Starting something new can be challenging for anyone. Valorant is a highly dynamic and strategic PC shooter. In part 1, we spoke to Garrett to get thoughts on tips and tricks for gamers. For part 2, we talked to Drew Nguvu, another South African pro gamer known as “kengeleng” or “keng”, who is making waves in the VALZA community. Keng and Garrett are part of Team Pearl, the Valorant Streamers Cup winners. Keng also emerged victorious at the Carry1st VALZA Cup tournament hosted by RageExpo in South Africa.
Drew shared must-read tips and tricks to take fellow Valorant players to the next level.
What are the mechanics and objectives that new players should understand?
Keng: “New players should understand that each agent in Valorant has unique abilities for gathering information, taking map control, or supporting your teammates. The main objective for Attackers is to take control of a site, plant the spike, and run down the clock to win the round. Defenders’ goal is to ensure either the attackers can’t make it onto the site or that they defuse the spike within the time allocated before the spike blows up.”
How can players effectively communicate and coordinate with their team in Valorant?
Keng: “I would say the easiest and most effective way to communicate and coordinate with your teammates in Valorant is by ensuring everyone understands their role and that communications are clear. You should also understand that mistakes are bound to happen, so you shouldn’t be quick to blame others but rather help them understand what they did wrong and give them a solution to what they can do better to help them improve and develop their skill.”
How can players improve their aiming and shooting accuracy?
Keng: “Valorant has various weapons, each with unique characteristics that affect how the gun is used. All the weapons have their fire rate, damage output, and accuracy. The best method to improve is to familiarise yourself with all the weapons, practice learning their spray patterns in the range, and use the guns that best suit your playstyle.”
How can players use each agent’s unique abilities in different game scenarios?
Keng: “As this question is quite broad, I would say the best way to learn when to use what ability in certain scenarios would be to either watch how professional Valorant players use and play the role you are interested in or have a hands-on learning experience by simply playing the game for yourself and figuring it out on your own through trial and error.”
Do you have tips about the in-game economy and making purchases?
Keng: “Unlike other FPS games, Valorant has a feature showing you how much in-game economy you will have in the next round. By watching games played professionally and by yourself, you will eventually learn when to save or spend money and understand the value of eco rounds or force rounds.”
How can players adapt their play style for attacking and defending roles?
Keng: “Players need to understand that some agents are better equipped for playing aggressively to take space, others more passively played to hold their given site, and some have the unique ability to gather information without sacrificing their life. It comes down to learning your role and playing it to its fullest to aid your team.”
What tips do you recommend to help teams secure critical areas and objectives?
Keng: “I think a general key area to take control of amongst most maps is the ‘mid’ or middle area. Other key areas include eliminating multiple routes that teams could use to split your defence, which means you try to funnel them into one space and force them to use only two paths to enter a site or one path.”
How can players use sound cues and information gathering to predict enemy actions?
Keng: “Sound cues are a great way to know the position of your enemy or what agent is nearby. Sound cues allow you to gather whether or not the enemy side is doing something quickly. If you don’t hear anything, you could gather that they are taking a slower approach, and therefore, you would need to start taking space or using revealing abilities to find where they are.”
What are useful techniques for using utility abilities to disrupt enemy plans?
Keng: “Smoking off the paths the enemy teams are trying to use can slow down their plans and possibly make them reconsider what they tried to do initially. Flashes when you hear the enemy team running up to you can place them in a state of panic as they can no longer see what is happening for a short time.”
How can players go up the ranks in Valorant’s competitive mode?
Keng: “I recommend that players first understand what type of game they are playing. Get to know the agents and their capabilities and learn the maps. My next tip would be to play the game; don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Another great tip is to watch players who are better than you play, whether that might be professional games played, your favourite players’ Twitch or YouTube streams of them just playing ranked games or simply just your friend who is a higher rank than you.”
Do you buy Valorant Points?
Keng: “Yes, I’ve purchased Valorant Points to buy my favourite skins that come through the shop rotation or released bundles.”
Thanks, Drew
Does Valorant sound like your type of PC shooter? There are always new strategies to learn. Gear up and shoot your way to the top ranks now.