Many tactical shooter games come and go, some survive and some leave a huge impact on us. Valorant is one such game that can be super difficult for a beginner to get into but can be amazing once you master it. There are several different ways to improve your Valorant skills and flex on your friends (or random teammates) in the game. In this article, we share some of the best tips and some cool little tricks that can help you get better at Valorant. Make sure you read till the end cause the advanced tricks are something you do not want to miss.
1. Know the Agents
In Valorant, there are 25 agents, and each one of them is different in abilities, roles, and even their collision size. This makes Valorant agents a key ingredient for the gameplay. Start your agent selection with an agent like Phoenix or Sova. Keep playing game modes like the Team Deathmatch or Swiftplay to learn agent abilities properly.
Once you learn an agent properly, then go into competitive mode and master it. Remember that Valorant always releases new agents like their latest agent Clove. You can try these agents in other game modes but using them in a serious game mode can create inconvenience for both you and your teammates. Practice your unlocked Valorant agents and learn how to better them. You can unlock agents through VP or Kingdom Credits. Make sure you go through the Valorant agents and skills and decide which agents you want to unlock first.
2. Learn the Maps and Callouts
Another basic thing in Valorant is learning the maps. Valorant has a lot of maps with lots of gameplay styles or mechanics. The only common thing that exists in Valorant maps is the callout part. Once you learn the callout places, you can easily point out enemy locations. This will help you identify whether to stay contained or to attack.
Remember to also learn the hiding spots through the map and map-specific strategies. You can find specific map strategies in our articles just like the Valorant Sunset map guide we recently did.
3. Know All the Weapons
Once you go through agents and maps, it is time for the fight. To begin the fight you will need your firearm. Valorant has 5 sidearms and 13 primary weapons. Every weapon allows you to have your own flexibility. Guns have their own bullet speed, accuracy, and damage. Another key thing you will need to learn is the first shot spread. This helps you hit the first bullet properly which can be crucial in such a precision-based game. Phantom has the best first-bullet accuracy in Valorant.
Make sure you also understand when to switch between your sidearm and primary weapon. Remember once a wise man said, “Switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading.” Also, understand the mechanics of spray control of every weapon. Try to avoid using spray as Valorant does not have any recoil system. We suggest you check our Valorant weapon tier list to decide which one to pick in your next battle.
4. Learn to Communicate
The last but not the least basic is the communication. Never forget that any multiplayer game is more enjoyable when you speak. Valorant allows you to have flexible communication through text or voice chat. The voice can be toggled between always open or pushed to talk in a party game.
Use this to communicate with your teammates and make strategies or simply tell the enemy whereabouts. Use communication as a tool to make strategies and try them out differently every time. Good communication can lead to more victories.
5. Use the Practice Range
As a new player in Valorant, you will find the Range your favorite place to be at. In the Practice Range, you will find multiple ways to learn how to shoot, control your spray, learn movements or spike defuse course. Remember to do at least 30 minutes of practice every time before jumping into any game mode.
Practice Range is where you can practice the agents you do not have unlocked. This can help you understand which weapon or agent will suit you better. In the spike defuse or plant section you will get a basic idea of time management during a pressure situation in an actual game.
6. Choose the Right Valorant Crosshair
Before placing the crosshair on the enemy head and popping it off, you must get the best crosshair. Valorant has multiple ways to create crosshairs. However, the best way to use crosshairs is by importing them.
Use our import crosshair guide to use your favorite crosshair from the best Valorant pro crosshairs list. Crosshairs can make you feel different about how you respond to movements on screen.
7. Find the Perfect Mouse Sensitivity
Once you are done with practice and got yourself a nice crosshair, jump in any of the deathmatches. The new team deathmatch mode is perfect for any player to understand how to use abilities and shoot accurately. During your deathmatch games try to identify if you are comfortable with your sensitivity.
