Valorant Character Tier List Guide

We are all in anticipation of Valorant official release. Having spent many hours playing the beta, we learned a lot and share our best practices with you. Today we will discuss Valorant Character Tier List. But also you can check our previous Valorant guides.

Valorant Weapons Tier List – Best Weapons To Use
Valorant Maps and Callouts Guide
How to get better in Valorant

There are currently 10 characters in the game who are called agents in Valorant. Despite the fact that this is a tactical shooter in many ways similar to Counter-Strike, Valorant still has its uniqueness. Which agents’ abilities. Every agent has 4 abilities to use in the battle. One of them is free but has a cooldown. Two more you can buy in the armoury with credits (like weapons). And the last one is the ultimate. You need to stack points to activate it. These stacks you gain after a kill or by gathering orbs. The orbs you can find on maps. There 2 of them and they respawn every round.

Due to these particularities, it is important to know what agents can do to play it effectively. Also, it would be worth taking a particular agent that fits your gaming skills or situation the most. Our Valorant Character Tier List Guide will help you in that.

Valorant Character Tier List

This tier list based on the abities and effectiveness of an agent in overall. It doesn’t mean that any of them are overpowered and will guaranty you a winning game. Remember that a lot depends on your skills in Valorant.

S Tier – Best agents to play

In overall statistics the following agents are the most effective ones in almost any map and phase.

Sage

The signature ability that Valorant Sage agent has from the start of the game for free is called Healing Orb. You can use it on yourself or an ally to recover full health overtime. Sage’s class is Sentinel, that means that she can support allies with her abilities, not only with heal but also with map control. Although in Valorant all agents’ auto-attack power depends on the weapon, so we cannot say that Sentinels are classical supports.

Sage’s Abilities:

• Barrier Orb (1 charge, cost: 300 credits): Equip a barrier orb. Fire places a solid wall. Alternate fire rotates the targeter. You can use this ability to boost yourself or your teammates when casting under their feet. Conjure a large, solid wall. Right-click to rotate the wall before casting.
• Slow Orb (2 charges, cost: 100 credits per charge): Equip a slowing orb. Fire to throw a slowing orb forward that detonates upon landing, creating a lingering field that slows and grounds players caught inside of it. Moving through the Slow Orb will make noise. Cast out a radianite orb that breaks into a slowing field upon impact with the ground. All caught in the field are slowed, grounded, and make noise when moving.

Sage’s Signature:

Healing Orb (1 charge, cost: free): Equip a healing orb. Fire with your crosshairs over a damaged ally to activate a heal-over-time on them. Alternate fire while Sage is damaged to activate a self heal-over-time. Heal an ally or yourself to full health over a few seconds.

Sage’s Ultimate:

Resurrection (1 charge, stack 7 points to activate): Equip a resurrection ability. Fire with your crosshairs placed over a dead ally to begin resurrecting them. After a brief channel, the ally will be brought back to life with full health. Does NOT recover Armor! Target a friendly corpse. After a short delay, revive them with full health.

Raze

Raze belongs to the Duelist class. It will suit players with aggressive play-style. Your task will clear the corners and be in the front lane to assure your teammates with an easy way to path through. Raze has everything to find you and damage even before you see her. Also, she can jump high hanks to her abilities and it is almost impossible to get away from her ultimate.

Raze’s Abilities:

• Boom Bot (1 charge, cost: 100 credits): Equip a Boom Bot. Fire will deploy the bot, causing it to travel in a straight line on the ground, bouncing off walls. The Boom Bot will lock on to any enemies in it frontal cone and chase them, exploding for heavy damage if it reaches them.
• Paint Shells (1 charge, cost: 200 credits): Equip a cluster grenade. Fire to throw the grenade, which does damage and creates sub-munitions, each doing damage to anyone in their range.

Raze’s Signature:

Blast Pack (1 charge, cost: free): Instantly throw a Blast Pack that will stick to surfaces. Re-us the ability after deployment to detonate, damaging and moving anything hit. Raze isn’t damaged by this ability, but will still take fall damage if launched up far enough.

Raze’s Ultimate:

Showstopper (1 charge, collect 6 points to activate it): Equip a single-use rocket launcher with the ability to one-shot enemies. Damage from this ability is consistent throughout the entire blast radius.

Cypher

Chyper is another Valorant Sentinel agent. You won’t get heal from him, but he will help you detect enemies. All his abilities are about giving your team vision. You can put a camera and watch the area. Moreover you can hit an enemy with a wire to see his location. And many other great and useful tools. Read all about them below.

