VALORANT’s 25th Agent, Vyse, is the direct ‘aggressive duellist’ counter
Riot Games' Designer Kevin Meier has claimed that Vyse will be the counter to aggressive duellists in VALORANT.
23rd Aug 2024 08:15
Image via Riot Games
VALORANT’s 25th Agent, Vyse, is the direct ‘aggressive duellist’ counter
Riot Games' Designer Kevin Meier has claimed that Vyse will be the counter to aggressive duellists in VALORANT.
23rd Aug 2024 08:15
Image via Riot Games
Recently, duellists have risen from the ash and rubble in VALORANT having once marvelled in Jett's great dynasty before being nerfed into the ground.
Raze, Omen, Neon, Reyna, and even Yoru for those trickier players among us, are almost guaranteed to be taking up two slots in your Ranked compositions, continuously fragging while others are scrambling for Sentinel control to try and shut down the opposition.
Up steps Vyse, VALORANT's Agent 26, who has been designed with the primary focus of "punishing aggressive duellists".
VALORANT devs reveal Vyse is designed to meet aggression with aggression
Vyse, announced at VCT Champions Seoul in a similar vein to how Sunset was during Los Angeles 2023, comes to VALORANT as Agent 25.
The first ability to be designed for abuse was Shear, which came before the agent itself, and is intended to cut off the entry duellist by placing a hidden wall that will erect when a player walks through the trap; think Cypher trip wires combined with a Sage wall.
"For Vyse, we wanted to create a Sentinel that had a solution to space-taking duelists in a way that wasn’t primarily stall-oriented. Someone who could punish aggressive players that dove in recklessly," said Riot Games Game Designer Kevin Meier.
Vyse isn't your typical Sentinel, as she is intended to be just as aggressive in defence, fighting fire with fire.
"We often thought of Vyse setups like a Spider Web - allowing players to enter the web but delivering a killing blow when stuck," Meier said.
"We expect her to be great at anchoring space and holding out versus multiple enemies."
Meier claimed that the most effective use of Vyse's kit will be her flash. The flash works like an Alarmbot, being placed on walls and turning invisible, laying the trap (hence spider web). Then, Vyse will catch over-aggressive players unawares popping the hidden flash and swinging.
As for her ultimate, this is where you will really get just rewards on aggressive plays, as the Steel Garden will send molten metal over the floor (like Fade's Nightfall), where the metal will rise up and jam enemy weapons for a short time. After all, they can't kill you mid-push with no guns...
Don't think this is an instant fix to aggressive duellists though, Vyse already sounds like a very “risk-and-reward” Agent, where you can be equally over-aggressive on defence and get punished where a space-holding Sentinel like Cypher and Deadlock might have survived longer.
VALORANT devs hopeful the first flash-Sentinel will balance the agent pool
It will take a keen mind to really get the most out of Vyse, but the developers are welcoming this challenge on players and are hopeful that the flash ability will be the balance needed for this agent to be viable in a range of different compositions.
"Recent changes to the duelist ecosystem, and players' willingness to experiment with double Sentinel has opened up new compositions and ways to address VALORANT's map puzzles," Meier said.
"Our hope is that adding a flash to the Sentinel role will continue to facilitate diverse compositions across the board as players theorize what tools they need to bring, or leave behind, on each map."
Vyse will be released on August 28.
About The Author
Jack Marsh
Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.
