What makes Viper’s poison? What tricks can Omen use? And what is the most effective way to play Jett? Our Valorant Agent Guide reveals it. We give an overview of each agent skill and how to best use them. All in easy-to-digest guides, one Valorant character at a time. Today, a somewhat toxic character is on the program: Viper.

Viper stands out from the other agents because of her Fuel system: Viper must manage her poison fuel in order to use her abilities. This isn’t necessarily easy – if only because it’s unique among Valorant agents. But once you get the hang of it, you always feel at ease with Viper in a controlled way and are rewarded for good play. In general, Viper is a high entry level agent. It is great for players with good card and game skills.

Viper Skills Guide: Poison Cloud

The poison cloud is essentially a poison grenade: it is thrown in an arc and bounces around until it hits the ground. When it hits the ground, it releases a poisonous smoke ball that blocks vision and causes decay damage. The poisonous smoke ball will stay up as long as you want it to – provided you have enough Fuel. While the poison cloud is active, it consumes 5 fuel points per second. The poison cloud can be deactivated, reactivated, and also cancelled and thrown again.

One particular area where the poison cloud works best is A-Heaven on the Haven map. A well-placed poison cloud can block both the upper and lower halves of the tower. Since Viper can block these areas indefinitely – as long as she has fuel – she is incredibly valuable here.

Viper Skills Guide: Toxin Shield

Toxin Shield is the signature ability of Viper and therefore costs nothing. The cool thing about Toxin Shield is that once it is laid out, it can be activated, deactivated, and reactivated at any time. Like Cloud Burst, Toxin Umbrella deals decay damage and consumes Fuel while active – 5 Fuel per second. As with Cloud Burst, Toxin Umbrella is very important to understand the map layout, enemy movement patterns, and generally be well informed. The ability can block large entrances on defense, while on offense it can be used to block defenders’ vision or movement as they rush into a site. This makes Toxin Umbrella especially effective on Split with its many bottlenecks. Combined with her Ulti and Cloud Burst, Viper alone can completely block off entire sites for as long as she has fuel.

Viper Skills Guide: Contamination

Another movement stopper. Contamination stops enemies because it’s basically a poison Molotov that bounces off walls and objects and detonates only when it lands on the ground. While Toxin Shield and Poison Cloud deal decay damage, Contamination deals permanent damage – and lots of it. This means that enemies don’t wait around, they have to move and get to safety. In defense, therefore, you use contamination to slow down enemy attacks or to attack treacherous angles. On the offensive, it can be used to cut off rotations and ideally make disarming more difficult, if not stop it.

Viper Skills Guide: Snake Pit

One of the iconic and unique ultimates in Valorant: Snake Pit is a poison cloud that is extremely large. It denies sight to enemies who enter it and, like Toxin Shield and Poison Cloud, deals decay damage. This power comes at a price, as Snake Pit costs a whopping 7 Ultimate Orbs. However, once Snake Pit is active, it costs no fuel and lasts indefinitely as long as Viper is in the smoke. When she leaves the smoke, the cloud evaporates within 4 seconds. However, it is possible to re-enter the cloud and prevent it from disappearing and restart the expiration timer.

Snake pit is a dominant ability, especially if the spike has been planted. Whether defending the spike or trying to disarm it: Anyone trying to get to the spike must enter the snake pit. With Snake Pit, every time you create a scenario where enemies are forced to enter the smoke, you can create a huge advantage for yourself: All enemies that enter are outlined in bright red and are very easy to spot, while in turn it is very difficult to find vipers in the smoke. On top of that, all enemies inside the cloud suffer decay damage, which really pushes Viper’s advantage to the extreme: As the enemy struggles to see and permanently loses life, Viper will usually win most engagements as she goes into each duel with a massive health advantage – as long as she is inside her cloud.

Once you activate Snake Pit, you should always stay as far away from your opponent’s entry point as possible: You want the decay damage to really do its magic, so you can easily take down enemies with little health. It’s also important to make sure there’s only one entrance, and that your lines of sight are clear within the smoke – you don’t want to be in your own advantageous cloud only to have your opponent see you before you can see them. A nifty trick is to leave the smoke for just under four seconds and then return. Darting in and out of the smoke will definitely confuse the opponent.

