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. What makes Valorant unique is their agents’ roster with their own set of skills.
Mastering the agents is one of the keys to fully learning and enjoying the game. This will prove difficult because unlocking agents in Valorant isn’t easy — or cheap. The agents are divided into four types: Duelist, Sentinel, Initiator, and Controller. We’ve got you covered if you want to learn more about Initiators.
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 determine if he will suit your playstyle.
Initiator Sova
Sova is one of the first agents you can play in Valorant for free. This archer hails from Russia and has a very straightforward personality. He can get intel about player locations and provide his team with the necessary info to charge at a site or easily take enemies down. Despite being an early-access agent, he is a favorite among pro players across the globe.
Learning all the spots and lineups to make the most of this honorable archer will take time, but with good game sense and experience, Sova is one of the most versatile and powerful agents. Like fellow Initiator Cypher, Sova gives his team an edge through intel.
Read: Initator Sova Lineups on Pearl (Attacking)
But he also has the skills to stack up with duelists to take down enemies far away or even through walls. If you are considering using this recon specialist but are overwhelmed with the weight you will carry as an initiator, read on. We will help you decide if Sova is worth your time mastering and using it as your main agent in Valorant.
Initiator Sova Skills
Owl Drone – 400 credits
When you press C, Sova deploys an audible drone to scout an area controlled by the movement buttons and cursor. The Owl Drone lasts for 10 seconds with 120 hitpoints and can fire a tracking dart at an enemy agent, revealing their position to the rest of the team.
While the drone can be destroyed by shooting it down, deploying it can send enemies back instead of risking giving away their position. You can also control the drone’s altitude, so use this effectively to get a wider view of the battlefield and gather more information.
Sova uses this drone pretty much the way Skye uses her dog. Send this drone out to scout the area ahead instead of using your teammates to peek in and risk being killed by ready enemies.
Just remember that this ability is worth 400 credits, so aside from the scary sound it emits, you need to maximize the drone by gathering as much intel as possible and shooting a tracking dart to an enemy agent before it gets blown to bits. Using this, along with Sova’s Recon Bolt, garners him the title of recon specialist.
Shock Bolt – 150 credits
When you press Q, Sova equips a shock arrow with 10-90 damage depending on the target’s proximity to the blast. You can change the arrow shot by holding down the Fire Button to your desired level.
The shorter you hold the Fire Button, the shorter the distance the arrow will travel, but the same damage stays. If you have time to play around with the physics of it all, you can even send an arrow right to the other side of Sage’s wall without needing to bounce it off a ceiling.
When you press the Alternate Fire Button, you can change the bounce level of the arrow to two levels. The first level lets your arrow bounce off walls, ceilings, and the floor once. Pressing the Alternate Fire Button twice enables the arrow to bounce twice.
Utilizing these bounces effectively can help you reach far targets and enemies hiding behind covers that a straight bullet cannot overcome. This is a powerful tool in the early game, as it can kill an enemy with slightly depleted hp.
It causes area effect damage, so if enemies are clumped together, a Shock Bolt will disperse them. Utilize the ensuing chaos to pick off enemies one by one,
The “Shock Dart,” as Sova calls it, can damage anyone, including himself and his teammates. So be careful where you aim your arrows and where you decide to have them bounce off.
Two arrows can take down an agent with full hp and max armor, so it will be a disservice to Sova if you do not maximize the bounce trait of the arrows to the fullest. To be a powerful, full-fledged Sova, you must study the map and figure out where and how to shoot your arrows.
Recon Bolt – Free
This is the signature skill of Sova. Pressing E equips Sova with a chargeable bow with traits similar to the Shock Bolt. But instead of inflicting damage, Recon Bolt can detect enemies’ presence and alter the whole team of their respective locations.
After landing, the bolt will send out three pulsating pings that last for about 3.2 seconds. During this time, any enemy agents in the direct line of sight of the Recon Bolt will be revealed for the world to see. This skill has a 30-second cooldown which means you can get at least two chances to use it per round, with three at most.
The range of sight of the Recon Bolt can be seen on the minimap. This causes enemies to distance themselves from the area or shoot it down, giving away their position. This is Sova’s best recon ability, as it can reveal all enemies if they are close together and can be placed in unlimited ways depending on how you use it.
What makes Sova’s arrows hard to anticipate is that they can bounce. For new players, this skill is a little difficult to master. But with enough practice and due diligence, Recon Bolt is a formidable ability that deters enemy plans.
Hunter’s Fury – 8 Ultimate Orbs
This is the Ultimate Skill of Sova. Pressing X equips Sova with his electrically charged bow. However, this particular arrow strike can penetrate through walls and obstructions, making this skill almost unavoidable when aimed precisely.
This skill lasts 6 seconds, and you can fire a maximum of three arrows. If you’re not careful with the timer, you might only use one or two. You would not want to delay your shots since each arrow deals 80 damage.
Two arrows can kill an enemy agent at full health, and three shots can exterminate any existing survivors close by. Enemies in the direct line of sight of the ultimate are revealed, even behind walls. This lets you glimpse their locations, so you can decide where to aim your supercharged arrows.
Hunter’s Fury is so potent that enemies disperse and run when they hear the audio cue of Sova’s ultimate. When defending a site, Sova can aim at the spike to deter or eliminate foolish enemy agents.
Combining this ability with your Recon Bolt can let you wipe out the entire enemy team. Remember that the arrows hit a straight line with a relatively large radius. If you aim too high or too low, you might miss your enemy by a hair, so if you must use this in a higher or lower elevation, aim your X-axis as well. Hunter’s Fury doesn’t have a damage dropoff, even if it just grazes the leg or a shoulder.
You cannot move your crosshair when Hunter’s Fury is charging up an arrow. So the direction you are facing when you press the Fire Button is where the arrow will go.
After releasing an arrow, your aim will be loosened, so you can move your crosshair around and adjust in anticipation of the enemies’ escape route. This ability ensures no one escapes this hunter’s sight and gives his team a win with little confrontation.
Initiator Sova Bonus Tips
- Recon bolt has a limited range. If you land the arrow at too high an altitude, it may not reach the enemies’ height and miss them altogether despite being vertically above them. Practice your recon bolt shots in a way to land them at just the right height to detect enemies and be hidden enough that they can not shoot it down the moment it lands.
- Your Shock Bolt has the same firing mechanics as the Recon Bolt. This is by design so you can shoot your shock darts where you landed your recon bolt to make easy prey of relatively distant enemies.
- The Owl Drone will take several shots to destroy. Aside from surveillance, you can use it to create a distraction. While they are shooting down the noisy drone, you can come out of hiding and shoot down the agent busy with bird watching.
- Capitalize on Sova’s difference. Unlike the Sentinel Cypher, Sova is an initiator with a less potent surveillance skill. Effectively use Sova’s Shock Bolt and Hunter’s Fury to eliminate enemies and set Sova apart from other intel-acquiring agents.
Sova ensures a distance between himself and his enemies and takes them down efficiently with minimal risk. He ensures his teammates are safe in pushes when on the offensive and eliminates any surviving enemies after a clash. Do you think Sova is for you?
He balances scouting and offense, making him great for anyone — even new players. But in the hands of experienced and pro gamers, Sova is one of the most fearsome agents on your team that can guarantee your victory.
If you like shooting arrows and bouncing them off walls to catch enemies off-guard, we suggest you put your game face on and use Sova for some fantastic arrow trick shots and hunting.
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