VALORANT is open for business, and now everyone can download and play free on PC here. Breaking it down, VALORANT is CSGO with heroes — you compete in 5v5 teams, planting spikes (bombs) while the defending team tries to stop you. You’ll earn cash each round that you can spend to buy better gear. The big wrinkle here is that you can select a hero with innate special abilities already unlocked.
With heroes in the mix, that means VALORANT is already a harder game to learn than CSGO. You’ll have to memorize weapon grouping, map layouts, and hero skills — on top of your daily recommended aim training. VALORANT has high hopes for a competitive future, and if you’re looking to join in, we’ve got some tips for absolute beginners. If you don’t even know what a VALORANT is, you’ve come to the right place. This is what you really need to know.
#1: Stop, Think, Shoot
VALORANT looks like a hero shooter — but it absolutely is not. You need to take your time and move slowly around the map. Precision and careful positioning matter more than sprinting and bunny-hopping. When you’re in a fight, don’t spam shots; aim and take down your target.
Learn when to lean around corners, and when to go full-sail into combat. To improve your aim, go into the aim tutorials and play through them for 10 minutes a day. Just a little practice is enough to help you improve significantly.
#2: Improve Your Aim Game & Lower Mouse DPI
Like CSGO, VALORANT is all about aiming. If you want to lower your jitter and give yourself a much smoother aiming experience, lower your DPI settings significantly. DPI is just another word for mouse sensitivity, and lowering it might mean you’ll need to pick up your mouse when turning. It’s worth it for making accurate shots much easier.
#3: Don’t Waste Your Cash Every Round
Like CSGO, VALORANT has an economy. Every round, you’ll be able to spend the money you’ve earned and buy weapons or other gear. You can buy armor, abilities, and weapons — and you don’t want to spend all your cash every round. Save your cash in Round 2 so you’ll have plenty in Round 3, where you can buy an expensive rifle, abilities, and Heavy Armor. If you save 1500 cash in Round 2, you’ll have enough money to start strong in Round 3.
#4: Don’t Go Solo | Teamwork Is Key
This should be obvious to anyone playing an online multiplayer game, but it’s especially important in VALORANT. You can’t go and do your own thing in VALORANT if you want to win, and you can’t leave your team behind. Use Voice Chat to call out targets and communicate with your team. Use abilities to support your allies.
#5: Abilities Don’t Kill – Abilities Support
Every hero has a special innate power, but you can’t rely on these powers for kills. There are powers for healing, gassing enemies, or flashing groups — and they’re critical for victory, but not for scoring kills. Even damaging abilities only give you an edge in a shootout. You can set tripwires, but don’t expect those to get kills for you. Use abilities to help your teammates and weaken your enemies so you can win rounds.
#6: These Are Great Beginner Weapons To Get You Started
Don’t know which guns to use first? Burst Fire weapons give good spray control, and good damage — any weapon that’s Full-Auto can be difficult to handle, and accuracy is what matters most in this game. Try the Phantom or Guardian as your starter weapon — the Phantom has the easiest-to-handle spray control in the game, and the Guardian is just easy to score hits with.
#7: Phoenix Is A Strong 1st Round Contender
If you want to play aggressively and help your team conquer the first round, Phoenix is a pretty powerful hero. His Curveball ability can flash a site, blinding everyone inside and setting the area up for the kill. Phoenix should always be at the front of the team, and his ‘Run It Back’ ability allows him to fully heal in the first round. When everyone is stuck with pistols, this is even more powerful.
#8: The Minimap Is A Powerful Tool
The Minimap gives you a lot of different information — you’ll get teammate locations, what direction each teammate is looking in, what character they are playing, and even their full cone-of-vision. Use this information to plan defense strategies at each site! Make sure your corners are covered.
Enemies will also appear on your minimap whenever a player sees them. Even if your allies aren’t using mics, the player will give a shout-out and mark the enemy on the map as long as they are in the player’s cone-of-vision.
Finally, the minimap shows the audio range of your footsteps. The circle expands when you’re running, and shrinks when you’re walking. The minimap can help you plan your route so nobody hears you coming.
#9: Make Friends And Add Anyone Cool To Your List
In a game like VALORANT, playing with the same group of people can be extremely helpful — it doesn’t matter if they’re incredibly good at the game, it’s all about communication and attitude. If you meet someone that tries to help, that speaks like a normal person, and works together with a team, you should absolutely add them to your Friends List and join them for future games. Teamwork makes the dream work.
#10: Avoid Toxicity & Use Mute Liberally
Despite the small-ish player base, VALORANT already has a reputation for an extremely toxic community. If you’re new to the game, just use Mute to silence trolls / toxic players. Don’t let a few bad apples ruin your fun, especially when there are plenty of people around to help you get into the game.
Those are my extremely basic tips for beginning players, sourced through comments from the wider VALORANT community. There’s still an insane amount of stuff you need to know, and the only way to get better is by practicing — endless practicing.
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