Rank up: A guide to Valorant’s agent roles

Valorant has grown into a top-tier first-person shooter game for PC gamers everywhere. While people understand the basics of the game, learning about the roles in Valorant and what they entail is a long way to go for some. 

Since its release in 2020, Valorant has had many metagames but roles have been static for a long while. This is important to know because when players understand roles, they are much better equipped to win games and prepared for their rank matches. Let’s take a look at how many agents there are in Valorant and find out what you can play. 

How many agents in Valorant? 

In Riot Games’ flagship first-person shooter, there are 20 agents at the time of writing. There will be more agents as the game progresses in development as well. They are part of numerous roles in the game which has led to people asking questions such as ‘what are the roles in Valorant?’. Find out about these roles in this Valorant agents list. 

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The agent roles in Valorant

Knowing all Valorant agents roles can give you a good time playing in your ranked matches and help you in making sound decisions. But how do the roles in Valorant work, exactly? Learn about the different types of agents first below:  

Duelist 

In this role, players will have to be the aggressors because they will have mobility abilities. They will tend to be the most aggressive agents in the game and they can get frags but still live through the trade frags that the opponents will try to get. 

On the attacker side, their main task will be entering the site and opening it up for the rest of the team. The defender duelist will have to get the most frags because they can be aggressive and still escape. Here are the agents that fit into the duelist role. 

• Raze
• Reyna
• Jett
• Phoenix
• Yoru
• Neon
   

Initiator 

For the initiator role, players will have to be smart with how they use their skills. Their main goal is to support their teammates in the best way possible with their utility. This can mean opening up a site with stuns, or delaying them with abilities that give vision that leave the opponents vulnerable. Some skills are meant to displace the opponent too which help the teammates to enter the site or retake it during defender-side rounds.

Here are the characters that fit the Initiator Valorant agent categories. 

• Sova
• Breach
• Skye
• Fade
• K/AYO
   

Controller

The controller role is aimed to assist their teammates by cutting enemy vision, and taking control of an enemy area. These will be seen with the smokes that they deploy as they can force enemies into choke points where they can get stuck in. Valorant has four Controller agents so far in its roster and here they are. 

• Brimstone
• Viper
• Omen
• Astra
   

Sentinel 

This role is mainly centred on defensive play as they look to provide intel and hold a site on their own. This is one of the most versatile roles because they can be used to defend but during attacking rounds, they can serve as lurkers or even pseudo-duelists when needed. Here are the agents under the Sentinel role. 

• Cypher
• Sage
• Killjoy
• Chamber
   

How each role can be maximised

There are many ways to maximise all of the roles. Some players love to innovate and play outside of their role but that is not the right way to play. They can have a good game by playing a subdued duelist but that will not work in most cases because those agents are built to be aggressive. Indicated in this Valorant agents guide are ways that each role can be maximised while still playing to their strengths. 

Duelists should thrive with aggression

Players need to be aggressive with all of their moves using these agents. However, they should also understand the concept of controlled aggression because if they are too aggressive, they will most likely over-extend and not make entry-frags happen. This can be seen with Jett players who love to dash into a site without knowing what to do afterwards. 

Initiators need to use their utility properly

Initiators are meant to disrupt the opponents and make the teammates’ lives easier. For most Initiator agents, there is a possibility that they can mess up the teammates with their flash or bad placement for abilities. This is why it’s important to learn ability lineups and timing because they will be vital to being a good initiator. 

Controllers will need to block out parts of the sites

With all of the Valorant character abilities that controllers have, they will be focused on blocking out parts of the sites. Their role is focused on blocking out all of the parts and creating choke points. It is important to know this because using the utility properly will be the priority. The sites will be wide open for the taking if the angles are blocked off properly. 

Sentinels should be patient to succeed 

Any Sentinel agent is inclined to play defensively. However, they can become strong fraggers when they surprise enemies with aggression. If Sentinel players know how to mix that aggression with proper patience with their defensive abilities, they will be a challenging matchup for any opponent. 

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The best agents for every role

With all of the roles present in this game, there are some agents that stand out in those specific roles. Here are the Valorant types of agents that typically shine and how they do so.

Duelist - Jett 

Ever since Valorant’s early days, Jett has been arguably the most popular agent in the game. Her mix of aggression and elusiveness makes her such a strong choice for a duelist. If you’re looking for the agent that answers who has the most abilities in Valorant, Jett is a good choice because of her hover passive by holding the jump button. 

Initiator - Sova

With Sova’s Recon Dart, he can clear almost every angle in a site. He can scan those spots from afar using that dart but it does get noticed quickly which is why Sova players need to know the proper line-ups. He can also clear angles using his Recon Drone which will be a big drone camera to check out certain spots and when you click while using the ability, it can scan a visible opponent and they will be scanned three times. These Valorant agent abilities make it easy for the rest of the team to enter a site because Sova clears angles and gives them the information. 

Controller - Omen 

Omen is the best controller on almost any map and his smokes are big enough to cover large angles on the site. His flash and teleports are strong which can confuse enemies and get the frags. He is a perfect fit for any team due to Omen making everything easier with his abilities. Using them properly is a priority when Omen is your agent as the flash can mess up a teammate’s game. 

Sentinel - Chamber

Chamber is a Sentinel but he functions more like a Duelist at times as he innovates on the conventional Valorant agent types. He will be a primary fragger because of his Headhunter ability which is essentially a Sheriff skill. His Rendezvous ability is what makes him such an elusive character.

What makes Chamber such a strong Sentinel is his Trademark which is a trap that scans for enemies. He does not need to be anywhere near it to work which makes it a perfect trap on both offence and defence. 

Use your knowledge of Valorant by betting on Gamdom

With all of the knowledge that you learned from Valorant, you will have a strong base if you want to make wagers on its professional scene. Thankfully, you are on Gamdom which means that you have the opportunity to bet on Valorant matches. Use your knowledge properly because it will help with understanding the game better and knowing which player will stand out. 

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Words: Pocholo Magsino