Valorant’s launch date and characters abilities overview
Valorant is Riot Game’s first official title since the launch of League of Legends over 11 years ago.
After several weeks spent in Beta, Valorant is ready to launch and thanks to some leaked information, on June 2, Valorant will not only be available to the entire world to download and enjoy but it will soon after bring a new game mode, a new agent and a brand new map.
In the recent press release, Riot also announced the date when the Beta servers will go down – 28th May. After that the game will go offline and enter maintenance mode as Riot prepares for launch.
Soon after June 2, a new game mode, a new character, and a new map are set to be released, executive producer Anna Donlon and game director Joe Ziegler said. New content is not the only thing that will come following June 2. To tackle any potential latency issues – Valorant will get additional servers in cities around the world including Warsaw, London, Atlanta, Dallas, and Madrid.
Is Valorant a serious esports competitor to Counter-Strike GO?
Valorant is Riot’s plunge into the tactical FPS genre and from the feedback gathered in the past month – a serious contender to a certain esports behemoth – Valve’s CSGO. After a very successful closed beta, with Valorant streams attracting at one point over 1.7 million viewers on Twitch it’s clear Riot has big plans in store for its newest title.
Invitational Valorant tournaments have already started being advertised and with a few former and current Counter Strike GO pro players declaring a new-found love, it looks like Valorant is here to give CSGO a run for its money.
Everything we know about Valorant so far
Valorant is Riot Game’s first official title since the launch of League of Legends over 11 years ago. Marketed as a tactical-shooter, Valorant is trying to fit the empty space between the frenetic and sometimes chaotic experience one may find in Overwatch and the strategic gameplay of CSGO. Valorant also draws some similarities to Rainbow Six as some of its characters share similar abilities to characters from “Rainbow Six”
Valorant features 5v5 teams of “agents” – each with their own abilities – that take turns in defending or attacking each other’s bases. As in CSGO , the attacking team’s purpose is to plant a bomb – The “Spike” in one of two points in the defending team’s territory.
Games are played as best of 25 rounds, each round lasting 100 seconds.
Valorant’s playable characters, 10 so far, have intrinsic roles such as Duelists, Sentinels, Initiators and Controllers each with their own unique abilities. All of them feature an “Ultimate” ability which charges as you kill opponents during the game.
The 10 playable characters in Valorant are:
- Sova
- Phoenix
- Viper
- Omen
- Raze
- Brimstone
- Jett
- Sage
- Breach
- Cypher
Sova
Sova is an Initiator with abilities centered around revealing or tracking enemies. His Ultimate ability – “Hunter’s Fury” – shoots three energy blasts that pierce walls and travel the length of the map. Enemies that are hit by the projectiles take near-fatal damage and become revealed
Phoenix
Phoenix is a Duelist with a plethora of fire based abilities. His Ultimate – “Run it back“ – marks the current location and resurrects you with full health in that spot after a short time if you die while the ability is active.
Viper
Viper is a Controller with a multitude of poison-based abilities. Her Ultimate ability – “Viper’s Pit” – releases a large toxic cloud that highlights enemies.
Omen
Omen is a Controller suitable for players who enjoy stealthy play. Omen’s ultimate ability – “From the Shadows” – allows you to teleport to any location on the map after a short charging time.
Raze
Raze is a Duelist with a preference for strategic play and predicting enemy movements. Her Ultimate – “Showstopper” – allows you to equip a massive rocket launcher with huge AOE Damage.
Brimstone
Brimstone is your soldier-inspired Controller with abilities revolving around containing the battlefield. Brimstone’s Ultimate – Orbital Strike – calls in a deadly orbital strike that strikes an area repeatedly over several seconds.
Jett
Jett is a mobile Duelist with a preference for outflanking and ambushing enemies. Her Ultimate – Blade Storm – allows Jett to equip several daggers that deal moderate damage but insta-kill on headshots. Getting a kill replenishes your available daggers
Sage
Sage a Sentinel and your resident Valorant medic, with abilities that allow her to keep her allies alive and slow enemies. Sage’s Ultimate is Resurrection – which does exactly what it says – revive a friendly player to full health after a short delay.
Breach
No walls will stop you from reaching your objective if you’re playing Breach – a powerful Initiator specialised in disrupting enemy play. His Ultimate ability – Rolling Thunder – emits a powerful seismic charge that travels through walls, dazes opponents, and knocks enemies upward.
Cypher
Cypher is the second Sentinel in Valorant but, as opposed to Sage, he’s not specialized in healing but in controlling the battlefield. Use Cypher’s Ultimate – Neural Theft – to steal information from a dead enemy and reveal the location of their allies.
Curious about Valorant? Join the Beta here!