Cypher’s Abilities:

• Trapwire (2 charges, cost: 200 credits per each charge): Equip a trapwire. Fire to place a destructible and covert tripware at the targeted location, creating a line that spans between the placed location and the wall opposite. Enemy players who cross a tripwire will be tethered, revealed, and dazed after a short period if they do not destroy the device in time. This ability can be picked up to be redeployed. Place a stealthed tripwire between two walls. Triggering enemies are restrained and revealed for a short time. If the trap is not destroyed, it activates to daze the trapped victim. Can be picked up.
• Cyber Cage (2 charges, cost: 100 credits per each charge): Equip a cyber cage. Fire to toss the cyber cage in front of Cypher. Activate to create a zone that blocks vision and slows enemies who pass through it. Toss out a remote activation trap. Reactivate to create a cage that slows enemies who pass through it. Look at a trap and press USE to detonate it, or hold ACTIVATE to detonate all.

Cypher’s Signature:

Spycam (1 charge, cost: free): Equip a spycam. Fire to place the spycam at the targeted location. REUSE this ability to take control of the camera’s view. While in control of the camera. Fire to shoot a marking dart. This dart will reveal the location of any player struck by the dart. Place a remote camera. After placing, reactivate to view the video feed. Left-click while in-camera to fire a tracking dart. Recharges when picked up or killed.

Chyper’s Ultimate:

Neural Theft (1 charge, collect 7 points to activate it): Instantly use on a dead enemy player in your crosshairs to reveal the location of all living enemy players. Extract information from the corpse of an enemy, revealing the location of their living allies.

Reyna

Reyna has been added recently with the official Valorant release. And it is obvious to us that she can proudly take her place in the S tier Valorant champions. Reyna is a Duelist agent with great sustain. But to play her effectively you need to be an aggressive player. We can assure you that she is not easy to play if usually, you prefer to flank or support other players. Reyna must be in the lead, she deals damage, heals and makes her appearance dramatically unpredictable. But only if you know how to play well.

Reyna’s Abilities:

• Leer (2 charges, cost: 200 credits per each): Equip and ethereal, destructible eye. Activate to cast the eye a short distance forward. The eye will Nearsight all enemies who look at it.
• Devour (4 charges (they are shared with signature), cost: 100 credits per each): Soul Harvest: Enemies killed by Reyna leave behind Soul Orbs that last 3 seconds.
  Devour: Instantly consume as nearby soul orb, rapidly healing for a short duration. Health gained through this skill exceeding 100 will decay over time.
  If Empress (ultimate) is active, this skill will automatically cast and not consume the Soul Orb.

Reyna‘s Signature:

Dismiss (4 charges (they are shared with Devour), cost: 1 charge free at the beginning of the new round, after that you buy them for Devour 100 credits per each): Instantly consume a nearby Soul Orb, becoming intangible for a short duration. If ultimate (Empress) is active, also become invisible.

Reyna‘s Ultimate:

Empress (1 charge, collect 6 points to activate it): Instantly enter frenzy, increasing firing, equip and reload speed dramatically. Gain infinite charges of Soul Harvest abilities. Scoring a kill renews the duration.

A Tier Strong picks in every game

The following Valorant agents are also great picks. But in contrary to the S tier not all of their abilities are as useful. Nevertheless, they have good synergy with S tier characters.

Killjoy

Killjoy is a newly added agent to Valorant. You can read all the changes that hit the game in Act II here. The new agent is a great combination of supporting tools and control. You will be able to play solo for a decent period of time thanks to Killjoy’s capability of controlling several entrances to a spot. Even though she is a Sentinel she is way more dangerous then it seems.

Thanks to these ablities Killjoy could be even S tier champion in the hands of an advanced player. But if you are a beginner and still learning to play Killjoy might not be the best pick for you. In any case, first you need to unlock her fast if you want to play with her at once.

Killjoy’s Abilities:

• Alarmbot (1 charge, cost: 200 credits per each): EQUIP a covert Alarmbot. FIRE to deploy a bot that hunts down enemies that get in range. After reaching its target, the bot explodes, applying Vulnerable. HOLD EQUIP to recall a deployed bot.
• Nanoswarm (2 charges, cost: 200 credits per each): EQUIP a Nanoswarm grenade. FIRE to throw the grenade. Upon landing, the Nanoswarm goes covert. ACTIVATE the Nanoswarm to deploy a damaging swarm of nanobots.

