Digital Media Concepts/Valorant

Valorant Logo

Valorant is a free to play first person shooter created by Riot Games. The game was officially launched on June 2nd, 2020 for PC. Valorant is currently reaching 14 million active players within the first year of its release.

Gameplay

Valorant is a first person tactical shooter. Players begin by choosing between 16 different agents. Each agent has different abilities and an ultimate ability that can only be acquired through a point system (kills, planting spike, defusing spike, and ultimate orbs). After choosing between the 16 unique characters, players are placed on a team of five either defending or attacking site. In the first round players are given a free signature ability as well as a default gun called the "classic pistol." Within the game, players are able to buy abilities and different guns such as shotguns, assault rifles, and snipers. The players in-game economy are dependent on how each round is played out. For example, gaining kills, defusing/planting spike, and winning the round can increase the players economy.

Unrated

Unrated is a non-ranked game mode where the first team to win 13 rounds wins the game. On the attacking team, the goal is to plant a bomb called a "spike". Players must plant and detonate the spike or eliminate the enemy team in order to win the round. On the defending team, the goal is to prevent the opposing team from planting the spike. Defense players win if the enemy team is completely eliminated, they are unable to plant with the 1 minute and 40 second round, or if the defending team defuses the spike. If both teams reach 12 rounds, players are put into a sudden death mode where whichever team wins the round wins the entire game. Players have two chances to surrender, once as attacking and another as defending. The surrender must be a majority vote and if a team decides to forfeit then the opposing team automatically wins all 13 rounds.

Competitive

In order to play a competitive match, players must win ten unrated matches before they are eligible to play the ranked game mode. Competitive matches are similar to Unrated where the same rules apply with an incorporated ranking system starting from Iron to Radiant. If both teams win 12 rounds they are put into "overtime", each team takes turns attacking and defending. The first team to secure a two-point lead wins the entire game. During overtime, players have the opportunity to continue the game or end in a draw, first requiring 6 players to vote, then 3, and lastly 1. If players win the match they receive points to rank up and alternatively, players will lose points if the match is lost. If the players ranked reaches 0 out of 100, the next game they play will determine if they de-rank.

Deathmatch

Deathmatch is essentially a free-for-all game mode that lasts for 9 minutes with a maximum of 14 players. Players are randomly assigned to characters and spawned in game with no economy restriction. They are able to purchase any weapon but are unable to purchase abilities, Deathmatch relies solely on aim. The first person to reach 40 kills or whoever has the most kills wins the match. When a player kills someone a health package is dropped, retrieving the health package results in the player receiving maximum health and a full shield.

Spike Rush

In Spike Rush, each round players are given the same weapon and the basic abilities for free. Everyone on the attacking side are given a spike but only on spike needs to be planted. The first team to win 4 rounds wins the entire match. Asides from being assigned the same weapon, there are random power up orbs that spawn within the game.

Some of these power ups include:

• Paranoia - Enemies are given tunnel vision with decoy footstep audio that only lasts for 10 seconds.
• Golden Gun - Player receives a golden gun with one bullet but more accuracy. Each kill grants additional bullets.
• Twin Hunters - Upon retrieving, two hunting wolves are spawned and track down the two closest enemies. Enemies are nearsighted and slowed once found.

Escalation

Escalation is similar to Spike Rush where everyone spawns in as random agents with the same weapon. Call of Duty's "gun game" is what inspired Escalation. Players are given the same weapon or abilities but after each kill, the player is able to pick up the health pack and advances to a new weapon.

Replication

In Replication, every player votes for an agent to play. The game cycles through those agents and chooses based on that. Everyone on the team will be playing the same agent and each round will have a set amount of money. Players are still defending or attacking the site with spike and the first to 5 wins the match.

Snowball Fight

Snowball fight is a seasonal game mode where every player has a snowball launcher as a weapon and spawned in as a random agent. There are no spikes or abilities in this game mode. There is a rift that randomly appears on the map and drops presents, within the presents are power ups such as skates that help you jump higher and faster, "grow ball" which enlarges the players snowball, a faster firing rate, and more. The first team to reach 50 kills wins.

