Do you know what the best agent roles in Valorant are?
Knowing your best roles in Valorant is one of the game’s most important elements. While most first-person shooter games have player roles in teams, Valorant takes it to another level by designing agents to fit these roles.
You need to know your role to contribute to your team the right way. Whether you are playing with friends or a random squad, a good combination of agents will come a long way towards climbing the rank ladder.
If you are new to the game and still don’t know what the right role is for you, check out our detailed guide on agent roles in Valorant.
Valorant
Valorant is Riot Games’ newest first-person hero shooter game. It was released in June 2020 after six years of development. The game has several different agents to choose from, with each one having its own abilities. Special abilities separate Valorant from other popular FPS games like CSGO and Call of Duty: Warzone.
The game has four standard game modes: Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, and Deathmatch. The fifth game mode is a rotating one. Escalation, Replication, and Snowball Fight have been the rotating game modes so far, but Riot may introduce more in the future.
There are 16 agents in Valorant so far, but they have been releasing a new one every couple of months so expect that to change soon. There are four main roles in the game: Duelist, Sentinel, Initiator, and Controller.
Main Agent Roles in Valorant
See which roles you think you will excel at. That way, you can have a shortlist of agents to choose from. However, you still need to be somewhat versatile, so it’s a good idea to have two or even three roles you can play well. Remember your favorite agents so you can figure out what your best role is.
Knowing more than one role allows you to adjust during agent selection if a teammate can only play your main role.
Duelist
Duelists are your entry fraggers. They are the aggressive agents who will serve as your frontline, clearing entryways, angles, and sites so the rest of the team can plant the Spike. If you want to be a good Duelist, you should hone your aim and one-on-one skills. Duelists usually prefer frontline guns like rifles, shotguns, or submachine guns.
These agents also have the most aggressive abilities in the game. Raze’s entire kit was designed to clear angles and kill enemies who are hiding there. Her Boom Bot or Paint Shells can kill an enemy agent on their own. Her ultimate ability, Showstopper, can wipeout the entire enemy team if it hits them all.
Reyna is the ultimate Duelist agent as her entire ability set was created to pull of one-on-five battles. Her Leer blinds everyone who sees it, while Devour and Dismiss reward you for getting kills. Her ultimate ability, Empress, is arguably the best power-up ability in the game.
If you are an aggressive player who likes to rush into sites first and get kills consistently, this might be the role for you.
Controller
Controllers dictate the way the battle goes using their smokes and other abilities. Smokes are extremely important in Valorant because they can block the enemy team’s line of sight as well as provide cover for their teammates to push into areas of the map.
Astra, Brimstone, Omen, and Viper are the current Controllers available on Valorant. On offense, they use their smoke abilities to allow the Duelists to get into and clear the site. On defense, Controllers can smoke off entryways so the Attackers don’t have a clear view as they enter the site. This allows for your team to hold certain angles to ambush the Attackers.
Brimstone and Omen have the best smoke abilities in the game due to the precision at which they can place them in real time. Viper can place her Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen ability during Buy Phase.
You should consider playing as a Controller if you prefer being the secondary fragger and funneling opponents into certain areas of the site or map.
Initiator
Initiators are crucial members of the team because they provide attacking options for their teammates. These agents use their abilities to gather information and clear angles so their Duelists can safely push into site.
Agents like Breach and Skye have flashing abilities that blind the enemy so their teammates can get easy kills. Sova and KAY/O have information gathering abilities so you can scout the site or area before pushing into. That way, you make sure that the team isn’t walking into an ambush.
You can try this role if you enjoy supporting your teammates and letting them get the entry kills. Initiators are unselfish players that put the team and winning above themselves.
Sentinel
Sentinels are the best agents to use for defense. Riot designed Sentinels’ abilities for locking down angles and entryways to stop or delay the enemy’s attack. There are currently three Sentinels available in the game: Cypher, Killjoy, and Sage.
Cypher has Spycam, which is basically a camera that can tag enemies with a tracking dart. His Trapwires can stun and reveal enemies when they walk through it. His ultimate ability, Neural Theft, can be used on a corpse and reveals where the rest of the enemy team is.
Sage is the most versatile Sentinel as she is essential in both Attacking and Defending. Her Slow and Barrier Orbs can delay the enemy team’s push by blocking of and slowing down entryways.
Killjoy has Alarmbots that hunts down enemies when they get into range, rendering them vulnerable if they hit. Her Turret does a lot of damage to enemies if they expose themselves to it. Her best ability is Lockdown, which detains all enemies that are caught in its radius. This basically ensure that the Attackers do not push into your site for several seconds.
Sentinels are also usually the team’s shotcaller because they are the backline agents. They protect the flank and make sure their teammates are clearing or holding the right positions. You should try this agent role in Valorant if you are a good leader and selfless support player.
Good Team Compositions
There are many different combinations for agent roles in Valorant that players use. If you are playing with a pre-made squad, you will have more chances to experiment with them. In solo queue, you will do well to stick with what’s more common to everybody.
Check out some of the team compositions you can try:
Standard Two Duelist Comp
This is the most common combination of agent roles in Valorant. Two entry fraggers and one from each of the other roles.
- 2 Duelists
- 1 Controller
- 1 Sentinel
- 1 Initiator
Lockdown Comp
This is a defensive team composition. Killjoy and Cypher will hold one site each to make sure the enemy team has to play slowly. Viper or Brimstone can use their mollies to block entryways so your team can have time to rotate.
- 1 Duelist
- 1 Controller (Viper, Brimstone, or Astra)
- 1 Initiator
- 2 Sentinels (Killjoy and Cypher)
Flash City
In this team composition, every single agent has a flash or blind ability. Everyone will hate playing against you because of the constant flashes they have to endure.
- 2 Duelists (Any pair between Reyna, Phoenix, and Yoru)
- 1 Controller (Omen)
- 2 Initiators (Skye and Breach)
