VALORANT Initiator Agents - guide and tier list
If you play VALORANT, you might have encountered teammates asking which role you feel comfortable playing, which might confuse some players. To make it easier for you, there are four roles in VALORANT: Duelists, Controller, Initiators, and Sentinels. If you like to play smart and want to support your team with flashes, intel, and be able to deal some damage, then the Initiator might be your role. If you want to learn to play Initiators, you must first get familiar with the Agents and the role itself.
Who are the Initiators in VALORANT?
VALORANT has a total of 21 different agents, out of which six agents are Initiators. Initiators have the most versatile abilities available to them. These utilities can be used to clear the site while attacking or gather enemy information on the map. Usually, initiators are the one who helps to set up the Duelist to take space and get that important first blood. Initiators can also take individual fights and create space across the map for teammates. Here are all the Initiators and their abilities in VALORANT:
Sova
Sova is one of the first agents in VALORANT. When you first-time log in to play VALORANT, the game will teach you the basics with Sova. Sova has been one of the few agents in the meta, and you will see teams pick him in most maps.
Sova's Abilities:
- Q - Shock Bolt: EQUIP a bow with a shock bolt. FIRE to send the explosive 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.
- E - Recon Bolt: EQUIP a bow with a recon bolt. FIRE to send the recon bolt forward, activating upon collision and revealing the location of nearby enemies caught in the line of sight of the bolt. HOLD FIRE to extend the range of the projectile. ALTERNATE FIRE to add up to two bounces to this arrow.
- C - Owl Drone: EQUIP an owl drone. FIRE to deploy and take control of the movement of the drone. While in control of the drone, FIRE shoots a marking dart. This dart will reveal the location of any player struck by the dart.
- X - Hunter’s Fury: EQUIP a bow with three long-range wall-piercing energy blasts. FIRE to release an energy 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.
Breach
Breach is also one of the first Initiators available to pick since the release of VALORANT. The utility kit Breach provides to the team is handy in certain maps, and many professional teams still pick him up. The Swedish Agent is very useful in maps where you have different angles to take care of using his abilities; it is easier for teams to execute into sites when a Breach is on board.
Breach’s Abilities:
- Q - Flashpoint: EQUIP a blinding charge. FIRE the charge to set fast-acting burst through the wall. The charge detonates to blind all players looking at it.
- E - Fault Line: 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.
- C - Aftershock: 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.
- X - Rolling Thunder: 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.
Skye
Skye is the 13th agent in VALORANT and has been one of the most popular choices among players who love to play the Initiator role. Her ability to flash enemies is one of the most powerful utilities in the game, as it is regenerates over time, which makes her a great pick compared to other flash agents in VALORANT.
Skye’s Abilities:
- Q – Trailblazer: EQUIP a Tasmanian tiger trinket. FIRE to send out and take control of the predator. While in control, FIRE to leap forward, exploding in a concussive blast and damaging directly hit enemies.
- E – Guiding Light: EQUIP a hawk trinket. FIRE to send it forward. HOLD FIRE to guide the hawk in the direction of your crosshair. RE-USE while the hawk is in flight to transform it into a flash that plays a hit confirm if an enemy was within range and line of sight.
- C – Regrowth: EQUIP a healing trinket. HOLD FIRE to channel, healing allies in range and line of sight. Can be reused until her healing pool is depleted. Skye cannot heal herself.
- X – Seekers: EQUIP a Seeker trinket. FIRE to send out three Seekers to track down the three closest enemies. If a Seeker reaches its target, it nearsights them.
KAY/O
KAY/O is the 16th agent in VALORANT and is one of the most self-sufficient Initiator agents in the game. With the help of KAY/O’s abilities, players can make individual plays to help the team in the early or late rounds. Many Duelist players pick KAY/O solely because of his utilities, which are helpful during one-on-one scenarios.
KAY/O’s Abilities:
- Q – Flash/Drive: EQUIP a flash grenade. FIRE to throw. The flash grenade explodes after a short fuse, blinding anyone in line of sight.
- E – Zero/Point: EQUIP a suppression blade. FIRE to throw. The blade sticks to the first surface it hits, winds up, and suppresses anyone in the radius of the explosion.
- C – Frag/Ment:EQUIP an explosive fragment. FIRE to throw. The fragment sticks to the floor and explodes multiple times, dealing near lethal damage at the center with each explosion.
- X – Null/Cmd: KAY/O instantly overloads with polarized radianite energy emitting brief pulses from within which can suppress inflicted enemies briefly. This ability provides KAY/O with combat stim and also allows him to be revived if he is downed by enemies.
Fade
Fade is a fairly new agent in VALORANT Initiator and she hails from Turkey. When she was first released, the community saw her as a replacement for Sova, but as time passed, players got to know her better and understood that her abilities are somewhat similar to Sova’s abilities, but she is not a replacement for him, as is reflected in her pick rate. Fade is unique in her own way, and her utilities are useful to support her teammates if they need to set up their Duelist or hold against a site push from the enemies.
