In the summer, Riot Games will launch a new competitive shooter, Valorant. At the end of March, I managed to spend three days in this game and try out most of the characters that will be available at the start. The developers also said that the release version will retain the same arsenal as in the closed beta. About which rifles you can shoot in the summer – in this material.
There are six types of weapons in the Valorant arsenal that will be familiar to all players in Counter-Strike. These are pistols, SMGs, assault and sniper rifles, shotguns and machine guns. Two types of armor are also available – light and heavy. Both absorb 50% of the damage taken, but the first breaks after 25 units. damage, and the second after 50 units.
Let’s talk about each type of weapon. Note: all rifles have standard skins in dark colors, all bright options are skins that were available to me.
Guns
There are five pistols in Valorant: they do not have real prototypes, but for most of them it is easy to pick up analogues from CS: GO. The first one is Classic (Glock-18 in CS: GO). This is the standard gun with which agents start the game, respectively – the worst of the available options. At a distance of up to 30 meters, Classic deals 26. hit damagemania in the body, 22 units. foot damage and 78 damage. headshot damage. Over a longer distance, its lethal force drops slightly – to 22, 18 and 66 units. damage accordingly. The pistol has an alternative mode in which the weapon fires three bullets at once with one click of the trigger. The store has 12 rounds.
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The second weapon is Shorty, that is, a standard sawn-off shotgun. This is the cheapest option in the category of additional weapons. Shorty fires 12 pellets with each shot, which individually do low damage, but together they can kill an opponent – albeit only at close range. At a distance of up to nine meters, each projectile fired will inflict 12 damage. damage to the body, 10 damage – in the leg and 36 units. – to the head.
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Frenzy is the only automatic pistol in the game (similar to the CZ75 from CS: GO). Holding the fire button, you can take ten shots per second and are guaranteed to kill an enemy who came too close. At long range, this method will not be effective, but Frenzy remains fairly accurate with single shots. The store includes 13 rounds.
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The fourth weapon in the category is Ghost, which closely resembles USP-S from CS: GO. This is a pistol with a silencer that practically makes no sound when shooting and remains effective even at a long distance. When firing at a distance of up to 30 meters, the gun will inflict 30 units. damage to the body, 105 pts. head damage and 26 damage. – to the feet. Further damage will decrease, but will remain high – 25, 88 and 21 units. respectively. Even at a high rate of fire, it remains highly accurate.
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The latest pistol available is the Sheriff, a classic revolver. Its functionality in the game is the same as that of Desert Eagle in CS: GO. The weapon deals tremendous damage at any distance, but remains effective only in the hands of good shooters – Sheriff does not forgive misses. It is also possible to “pinpoint” him, but, as in the case of Deagle, success is not guaranteed. Sheriff also breaks walls perfectly and allows you to finish off the enemy, even if he hid around the corner.
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SMG
There are two SMGs in Valorant. The first is Stinger, which can be compared to MP9 from CS: GO. This weapon costs three times less than the most popular assault rifles, and therefore, in theory, you can buy it in every round. At close range, Stinger deals 27. body damage and 67 damage. – when shooting in the head, but also at a higher distance, the lethal force of SMG practically does not decrease – only accuracy falls. The PP fires four bullets per second, and when using the sight, it goes into burst mode, which allows for more accurate fire.
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The second SMG in Valorant is Specter. This PP is one and a half times more expensive than the Stinger, but it has a silencer. Both weapons inflict similar damage over a long distance, but when shooting at close range, Specter is ahead of the competitor in lethal power: 26 units. body damage and 78 damage. – to the head. He can also break through walls, although he loses half the damage.
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Assault rifles
The most extensive weapon category in Valorant is assault rifles. The first of these is Bulldog, an analogue of FAMAS from CS: GO. This is a well-balanced weapon, but for some reason it has not received recognition from the closed beta audience. The rifle retains stopping power at any distance: 35 units. body damage and 116 damage. – to the head. When using the sight, Bulldog goes into firing mode in bursts of four rounds. The usual rate of fire is nine bullets per second, which allows you to instantly destroy opponents.
