When Valorant was introduced to the world in 2020, it blew the internet. Despite being a new game in the massive first-person shooter genre, it has already made its way to the top of the rankings with the likes of CS: GO and Overwatch. Immediately after release, pro-CS: GO players like Shroud have already taken up arms in Valorant to try this new and dynamic world — with good reviews.
Like any other FPS game, optimized and efficient movements will make you a better player in Valorant. While most new and average players do not mind the tedious learning curve, veteran FPS players know how survival and success rates rise with the proper movements. If you are sick and tired of doing a standard peek only to die, you must wonder how other players do it effectively. “Is it harder to hit an enemy walking or jumping around? How can I climb up and walk faster?” These questions and more can be answered in this article. So read on and prepare to rise up the ranks of the FPS game you dearly love.
Peeking for Info and Fights
Whenever you are clearing angles or about to swing onto an enemy, you want to be in the most advantageous position possible. This is where your movement while peeking is crucial, especially if you are up against an enemy that is also peeking to take you out. When peeking in angles, you want to use movement buttons A and D alternatively and sequentially. This makes your Agent strafe left and right, making it more difficult for enemies to keep their crosshairs on you. Strafing makes you a difficult target to hit and increases your survivability from any enemy peeks.
Confuse enemies by strafing left and right to gather information on the enemy’s position and situation. Staying still in one spot or moving continuously in one direction will make you predictable and easy to follow. After you have confused enemies with your strafe timing, you can proceed to do a full peek to take them down. Be careful not to shoot while strafing, making you slower, and your bullets will spread erratically.
Keep clearing all possible angles enemy players may be in, not just the more obvious ones. This is better than just running out into the open and being surprised by waiting enemies. Use this to thoroughly clear angles and assess if it is safe to pass a certain area or commit to a site. This takes time, and it often shows you there are no enemies. But there are always situations where a player gets a free kill just because someone was not thorough in their clearing of all possible angles.
Strafe Shooting
Strafe shooting is walking to the left and right and stopping to shoot. So it moves to the left, then stops, shoots, etc. The idea is to keep your aim accurate while moving left and right. Repeat this until you kill the enemy. Note that you should not shoot while strafing since your bullet recoil will be messed up, and you are doing a slower version of the situational run-and-gun.
This makes you a difficult target to hit while exchanging your bullets with the enemy. Practice this by shooting two specific spots on the wall and firing a single or burst of bullets. Ensure your hits are concentrated on the same spot to check how accurate you will be while strafe shooting. Doing this in combat will make enemies constantly adjust their aim when fighting you, while you should already have the advantage of changing from your countless hours of practice. You can see the example in the image below.
Wide Peeking
Slow peeking will kill you when enemies like to use the Operator or hold tight corners. Doing a wide peek from covers and angles will throw enemies off. Wide Peeking will be too fast for enemies having tight angles to react and give you enough intel or an opportunity to frag them. This technique is commonly used in areas where an Operator user is expected to be.
Most pro players have their mouse speed set to a low DPI to make those tight shots accurately. However, this can be exploited by fast movements like wide peeking, leaving little to no room for Operator users to get a clear shot. Wide Peeking can throw enemies off and mess with their rhythm. This will be difficult to practice alone, so we recommend doing this with friends or in an unrated match.
Jump Peeking
Jump Peeking is choosing to jump towards a direction to gather intel, then immediately turn your mouse around to land in a safe position. This allows you to get intel for yourself and your team with little to no risk. The timing required to do this is crucial, and you can barely see the enemy. However, once an enemy is seen even the slightest, they will be indicated with a question mark on your minimap. With the minimap’s aid, this technique is beneficial but may require a lot of practice — and room on your mouse pad.
Jiggle Peeking
This technique is very simple, and you might already be doing it. Equip a knife and strafe to the angle you want to see for quick peeking and intel gathering. Since equipping knives to make you move faster than having a gun equipped makes for rapid exposure while checking the area. After assessing whether or not the area is safe, equip your primary weapon to ensure you do not get taken by surprise. Many pro players do this, and from tight and long-distance angles, this is very difficult to catch for a kill.
Crouching
The pros of crouching are that your shots are much more accurate, and you can better control your weapon’s recoil. However, the cons to doing this outweigh the pros. Low elo players tend to shoot at body and waist-level so that crouching will turn their body shots into headshots. Although this is a circumstantial possibility, there is another bid letdown to crouching, especially when shooting.
Crouching disables you from moving freely. This means you are fully committed to a fight and will have to stay in your position until you land a kill. This “No retreat, No surrender” mindset will make you a sitting duck. Knowing your surroundings when you crouch, intentionally take down the target immediately and move away as fast as possible. You will be a much easier target than players that are strafe shooting. Additionally, crouching should be avoided when multiple enemies are in the area you plan to squat.
Crouching is best used to control the spray of your weapons. When your initial shots miss the enemy, crouching to keep the spray concentrated on the target can help take them down faster since most weapons in Valorant tend to have an upward spray—crouching after the first few shots can land you a headshot of the enemy. This is a last resort since it is a better alternative to practicing recoil and spray control without squatting and disabling your movements.
Jump Spotting
Jump Spotting is another useful technique to get information with barely any risk to you. Many spots in Valorant let you jump, spot, and gather intel while staying behind cover. This allows you to see the enemy much clearer than jump peeking would and let you stay protected from most enemy fire.
The key to performing jump spotting is map awareness. You need to find objects and obstructions that fully cover you while standing and can let you peek at a specific location while jumping. To do this, you will need to memorize the different maps of Valorant to a certain degree to maximize this technique fully.
Bunny Hopping
Bunny Hopping is originally a CS: GO technique that lets you jump forward multiple times without losing speed. When you are about to land after a jump, jump again to make a smooth transition between jumps. Although it may not increase your speed, doing this in inclined areas like going up the stairs while holding your walk key (Shift) can make your move faster and quieter than slow walking up the stairs. Climbing up the windows in Haven can also be done faster with bunny hopping than the average jumping players do climb. It will save precious seconds and keep you stealthy despite going up the stairs.
Valorant incorporates many aspects of gaming for new and experienced players alike. It is an FPS game with its design and concepts at its very core. Players worldwide make the most of these games by being creative in their strategies, team play, abilities, and movement. While it is an often ignored factor, movement techniques are invaluable to games that rely on aiming and reflexes. Make the most of your playstyle by making yourself harder to hit and a little faster to gather kills.
