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Everything You Need to Know About the Spike in VALORANT

The main goal in a standard game of VALORANT is to plant or defuse the Spike (depends on if you’re attacking or defending). Here’s everything you need to know about carrying, planting, and defusing.

By Akshon Esports & Jeff Yabumoto

6 min readPublished on 08/28/2023 · 3:39 PM UTC

The Spike is a unique item that spawns on the attacker’s side each round. A single player can carry the Spike, however, it can be dropped or given to other players at any time. The Spike will also automatically drop from a character if they’re killed while carrying it.

The Spike is the method by which you win a Standard, Competitive, Swift Play, or Spike Rush game of VALORANT. The attackers must plant the Spike and defend it for 45 seconds, at which point the Spike will explode killing everyone in a large radius and winning the round for the attackers. If the attackers don’t plant the Spike before time runs out on the round, the defenders will win. If the defenders are able to defuse the Spike they will also win, regardless of how many attacking players are still alive.

To pick up the Spike, you simply just run over it while it is on the ground. This applies to both the beginning of the round and any time the Spike is dropped due to death or intentionally dropped by a player.

To drop the Spike, you’ll need to first navigate to it in your inventory. This can be done one of two ways: using your scroll wheel or by pressing 4 using the default keybindings. Once you have selected the Spike, you’ll drop the Spike by pressing G. If you’re within range and aiming at a fellow player, it will automatically go into their inventory, much like if you were dropping a weapon.

Planting the Spike

Each map has designated areas where you can plant the Spike. These are known as “A Site, B Site, or C Site” on every map. Once you’re at the site, you’ll see a raised outline on the ground showing you the area where you can plant the Spike. Because there are multiple sites to plant on each map, you’ll need to strategize with your team about which site to attack as a group or if you want to spread out. Just remember, the defenders are doing the same thing on defense.

Once you’re on the site you’ll need to plant the Spike. When you’re in the zone the option to plant will come up on your screen with the prompt to press and hold 4. Planting the Spike will take you a full four seconds to complete. Successfully placing the Spike will earn the planter an ultimate point, making it easier for them to get their ultimate ability online. In addition, planting the Spike will also earn your team 300 credits for the next round. So even if you’ve won the round by elimination, you should still plant the Spike for the extra credits.

When you’re playing, you’ll likely hear people saying, “default plant” and it’s important to know what that means. There are places considered a “default plant” where most people will plant the Spike. These places are considered default because they are often:

Safe places to plant
Easy to defend once planted
In view of easy lineups for players defending the Spike

Pictured below are some examples of default plants. The first is on Pearl A Site and the second is on Bind B Site.

Defusing the Spike

The default keybinding to defuse the Spike is the same as it is for planting: 4. It takes 7 seconds to defuse the Spike entirely, but there is a checkpoint halfway. To get to the checkpoint, you’ll need to defuse the Spike for 3.5 seconds. You’ll be able to see this on the Spike defusal progress bar, too.

If you get the Spike to that checkpoint and stop defusing, you or anyone on your team can continue to defuse it from the halfway point. You might be asking why you’d stop halfway, and there are three good reasons for it.

There are still attackers
You want to give someone else the ultimate point for defusing.
An ability is thrown onto the Spike and will kill you if you keep defusing

Players will also fake defuse the Spike, which means they’ll quickly start the process of defusal and then back off without making any progress. This is done because when you start to defuse the Spike there is an audio cue and players will use this audio cue to defend the Spike. They’ll pop out of their hiding spots to shoot at you or they’ll fire a ability at you that will prevent you from defusing. This can be a bit of a mind game at all levels of play and you’ll have to learn when to stick it (just defuse) and when to fake it.

When the Spike is fully defused, whoever finishes the defuse will earn one ultimate point. So, if a teammate is one ultimate point away from their ultimate, it’s often smart to defuse halfway and then let them finish the defuse for that ultimate point.

Who Should Carry and Plant the Spike?

While there are no official guidelines on who should carry and plant the Spike in a game of VALORANT, there are more ideal Agents that should.

First off, Duelists, like Neon, Jett, and Reyna, should never pick up and carry the Spike at the beginning of the round. The role of a Duelist is to get onto the site and create room for the rest of the team. Since you’re also the first one going onto a site there’s a high chance you’ll be killed. If you have the Spike, you’ve now put the Spike in an extremely disadvantageous position for the rest of your team and made it easier for the defenders.

Most often, Sentinel and Controller agents, like Sage and Viper, will be ideal to carry and plant the Spike. Sage is a common pick because she’s usually the 3rd agent onto a site and the extra ultimate points from planting are very effective on her. Initiators can also be good choices to carry and plant the Spike, with Gekko being one of the best Spike carriers and planters because of his ability to plant the Spike with Wingman. If there’s no obvious Spike carrier on your team, look to whoever needs an additional ultimate point or whose ultimate ability you want to get quicker to carry and plant the Spike.

Changing Keybinds

Finally, if you want to change your keybindings for the Spike, here are the steps:

Click on the cog wheel in the top right of your game window or hit escape
Click on the settings menu
Go to the Controls column, then to the Equipment category
Scroll down to the Equipment group and you’ll see Equip Spike with a default key of 4. Click on it and enter the new key you want bound
Select and enter the new key you want to bind equip Spike to.
Repeat this process for defusing the Spike keybind under the Interaction group.