Mouse sensitivity plays a big role in your gameplay experience. An ideal mouse sensitivity should be 1600 dpi and 0.35 sensitivity in Valorant for any new player. You can always adjust it through your mouse and game settings. Also, turn on the RawInputBuffer in settings for better mouse response.
8. Use the Utilities Carefully
While you are in deathmatch or practice range, make sure you understand your utilities. Remember that every agent has a different skill set that can help you win games. Learn about them before jumping on the real battlefield. You can also read our dedicated agent articles such as the Deadlock guide or the Brimstone guide to understand how to maximize their skills and potential. Remember that utilities are different as per the role you choose.
You can also use your utilities through teleports in maps like Bind. So make sure you use that as an advantage. In a lot of situations, the utilities can help you plant or defuse or even help you delay the opponent’s defusal of the spike. You should also flash for your teammates as a supporting utility or heal when needed. These can change the course of a round. So keep in mind to not waste your utilities.
9. Keep Switching Positions (Movement is Crucial)
A common mistake every FPS player makes is holding a position for too long. Once you encounter an enemy or multiple enemies and you have the opportunity to move away then do not hesitate. Remember that once your location is revealed, it is better to switch positions and play according to enemy intel. This also applies even after you get a kill from a particular position. If you want to get better at Valorant, you will have to sacrifice ego fights and prefer an adjustment approach.
Keep moving when it is necessary. You can also dodge abilities like shock darts, hunter’s fury, or even showstopper by simply moving around in the right way. Use the ropes when it is necessary and utilize your movements to dodge or shoot the enemy.
Also, make sure you do not use shift walk all the time. It is better to understand where to shift walk or you will be too slow for the game. You can also use crouch in important situations. If you are starting the game then we will highly prefer you unbind the crouch button and not use it. It can become a bad habit of crouching too much.
Another ideal use of your movement is to peek frequently. You can either shoulder peek or jump peek on a location and gather information. It is always recommended to use utilities to gather information as the enemy could be prepared for a peek and you might go down. If you master jump peek then you can even bait out enemy operator users too. Peeking without getting killed is a crucial tip and is a hard trick to learn in Valorant.
10. Use the Optimal Video Settings
Valorant can be a bit demanding on the graphics side. However, if you optimize the video settings then it can perform decent even on low-end PCs. Even if you have a high-end PC, make sure you keep your Material quality, Texture quality, and Detail quality on Low. These will remove any additional objects shown on the screen that might distract you.
Follow the settings above and keep your resolution on fullscreen for the best performance. Once you start getting better frames per second, you will have more time to respond in any given situation in the game.
11. Learn Common Spam Walls or Objects
In Valorant the construction of the buildings or structures is not strong enough. This results in creating ideal spam walls and objects. One of the most common spam objects is the green boxes on every map. Find such spam walls or structures and use guns that can penetrate them. The ideal guns that can penetrate a lot of walls are the Ares, Odin, and Sheriff.
You can also shoot down some structures with your Vandal. A common tip or trick you can use in Valorant is to find spam walls or objects and plant spikes behind them. Once you hear the defuse sound, you can just spam the location and get an easy round secure.
12. Sound Device and Perfect Sound Settings
Before we jump into the advanced category, remember that getting good headphones is really important. Make sure you get headphones that have the simulated 7.1 surround sound at least. This helps you identify footsteps and other utility sounds clearly. Follow the audio settings mentioned below for the best audio experience.
There is debate over whether it really changes your sound experience or not. We will always recommend you to use less bassy headphones with HRTF on. This will be the perfect audio surround for you to identify directional sounds.
13. Learn to Use Muscle Memory
According to all the Valorant Pro players, crosshair placement is just a trick to make you learn muscle memory. There are two key things you need to understand in this part. The first thing is reflex or reaction time. Without a good reflex, it will always be difficult for any player to outperform in a PVP situation.
You can use practice range to learn to better your reflex by turning on the hard mode bots. Monitor your target enemy hit every day. You can test your reaction time and understand if you need to practice more. An average casual player’s reaction time would be between 350 ms to 500 ms.
