Agent 21, Taunts, Act 2: A Glimpse Down the VALORANT Pipeline

Episode five is kicking off a new era for VALORANT. Fans are already gearing up for what’s expected to be a historical episode. The first Act alone brought a whole new map, UI changes, an animatic and an awesome battle pass. Here is what else players can expect in Valorant’s future.

[Related: Valorant Last Chance Qualifiers 2022: Where to Watch & Who’s Playing]

Agent 21

According to ValorLeaks on twitter, the new agent’s codename is “Mage”. Whether this will be the agent’s final name or not isn’t clear. Mage is verbally similar to “Sage”, an existing agent. The similarity could cause confusion during callouts, where players have brief, adrenaline-fueled seconds to make key decisions.

New Agent Codename: Mage | #VALORANT

— ValorLeaks | Valorant Leaks & Info (@ValorLeaks) June 24, 2022

The training area in VALORANT is known to hide secrets and easter eggs. In the run up to Fade’s release, Riot had been teasing her identity with in-game emails, voicemails and even a prison cell underneath the range. Now, they’re hinting at Agent 21

The update gives a couple of hints at Mage’s identity. Fade calls him “Varun Batra” in an email that can be found on Brimstone’s laptop in the Range. The email explains his significance: “I ran a trace on his Alpha counterpart. Turns out he’s a REALM operative. I freelance for TREAM years ago; multinational task force recovering historical artifacts from black market trade. My first question: why does Legion need an antiquities expert?”

The name “Varuna” is Indian in origin. It’s a Vedic deity that’s the god of water, oceans, and rain. The connection could mean that the new agent will have water-themed powers, a role that surprisingly hasn’t been taken yet. It should also be noted that there aren’t yet any agents from India, so Agent 21 would be the first.

“Batra” is also an Indian name, but it also has roots in Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are a handful of famous Indians with the last name Batra, including the gold medalist table tennis player, Manika Batra.

Taunts

An interesting development found deep in VALORANT’s code is a system for taunting. The addition would allow players to play a short animation in third person. Many other first person shooters, as well as Riot’s other smash hit League of Legends allow for taunts. However, It’s not a guaranteed feature.

This animation was discovered by @floxayyy on twitter. The rest is speculation.

Few files related to Emotes, from what I can gather just by a quick look is that it's similar to Fortnite's.
Thirdperson, can't move, jump etc.

"Emotes are coming?"
Who knows, if they add these in the future then I'm pretty sure they limit these to round end/buy phase. pic.twitter.com/cxIJMQzg86

— floxay (@floxayyy) July 29, 2022

Battle Pass

Not much is known about the next battle pass, but it is coming soon. The Act One battle pass ends on August 23, so it’s safe to assume that Act Two will start directly afterwards. Previews of the new battle pass usually come out just a few days before the start of the next act. Keep an eye out.

Whether Riot is planning these additions for the immediate episode or sometime later down the line, they’re all exciting to look forward to. VALORANT updates regularly with new content to keep players coming back.

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