Agents

There are 16 playable agents in the game and every agent has a different role. When starting out, players begin with 5 different agents: Brimstone, Jett, Phoenix, Sage, and Sova.

There are four roles:

• Duelists
• Sentinels
• Controllers
• Initiators

Duelist

Duelists are "self-sufficient fraggers" as Riot describes. They are known for creating space and challenging enemy sites. Typically, a duelists goal is to clear out sites first, getting enemy picks, and information on the enemy team. A duelists play style tends to be more aggressive and better on offense. Most of their abilities consists of blinds or mobility utilities to enter a site easier.

Sentinels

Sentinels are experts on defense, many of their abilities are to catch flanks or slow down enemies. When attacking, duelists are best for catching wanderers, slowing down enemies, or getting intel on where the enemies are. They are also good at locking down sites once the spike is planted to ensure the round is won. As for defense, Sentinels are best at preventing the enemy team from pushing onto site.

Controllers

Controllers are good at dominating a certain area on the map, they are good at both offense and defense. Their abilities (like walls and smokes) are best for blocking off the enemies vision and making it easier for the team to enter the site.

Initiators

Similar to Controllers, Initiators are good at setting their team up for offensive pushes. Their abilities consists of flashes, stuns, and informational use. Initiators are best at getting information and revealing the enemies locations. For offense, they are good at getting their team onto site while on defense, they are good for site retakes.

