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Valorant can seem a little daunting to new players, especially if they have never played an FPS title. The game has a lot going on, but it only takes a bit of reading and practice to understand its mechanics.
Valorant currently has 20 Agents, each with four abilities. Seven maps are available to be played on at any given time. There is also a wide range of guns that can be used by players depending on the situation of their in-game economy.
Additionally, there are certain terms that beginners will hear their teammates say when they play Valorant. This article covers seven terms that new players are bound to come across.
Spike, TP, and other terms for beginners in Valorant
1) Spike
The Spike is a machine used to mine Radianite, the substance that is the basis of the fight in Valorant.
This is one of the most important words in relation to the objective of the game. The objective for Attackers is to enter plant sites on the map, plant the Spike, and make sure it explodes. The Defenders' objective, on the other hand, is to make sure that the Spike cannot be planted. If it is planted, they have to defuse it.
For those familiar with the mechanics of CS:GO, the Spike is what the bomb is called in Valorant.
2) Economy
The Valorant economy is a complex entity. However, it broadly has four different rounds.
The pistol round is the first (also the first two rounds of each half). Most rounds in Valorant will be ‘full buy rounds,’ when teams buy out the best possible weapons with full shield and all their purchasable abilities.
There will be rounds where teams will not be able to buy the best guns or sets of abilities because they lost consecutive rounds. Such rounds are called eco-rounds or save rounds.
Additionally, the game has force buy rounds. This is when teams scrape out their last pennies in order to get the best weapons and as many abilities as possible without having the money to make a full buy.
3) Shift walk
Enemies can hear your footsteps when you move around a Valorant map. This is tactically disadvantageous because it gives them information about where you are and takes away the element of surprise when you hit sites.
For this reason, it is recommended that you press the left Shift key while moving around the map if you want to hide their position from the enemy. This is particularly useful when rotating mid-round, flanking, or moving around areas where the enemy doesn’t expect you to be coming from.
4) Ult
Ult is short for Ultimates, which are powerful abilities unique to each Agent in Valorant.
Each Agent has to collect six to eight Ultimate Points to use their Ult. When used correctly, Ults can change the direction of rounds.
Ultimate orbs can be collected by getting kills, dying, planting, or defusing the Spike. One can collect Ultimate Orbs that spawn at specific locations on the map every round.
An example of an Ult is Killjoy’s Lockdown, which locks people into a state of passivity where they are slowed down and prevented from using their weapons or abilities.
5) TP
TP in Valorant stands for teleport. Players are likely to hear this term in multiple contexts.
With respect to the map Bind, one might hear things like “Take the TP” or “I hear them TP.” This refers to the one-way teleportation machine in front of one entry, which takes players from one side of the map to another. This is mostly used for quick rotations.
The other context involves the Agents Omen, Chamber, and Yoru. Two of Omen’s abilities, including his Ult, involve teleporting from one point to another. The “short TP” is when Omen uses Shrouded Step to teleport across a short distance. His ultimate, From the Shadows, allows him to teleport at any point on the map. This is referred to as a “long TP.”
Chamber can set a teleport anchor anywhere on the map and move about within a certain radius. Upon pressing the ability key, he would return to the anchor. Players might hear things like, “the Chamber TP-ed away.”
Yoru’s signature ability lets him send out a beacon and teleport to its location, often behind enemies. “The Yoru TP-ed” is a common callout in this case. The Agent can also fake this teleportation, which is referred to as a fake TP.
6) Lineup
Lineups in Valorant are ways to position yourself in such a way that your abilities land in a specific spot (often from a distance and safety).
Lineups are most popular with Agents whose abilities reveal the enemy’s location and those whose abilities do damage over time. The latter is useful in clearing corners while executing an attack on a plant site or preventing the Spike from being defused after it has been planted.
7) Default
Default can also be used in two contexts. The first is the act of showing presence on all sides of the map while attacking to draw out aggression from the Defenders. This is done to figure out how the Defenders are playing and whether there is a gap in the defense that can be exploited.
Another way to use it is in the context of planting the Spike. There are certain points inside plant sites where Attackers tend to plant the spike. These are known as default plant locations. These areas are popular because they provide safety for Attackers to plant and make it difficult for Defenders to defuse.
Attackers can also have lineups of damaging utility for such locations, which makes it virtually impossible for the Spike to be defused.
Knowing these terms will help beginners communicate with their teammates efficiently. They will become more comfortable with the game and its mechanics as they keep playing it.
