Sova

Fearsome and flawlessly accurate Sova is a natural-born hunter and embodies everything about strong Initiators. With his ability to track, locate, and eliminate, he’s been a popular choice since VALORANT’s beta for a good reason!

Boasting a kit that’s equally balanced between utility and damage-dealing abilities, Sova’s great for supporting any team comp. If you’re after a new VALORANT main and you’re someone who’s nimble on attack and defense, Sova’s your guy.

"This bow has taken man and beast alike. I have found there is little difference." Alexander (Sasha) “Sova” Novikov

Lore

We know little of Sasha Novikov from before he became Sova of VALORANT. He was born in Severomorsk, Russia, and it’s believed he joined the Russian military at some stage in his early life. This background is likely where his calm, level-headed personality comes from.

Over many years, Sasha earned himself the legend of being a flawless archer who “never missed a shot”, and was given the title of “Brother of Steel and String” to reflect his unrivalled skill with the bow and arrow.

That legend follows him still, causing him and others to have exceptionally high expectations for his accuracy.

Fade’s blackmailer dossier counters this, however, revealing that Sova did (at least once) miss his shot. Again, we know little about this beyond the fact itself, though Fade’s words hint that Sova lives in fear of missing another important shot, and under considerable pressure to live up to his legend at all times.

Before VALORANT, Sova was also known as “Filin” – a Russian word meaning “Eagle-Owl”, which would go on to influence his callsign as an agent of the VP (Sova is a Romanization of the Russian word for Owl).

As Sasha and Sova, we know he survived a great many hardships, including an encounter with a rift in Russia, meeting his Omega counterpart, and losing his eye. The lost eye was replaced with a mechanical one enhanced with radianite tech, which likely helps Sova to maintain his flawless accuracy.

As a VALORANT agent, Sova is the team’s primary scout and the agent Brimstone trusts without question. He’s also a strong team player who often works to raise team spirit.

“Born from the eternal winter of Russia's tundra, Sova tracks, finds, and eliminates enemies with ruthless efficiency and precision. His custom bow and incredible scouting abilities ensure that even if you run, you cannot hide.” Riot’s official description of Sova

FAQs

Where is Sova from?

VALORANT’s sixth agent, Sova hails from the northern coastal town of Severomorsk, in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.

What is Sova’s real name?

His real name is Alexander Novikov, but he’s also known as Sasha.

How did Sova lose his eye?

Though we don’t know the full story, a voice line from Brimstone tells us that Sova lost his eye while serving the VALORANT Protocol – “Sova, you look after yourself. You already lost an eye for us. One's enough.”

How old is Sova?

Official VALORANT sources cite Sova as one of the organization’s older agents, aged between 30 and 35.

How tall is Sova?

He’s around 190cm in height, which makes him as tall as Brimstone. The only VALORANT agent taller than them is Breach.

Is Sova any good?

Sova isn’t the easiest agent to get good with, but once you find a rhythm with him, he’s as deadly as they come and one of the best info-gathering agents there is. Getting good with Sova is all about mastering the combos of his skills to balance damage and utility.

What is Sova in VALORANT?

Sova is one of VALORANT’s Initiator agents. He’s a specialist in scouting missions and reconnaissance, and his abilities equally reflect this alongside his history as an accomplished hunter.

Gamer’s Guide

Ready to learn how to play Sova like a pro?

Before we take a look at the tips and tricks for some epic Sova plays, here’s a quick rundown of his tactical abilities…

Sova abilities

Here are all of Sova’s skills, their official descriptions, and key stats. Armed with these, you’ll be well on your way to using Sova like a boss.

E – Recon Bolt

EQUIP a bow with 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. Enemies can destroy this bolt. HOLD FIRE to extend the range of the projectile. ALT FIRE to add up to two bounces to this arrow.

• Ability type: Signature
• Duration: 3.2 seconds
• Health: 20HP
• Cost: Free
• Cooldown: 40 seconds
• Max charges: 1

Q – Shock Bolt

EQUIP a bow with a 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. ALT FIRE to add up to two bounces to this arrow.

