Three new VALORANT agents coming before end of year, Riot says
Riot Games has announced that its free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter game, VALORANT, will get three new agents before the end of the year.
In a State Of Agents video, VALORANT character producer John “RiotMEMEMEMEME” Goscicki revealed that the game would gain an Initiator, a Sentinel and an agent from a yet-to-be-determined class.
The producer said that the team now has a better grasp on when and how to launch new agents after two and a half years.
Goscicki explained since developing a new agent takes a long time, Riot considers both the present and the future when introducing one.
He said that the distribution of agents across classes would change when more players are added to the game. He remarked on how important it is, as it always has been, to have a balanced meta from various positions and playing styles.
He argued that now Riot has introduced many more agents to the game, the team does not have to have a “perfect one-to-one balance across all roles.”
Without detailed information about VALORANT’s new Agents, he teased agent 22 would “join the fight soon.”
Goscicki said the new Agent would have an “eclectic” mission completion method that would inspire players to use their imaginations in new ways.
He also hinted that the new character would have new methods for checking corners, getting onto spots and planting the spike.
In the video, Goscicki discussed how “stressful” a VALORANT match can be and the importance of “friends” to “chill” with.
On Twitter yesterday, data miner ValorLeaks posted a teaser that possibly hinted that one of these “friends” would come from the VALORANT universe along with the next Agent.
The teaser also showed an agent relaxing has two clawed hands on the left side with a cup of Boba Tea.
The Agent receives a call from someone identified only as “Beard Papi,” which may indicate that this new Agent has Spanish ancestry.
Although Riot has yet to announce a release date for Agent 22, if the usual schedule holds, fans should expect to see Agent 22 in late April’s Act 3.
Riot usually launches the Agent in the game’s Public Beta Environment (PBE) before it is available worldwide.
VALORANT new agents, new map
Before the Agent 22 news, Riot had earlier announced that additional VALORANT Agents and maps would arrive in 2023.
Fans have theorized about the new Controller Agent, codenamed “SmokeDancer.” They believe the name might refer to someone who can see through smoke under certain conditions.
An Agent dedicated to preventing visual barriers from entering the battlefield could significantly change the game’s pace. In that regard, the creators must strike a balance between their abilities to maintain a consistent meta.
VALORANT’s Episode 6 Act 1 not only introduced new agents but also included a new map, Lotus. The map was meant to be neutral, but it is becoming increasingly favorable to attackers. A team composition heavy on Sentinels appears to be effective against Lotus’ peculiar defensive playstyle.
In a recent Twitch show, VALORANT coach Woohoojin shared his official tier list of Agents to choose from on the map in his guide.
In Lotus, agents who can use flashes are essentially the strongest. In his opinion, sentinel agents are effective in both attack and defense on this map since they have a lot of options to smoke and trap, especially on the C point.
