Valorant Important Notes guide screenshot

Important Notes

"content": "## Important Notes for Valorant

Irreversible Choices & Content You Can’t Get Back


  • Agent Unlocks: You unlock agents by spending either 8,000 Kingdom Credits (earned in-game) or 1,000 Valorant Points (premium currency). Once unlocked, an agent is permanently yours. You cannot return or exchange them. Choose wisely based on your playstyle—unlocking an agent you never play is a common regret.

  • Skin Purchases & Battle Passes: Weapon skins, melee items, and cosmetics bought from the store or Battle Pass are non-refundable and non-transferable between accounts. The Battle Pass only rewards items during its active act (roughly 2 months). Once the act ends, exclusive skins and titles are gone forever (unless a future re-run, which is rare).

  • Contract Progression: Each agent has a free contract (Tier 1-10) that awards cosmetics and a playercard. You can switch active contracts at any time, but progressing on multiple simultaneously is not possible. If you change contracts halfway, progress on the previous one is paused, not lost. However, any purchase of XP boosts or bonus tiers via VP is irreversible.

  • Ranked Placement: Your first 5 ranked games determine your initial rank. These games are high-stakes. A poor performance can lock you into a low rank that takes many wins to climb out of. Play your placements after you are confident in your skills, not as soon as you unlock Competitive mode (account level 20+).


    • Pitfalls & Common Regrets


  • Wasting Economy: New players often buy rifles (Vandal, Phantom) every round without saving. This leads to broken economies and losses. Always communicate with your team about buying/ saving (eco rounds). Regret: not learning buy phases—force buys when your team has less than 2,900 credits each cripple the team.

  • Ignoring the Practice Range: Many players jump straight into matches. The Practice Range is vital for learning spray patterns, agent abilities, and movement (hopping, counter-strafing). Regret: hundreds of hours spent dying because you didn’t practice crosshair placement.

  • Neglecting Agent Abilities: Valorant is not just a gun game. Each agent has unique abilities that win rounds. Regret: using abilities randomly or forgetting to use them at all. Learn your agent’s utility lineups (e.g., Sova shock darts, Viper walls).

  • Solo Queue Rage: Playing ranked alone (solo queue) can be frustrating due to teammate communication and skill variance. Many players regret not forming a premade team of 2-5 for better synergy and reduced toxicity.


    • Grinding Traps & XP Efficiency


  • Battle Pass Progression: The Battle Pass requires daily play to finish. XP is earned by playing games, completing daily missions, and weekly missions. Don’t buy XP boosts unless you are very close to the end of the pass; they often don’t save time. Regret: grinding mindlessly in Deathmatch for hours—it gives less XP per minute compared to Unrated or Competitive (roughly 5,000 XP per win, 20-30 min).

  • Agent Contract XP: To max an agent’s contract (Tier 10), you need 675,000 XP with that agent active. That’s about 135 wins at 5,000 XP each. Switching contracts frequently delays completion. Regret: unlocking contract tiers with VP—expensive and not worth it unless you have money to burn.

  • Account Level Grind: Competitive is locked until account level 20 (approximately 40-60 hours of gameplay). There is no shortcut. Regret: not using this time to improve mechanics and learn maps.


    • Online Etiquette & Anti-Cheat Notes


  • Vanguard Anti-Cheat: Valorant uses Riot Vanguard, a kernel-level anti-cheat that runs on startup. It is known to conflict with certain drivers (e.g., motherboard RGB software, some VPNs, or older hardware). If you have crashes, you may need to disable or uninstall conflicting software. Do not disable Vanguard during play—you will be kicked and penalized. It is safe and widely used.

  • Voice & Text Chat Toxicity: Toxic behavior (slurs, harassment, griefing) is banned. You can mute and report players. Regret: engaging with trolls instead of muting them—it only tilts you. Use /mute all at the start if you are sensitive.

  • AFK & Queue Dodging: Leaving a match early (AFK) results in matchmaking bans increasing with frequency (15 min, 1 hr, 24 hrs, etc.). Queue dodging in agent select (last-second abandon) incurs a small timeout. Regret: leaving a game because you don’t like the map—you still get the penalty.

  • Ranked Match Penalties: In ranked, if you dodge agent select, you lose 3-4 RR (rank rating) and get a timeout. If you go AFK during the match, you lose RR and can get a temporary ban. Do not alt-tab during loading; it can cause you to miss spike planting/defusing.