• Ability type: Basic
• Damage: 1–75
• Max bounces: 2
• Cost: 150 creds
• Max charges: 2

C – Owl Drone

EQUIP an owl drone. FIRE to deploy and take control of 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. Enemies can destroy the Owl Drone.

• Ability type: Basic
• Duration: 7 seconds
• Dart cooldown: 5 seconds
• Health: 100HP
• Reveals: 1st ping 1.6 seconds after dart impact, second 1.2 seconds after the first ping
• Cost: 400 creds
• Max charges: 1

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.

• Ability type: Ultimate
• Damage: 80
• Ammo: 3 charges
• Self-knockback distance: 1.5 meters
• Duration: 6 seconds
• Ultimate cost: 8

How to play Sova

Combo his abilities

Use Owl Drone or Recon Bolt to find your targets, then use Shock Bolt or Hunter’s Fury to take those targets out.

This makes Sova’s Ult stupidly deadly and turns you into a major threat to the enemy team. Clear corners, deny plants, kick ass – Russian style.

Recon Bolt tips

Since Owl Drone can be easy to destroy and leaves you unable to defend yourself, Sova’s Recon Bolt is likely to be your main source of valuable intel.

The trick to using it well lies in learning your lineups and perfecting the ricochet shot.

1. Learn VALORANT’s maps like the back of your hand.
2. Find the best lineups for direct Recon Bolt placement.
3. Practice how to bounce it off surfaces to hit sneakier spots.

Do this and you’ll be raking in red-hot, crucial information for your team every match.

Don’t trust the Recon Bolt blindly though. Savvy enemies are likely to wait until it wears off before pushing forward, so be wary, and use your intuition – just because it doesn’t reveal any enemies doesn’t mean they’re not nearby.

Remember that it won’t spot enemies through walls, so it’ll need a clear sightline to detect their presence.

Use Recon Bolt as often as you can, since it’s got a reasonably short cooldown, but just make sure it’s recharged in time for you to capture or retake those sites!

Shock Bolt tips

If you want to play Sova like the lethal hunter that he is, you need a little aggression. That’s where Shock Bolt comes into play.

Use this ability to clear those areas you can’t see but you just know enemies are likely to be camped out.

Any commonly held area is a fair target – just fire a Shock Bolt. You’ll either score a hit and deal some damage, or you’ll uncover some intel about enemy positions – a win, either way!

Don’t rely on this ability as a weapon replacement though. Sova’s Shock Bolt can deal pretty heavy damage, but it’s not enough to guarantee a kill. Generally, you’re best using it to weaken enemies at a distance, rather than fighting them directly with it.

Owl Drone tips

The Owl Drone will let you scout far ahead of your current position, but you’ve got to make sure you’re in a safe location when you use it.

It’s a great way to clear those hard corners and provide intel for your team, though we’d definitely recommend relying more heavily on Recon Bolt for information.

Cool as it is, Owl Drone can be pretty easy for enemies to destroy… but you can counter this if you get a teammate to follow the drone a few paces behind. That way, your teammate can pick the unsuspecting enemy seconds while they’re still preoccupied with taking the drone out.

Hunter’s Fury tips

Hunter’s Fury works best when you use it off the back of some solid information. Whether that’s info you gained through your Recon Bolt, or from an ally – both are good.

Keep your eye on the minimap when you’re using Sova’s Ult, as it will show a range indicator which is absolutely essential if you want to maximize how effective this ability is.

Yes, Hunter’s Fury fires through walls, but you’ve still gotta get the shot height right.

Once again, knowing your maps will help with this big time, as then you’ll know which areas of the map are on your level or elevated. The best Sova players will use this knowledge to make this Ult absolutely savage.

Hunter’s Fury isn’t just a great damage-dealing ability, it’s also great for denying areas – cutting off enemy escape routes while your team closes the distance. Or, use it to stop the enemy from defusing without you being anywhere nearby.