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Valorant is a popular tactical FPS featuring a fancy collection of Agents and their impressive abilities. There are four classes in the game, each offering their own share of value to the team. To keep the experience consistent, Riot Games has been extremely particular about each of the Agents’ states.
In Valorant, where players on the same team choose unique Agents to take on five enemies, it’s extremely important that their abilities remain balanced. If even one turns out to be overly strong or extremely weak, it will definitely destroy the game’s essence.
Throughout Valorant's existence, fans have always tried to pick up on the current meta and choose an Agent depending on the same. For example, there was once a time when Viper and Astra dominated the game's meta and their pick rate was extremely high, owing to which other Controller Agents were deserted.
To tackle the problem of imbalance, Riot Games has always strived to keep an eye on the community’s behavior, nerfing and buffing Agents, and fixing game-breaking bugs. At present, a few have been deserted because their ability kit just isn’t attractive enough. As a result, they need some rework to bring back their popularity.
5 Valorant Agents that need Riot Games' attention
1) Astra
Astra's prowess to make use of the cosmos energy in Valorant knew no bounds until she received a brutal nerf in patch 4.04. Not only did Riot take away one of her Stars, but she also endured an increase in cooldown periods for her Gravity Well and Nova Pulse.
Astra never enjoyed a high pick-rate in low-elo as most casual players found her kit to be boring or difficult to understand. She has a decent pick-rate in the professional scene but stopped being a favorite in ranked matches after her nerf.
Astra’s current situation in Valorant is unacceptable since she displays promise when it comes to her ability to control maps. She is one of the least-picked Agents, and carries a pick rate of 1% in Diamond 1, according to Blitz.gg.
Just a couple of months back, the Ghananian Agent overshadowed her fellow Controller Agents with her extremely capable powers. Considering her popularity back then, her present state just doesn’t seem right. Astra deserves a proper re-work of her abilities to make her a viable Agent once again.
2) Cypher
Hailing from Morocco, Cypher is extremely capable of providing essential intel to his team and even blocking an aggressive push effectively. Then again, with the introduction of Chamber, he seems to have run into a bit of a Trap Wire himself that is slowing things down for him.
To tackle a push, Cypher can easily set up a Trap Wire lineup or use Cyber Cage. However, in comparison, his Ultimate doesn’t seem very powerful. With more effective Sentinel Agents available for players to choose from in Valorant, he is quite underpicked, standing at 1.2% in Diamond 1.
With Neural Theft, all he needs is a dead body to instantly reveal the momentary location of enemies who are alive. But what if there isn’t any corpse to play with? Cypher’s Ultimate is useless in situations when he has to clutch the round and there’s no dead enemy near him.
3) Breach
Breach is an expert at knocking his enemies off the ground, flashing them, or hitting them with a deadly fusion charge. It’s extremely difficult to counter Breach without knowing a way around it, but his kit often falls short if his teammates don’t know how to take advantage.
While all the other Initiator Agents are focused on collecting information, Breach loves clearing areas out. He can give his enemies a hard time if they are pushing the site blindly or hiding in the corners.
With that being said, his kit isn’t very useful on large maps like Breeze, with his enemies easily dodging his abilities, in some instances. Even though he’s an Initiator, he lacks the capability to provide useful intel to his teammates. Additionally, he doesn't sit well with players preferring to solo queue.
Breach needs a certain amount of re-thinking on Riot’s side as his kit is slightly unbalanced at the moment, leading to players replacing him with other Initiator Agents. A few tweaks to his flash and some intel-gathering capabilities should make him more valuable as an independent Agent in his class.
4) Omen
Another Controller on the list, Omen needs a rework on his blinding ability, Paranoia, and his Ultimate, From The Shadows. While his abilities make him a mind-game expert, Omen requires quite a bit of mastering on the part of Valorant players to be of much use.
While the phantom of memory offers recurring Dark Cover as smoke, he can also teleport to a different location within a certain range using his Shrouded Step. Then again, his Dark Cover doesn't discourage players and is too slow to deploy.
His Paranoia ability can easily affect his teammates, leading to confusion. Moreover, enemies can easily dodge it, if coming from afar. Lastly, Omen has one of the worst Ultimates in Valorant, according to popular feedback.
Although Omen's Ultimate allows him to easily teleport to any location on a map, it usually turns out useless, unless he needs to grab the spike out of an unfavorable situation. Despite all this, he does enjoy a decent pick-rate. But his kit could use some rework to make him better in the game.
5) Neon
Believe it or not, Neon is another one of the most under-picked Agents in Valorant. Although the fierce electrocutor has gained slight popularity in the professional scene, her kit is massively undervalued in high-elo ranked games.
Neon’s abilities are a bit one-sided. Her abilities, High Gear, Fast Lane, and Relay Bolt get her easy entry to the sites, but lack heavily in defensive potential. Her Relay Bolt is capable of concussing a few out of the blue, but enemies can dodge it quite easily.
Although her powerful Ultimate, Overdrive, makes her seem like an undefeatable duelist, the remainder of her kit is bland and of less value to the team. Moreover, her Ultimate is set to receive some considerable changes too, making it less rewarding for players who don't possess headshot accuracy.
Neon has never managed to rank high on the pick-rate list, with many notable streamers and pro players pointing out her prominent lack of defense.
However, some in the professional scene are beginning to realize her potential. With a few tweaks to her Relay Bolt and Fast Lane, Neon could swiftly become a more viable Agent.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinions.