Killjoy‘s Signature:

Turret (1 charge, cost: free): EQUIP a Turret. FIRE to deploy a turret that fires at enemies in a 180 degree cone. HOLD EQUIP to recall the deployed turret. Turret Health 125.

Killjoy‘s Ultimate:

Lockdown (1 charge, collect 7 points to activate it): EQUIP the Lockdown device. FIRE to deploy the device. After a long windup, the device Detains all enemies caught in the radius. The device can be destroyed by enemies. Devices Health 150.

Phoenix

Phoenix is one more Duelist. With his great ability to area of effect damage, that you can deal from range and opportunity to heal himself Phoenix is very aggressive and powerful. You will never win if you dance in his fire together. He will heal in it, while you will burn. Actually Phoenix will heal from all the fire he creates, which makes him extremely sustainable.

Phoenix’s Abilities:

• Blaze (1 charge, cost: 200 credits per charge): Equip a fireball. Fire to throw a fireball that explodes after a set amount of time or upon hitting the ground, creating a lingering fire zone that damages enemies. Phoenix Heals from the Fire Damage of this Ability. Cast out a flame wall that blocks vision and damages anyone passing through it. You can bend the wall when casting by turning while holding left click.
• Hot Hands (1 charge, cost: 100 credits per charge): Equip a flame wall. Fire to create a line of flames that moves forward creating a wall that blocks vision and damages players passing through it. Hold Fire to bend the wall in the direction of your crosshair. Phoenix Heals from the Fire Damage of this Ability. Throw a fireball that explodes after a delay or upon impact with the ground. The fire zone damages enemies, and heals you.

Phoenix’s Signature:

Curveball (2 charges, cost: free): Equip a flare orb that takes a curving path and detonates shortly after throwing. Fire to curve the flare orb to the left, detonating the blinding any player who sees the orb. Alternate fire to curve the flare orb to the right.Instantly propel in the direction she is moving. If Jett is standing still, she will propel forward. A flare orb that takes a curving path and detonates shortly after throwing.

Phoenix’s Ultimate:

Run it Back (1 charge, stack 6 points to get it): Instantly place a marker at Phoenix’s location. While this ability is active, dying or allowing the timer to expire will end this ability and bring Phoenix back to this location with full health. Does NOT recover Armor! Mark your current location. If you die during this ability’s duration, or when this ability’s duration expires, you’ll be reborn at the marked location with full health.

Sova

Sove represents Initiator class. These agents give vision and help the team to get better positions to push defenders back. Even though they are more effective in attack phase it doesn’t mean they won’t help your team in defence. Thanks to range damaging abilities Sova can give opponents lots of troubles.

Sova’s Abilities:

• Owl Drone (1 charge, cost: 300 credits per charge): Equip an owl drone. Fire to deploy and take control of the movement of the drone. While in control of the drone, Fire to shoot a marking dart. This dart will reveal the location of any player struck by the dart. Deploy a pilotable drone that can fire a dart that will reveal enemies who are hit.
• Shock Bolt (2 charges, cost: 100 credits per charge): Equip a bow with shock bolt. Fire to send the explosive bolt forward detonating upon collision and damaging players nearby. Hold Fire to extend the range of the projectile. Alternate Fire to add up to two bounces to this arrow. Fire an explosive bolt that emits a damaging pulse of static energy upon impact.

Sova’s Signature:

Recon Bolt (1 charge, cost: free): Equip a bow with recon bolt. Fire to send the bolt forward activating upon collision and revealing the location of nearby enemies caught in the line of sight of the bolt. Enemies can destroy this bolt. Hold Fire to extend the range of the projectile. Alternate Fire to add up to two bounces to this arrow. The recon bolt has a brief delay before it reveals players and will only reveal players within line-of-sight of the bolt. Fire a bolt that deploys a sonar emitter. The sonar pings tag nearby enemies, causing them to be revealed. Can be destroyed.

Sova’s Ultimate:

Hunter’s Fury (1 charge, stack 7 points to get it): Equip a bow with three long-rage, wall-piercing energy blasts. Fire to release an blast in a line in front of Sova dealing damage and revealing the location of enemies caught in the line. This ability can be RE-USED up to two more times while the ability timer is active. Fire up to three deadly energy blasts that spear across the entire map. Each hit enemy takes heavy damage and is marked.

