Everyone was excited when Riot Games announced a new Agent addition to the VALORANT Roster. When everyone found out that KAY/O’s skill set was more or less a homage to the classic FPS game that VALORANT was roughly based on, everyone went insane.
KAY/O was a breath of fresh air for CSGO veterans who recently switched to VALORANT. Everything about KAY/O smells like CSGO pie; an incendiary grenade, classic CSGO-style flash grenades, a knife that disables abilities(!), and an Ultimate Ability that disables enemy abilities.
But perhaps the most interesting ability in KAY/O’s arsenal is his high-tech EMP Knife.
KAY/O
KAY/O is a humanoid robot from the distant future. As some lore would suggest, humans built KAY/O to kill Radiants.
In the distant future, a divide between humans and Radiants has ensued, causing humans to fear Radiants and, simultaneously, Radiants to despise humans. Of course, Radiants would have the upper hand in the ensuing war seeing as Radiants are super-powered humans like the X-Men.
This is probably why humans were forced to make a ruthless Radiant killing machine in KAY/O.
Everything about KAY/O is aimed toward the destruction of all Radiants. His skill set revolves around the disruption of any Radiant Ability. Figuring out how to render Radiant Abilities useless through KAY/O is an impressive feat for the human race and most likely gave them the upper hand in the war. Through KAY/O’s voice lines, he shares how many times he has killed Reyna in his lifetime, and we all know how powerful Reyna can be.
Read: KAY/O Lineups on Fracture
Riot has done a fantastic job of injecting tasteful storylines into the game. KAY/O’S lore is no exception. More information about the lore surrounding KAY/O, the Radiants, and the human race will only be revealed as time passes.
ZERO/POINT
KAY/O’s Signature Ability is his third ability, called ZERO/POINT.
When activated, KAY/O pulls out a small blade from his forearm and equips himself with a suppression blade that sticks to the first wall or objects it comes into contact with. KAY/O throws this knife with a precision that only a humanoid robot can achieve.
The blast from ZERO/POINT affects Radiants and human technology, disabling every Agent Ability within a large spherical area.
ZERO/POINT is KAY/O’s Signature Ability which disables the abilities of all Agents hit by the EMP blast radius. As a bonus, ZERO/POINT pings you and your allies on the number of enemy players hit by the EMP blast. The pings give information about which Agents were hit and how many were hit.
ZERO/POINT is a great tool for determining which players play which sites on most maps in VALORANT. For example, a good ZERO/POINT lineup on Ascent can give you and your team an idea of how many players are currently playing on which side of the map.
Read: KAY/O Knife Lineups on Bind
The information given by ZERO/POINT is valuable in a map such as Ascent that relies heavily on gaining knowledge about which site the enemies have stacked. You and your team can attack and rotate accordingly using this valuable information given by ZERO/POINT.
ZERO/POINT’s projectile travels quickly and has a consistent trajectory, making lineups straightforward. ZERO/POINT’s area of effect is quite large. The large area of effect makes this ability very forgiving regarding where your knife is thrown to utilize its radius effectively. It also has the bonus of tagging enemies even if they are behind walls since the EMP blast goes through walls and other types of in-game cover.
The ability does not cost any credits to equip. However, it has a slightly long cooldown time of 40 seconds.
Ascent Defending – A-Main Early Information ZERO/POINT
This first lineup on Ascent A-Main can give you and your team an early headcount of how many enemy players are stacking A-Main to Attack A-site. With this information, your team can quickly commit to a retake situation on A-site.
As a bonus, the enemy team might think twice about pushing through A-Main to A-site since most of their abilities will be disabled. Abilities like Raze’s satchels and Jett’s dash are also likely disabled, making enemy Duelists uncomfortable pushing through towards A-site.
- Look for this corner on A-site Ramps:
2. Tuck yourself in the corner and look up towards these tube frames:
3. Look for this yellow tape, and place your crosshair just a little below the yellow tape:
When lined up properly, ZERO/POINT should land here:
And cover all of these areas in A-Main + A-Lobby:
Ascent B Main – Early Information ZERO/POINT
Since the blast radius of ZERO/POINT is so large, you can throw KAY/O’s knife anywhere in B-Main, and it would still be effective.
However, this next lineup will be thrown so it is out of the field of view of the enemies and maximizes the blast radius to tag as many players as possible. There are a couple of advantages to this:
- They cannot destroy the ZERO/POINT projectile.
- They will not see it coming. Gives them a false sense of security.
With this in mind, this next lineup is very easy to do and is very repeatable. This lineup is great for tagging almost everyone inside B-Main.
- Look for this corner at Boat House:
2. Tuck yourself within the corner and look up towards the clock tower:
3. Align the line between the FLASH/DRIVE icon and the ZERO/POINT icon with this line on the clock tower:
When done correctly, ZERO/POINT should land on top of B-Main:
And tag everyone inside B-main with a disabling EMP blast.
Ascent A-site – Generator/Dices/Rafters/Window/Grass ZERO/POINT
This next ZERO/POINT lineup covers enemies’ most common hiding spots in A-site. These spots include Generator, Rafters, Dice, and Hell. This ZERO/POINT lineup will give you and your team the information you need to confidently take A-site since ZERO/POINT will tag enemies hiding behind the other half of A-site.
As a bonus, this ZERO/POINT lineup also tags anyone holding Garden. This lineup will make it easier for your teammates to take space on A-Short to occupy the Tree room without much resistance.
- Look for this corner in A-Lobby:
2. Hug the corner, then turn around and look for the rift in the sky:
3. Place the tip of the ZERO/POINT icon in the middle gap of these two spikes:
4. Left-click to throw:
When done correctly, ZERO/POINT should land on top of the Generator:
This ZERO/POINT will tag everyone within this area:
This ZERO/POINT lineup can even tag enemies holding Garden.
Ascent B-site – Switch/Market/Stairs/Defender Spawn ZERO/POINT
This list’s last ZERO/POINT lineup tags as many players as possible on B-site. These spots include Logs, a Market Entrance, Defender Spawn, Switch, and Stairs. These spots are important angles to hold as a Defender in Ascent.
With this in mind, our next ZERO/POINT lineup focuses on tagging enemies hiding within these spots. This can scare them off to a more passive position within B-site and help your team take space safely.
- Look for this corner in B-Lobby:
2. Hug the corner and look up toward this antenna:
3. Place the right tip of the HP border on the tip of the antenna:
4. Left-click to throw ZERO/POINT:
When done properly, ZERO/POINT should land on Market’s Stairs:
This B-site ZERO/POINT lineup will tag everyone caught in the following spots:
KILL ALL YOUR OPPONENTS
KAY/O’s other abilities are pretty straightforward and do not require much discussion. ZERO/POINT, however, is a very interesting and valuable piece of kit in KAY/O’s arsenal.
Even though enemies tagged by KAY/O’s ZERO/POINT will only be disabled abilities-wise, that is still a big win for your team. It removes utilities that would otherwise hinder you and your team from safely taking space in bomb sites. If your teammates have smokes and flashes they can use to synergize with ZERO/POINT, then taking space within the map should be a breeze.
The ability to tag and gain a headcount of who and how many players are within a certain radius is arguably a vague piece of information in VALORANT. Sure, it is not as precise as Sova’s Recon Bolt, for example, but numbers win rounds in VALORANT, and KAY/O’s EMP Knife can help give you that advantage by tagging and disabling anyone caught within the large blast radius.
Add these knife lineups to your arsenal and help you and your team Kill All Your Opponents.
That’s KAY/O’s real name, by the way.
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