Valorant guide: How to play Astra on Lotus

Valorant's new map Lotus was introduced alongside Episode 6 Act 1 of the game earlier this January. It was initially released just for Swiftplay queues but then added to the competitive map pool in patch 6.01.

Lotus is the second map in the game to feature three sites, the first being Haven, which has been around since the Beta days. However, Riot has made the newest addition innovative in a number of ways. For example, Lotus features narrower winding passages as well as complex elevation changes. It also has fresh gimmicks like two rotating doors, a breakable wall, and a silent drop.

Astra has emerged as one of the most popular Agents on Lotus due to her kit's versatility. She finds a place in several team compositions when it comes to ranked play on Lotus. If you are planning to use this Agent on the new map, here's how you can go about it.

Playing Astra on Valorant's new map Lotus can be rewarding

Astra gets four Astral Stars, each of which she can turn into an orb smoke, a Gravity Well, and a Nova Pulse. Her kit allows her to shine in all aspects of the game, making her one of the most versatile Controllers in Valorant.

Valorant nerfed Astra's kit significantly last year, which greatly increased her cooldown periods. However, she is still not a weak Agent by any means. Playing Astra just takes some practice as you have to be calculative about when and how you use the four Astral Stars.

How to attack on Lotus with Astra

On Attack, your primary responsibility will be to smoke off sightlines so that your team can enter bomb-sites relatively safely. You should smoke the following spots on each of the three sites on Lotus:

A-Site: A-Top and A-Drop/A-Stairs
B-Site: A-Link/C-Link and B-Upper
C-Site: C-Halls and C-Waterfall

Astra can place and use her stars anywhere irrespective of her location. This gives you the choice of playing either as a solo lurker or shoulder to shoulder with your team in any given round. If you keep switching between the two, it will keep your opponents on their toes, and they will always have to worry about you sneaking into their backlines.

Astra's Gravity Well and Nova Pulse work well for clearing areas like C-Bend, A-Hut, A-Drop, and so on. Combined with something like a Raze Paintshell or Breach Aftershock, they can successfully flush out enemies from these difficult-to-clear corners or directly eliminate them. Gravity Well can also prevent the Spike from being defused.

How to defend on Valorant's Lotus with Astra

Defense with Astra is fairly straightforward and much like defending on any other Valorant map with the Agent. You will want to smoke off the main entry points to the site that the enemy is trying to push into so they second-guess their decision. If they still choose to push, you will have the advantage.

You can also do one-way smokes in places such as the box between C-Mound and C-Lobby. Holding this may get you some cheeky kills in some rounds, and it is a great tool to establish map control.

Placing an Astral Star at the entry choke-point and turning it into a Gravity Well can discourage the enemy from pushing through and buy your teammates more time to rotate.

Astra's Ultimate is very useful in retake situations. Since it doesn't let bullets pass through and dampens sounds from the other side, it provides the perfect opportunity for you or your teammates to get off a ninja defuse.

This is pretty much all you have to know to efficiently play Astra on Valorant's new map Lotus. Equipped with both attack and defense abilities, she is one of the best Controllers on the map.