yoru to break through enemy lines, he can also be utilised as a strong defensive force, too.
Yoru – Abilities
You're going to want to make frequent use of Yoru's rifts
© RIOT
Here's a rundown of what Yoru can do, and a quick guide to how it's best used:
- C: FAKEOUT. Basic. Equip an echo that mimics footsteps when activated. Fire to activate and send the echo forward. Alt fire to place an echo in place. Use the inactive echo to send it forward. Duration: 10 seconds.
Fakeout is a smart ability that toys with one of Valorant's key gimmicks: footstep detection. Smart placement of a Fakeout can allow you to sneakily flank an enemy and rotate the action in a direction of your choosing, or give you the opportunity to gain the high ground if your team is being suppressed. Be deceitful, and be smart, and this ability can easily allow you to take enemies off-guard. Don't forget the ability can be activated on a delay, too – which can be handy for even sneakier plays and establishing fake rushes.
- E: GATECRASH. Signature. Equip to harness a rift tether. Fire to send the tether out moving forward. Alt fire to place a tether in place. Activate to teleport to the tether's location. Duration: 20 seconds.
Gatecrash is a rift tether that Yoru sends out that to allow him to teleport to within a time window. You're mostly going to want to use this ability to infiltrate deep behind enemy lines. But the ability has some other utilities, too: since enemies can enter and shoot through it, you can use it as a lure – they may think they've stumbled on a passage you've created into your backline, but if they approach the rift, you can use your whole team to eliminate them wholesale. It's also a handy tool to escape fights you know you can't win.
- Q: BLINDSIDE. Basic. Equip to rip an unstable dimensional fragment from reality. Fire to throw the fragment, activating a flash that winds up once it collides with a hard surface in world. Duration: 1 second.
This one's pretty simple: it's effectively a grenade that is more useful as a distraction than it is as a damaging projectile. Think Flashbangs in Call of Duty, and you're on the right page. Especially useful if you've managed to get behind an enemy engaged in a firefight so you can blind them and have your team finish them off. Just bear in mind you have to bounce them off walls. Utilised well, these can even the odds in one-on-one engagements.
- X: DIMENSIONAL DRIFT. Ultimate. Equip a mask that can see between dimensions. Fire to drift into Yoru's dimension, unable to be affected or seen by enemies from the outside. Duration 9 seconds.
The Dimensional Drift allows Yoru to basically go fully invisible and move around the map undetected by enemies, masking both his visual and aural presence unless they're very close to the player. Sova and Cypher gadgets can be walked past easily in this state, and you're practically invulnerable as you infiltrate. Communicate with your team and figure out if you're best used as a distraction, or to open up new aggressive pathways to flank or drop on enemies. With the right setup, this Ultimate can turn the tide of any engagement.
Yoru – Best tactics
Yoru is designed to poke at your enemy's front line and raid their flanks
© RIOT
Yoru is best deployed as a scout or ranger that can report back to the team with information about the opponent's movements and co-ordination. Poke at the flanks with Gatecrash and Dimensional Rift, and try to pick off softer targets in quick duels when you have the drop on someone (making use of Blindside in order to hinder their counter).
Yoru relies, almost entirely, on surprise. Never stay in one place too long, be nimble, and be devious. Rapid movement, small raids on players breaking off from the pack and daring runs behind enemy lines will often get you the best results with Valorant's 14th agent. Don't rely on brute force, and go for those Big Brain plays, and you'll be laughing.