Brimstone

This agent is a Controller. That’s not a random name for the class. Controller’s main task is to slice up a dangerous zone and get control over the are. By these actions, they help teammates path through in attack. In defence, Brimstone is pretty good alone, by bombing every potentially dangerous spot. Enemies shall not pass for sure.

Brimstone’s Abilities:

• Stim Beacon (1 charge, cost: 100 credits): Equip a Stim Beacon. Fire to toss the stim beacon in front of Brimstone. Upon landing, the stim beacon will create a field that grants players Rapid Fire. Gain increased: Fire Rate | Reload Speed | Recoil Spread Recovery. Lasts an additional 4 seconds after leaving the Stim Beacon range. Target a nearby location to call in a Stim Beacon, giving all players near it Rapidfire.
• Incendiary (1 charge, cost: 200 credits): Equip an Incendiary grenade launcher. Fire to launch a grenade that detonates as it comes to rest on the floor, creating a lingering fire zone that damages players within the zone. 5 Damage Per Tick. Launch an incendiary grenade that deploys a damaging field of fire.

Brimstone’s Signature:

Sky Smoke (3 charges, cost: free): Equip a tactical map. Fire to set locations where Brimstone’s smoke clouds will land. Alternate Fire to confirm, launching long-lasting smoke clouds that block vision in the selected area. You can pre-set the locations of your Sky Smokes so that you can activate them instantly when the round starts. Use your map to call in orbital deployment smokescreens that obscure vision. Click to set the locations, and confirm to launch.

Brimstone’s Ultimate:

Orbital Strike (1 charge, get 6 points to activate it): Equip a tactical map. Fire to launch a lingering orbital strike laser at the selected location dealing high damage-over-time to players caught in the selected area. Use your map to target a location, launching a devastating orbital strike that pulses for high damage over several seconds.

Breach

As an Initiator Breach has all the utilities to clear the way to the targeted location. He can damage through walls and take the enemies by surprise, while the rest of his team rushes into the point to overcome their foes. Also, you can play Breach aggressively if that’s your favorite play-style.

Breach’s Abilities:

• Aftershock (1 charge, cost 100 credits): Equip a fusion charge. Fire the charge to set a slow-acting burst through the wall. The burst does heavy damage to anyone caught in its area.
• Flash Point (1 charge, cost: 200 credits per charge): Equip a blinding charge. Fire the charge to set a last-acting burst through the wall. The charge detonates to blind all players looking at it. Flash Duration: 2 Seconds.

Breach’s Signature:

Fault Line (1charge, cost: free): Equip a seismic blast. Hold Fire to increase the distance. Release to set off the quake, dazing all players in its zone and in a line up to the zone. Stun Duration: 3 Seconds

Breach’s Ultimate:

Rolling Thunder (1 charge, collect 7 points to activate it): Equip a seismic charge. Fire to send a cascading quake through all terrain in a large cone. The quake dazes and knocks up anyone caught in it.

B tier – Solid choice and can be viable in certain maps

These agents are good as well, but their powers are more situate than others.

Jett

Jett is a Duelist, but not as aggressive as others. She has a very good movement boosts to prevent an enemy from shooting her. Also, she has a cloud that will make her appearance more unpredictable. You must become a master of surprise and use her flying style in advantage to rush in as quickly as hiding after the job is done. Though some players prefer to play her safe. Due to her ability to jump on high spots they play her as a sniper. So everything depends on your preferable style.

Jett’s Abilities:

• Cloudburst (3 charges, cost: 100 credits per each charge): Instantly throw a projectile that expands into a brief vision cloud on impact with a surface. Hold the ability key to curve the cloud in the direction of your crosshair. Throw out a cloud of fog that obscures vision on impact. Hold down the ability button to bend the cloud’s in-flight trajectory.
• Updraft (2 charges, costs: 200 credits per each charge): Instantly propel Jett high into the air. Jett has a passive ability to float when descending after a jump by holding Spacebar. You can also use Updraft to reach locations on top of boxes for an advantage. After a brief wind up, propel yourself upwards.

Jett’s Signature:

Tailwind (1 charge, cost: free): Instantly propel in the direction she is moving. If Jett is standing still, she will propel forward. You can combine Updraft with Tailwind for better traversal through the map. Immediately dash a short distance in the direction you’re moving.

Jett’s Ultimate:

Blade Storm (1 charge, collect 6 points to activate it): Equip a set of highly accurate throwing knives that recharge on an opponent. Fire to throw a single knife at your target. Alternative Fire to throw all remaining daggers at your target. Arm yourself with several deadly throwing knives that deal moderate damage and kill on headshots. Scoring a kill restores all daggers. Left-click throws a single dagger. Right-click throws all remaining daggers in a short-ranged burst.

