How to Play Valorant: the Complete Guide to the Game, Agents, Weapons and Maps

Get started

First steps, shooting basics and settings

Agents

Roles, abilities and full agent pages

Weapons

Arsenal, economy and recoil

Maps

13 maps and the competitive rotation

Setup & Gear

Mouse, monitor, headset and goodies

Lore & Universe

Radianite, Kingdom and the mirror Earth

Where to start

WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

Three paths depending on where you stand. Pick the one that matches your situation, the rest can wait.

I am starting out

You just installed the game, or you have been playing for a few weeks.

I want to improve

You know the basics and you are looking to climb the ranks.

The agents and their roles
The weapons and the economy
The maps and the rotation
Climb in ranked
Improve your aim
Crosshair placement
Optimize your ping
Choose your gear

I want to understand the universe

You enjoy the game and you want to know what is going on behind it.

Radianite
The Radiants
Kingdom
Duality
First Light

Overview

VALORANT, THE TACTICAL FPS BY RIOT GAMES

Valorant is a tactical first-person shooter created by Riot Games and launched in 2020 on the free to play model. Its gameplay shows assumed similarities with Counter-Strike, in a futuristic universe that also draws comparisons with Overwatch, all carried by an original story.

Before its release, Riot Games was mainly known for League of Legends. By choosing to explore the tactical FPS genre, the studio blended the classic codes of the genre with innovations of its own, backed by its artistic signature and its expertise in server infrastructure and anti-cheat.

The principle is simple: two teams of five players face off on a map, the attackers must plant a Spike and let it explode, the defenders must stop them or defuse it. The first team to win 13 rounds takes the match, with both sides switching roles at half-time.

Game modes

HOW DOES A MATCH PLAY OUT?

The main mode pits two teams of five against each other in a first-to-13 format. Around it, several shorter formats let you warm up or play without setting aside a full hour.

Available formats and average match duration.

Mode	Players	Format	Duration
Competitive	5 vs 5	First to 13 rounds	30 to 45 min
Unrated	5 vs 5	First to 13 rounds	30 to 45 min
Swiftplay	5 vs 5	Shortened format	About 15 min
Spike Rush	5 vs 5	4 rounds, set weapons	About 10 min
Deathmatch	14 players	40 kills	About 10 min
Team Deathmatch	5 vs 5	Kill-based objective	About 10 min
Premier	5 vs 5	Team competition over a season	Varies

Which mode to warm up?

Deathmatch is the most efficient format before a ranked session. Fourteen players, no alliances, free weapon choice on every respawn and a target of 40 kills. It focuses your attention on shooting and active listening, without the strategic load of a full match. Riot also regularly runs temporary modes tied to seasonal events.

The agent Brimstone, wearing his orange beret, checks a tablet in front of a tactical Valorant map projected as a turquoise hologram over a desert setting, with orange markers and a highlighted circular zone.

The maps

13 MAPS, A ROTATING POOL

Valorant counts 13 standard maps, but only part of them is available in Competitive at any given time. Riot rotates this pool every act to limit the number of maps to learn and to keep the newer ones from being systematically dodged.

Maps out of rotation do not disappear: they remain playable in Unrated, Swiftplay and custom games, and return to the pool in a later act.

Abyss Ascent Bind Breeze Corrode Fracture Haven Icebox Lotus Pearl Split Summit Sunset

The arsenal

THE WEAPONS AND THE ECONOMY

Shooting is the essence of Valorant, and the choice of weapon shapes every round. The arsenal splits into pistols, SMGs, assault rifles, sniper rifles, heavy weapons and shotguns, each with its own recoil pattern, penetration and price.

On top of that comes an economic dimension that beginners almost always underestimate. The credits you earn depend on rounds won, kills and planting the Spike. Knowing when to buy, when to save and when to force-buy as a team is often worth more rounds than an improvement in aim.

Discover the weapons →

Valorant's arsenal in a dark room: a holographic screen shows seven of the game's weapons, from pistols to the sniper rifle and the heavy machine gun, while two assault rifles, ammunition and a knife sit on a table lit in red and blue.

System requirements

WHAT MACHINE DO YOU NEED TO PLAY?

Designed as a competitive game accessible to as many players as possible, Valorant does not call for a high-end machine. The optimization work done by the developers makes it run properly on older configurations.

Configurations listed by Riot Games depending on the targeted frame rate.

Component	Minimum, 30 fps	Recommended, 60 fps	Competitive, 144 fps
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8400	Intel Core i3-4150	Intel Core i5-9400F
Graphics card	Intel HD 4000	GeForce GT 730	GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
RAM	4 GB	4 GB	8 GB
Operating system	Windows 10 64-bit	Windows 10 64-bit	Windows 10 or 11 64-bit

On Windows 11, two settings are mandatory

The game's anti-cheat system requires TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot to be enabled in the BIOS. It is the most common cause of the game refusing to launch on a machine that is more than powerful enough. Both options live in the BIOS settings and enabling them requires no hardware work.

Cosmetics

THE GAME'S ECONOMY AND SKINS

Although entirely free, Valorant offers an internal economy to acquire skins and cosmetic items to customize weapons and agents. These range from simple designs to elaborate animations, with special editions and seasonal events that regularly refresh the offer. None of these items gives any advantage in a match: competitive balance remains strictly identical for every player.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT VALORANT

The questions that come up most often from players discovering the game or still hesitating to install it.

Is Valorant really free?+

Yes. Valorant is a free to play game: the download, access to every playable agent and all the game modes are free. The business model relies solely on cosmetics, mainly weapon skins, which give no advantage in a match. Some agents do need to be unlocked, either by playing or with the in-game currency, which has no effect on competitive balance since unlocking never requires spending.

How many agents are there in Valorant?+

The roster currently counts 0 agents. Riot Games adds a new agent roughly every two months, one per act. Every agent has four abilities, including a free signature and an ultimate that charges by earning points over the rounds.

What specs do you need to play Valorant?+

Valorant is deliberately undemanding. An Intel Core i3-4150 processor and an entry-level graphics card are enough to reach 60 frames per second. To aim for 144 frames per second and more in competitive, count on a Core i5-9400F and a GTX 1050 Ti with 8 GB of RAM. On Windows 11, however, the game requires TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot to be enabled, which still blocks some players on machines that are more than powerful enough.

What is the difference between Valorant and Counter-Strike?+

The structure is similar: two teams of five, a buy phase, a plant and defuse objective, and victory at 13 rounds. The difference lies in the abilities. In Valorant, every agent brings tactical tools that reshape the geometry of the map, block a line of sight or reveal a position. Shooting remains the heart of the game, but preparing a site take counts as much as accuracy, which makes the team aspect more decisive.

THE ROSTER

GOODIES & COLLECTION

THE WHOLE STORY, IN ORDER

eDPI CALCULATOR

HOW TO PLAY VALORANT