Because of their abilities, VALORANT agents will either be stronger or more useful than others. While Riot Games are known for not only releasing new things like characters to shake up the meta consistently, they are also known for making small changes to try and balance their games. No game will likely ever be perfectly balanced and because of this, there are tier lists made to help players decide on who they should prioritize in their game. It should be noted every VALORANT Agent has their uses and that all of them can be played depending on what a player is feeling or a team is needing. Here are how the VALORANT agents shake out in the first couple weeks of the closed beta.
Tier 1
Raze
Raze is extremely kill oriented. Weirdly she feels like the more calm version of Jinx from Riot’s original game, League of Legends. There are plenty of agents in this game that can use their abilities in order to rack up kills but none like Raze. The reason being that she is extremely strong on both offense and defense. Her Boom Bot can scout for opponents when either entering or defending a site. Her Blast Pack can be used similarly to Junkrat from Overwatch’s ability to get a high-ground advantage or just to stop enemy advancement. Lastly, her Paint Shells and Showstopper both do massive area of effect damage which can help take a point or take out an entire team rushing a single point. For players who like to fragout, Raze needs to be their agent of choice.
Sage
Sage may not be the only agent in VALORANT who can heal but, she is the only one who can currently heal another agent. Along with that, her utility thanks to her wall, slows and most importantly her ability to revive an ally with her ultimate make her imperative to have on a team. She is able to help people survive poke, get a height advantage and so much more. Sage won’t be killing thanks to her abilities but she sure will provide an unmatched amount of utility for her teams.
Tier 2-
Phoenix
Phoenix has a very forgiving kit unlike many of the other agents in the game. Need a quick heal after a skirmish? He can use both his wall and fireball to self-heal. Want to go super aggressive with no consequences? Well, he can ult and run straight onto a site to not only scout but try and get some kills, die and go back to where he started. Lastly, his flash is one of the best abilities in the game if used correctly. All-around, Pheonix is a great agent and many new players may flock to him because his kit is much easier to use than others.
Viper
Viper is one of the more interesting agents in the game. She is unique in the fact that she starts with poison fuel that runs out the more she uses certain abilities. What puts her so high on this list is the fact that the poison regenerates and thus, she can use her abilities more times than anyone else in the game. She has a slow that damages, a smoke that damages and can be activated whenever she has fuel, a wall that can activate whenever she has fuel and an ultimate that controls entire sites. Viper brings it all on both attack and defense.
Breach
This may surprise people but Breach is much stronger than most might think. One of the more important parts of VALORANT is playing the angles and hiding behind certain walls or objects. Breach is not only able to force players away from a wall but entire areas. His signature ability has extremely long-range and can stop an attacking team dead in its tracks or disorient a defender long enough to get an angle on them. His flash is one of the strongest crowd-controls abilities in the game and his Aftershock can kill someone should they stay in it. Don’t forget that his ultimate can knock up and disorient an entire team in a massive area. Most importantly, all of this can be done without peaking.
Cypher
Vision is extremely important in games like VALORANT and Cypher has enough to defend an entire site by himself. The only reason he is not higher on this list is because he is a very below average attacker currently. His Trapwire ability is good for stoping flanks once a site is taken and his Cyber Cage can act as a smoke to a certain degree but other than that his offensive abilities are lacking. On defense though, there may be no agent stronger. Every ability he has is made to defend a site long enough for his team to make there way back his way. If his ultimate was a little better then he would likely be a must-pick.
Brimstone
There are two abilities that are keeping Brimstone from being in Tier 3, his Sky Smoke and Orbital Strike. Even in CSGO having smokes was one of the most important utilities in the game. People would find new ways to smoke certain areas with cool moves and wall-bangs. Well, Brimstone eliminates the need to do anything other than be in a certain area and click. This gives his team a massive advantage on both sides. His Orbital Strike is also extremely strong as both a zoning tool and its ability to kill. While his Molotov (Incendiary) isn’t extremely strong it is effective at zoning as well. Lastly, Brimstone’s Stim Beacon feels relatively useless in a game where headshotting someone kills them instantly.
Jett
When the first teaser trailer came out, many people thought that Jett would be the ultimate Agent in the game. She would be like Tracer in Overwatch and be able to zoom around the map creating awesome plays. Well, she can kinda do that, but the person playing her has to have extremely high mechanical skills. Even then she still has some major issues. While her Updraft and Tailwind get her in the right positions there are delays on her ability to shoot and do so accurately. Because of this, if they aren’t timed well or put her in a bad position she can be focused down before getting to make a move. Her ultimate is also very unforgiving. It is quick and can do a lot of damage while resetting on kills but a player can also miss very easily as it requires nearly exact precision. Jett is a great agent in good hands. But, in bad hands, she is unforgiving and because of that she did not make Tier 1.
Sova
There are two agents that focus on providing vision and Sova is the lesser of the two currently. For starters, his vision is pretty below average. Not only can it be destroyed but if people simply hide behind an object then they can completely dodge being found out. Also, his Owl Drone is slow, a big target, it lasts for a short amount of time and is so expensive that it is not as good economically. While his Shock Bolts are average in terms of damage, they feel clunky and their area of effect damage is relatively small. Were it not for his Hunter’s Fury, Sova would be in Tier 3. Luckily it does solid damage while slowing and revealing any enemies it touches. It is extremely effective at either clearing a site or stopping an advance and one of the best abilities in the game.
Tier 3
Omen
Anyone from Overwatch remember the old Reaper? He was easy to hear and see coming which made him easy to kill. Well Omen has filled that role in this game. His teleporting abilities, one that is for short-range and one that is the entire map are very easy to sniff out. When an Omen teleports, it is normally behind the team and everyone quickly finds and kills him. His smoking ability is solid because it can go through walls and lasts a really long time. But Paranoia feels ineffective compared to so many similar abilities that it is almost not worth buying. Were it not for his smoke, ability to get the high ground the ability to create the ultimate flank if used correctly, then Omen would be the only unpickable Agent.
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