KAY/O might not be seeing much use lately in both competitive and pro play, but that does not mean KAY/O is entirely useless. I mean, Yoru’s still around.
The current meta does not seem to have a home for KAY/O, regardless of his recent patches’ buffs. Despite this, KAY/O can still be a solid contributor to any team composition in VALORANT.
His arsenal consisting of Molotovs, Flashes, and enemy detection is still a solid set of utilities players can use and get value from.
However, today we take a closer look at KAY/O’s signature ability and the lineups we can set up to maximize the value from this Robot Killing Machine’s Signature EMP Knife.
Robot Initiator: KAY/O
KAY/O is a humanoid robot from the distant future. As some of the lore would suggest, humans, built KAY/O to kill Radiants.
In the distant future, it seems a divide between humans and Radiants has ensued, causing humans to fear Radiants, and at the same time, 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 the reason why humans were forced to make a ruthless Radiant killing machine in KAY/O.
Everything about KAY/O is aimed towards 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.
More information about the lore surrounding KAY/O, the Radiants, and the human race will only be revealed as time goes by. Riot has done a fantastic job of injecting tasteful storylines into the game. KAY/O’S lore is no exception.
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 resulting from ZERO/POINT affects Radiants and human technology alike, 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 of the number of enemy players hit by the EMP blast. The pings give information about which Agents were hit by the EMP blast, along with how many were hit by the blade’s area of effect.
ZERO/POINT is a great tool for figuring out which players are playing which sites on most maps in VALORANT. A good ZERO/POINT lineup on Haven, for example, can give you and your team a good idea of how many players are currently playing on which side of the three(!) bombsites.
The information given by ZERO/POINT is valuable in a map such as Haven 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 pretty quickly and has a consistent trajectory which makes lineups pretty straightforward. ZERO/POINT’s area of effect is quite large. The large area of effect makes this ability very forgiving regarding where your knife must be 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.
Heavenly Haven
Haven is a unique map even by VALORANT standards. The map features three different bomb sites, a rare occurrence or even unheard of in tactical shooters.
This new map layout makes gameplay in Haven very interesting since Attackers can choose between three different sites to attack. On the flip side, defenders have to carefully plan the site they will try to prioritize defending.
These elements come together to make matches in Haven both exciting and challenging for both Defenders and Attackers.
Haven Attacking – C-site ZERO/POINT
Our first ZERO/POINT lineup for Haven will be placed so it covers the entire C-site. Since KAY/O’s ZERO/POINT blast area is large enough to cover 90% of the C-site, we will place the knife near the dead center of the site to cover the most space.
C-site is pretty difficult to enter for Attackers, but it quickly becomes easy to defend post-plant thanks (or no thanks) to the narrow strait that C-Long provides.
- Look for this corner in C-Lobby:
2. Hug the corner and look up towards these leaves
3. Place your crosshair just to the left of this leaf:
4. Left-click throw:
When done correctly, ZERO/POINT should land on this large box in C-site:
And cover all of these areas in C-site:
Haven Attacking B-site ZERO/POINT
This next ZERO/POINT lineup can be risky since you have to expose yourself a little bit to throw your knife. Unfortunately, there is no elegant way of landing a safe ZERO/POINT that can cover the entire B-site because it is situated within a tall building, so this is the best we can come up with.
However, suppose you can coordinate with your other teammates to cover you while you line up and set up a coordinated attack. In that case, you and your team can benefit from this lineup since it covers the entire B-site and will tag everyone inside B-site.
- Stick to this wall inside Middle Window:
2. Peek outside Middle Window and look for this square shape on the ceiling at B-back:
3. Place your crosshair on the middle of this square:
4. Left-click throw:
ZERO/POINT should land on top of this generator when done correctly:
And cover all of B-site:
Haven Attacking A-site ZERO/POINT
A-site is arguably the best bomb site to attack in Haven because you and your team can come from two different directions and overwhelm Defenders in A-site with sheer numbers. Retakes are also extra difficult in A-site because of the narrow and predictable angles that Defenders will have to go through to retake the site.
This next ZERO/POINT lineup covers most of A-site so you and your team can figure out how many players are playing within A-site and set up your attack accordingly.
- Look for this corner in A-Garden:
2. Hug the corner and look up towards this satellite dish:
3. Place the dot just above the letter “Q” of the FLASH/DRIVE icon on the tip of this antenna:
4. Left-click throw:
When lined up correctly, ZERO/POINT should land here:
And cover almost everything in A-site:
Haven Defending – C-Main/C-Lobby Early Information ZERO/POINT
A standard setup for playing C-site in Haven is with three players going C-Lobby, one player going garage, and the last player lurking A. With this in mind, we can predict which site the enemy team decides to take depending on how many players we tag with our ZERO/POINT.
This next ZERO/POINT lineup lands on top of the small arch in C-Lobby, which makes it near impossible to destroy. The slight elevation also increases the radius of the ZERO/POINT blast, which helps tag as many players around the area as possible.
- Look for this corner at C-backsite:
2. Hug the corner and look up towards these extending wood planks:
3. Place the left tip of the ZERO/POINT icon on the tip of the left wood plank:
4. Left-click to throw:
When done correctly, ZERO/POINT should land here:
And cover all of the areas shown here:
Haven Defending – A-Lobby/Middle Window ZERO/POINT
The last ZERO/POINT lineup on this list is a simple but effective lineup that can tag most players inside A-Lobby, outside A-Lobby, and some players playing middle window.
Like every other lineup on this list, the purpose of this ZERO/POINT lineup is to figure out how many players are stacking which site in Haven. Knowing how many players are playing certain areas of the map can help you and your team figure out how and when to rotate to prepare for the Attackers’ inevitable onslaught.
Prevention is always better than cure. This saying also applies to Defending Haven’s A-site well because, as we mentioned before, A-site is quite challenging to retake as a Defender, so preventing enemy rushes by using ZERO/POINT can be valuable to your team.
- Look for these boxes in A-site just below A-Heaven:
2. Tuck yourself within this corner and look up towards this roof:
3. Place the letter “X” of your Ultimate Ability icon on this spot here:
4. Left-click to throw:
When done properly, the EMP Knife should land just outside Middle Window entrance:
And tag + disable anyone within the affected areas:
EMPressive
That is about it! These are some of the most useful KAY/O ZERO/POINT lineups for Haven. These lineups were formulated by tagging as many players as possible within an area in mind.
Haven is a map that requires quick information about team whereabouts for both the Attacker and Defender sides because of Haven’s unique triple bombsites.
VALORANT teams are limited to five maximum players per side, which makes it difficult for Defenders. Most of the time, the Defenders will be outnumbered when defending any of the three bomb sites within Haven. Knowing which site the Defenders have stacked can be the difference between winning or losing the round as an Attacker.
With this in mind, we hope these lineups can help you help your teammates whenever you are playing KAY/O on Haven. You might not be able to help them in any other way, but we guarantee you can at least provide useful information for your teammates through your EMP Knife.