List of Agents

Agent	Ability 1	Ability 2	Ability 3	Ultimate
Astra: Controller	Nova Pulse: Once the star is activated, anyone within the circle is concussed	Nebula: The activated star becomes a smoke or the player can recall the star but temporarily creates a fake smoke	Gravity Well: Activating the star causes players within the vicinity to be pulled into the middle of the well and once it explodes, everyone within are vulnerable	Cosmic Divide: This creates a large wall that can overtake a large portion of the map, the wall blocks bullets and muffles sound
Breach: Initiator	Flashpoint: Aiming towards a wall, Breach charges a blind that detonates and blinds whoever is looking	Fault Line: Mimicking an earthquake, Breach charges a line and concusses people once it has detonated	Aftershock: Damage bursts are sent out through a wall	Rolling Thunder: Similar to the Fault Line, the quake is sent out in a large cone shape, dazing enemies and slowing them briefly
Brimstone: Controller	Incendiary: An incendiary grenade launcher that creates a small pool of fire	Sky Smoke: Create up to 3 smokes to place within the vicinity	Stim Beacon: Grants players a rapid fire boost as long as they are within the beacon	Orbital Strike: Select an area and summon a large laser that eliminates anyone caught within that circle
Cypher: Sentinel	Cyber Cage: Toss a cage that blocks off vision	Spycam: Place and monitor a site through the camera lens, shoot a dart to track down an enemy	Trapwire: Place a hidden tripwire, enemies who are caught can destroy it but if they are not destroyed in time, they are concussed and their location is briefly revealed	Neural Theft: Using a dead enemy body, reveal the location of the remaining enemy team
Jett: Duelist	Updraft: Launches Jett up to the sky	Tailwind: Jett dashes in the direction she is going	Cloudburst: Throw up to two smokes, players are able to curve the smoke using their crosshair	Blade Storm: Jett has a set of 5 highly accurate knives, killing an enemy results in additional knives. Jett is able to throw all 5 knives at her target
KAY/O: Initiator	Flash/Drive: Throw a flash grenade, blinding anyone within the vicinity	Zero/Point: Throw a blade that suppresses the enemies abilities and exposes the enemies within that area	Frag/Ment: Throw an explosive that does burst damage within the circle	Null/CMD: KAY/O suppresses enemies abilities for a short duration and is able to be revived
Killjoy: Sentinel	Alarmbot: Once the bot is placed, enemies within its vicinity will trigger the bot which reveals the enemies general location as well as leaving them vulnerable	Turret: The Turret shoots at enemies within its sight and slows them	Nanoswarm: Throw a discreet grenade and activate it to damage enemies	Lockdown: Enemies have a few seconds to escape the Lockdown's radius, if an enemy is still within its vicinity, they will be detained and unable to move for a short period of time
Omen: Controller	Paranoia: Omen throws a shadow and blinds the people caught within its path	Dark Cover: Create up to two smokes anywhere on the map	Shrouded Step: Teleport to a nearby location	From the Shadows: Select anywhere on the map to teleport, players may cancel the teleport and enemies may shoot the Omen shadow to prevent him from teleporting
Phoenix: Duelist	Curveball: Create a small fire orb that blinds people in the direction it is thrown, players may curve this blind	Hot Hands: Create a fireball that may be thrown and causes damage to enemies and team players but heals Phoenix	Blaze: Create a wall of fire that blocks vision and burns players who pass through it, this wall can heal Phoenix	Run it Back: Phoenix activates his ultimate, essentially creating an extra life for himself. A marker is placed on the floor, if Phoenix dies or his timer runs out he is returned to the marker with his original health
Raze: Duelist	Blast Pack: Throw up to two blast packs that stick to any surface, this helps with mobility and detonates on its own unless activated	Paint Shells: Throw a grenade that does burst damage to anyone within range	Boom Bot: Deploy the bot in any direction, it chases the closest enemy and detonates once caught or will break on its own if no enemy is found	Showstopper: Creates a large rocket launcher that damages anyone within its range
Reyna: Duelist	Devour: Soul Orbs are left by enemies killed by Reyna, Reyna may activate them to regain health, without activation the Soul Orb disappears	Dismiss: Using the Soul Orbs, Reyna becomes invulnerable	Leer: Reyna casts a blind and causes enemies to become nearsighted, these blinds may be destroyed	Empress: Empowers her original abilities, grants her attack speed, and her dismiss automatically heals her and gives her brief invisibility
Sage: Sentinel	Slow Orb: Sage throws a Slow Orb and upon landing it creates a pool of ice, slowing enemies and team members within its path	Healing Orb: Grants the ability to heal team members or herself over time	Barrier Orb: Rotate and place a wall of ice that may be destroyed	Resurrection: Revive a dead ally and bring them back to full health
Skye: Initiator	Trailblazer: Take control of the dog to locate enemies, the dog is able to leap out and concuss the enemies caught. The dog may be destroyed	Guiding Light: Fire up to 3 hawks, players may guide the bird and choosing to activate it will result in those being blinded. The blind may be destroyed if not yet activated	Regrowth: Skye is able to heal the teammates within her vicinity but she is unable to heal herself	Seekers: Skye sends out Seekers that track down the 3 closest enemies, these may be destroyed but if not, enemies will be nearsighted
Sova: Initiator	Shock Bolt: Fire out a shock bolt that detonates within moments, holding the arrows will result in a farther range and players may add up to two bounces to create a ricochet effect	Recon Bolt: Shoot out a bolt that reveals the enemies locations if they are caught within the bolt's line of sight. Players may extend the range and add two bounces as well and enemies may destroy the dart	Owl Drone: Sova is able to send out a drone and look for enemies using its camera, enemies may destroy it but if an enemy is tagged, their location is revealed	Hunter's Fury: Sova is able to set out three large laser beams that may go through walls using his bow, enemies caught will be injured as well as have their location revealed
Viper: Controller	Poison Cloud: Viper throws a gas emitter that creates a large poison cloud, this costs toxic fuel which is regenerated over time	Toxic Screen: Send out a large poisonous wall to block enemy sight	Snake Bite: Throw up to two puddles of poisonous venom, players within this area will be injured	Viper's Pit: Viper deploys a large poisonous cloud that covers almost an entire site, players within the cloud become nearsighted and lose health
Yoru: Duelist	Blindsided: Throw a flash that detonates once it has ricocheted once	Gatecrash: Either place or throw out a portal where Yoru may be summoned before its timer finishes	Fakeout: Place footsteps and activate them to mimic player's movements, this is used to confuse enemies	Dimensional Drift: Equip a mask that grants temporary speed, Yoru is invulnerable in this state and invisible unless within an enemies range