After weeks of waiting, the highly-anticipated Riot title Valorant is officially here!
Check out the game’s first official episode name, along with a brand new map and other changes that will come along with the worldwide launch.
Ignition
A day ahead of its release, Riot Games revealed the name of the game’s first episode: Ignition.
LAUNCHING —
In 12 hours – Korea, Japan, and most of Asia-Pacific
In 18 hours – Europe, Turkey, MENA, Russia, and CIS countries
In 25 hours – North America, Latin America, and South America
EPISODE 1: IGNITION. pic.twitter.com/mXmXw86zRQ— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) June 1, 2020
Valorant’s launch schedule primarily included three different regions, first going live in Asia, Europe, then the Americas.
“LAUNCHING —
In 12 hours – Korea, Japan, and most of Asia-Pacific
In 18 hours – Europe, Turkey, MENA, Russia, and CIS countries
In 25 hours – North America, Latin America, and South America
EPISODE 1: IGNITION.”
New Map
A new map named “Ascent” will also debut in the game, which is heavily based in Italy.
Abilities will come handy on this map’s open middle area! It’s no wonder how Riot dubbed the map as a “playground.”
Ascent will have a familiar look and feel especially to players who have spent hours over similar FPS titles like Counter Strike’s De_Dust 2.
Taking on a traditional set-up, the game is complete with an A and B bombsite and a middle section.
The map tends to lean more on a defense-heavy type, but attackers can find plenty of ways if they want to take and establish total control.
The middle portion of Ascent is a point of contention, leaving it to players to make or break a round.
Ascent also exhibits a unique dynamic with the opening and closing doors.
Defenders can create a one-way door that can only be accessed from the inside. As a result, attackers are left with no choice but to destroy the door, rotate around the map, or give away their current position.
New Agent
Reyna makes her way as the 11th Valorant agent!
Reyna, which translates to “Queen” in Spanish, is all about kill or be killed. The powerhouse is capable of trading kills and can easily carry her team to victory (if you leave her in the hands of an expert player, that is!)
In terms of abilities, Reyna possesses a heal, blind, and a regenerating lifebar as long as the kills keep coming before the cooldown dwindles.
After every kill, a purple orb will spawn on your opponents which players can collect to “feed” Reyna’s power. These orbs also help the Agent heal to full health and gain up to 50 Armor.
Official patch notes
Riot also released the game’s 1.0 patch notes shortly after the global launch. It’s set to include updates to Split, Haven, and Bind.
Additionally, all exploits are ensured to be nullified, so players can no longer escape the play area. General optimizations and improvements have also been made.
Valorant launched on June 2 with elevent agents on its starting roster and four maps to play on.
For those who are waiting to grind on the game’s ranked/competitive mode, you may have to wait a few weeks more after the release.