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Guardian is a semi-automatic rifle that has no analogues in CS: GO. This weapon does not have a burst mode: it fires a bullet each time the mouse button is pressed. The Guardian deals huge damage and can kill an enemy without armor in two shots at the hull, however, firing at a fast pace from it is impossible due to the very strong spread. Of all the rifles, this one in closed beta was the least used.
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Phantom is a local counterpart to the M4A1-S from CS: GO. Among the advantages are a silencer and a high rate of fire (9.9 rounds per second). It is most effective at close range – 39 units. body damage and 156 damage. damage to the head at a distance of 0-15 meters. After 30 meters, the firepower of the rifle drops dramatically: even an opponent without armor can survive three hits into the body from it.
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Vandal is the most popular weapon in Valorant, which is very similar to the classic AK-47. The rifle deals 39 damage. damage to the body at any distance, and when hit in the head it is guaranteed to kill the enemy. The weapon loses only when shooting at a distance of up to 15 meters – in this case, Phantom will have time to make a decisive shot a split second earlier.
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Shotguns
Valorant developers did not follow CS: GO and included only two types of shotguns in the arsenal. The first of these – Bucky – is the cheapest of the main weapons. You can buy it for 900 credits – the Sheriff revolver in closed beta cost 800 credits. Bucky fires 15 shells at a shot, each of which at a close range deals 22 damage. body damage and 44 damage. – to the head. An alternative shotgun mode allows you to use it in a jump – the accuracy of hits with this method of firing will correspond to the usual shooting regime on the ground.
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The second shotgun is Judge. This is a more expensive version of Bucky, which is characterized by a high rate of fire, but reduced lethal force. When shooting at distances up to nine meters, Judge deals 17 damage. body damage and 34 damage. damage to the head of each of the 12 pellets released. But from it you can shoot three times per second.
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Sniper rifles
The Marshal rifle is actually a clone of the SSG-08 from CS: GO. It can be bought in almost any round because of the low price, and at the same time it can become a formidable weapon in the hands of a skilled sniper. When shooting at players without armor, the rifle guarantees a frag at any distance – both during headshots and when hit in the hull. It practically does not reduce the player’s movement speed even when using the sight, and also has good accuracy when shooting from the hip.
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Operator is an AWP in the Valorant world. It costs 4.5 thousand credits – one and a half times more expensive than the main assault rifles. The weapon guarantees a frag when hit in the head or body of the enemy at any distance – and regardless of whether he bought armor or not.
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Machine guns
Machine guns were not popular during the closed beta, although before the start I heard fears that this type of weapon would be too strong. The first weapon in the category – Ares – costs 1,700 credits, almost like an SMG. At a distance of up to 30 meters, he deals 30 units. body damage and 72 damage. damage to the head, at a higher distance – 28 and 67 units. respectively. However, controlling the dispersion of machine gun bullets is not an easy task.
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The second machine gun in the game also bears the name of God – Odin. These weapons cost a little more than Vandal and Phantom – 3,200 credits. Over a short range, Odin does 38 damage. damage to the body and 95 damage. when shooting in the head. Over a long distance, damage drops significantly – 31 and 77. respectively. The machine gun store includes one hundred rounds.
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Despite the futuristic style of the shooter and its somewhat fantasy orientation, the arsenal of the game practically coincides with what the same CS: GO can offer users. But unlike Valve, Riot Games did not produce more types of weapons than is required in terms of gameplay – each trunk has a specific niche here.
I can’t say that the look of the local rifles struck me with style or some unusual attention to detail. But the weapons in Valorant have the notorious “character” – all the guns sound differently and are recognizable from the first shot. Well, of course, they are very nice to use, but what else, in essence, is required in competitive shooters?
Valorant will be released in the summer of 2023. Closed beta testing will begin on April 7th. Earlier I participated in the playtest of the game, my impressions of the shooter can be found here.
