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Riot Games has finally launched Agent 21, aka Harbor, in its tactical shooter IP Valorant.
Hailing from India, Harbor harnesses the power of a powerful artifact to command the tides. He is now a part of Valorant's Controller class alongside Viper, Brimstone, Astra, and Omen.
Harbor is not the typical Controller Agent with recurring smoke. Instead, his abilities let him unleash water-based walls that are huge in length and act as good vision blockers. His kit features a sphere of shielding water, which is a smoke-like ability but has only a single charge and doesn't recharge during the round.
While Harbor's abilities do help him control sites, his quirky utility kit causes players to modify their usual playstyles with Valorant's Controller Agents.
This article explains how Harbor may tweak Valorant's Controller meta.
What are Harbor's abilities in Valorant, and how does his kit recalibrate the Controller meta?
Here are all the abilities that Harbor has in Valorant, according to the game's official website:
High Tide (E) (Signature/Free Ability)
Equip a wall of water. Fire to send the water forward along the ground. Hold Fire to guide the water in the path of your crosshair, passing through the world and spawning a wall along the water’s path. Press Alt Fire while bending to stop the water early. Players that are hit by the High Tide will face a 'Slowed' status effect.
Cove (Q) (Basic Ability 1)
Equip a sphere of shielding water. Fire to throw. Then, Alt Fire to underhand throw. Upon impacting the ground, Cove spawns a water shield that blocks bullets.
Cascade (C) (Basic Ability 2)
Equip a wave of water. Fire to send the wave rolling forward and through walls. Re-use it to stop the wave from moving further. Players hit by the Cascade will face a 'Slowed' status effect.'
Reckoning (X) (Ultimate)
Equip the full power of your Artifact. Fire to summon a geyser pool on the ground. Enemy players caught in the area will be hit by successive geyser strikes. Players caught by a strike will face a 'Concussed' status effect.
Note: The sections below reflect the writer's opinion.
How Valorant's newest Agent recalibrated the Controller meta
Harbor's kit is great for pushing an open site. For example, his High Tide, in combination with Cascade, is perfect for pushing Pearl's B Site or Breeze's A-Site. His second basic ability, Cove, can be used in post-plant situations or to block bullets while the spike is being planted.
Controller Agents like Brimstone, Omen, and Astra feature a smoke ability that recharges several times in a round, depending on their cooldown period. Viper's Poison Orb can also be reused to deploy a poison cloud as her fuel refills.
With the inclusion of Harbor, players will learn to control sites without typical smoke usage, thus forcing a huge change in the popular meta.
The only Harbor ability that is close to a smoke-like vision barrier is his Cove, but it features only one charge and has no option to recharge. Moreover, it is quite pricey, sitting at 350 credits.
Harbor's High Tide can be shaped to effectively cover chokepoints and angles. However, it lasts only 12 seconds, and hence, the team has to push as aggressively as possible.
His Cascade can act as a second form of vision blocker, but it lasts for a very short time (five seconds) when stationary, which makes it more effective for clearing angles. Both High Tide and Cascade come with a debuff effect that slows enemies by about 30%.
Harbor's Cove can encourage creative execution, and his Ultimate is a great way to clear and take control of the sites.
Overall, Harbor's kit is very promising but requires the player to be more calculative with his utility usage.
How should players tackle Harbor?
Overall, Harbor's learning curve as a Controller Agent in Valorant isn't very steep, and his kit encourages unbound creativity. His abilities are easier to execute while on the attacking side and during retakes on defense.
Unlike Astra, Viper, Brimstone, and Omen, Harbor essentially has no utility to discourage an aggressive push.
It's safe to say that Valorant's latest Agent will thrive in a double-controller agent lineup. In fact, his kit forces him to stay with his teammates while attacking. He is also required to commit to one site or a part of the map while defending.
Playing Harbor will require players to indulge in more fast-paced and aggressive executions, both on attacking and defending sides.
Harbor cannot unleash his wall or any of his abilities on one site while he is on the other. The developers wanted to create an Agent that doesn't have to utilize a mini-map or go off-dimension to place visual barriers. However, the decision to make the ability deployment easy also comes at a tactical cost.