Another muscle memory you will need to master in Valorant is to know in which position of your weapon the bullet is gonna hit the right target. To practice and simplify this you can just turn off your crosshair in Valorant and see if you can better your aim. Practice this for 15 minutes every day as a routine. Once you learn how to shoot without a crosshair, you will not be distracted by the crosshair or other unnecessary movements.
14. Manage Economy in Valorant (Buy/ Save Guide)
Managing the economy in Valorant is a part of professional gameplay. In every round, you need to spend an amount of credits on weapons and abilities. Although it may sound simple, the credit-earning system is a bit confusing. Every half of the game you start with 800 creds. You can get a maximum of 9000 creds. Below is the full list of how the creds are earned in Valorant:
- The first round of first-half: 800 credits per player
- The first round of the second half: 800 credits per player
- Each Kill: 200 Credits
- Round win: 3,000 Credits
- Round loss: 1,900 Credits
- Two consecutive round losses: 2,400 Credits
- Three or more consecutive round losses: 2,900 Credits
- Spike planted: 300 Credits
- Spike defused: 300 Credits
- Max credits a player can have: 9,000 Credits
- Overtime: Each player receives 5,000 Credits
Make sure you talk to your team and buy or save according to the situation. Going for an eco round is better than losing all your creds and crucial rounds. Also, buy all you can before the end of a half.
15. Play on Objectives Not Kills
Playing according to the objective is a key to your success. This is a major reason a lot of decent aim players are still in the top 1% of ranks. The primary objective is more important than killing your enemy. This is why Valorant is more information game than any other FPS shooter. The objectives vary depending on the situation. The objectives can be defusing the spike, controlling the site, getting information or even retaking a site.
Also, keep in mind that attacking and defensive sides are different. Both sides work differently in terms of objectives. So, play accordingly. Keep your mind calm and choose objective over kills for more success. Sometimes do not think about opponent or team Valorant rank and just focus on the goal.
16. Use Trackers and Record Your Gameplay
Valorant also includes a career tab that shows the history of your last 20 games. However, as an advanced player, it is never enough as you will always need records and insights. There are third-party tools that can help you get proper insights into your past games.
Some of the best tracker apps like tracker.gg (Download, Free) and blitz.gg (Download, Free) can be useful for those who like to look at numbers. You can identify your best agents, weapons, and even roles through these statistics.
Another important tool Valorant players always ask for is the record replay tool. Although it still is not available in the game, you can use OBS or Nvidia record tools to record your gameplay. You can analyze your bad rounds or gameplay and fix it later through these replays.
17. Use Best Valorant Aim Trainers
The Practice Range in Valorant is already a very useful tool to perfect your aim. However, there are certain things that are missing in the Practice Range. That is why we will be talking about an aim trainer application Aimlab (Download). Aimlab will help you track your aim progression where you can find a lot of drills that can change the way you shoot.
You will also find our favourite feature in aimlab which is the scenarios. In this, you will find memorable clutch, ace, or amazing moments from past Valorant competitions. You can relive those situations and master how your favorite Valorant pro player executes all their tips and tricks effortlessly. You can try other aim trainers too but the Valorant pro player scene and players training feature in the aimlab is exceptional.
18. Do Not Spread Toxicity (Stay Positive)
Last but definitely not the least important part of multiplayer gaming is to stay humble and nice. Vaorant gives you tools to communicate but if people are being negative or toxic, you should use the tools that restrict chat or voice communications with those players.
You can also report players for rude behavior or sabotage. Remember that you cannot be a teacher or parent to internet gamers. Your goal is to win a game and your focus should be there. Also, you can just uninstall Valorant in case you are feeling not up to it.
These tips and tricks will help you get better at Valorant as soon as you implement them in the game. Once you are ready to take on stronger enemies, jump into Valorant ranked mode.