Fade’s Abilities:
- Q - Seize: Equip an orb of nightmare ink. FIRE to throw the orb which will plummet to the ground after a set amount of time. Upon hitting the ground, the ink will explode and create a zone in which enemies who are caught in it cannot escape the zone by normal means. RE-USE the ability to drop the projectile early in-flight
- E - Haunt: Equip a nightmarish entity. FIRE to throw the orb which will plummet to the ground after a set amount of time. Upon hitting the ground, the orb will turn into a nightmarish entity that will reveal the location of enemies caught in its line of sight. Enemies can destroy this entity. RE-USE the ability to drop the projectile early in-flight.
- C - Prowler: EQUIP a Prowler. FIRE will send the Prowler out, causing it to travel in a straight line. The Prowler will lock onto any enemies or trails in their frontal vision cone and chase them, nearsighting them if it reaches them. HOLD the FIRE button to steer the Prowler in the direction of your crosshair.
- X - Nightfall: EQUIP the power of Fear. FIRE to send out a wave of nightmare energy that can traverse through walls. The energy creates a trail to the opponent as well as deafens and decays them.
Gekko
Gekko is the latest addition to the VALORANT agent roster. The arrival of Gekko made a buzz in the community as he has the most unique set of abilities, which includes an array of cute creatures which he can pick up after use. Since Gekko is fairly new in the game, a lot of players and teams are still figuring out how to utilize him to the fullest. However, it is quite obvious that the Wingman is the fan-favorite ability.
Gekko's Abilities:
- Q - Wingman: EQUIP Wingman FIRE to send Wingman forward seeking enemies. Wingman unleashes a concussive blast toward the first enemy he sees ALT FIRE when targeting a Spike site or planted Spike to have Wingman defuse or plant the Spike. To plant, Gekko must have the Spike in his inventory. When Wingman expires he reverts into a dormant globule INTERACT to reclaim the globule and gain another Wingman charge after a short cooldown.
- E - Dizzy: EQUIP Dizzy FIRE to send Dizzy soaring forward through the air. Dizzy charges then unleashes plasma blasts at enemies in line of sight. Enemies hit by her plasma are blinded. When Dizzy expires she reverts into a dormant globule INTERACT to reclaim the globule and gain another Dizzy charge after a short cooldown.
- C - Mosh Pit: EQUIP Mosh FIRE to throw Mosh like a grenade ALT FIRE to throw underhand. Upon landing Mosh duplicates across a large area then after a short delay explodes.
- X - Thrash: EQUIP Thrash FIRE to link with Thrash’s mind and steer her through enemy territory ACTIVATE to lunge forward and explode, detaining any enemies in a small radius. When Thrash expires she reverts into a dormant globule INTERACT to reclaim the globule and gain another Thrash charge after a short cooldown. Thrash can be reclaimed once.
Initiator Tier List: Which are the best Initiators in VALORANT?
Fortunately, in the current meta, we have seen a lot of teams picking up two Initiators in the team. This makes Initiator pick rates quite high, although which Initiator agent is best is quite difficult to crown as it depends on the team and synergy and how they are comfortable executing strategies using different Initiators. But here is a Tier List that will help you decide which Initiator is more preferred over others in the current meta. The tier-list is based on Agent pick rates over the last 90 days, as well as our own objective opinion.
- S-Tier: Skye, Sova
- A-Tier: Kay/O, Fade
- B-Tier: Breach
- C Tier: Gekko
S-Tier
Skye and Sova are one of the most popular picks among the players, as they provide a lot of value for their utility which helps to locate the enemy on a map. Skye has Regrowth which can be very useful when your team is low on health paired with her extremely strong flashes that also give information on whether an enemy was flashed. Meanwhile, Sova’s Recon Bolt essentially wall hacks revealing the locations of the enemies and requires the enemy to destroy the arrow, messing up their crosshair placement as well. Additionally, Sova's ultimate is a great counter to Killjoy's Lockdown ultimate, which is by far one of the strongest abilities in the current meta.
A-Tier
KAY/O and Fade are both quite powerful Initiators as well and we have seen both Agents during the double Initiator meta. Both are good in their own way but usually are picked on certain maps. KAY/O can also be used as an entry agent, which we have seen a lot of professional teams letting their Duelist players play Kay/O and try to make space in site while attacking, whereas Fade’s prowlers are really useful to check corners on a map without exposing yourself to the enemies.
B-Tier
Breach is in B-Tier solely because his pick rate has dropped quite recently in some regions, and we have seen him picked on certain maps only. Although he is quite capable enough to support the team, but with the current meta, he is being picked alongside another Initiator. It has been a long time since we have seen any balance changes on him; therefore, we expect it will be coming soon.
C-Tier
We have placed Gekko on C-Tier since he is a fairly new agent compared to other initiators in the game, and players need to experiment with him more to make the most out of him. When Gekko was launched, his abilities were quite powerful, although in the recent patch update, he has been nerfed a bit, which hasn’t affected the game much.
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