Viper

Viper is a Controller. She is a master of cover and poison. You will never know her location if she covered the point with her ultimate. Also, she can control enemies vision, when her teammates enter the point, by covering the entrance with a poisonous wall. Viper is very useful in situation when you need to enter the point without being shot by a sniper. Besides, she will create a good cover to plat/defuse or protect the spike. Usually players like to cover the attacking point and control the vision of the area.

Viper’s Abilities:

• Snake Bite (2 charges, cost: 100 credits per charge): Equip a chemical launcher. Fire to launch a canister that shatters upon hitting the floor, creating a lingering chemical zone that damages and slows enemies. Fire a projectile that explodes into a pool of damaging acid.
• Poison Cloud (1 charge, cost: 200 credits): Equip a gas emitter. Fire to throw the emitter that perpetually remains throughout the round. Re-use the ability to create a toxic gas cloud at the cost of fuel. This ability can be re-used more than once and can be picked up to be redeployed.
  4 Second internal Cooldown
  Vipers Abilities cause Decay Damage, rapidly deals non-lethal damage until 1 HP and 1 Armor. Leaving the poison allows players to rapidly regenerate HP back to the original amount before entering the poison
  Viper is Immune to her own poison.
  Throw a gas emitter that you can reactivate to create a poisonous smoke cloud at the cost of fuel. The emitter can be picked up and thrown again after a short cooldown.

Viper’s Signature:

Toxic Screen (1 charge, cost: free): Equip a gas emitter launcher. Fire to deploy a long line of gas emitters. Re-use the ability to create a tall wall of toxic gas at the cost of fuel. This ability can be re-used more than once. 4 Second internal Cooldown. Deploy a long line of gas emitters that you can reactivate to create a tall wall of toxic gas at the cost of fuel.

Viper’s Ultimate:

Viper’s Pit (1 charge, collect 7 points to activate it): Equip a chemical sprayer. Fire to spray a chemical cloud in all directions around Viper, creating a large cloud that reduces the vision range and maximum health of players inside of it. Emit a massive toxic cloud in a large area that lasts as long as Viper stays inside the cloud. Enemies inside the cloud are highlighted to Viper.

Omen

Omen is a Controller. But let us say that he is very situative. You need to know all the maps very good to play Omen effectively. As you need to control vision on different dangerous spots on the one hand and letting your allies get closer unnoticed. Some players find it difficult to put his cover in the proper locations and that distracts your team. While giving the enemies a general understanding of your teammates location. So make sure to learn maps layouts before you use your clouds.

Omen’s Abilities:

• Shrouded Step (2 charges, cost: 100 credits per each charge): Equip a shadow walk ability and see its range indicator. Fire to begin a brief channel, then teleport to the marked location. This ability has a recovery animation that leaves you vulnerable for a short period of time. After a delay, dematerialize and teleport a short distance.
• Paranoia (1 charge, cost: 100 credits): Instantly fire a shadow projectile forward, briefly reducing the vision range of all players it touches. This projectile can pass straight through walls. Send out an Ethereal shadow in a straight line, Nearsighting anyone it touches.

Omen’s Signature:

Dark Cover (2 charges, cost: free): Equip a shadow orb and see its range indicator. Fire to throw the shadow orb to the marked location, creating a long-lasting shadow sphere that blocks vision. Hold Alternate Fire while targeting to move the marker further away. Hold the ability key with targeting to move the market closer.
Cooldown: 30 Seconds
You can use it in combination with your ultimate ability From the Shadows and Teleport inside the Smoke safely.
Cast out a stealthed ethereal orb that bursts into an obscuring sphere of shadow at its final location. Can be charged to increase distance.

Omen’s Ultimate:

From the Shadows (1 charge, collect 7 points to activate it): Equip a tactical map. Fire to begin teleporting to the selected location. While teleporting, Omen will appear as a Shade that can be destroyed by an enemy to cancel his teleport. Select anywhere on the map to teleport and reform. When arriving, appear as a Shade, that will go back to your original location if killed. Once the teleport is complete, become Incorporeal for a short time.

So as you can see there 10 absolutely unique agents in Valorant. All of them divided into four classes that will help you set up a useful and effective team. And always remember that in Valorant the most part of the success depends on your personal skill, so practice and you’ll get better!