Valorant is the first-person shooter game from the Creators of League of Legends — Riot. It took the world by storm when it was released in 2020 and has been one of the most-played FPS games since. Valorant unique is their agents’ roster with their own set of skills.
Mastering the agents is one of the keys to thoroughly learning and enjoying the game. This will prove difficult because unlocking agents in Valorant is neither easy nor cheap. The agents are divided into four types: Duelist, Sentinel, Initiator, and Controller. If you want to learn more about Initiators, we have you covered.
Initiators are agents that help flush enemies out of cover. Their skills are tweaked to give combat advantage to their teams when charging into a push. Sentinels are agents who play defense and are often in the back lines to utilize their abilities fully. The description in the game reads :
“Initiators challenge angles by setting up their team to enter contested ground and push defenders away.”
This is how Riot describes Initiators. They make tactically sound strategies and help their team initiate attackers and push the defenders back. Initiators apply immense pressure through their abilities to make the enemies flee or regroup.
This role works in any scenario and is a great help in carrying out counterattacks. Each Initiator is unique, and they have skills that vary in function from healing to reconnaissance. Being an effective Initiator requires you to know the agents well.
Let’s check out one of these Initiators and help you figure out if he will suit your playstyle.
Initiator Breach
Breach is a bionic initiator from Sweden equipped with crowd control abilities. He is arguably the best agent to help his teammates get through pushes and enter bomb sites. While defending, he can delay the push long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
Getting some intel and knowing the map will maximize Breach’s abilities. He may not be the most straightforward agent for new players to Valorant, but given enough time to practice, Breach is an indispensable agent on your team.
This Swedish agent can help his teammates win clashes with little risk. Breach’s skill set is designed to lift enemies off their feet and limit their vision and movement. If his teammates are caught in the crossfire, the risk comes in since the skills affect everyone indiscriminately; absent-mindedly using Breach’s crowd control skills can cost you a potential self-inflicted wipeout.
This Initiator is best sued to come in second in a push since his abilities will be of more use when he has a little intel on where the enemies are. He can easily render them helpless even through layers of walls and floor. If his abilities pique your interest, then read on.
Initiator Breach’s Skills
Aftershock – 200 credits
When you press C, Breach equips a fusion charge to aim through walls. After a 2.4-second windup, it lets out three blasts of an explosion, dealing 60 damage each. Anyone caught in the range of this ability will see a large red warning circle on the screen, whether it is an enemy or an ally.
If an enemy runs away from this skill, they can be easily killed off with this ability. Its wall-penetrating trait is the main feature that can easily clear corners and covers. Despite its power, you only get one charge per round, so use this when you have a rough estimation of the enemy’s location.
Aftershock is an integral part of Breach’s area denial skill set, making it too valuable to use without adequately assessing the situation. Anyone foolish enough to stand still and absorb the full extent of Aftershock’s wrath will find themselves waiting for the round to finish to try again.
You can also use the windup time to reposition and take out the enemy when they inevitably try to flee the covers. This is one of the best abilities in the game due to its ability to hit enemies no matter the obstruction between you and your target.
Flashpoint – 250 credits
Flashpoint can be used in many ways, like blinding pushing enemies in narrow passageways or blinding camping enemies behind boxes. When you press Q, Breach deploys a blinding charge penetrating a wall and blinds anyone looking at it.
Read: How to Play Initiator Breach on Lotus
The blind lasts for two seconds — the longest flash in the game — and since it requires you to shoot Flashpoint into the wall, enemies taking cover or hesitating a push will be caught off-guard. You can deploy a maximum of two flashes per round, so use them economically, or go wild and use both to keep those pesky peekers at bay.
Flashpoint is very troublesome for the receiving end of the ability. This includes your teammates since this ability blinds anyone indiscriminately. Ensure you know who is not behind the wall before setting the skill.
It takes less than a second to take effect, so enemies will barely have time to look away at the onset of the skill. You can use this to catch your enemies by surprise by coordinating with your team: when they are blinded, your teammates can pop up and take blinded enemies down.
The flash can also bait and lead enemies away from a covered point and right in the open for everyone to see. As with any other skill, communicate with your team to maximize this ability and keep them from becoming victims.
Faultline – Free
This is the signature skill of Breach. Pressing E will let you deploy a seismic blast in a straight line, dazing anyone caught in it. Holding the Fire Button will let you send the Faultline further to help disable enemies even when Breach is ways off.
Faultline can displace an agent from their position, so this is best used when ensuring your push or dislodge an agent high on a ledge. Be careful when setting this seismic blast because it can affect your teammates like the rest of Breach’s skills. Faultline has a cooldown of 40 seconds which means you can use two per round.
This skill is hilariously overpowered in that it can delay pushes, clear corners, and disperse enemies. The skill takes around 1.5 seconds, making it easy to evade. Do not fret because this skill ultimately flushes enemies out of hiding. If you manage to get your enemies out in the open, this skill has done its job. Additionally, this is a handy tool to cancel diffusing or planting while keeping a safe distance from the site.
Rolling Thunder – 7 Ultimate Orbs
This is the Ultimate Skill of Breach. Pressing X lets lose a seismic charge that moves in a large area in a straight line. The cascading quake knocks agents by 7 meters and stuns them for 6 seconds. This is an effective tool for pushing and can be deployed through walls and obstructions.
Rolling Thunder affects all kinds of terrain to ensure enemies will be caught no matter where there are situated in the area of effect. Deploy this cautiously because teammates can get caught, and that 6-second stun can work against you.
The quake moves progressively so your team can follow through and pick off the dazed enemies for an easy win. This progression comprises eight shockwaves, with each wave wider than before, forming a cone-shaped area of effect.
Rolling Thunder can easily give you an Ace if you hit all the enemies with your ridiculously wide-area ability. It works well for both offense and defense. When retaking a site, you can wait for the spike planting audio cue and aim at the site. It is unlikely enemies can get away in time when they are too focused on planting the spike.
Initiator Breach Bonus Tips
- Refer to your minimap. Faultline’s range can be checked on the minimap, so you do not need to hope to the gods your skill would hit. But instead, be sure it will and reposition yourself immediately for a follow-up.
- Do not fret if Aftershock misses. This skill is easy to evade but aims to flush out enemies. Hitting and eliminating enemies with it can be considered a considerable bonus.
- Partnering with an efficient Duelist can give you excellent results. Breach works best when his skills are combined with peeking shots and fast-paced follow-ups by duelists.
Do you think Breach is for you? He is not the easiest agent to get used to, especially for new players. However, with enough time and experience, Breach is an unstoppable force that can carry his team without taking such a high risk.
To maximize his skills and abilities, Breach needs to establish a high level of communication with his team. Breach’s allies will adjust their strategies around his abilities, giving you the burden of carrying your team through a push or surviving a defense.
If your playstyle sees you as an initiator coordinating with your team for most of the game and you enjoy taking your enemies by surprise, we highly recommend Breach on your next playthrough. With the right amount of hours put in, you can easily be the core player of any team.
