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Mastering VALORANT: Unveiling the top agents for victory
From living rooms to Red Bull Campus Clutch, the best VALORANT players know to perfect their game at all times.
If you want to sharpen your first-person shooter (FPS) and team cooperation skills, look no further than Riot Games’ VALORANT. The popular FPS game takes teams of five through 25 rounds in realistic settings and different maps inspired by locations from Tokyo to the Bermuda Triangle. But what really sets VALORANT apart from other FPS games is the range of agents you can play as, with more than 20 agents available. This means you can enjoy a totally different VALORANT experience each time you play.
Last Dance at Red Bull Campus Clutch Chile National Final 2022 in Chile
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer / Red Bull Content Pool
Whether you’re brand new to VALORANT or training for the Red Bull Campus Clutch tournament, it helps to know which agents are the strongest all-around. Read ahead for a guide to the top VALORANT agents, from the best team players to those with the most unique skills.
01
Understanding VALORANT agents
Each VALORANT agent has their own unique set of skills that improve with each game update, and Riot continues to add new agents every year. The top-performing agents in VALORANT may fluctuate, depending on game upgrades, what map you’re playing on, and your own FPS skill level.
All VALORANT agents fall into one of four categories that play an important role in advancing through this FPS game. Players can choose between sentinels, initiators, duelists, or controllers at the top of every round. Sentinels defend your team’s flanks, whereas initiators focus on offense, charging your team into contested territory. Duelists are more independent and highly skilled at fragging — VALORANT lingo for killing. And last but certainly not least, controllers help to weaken enemies and take control of an area so your team can end the round victorious.
Participant during the Red Bull Campus Clutch Turkey Final in 2022
© Mahmut Cinci / Red Bull Content Pool
When you’re gathering a team, balancing your agents in VALORANT is essential — choosing one from each category is key. For your fifth team member, you can double up on whichever role supports your team’s strategy for this round. For instance, if you need to corner the enemy team, a second controller could be the answer.
It’s also important to think about which agents excel in VALORANT'S current meta — a strategic term that some say stands for “most effective tactics available.” You’ll see meta shifts in VALORANT agents as the game is updated.
02
Criteria for top VALORANT agents
Every VALORANT player has their own personal gameplay style that makes different agents a better choice for them. In general, once you’ve figured out which agent role suits you best, there are top tier agents within each category.
Additionally, agent synergy in VALORANT is fundamental for successful team planning, so you should learn which agents work best together. This gets even more nuanced as you figure out the best agent selection for VALORANT maps. Successful team composition in VALORANT often depends on each environment.
Participant during Red Bull Campus Clutch in Kaunas, Lithuania in 2022
© Vytautas Dranginis / Red Bull Content Pool
For example, controller Viper’s defense tactics are perfect for the Breeze map. And versatile agents such as Killjoy, a sentinel with surprisingly controller-like skills, works in a variety of map and team combinations. While many agents are objectively better than others, it’s often a matter of figuring out which VALORANT agent playstyle is best suited for your scenario.
03
Top VALORANT agents (by their ranking and profile)
Below, you’ll find the top VALORANT agents in the current meta. These VALORANT agents are based on the most popular agents among all levels. They’re also based on which VALORANT agent abilities adapt to the largest number of maps and team combinations.
Jett
Duelist Jett is a highly popular VALORANT agent. With both offensive and defensive skills, she’s an asset to most teams. She can glide through the air with drift abilities, block enemy vision with cloudbursts, and win economic rounds with her ultimate ability, Blade Storm.
Jett has the advantage of increased mobility, but not all players are experienced enough to use her in an effective agent strategy. VALORANT players should take some time getting used to the abilities in Jett’s kit, including simultaneously using her Updraft and Tailwind features.
Fade
Fade is an initiator with strong team-playing abilities and great kit synergy. Her kit includes the ability to hinder enemies by sending a Prowler chasing after them. You can ask a team member to follow the Prowler so they can frag the opposing player when their guard is down.
Fade can also trap enemies with her Seize feature, and she can snuff out the enemies experiencing her other abilities with her Terror Trail. With such extensive utility within her kit, Fade’s one big drawback is that her abilities can be challenging to control for new players.
Brimstone
Brimstone is a controller without a lot of bells and whistles, but he gets the job done. He’s also super user-friendly for new players.
If you need a VALORANT agent kit with smokes to block the vision of your opponents, Brimstone’s got the best of all VALORANT agents. In addition to smokes that last almost 20 seconds, he’s equipped with an Incendiary grenade launcher and Orbital Strike, his damage-inflicting laser Ultimate. Some players may complain that Brimstone is too simple, but no one can deny he’s got unmatched strengths.
Killjoy
Arguably the most powerful sentinel in the current meta, Killjoy is one of the most adaptable agents. She’s easy to learn for new players, and her kit is full of potent abilities.
Killjoy’s basic abilities include the Nanoswarm grenade and covert Alarmbot to hunt your enemies down. Killjoy’s Lockdown Ultimate can also trap your enemies within its radius. Although Killjoy could perhaps be optimized a bit more for the Breeze and Bind maps, in general, she’s a great addition to most teams.
Deadlock
Deadlock ranks last on this list since she’s the newest agent in the game. However, it’s safe to say that this sentinel’s exceptional kit will only get better over time. Her Annihilation Ultimate traps and eventually kills the enemy within a nanowire cocoon, but opponents can potentially destroy the encasing and escape. If you’re playing as Deadlock, good team communication is key.
04
Adapting agent selection to maps and modes
Adapting agents to VALORANT gameplay is all about knowing which abilities are most optimized for each map setting. For example, Jett’s utility is an advantage in the Breeze map and Brimstone’s smokes can provide cover in the Ascent map.
Participant at Red Bull Campus Clutch Turkey Final in 2022
© Mahmut Cinci / Red Bull Content Pool
In addition to VALORANT'S seven maps, you can choose one of eight game modes. Choosing agents for VALORANT modes (and maps) depends on both a character’s playstyle and your own comfort and skill level. If you want to practice against players of your same ranking, though, competitive mode is great no matter which agent you choose.
You’ll likely fare better in VALORANT over time if you get used to playing as many different agents. The more experience you have playing with different kits in a variety of settings and modes, the better your overall VALORANT skills will be.
05
Future agent updates and meta shifts in VALORANT agents
Riot Games updates VALORANT agents’ kits with each meta shift, so staying up to date is key to knowing the best agents in VALORANT. Upgrades often include steps to address weak counterplay against VALORANT agents. For instance, the seventh update to VALORANT fixed Brimstone’s Orbital Strike, which was failing to damage Deadlock’s Annihilation cocoon. If you’re unsure of what’s included in a recent update, you can always check Riot Games’ patch notes that detail each improvement.
The top VALORANT agents can make you a better gamer
The best VALORANT agents aren’t set in stone, as Riot Games is constantly raising the bar with each update and adding new agents. The key is to get comfortable playing as different agents so you know who thrives in certain scenarios and team combinations. From living rooms to Red Bull Campus Clutch, the best VALORANT players know to perfect their game at all times.
