Valorant recently had its one-year anniversary since closed beta and that got us thinking. Should you actually crouch when shooting in Valorant? Is there any point in ducking in Valorant? The answer is… complex.

In all likelihood, you too came to Valorant from another shooter, right? Many Valorant players have played CS:GO before, where it is clear to everyone: crouch to shoot! But does that also apply to Valorant? Let’s first take a look at why ducking is an issue in shooters in the first place.

Why do people crouch in shooters?

In most shooters, crouching allows for better accuracy and less recoil. CS:GO is a great example, as it is one of the oldest and most popular competitive shooter titles out there. Players here also crouch to reduce their visibility and have better control over the gun’s spray pattern. The latter is very important, especially in CS:GO. Each weapon has a specific spray pattern that you have to memorize and train to keep the spread as low as possible when shooting.

Ducking also has another benefit: Especially at higher skill levels, the aim is almost exclusively on the head – if you duck in time, you can avoid certain death and possibly even get a kill.

Should you duck in Valorant?

Now we know why you should duck in shooters, but does all this actually apply to Valorant? Some of the advantages of ducking also apply to Valorant. For example, crouching makes you harder to see and gives you better accuracy. As for the spray patterns in Valorant, though, there’s a big difference. They are almost never identical.

As you can see here, there are some slight differences between the 3. Shots hit the same zone, but not the same spot twice, so the random factor in Valorant is significantly greater than in CS:GO. It’s not all bad though, as the spray pattern in Valorant is easier to control for that. Here are some drills you can try out on the practice field. Basically, you have to mirror the spray pattern with the mouse movement to get the tightest spread possible.

Before we can give a final answer to the question of whether you should duck in Valorant, there is one more thing we need to mention. The weapons in Valorant are very accurate for the first few shots, which is another big difference from CS:GO. This makes ducking to get accuracy somewhat redundant.

Ducking makes you more accurate and improves your recoil, but it makes you easy prey. The only time you should duck in Valorant is if you’re trying to avoid a headshot, and even then it’s probably not worth it. Most players aim for the torso, so if you duck then push your head right into the line of fire…. So overall, ducking in Valorant is a bad habit, since you don’t get any significant advantages, but you force yourself into a bad position.

Are you still ducking Valorant? Will you try to kick the habit? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter!

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What is Valorant?

Valorant initially appears to be a cross between CS:Go and Overwatch . A competitive shooter where two small teams compete against each other.

Your team is either ready to attack or defend, with the attackers placing a “stinger” (essentially a bomb) that the other team must then defuse or preferably prevent you from placing at all.

The attacking team can win by either eliminating the defenders or placing the stinger and then protecting it from defusing until the timer runs out. The defenders can similarly win by destroying the attackers before they have a chance to plant their stinger, or disarming the stinger after it has been planted.

Each team of five can play as both attackers and defenders during a game. Each game has a total of 25 rounds, with the first team to win 13 rounds declared the winner

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