Viper Guide: Tips & Tricks

• Viper’s best map in Valorant is undoubtedly Split – with all the bottlenecks, Viper can block off and defend entire sites here on her own. On offense, she can provide cover and security for her team. What makes Viper special is that she can leave her smoke and wall up as long as she has fuel. With proper fuel management, this can be crucial at the end of rounds when it’s time to take care of the spikes.
• Decay damage does damage to armor and health, but it cannot kill enemies, and enemies are healed back to their original health and armor once they leave whatever caused the decay damage.
• Decay damage also affects teammates, so it means being careful where you place or use your abilities. Ideally, you communicate this with your team.
• Fuel management is critical in Viper. Fuel is always displayed in the center of the abilities HUD. Fuel is automatically recharged when no abilities are being used. Poison cloud and toxin shield cost 5 fuel per second. Whenever you have fuel, you can use the abilities.
• The fuel goes to zero as soon as you are dead and all abilities deactivate. Therefore, it might be better if the Viper player is not the first peeker – the abilities and their benefits are actively needed on the field.
• When setting up Toxin Screen, a white line appears on the mini-map to help set it up.

That’s it for Viper. If you need more Valorant Guides, EarlyGame is the place to go:

• Valorant Agent Guide: Jett
• Valorant Map Guide: Split
• Valorant Map Guide: Bind
• Valorant Map Guide: Haven

Who knows, maybe next Tuesday we’ll already have a guide to the newest Valorant Agent Reyna….

Valorant Beginner’s Guide

Overwhelmed with Valorant? No wonder… Without experience in similar games (such as CS:GO or Overwatch) the start in Valorant is difficult. But don’t worry, we are here to help you with our Valorant Beginner Guide.

Valorant is a special game. Many think that getting into the game is easy, but without shooter experience, you’ll quickly be on the ropes. Even CS:GO veterans can get into trouble… In Counter Strike, there are no flying knife-throwing things-people. But that’s why we are here.

This beginner’s guide is meant to help you get started in Valorant and introduce you to the world of Valorant. After that, the most important features should be clear to you, so that the fun in Valorant is not lost.

Valorant Beginner Guide: Basics

Let’s start with the meaning behind the game. In other words: What is Valorant anyway? Valorant is a first-person shooter in which two teams consisting of five players face off. The first team to win 13 rounds wins. Both teams have a different role – attacker and defender.

The goal of the attackers is to place a spike and protect it until detonation. This must happen on one of the three spots (A/B/C). In turn, the defenders must prevent the attackers from doing so.

Each match consists of two halves. After the first half (12 rounds), the two teams switch roles. The attackers become defenders, the defenders become attackers. Easy.

Agents

Before the start of a match, each player must choose an agent. Agents have unique skills, which in most cases also require a certain playstyle (offensive, defensive, support, etc.). Currently there are 16 agents in total, but new agents have already been leaked and should be added soon.

As a new player, you can initially choose between 5 free agents: Brimstone, Phoenix, Sova, Jett and Sage. To unlock more agents, you will have to sign contracts, which is mostly done via Daily Quests or earning experience points.

Valorant Beginner Guide: The best agent to start with

Phoenix is by far the easiest agent to start with in Valorant. His skills are not too complicated, can be combined well in any situation. But watch out with the flashbangs (aka your Q skill)! You’ll probably flashbang yourself and your mates quite often in the beginning, but practice makes perfect!

Valorant Beginner Guide: The best mode to start with

Stay away from Unrated mode for the beginning. This may sound strange, but especially the beginning of Valorant might be hard for you. Frustration will lead to quick quits, which in turn will get you involved in penalties and XP loss. That’s why you should start with Spike Rush first. An average game here lasts 8 minutes, while other modes can easily go over 50 minutes. In Spike Rush, you’ll be quickly released from suffering without having to take any penalties.

In addition, you don’t have to do any eco rounds in Spike Rush. This means that you’ll be able to try out your agents’ abilities, as well as the most varied weapons. Spike Rush is a great mode to learn the basics of Valorant. When you feel like you’re firmly in the saddle, you can try your luck in Unrated mode. After 20 matches in Unrated mode, you’ll gain access to Competitive mode, where you can earn ranks.

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