    • Difficulty Spikes & How to Prepare


  • Learning Agents: Some agents have high skill floors (e.g., Jett’s updraft, Raze’s satchel jumps, Yoru’s teleport). New players often pick them and struggle. Recommended: Start with straightforward agents like Brimstone, Sova, Sage, or Phoenix.

  • Map Knowledge Newcomers: Each map has callouts, angles, and lineups. The difficulty spikes when you face a team that uses utility well. Use the “Custom Game” mode to walk alone and learn bomb sites, spike plant spots, and common camping positions.

  • Ranked Climbing: The jump from Silver to Gold, or Platinum to Diamond, is noticeable. The skill disparity in aim and game sense increases. Regret: not analyzing your own gameplay—record your rounds to see why you died (e.g., reloading at bad times, peeking with low HP).

  • Agent Countering: Some agents hard counter others (e.g., Reyna vs. Phoenix—Reyna can flash, Phoenix can heal). If you don’t adjust your playstyle, you will lose duels. Study common counters.


    • Missable Content & Time-Limited Events


  • Battle Pass Exclusive: Every Act Pass (2 months) has exclusive player cards, gun buddies, weapon skins, and titles. If you don’t complete the pass by the deadline, those items are gone. You cannot buy them later.

  • Night Market & Daily Offers: The Night Market appears occasionally and offers random skins at discounted prices. You can only buy up to 6 skins per Night Market. Don’t waste VP on a skin you don’t want—wait for the next market.

  • Event Passes: Limited-time events (e.g., Valorant Champions, Arcane) have their own free pass with exclusive cosmetics. You must play during the event period to earn them.

  • Kingdom Credits: Earned from daily and weekly missions. They cap at 10,000 Kingdom Credits. You cannot exceed this cap, so spend them on agent unlocks instead of letting them overflow.


    • ‘Save Management’ (Account Progress & Data)


  • Account Linking: Valorant is tied to your Riot Games account. If you lose your account credentials, you lose all progress, skins, rank, and unlocks. Enable 2FA via Riot’s account page and do not share your login.

  • No Cloud Saves for Settings: Your in-game settings (crosshair, keybinds, video) are stored locally (in %APDATA%\\...\\Valorant\\Saved\\Config\\Windows). If you reinstall the game or switch PCs, you lose them. Manually back up the “Windows” folder or use Riot’s “Presets” feature (available in settings) to save crosshair and controls to your account.

  • Replay Files: Valorant does not save match replays on your local drive. You must manually use third-party software (OBS, ShadowPlay) to record. Riot has promised a replay system for years but not yet implemented. Regret: losing a sweet clutch clip with no way to re-watch.


Things Players Commonly Regret Not Knowing Earlier


1. Crosshair Placement: Always keep your crosshair at head height (waist-up) and pre-aim corners. New players who aim at the ground miss kills.
2. Sound Queues: Footsteps, abilities, and reloads are loud. Use headphones. Many deaths happen because players don’t hear enemy movement.
3. Spike Plants: Planting the spike in the open (not behind cover) is a trap. Always plant in a safe spot or one you can retake. Novices often plant in the middle of the site and die.
4. Ultimate Orbs: Each map has 2 ultimate orbs that give your ultimate a charge. Learn where they are and contest them. They can turn the tide.
5. Economy System: Save for a light armor + Spectre or Sheriff when eco’ing. Don’t buy Heavy Shield if you have less than 3,900 credits for a rifle next round.
6. Agent Roles: Valorant agents are split into Duelists, Initiators, Controllers, and Sentinels. A balanced team composition (at least 1 of each) increases win rate. Regret: queuing without a smoker (Controller) on maps like Bind or Ascent.
7. Spray Control: Bullet spray in Valorant is random after the first 4-5 bullets. Tap or burst (2-4 shots) for accuracy. Spraying at range misses 90% of shots.
8. Peek Timing: Peeking while walking makes noise and gives away your position. Use Shift (walk) to sneak around corners. Regret: sprinting around every corner and dying.
9. Training Modes: The Practice Range and Deathmatch are free and fast ways to warm up and improve aim. Most pros do 10-15 minutes of deathmatch before ranked. Skip this and you’ll be rusty.
10. Skinned Weapons Don’t Improve Performance: Skins are purely cosmetic. Don’t spend real money expecting to shoot better—spend it only if you enjoy the look.