| The Current OP Meta is a Result of all of Valorant's Combined Flaws. Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:39 AM PDT Hey guys, I'm a 10 year CS player here. Previously played at Level 9 Faceit and A - ESEA. Have probably 1000+ hours of watching pro games under my belt, and even more spent in KZ and HnS servers. I love Valorant, and I love a lot of what they're trying to do with this game in comparison to CS. But, I think the current OP meta is a result of almost every short coming the game has right now (for the most part). Firstly, I think it's important to preface this by saying that Valorant is 100% by design, made to be easier / more approachable than CS:GO. You can see this in almost every aspect of the game. If it's something that was intimidating to new players in CS, it's been massively simplified here. Spray patterns are far less aggressive. Lineups have been almost entirely eliminated, or completely streamlined. Movement speed has been reduced to allow for easier tracking and aiming. Counter-strafing has been forgotten and replaced by instant momentum. Even the slight advantage you got from good movement (brought along by thousands of hours of practice in CS:GO) has been entirely eliminated by a massive simplification of movement in general, as well as how severe tagging is. I'm not saying these are negative aspects of the game. I understand almost if not all of these changes. Tons of these choices succeed in their desired goal, and it's lead to tons of my friends enjoying this game despite never getting more than 4 games into CS. With all that said tho, lots of these choices indirectly feed into the current OP meta. I don't say this lightly either. If you were to directly compare the AWP and the OP, the AWP is hands down 3x more powerful than the OP currently is. It boasts : - More ammo overall, and more ammo per clip.
- Instantaneous ADS, and instantaneous Accuracy after scoping in. (though this is more a trait of all scoped weapons in CS:GO)
- Better hip-fire accuracy.
- Higher ROF
- More forgiving movement accuracy
//Thanks to u/IAmNotOnRedditAtWork for pointing some of these out as they escaped me I have a shortish video on this, with some old community server / lower level faceit games. It's presented as more of a frag movie than anything so there's no need to watch it, but I do think it can offer some important context when talking about how insane the AWP actually is for high level players. I've edited it to have specific time stamps in the description so that you can jump between the clips that are actually relevant to this discussion. Turn down volume as there is music and I'm sure its obnoxious. Here you go Despite the obvious advantages the AWP has, we don't really see it being as prevalent and oppressive as we do in Valorant. We do not see double AWP and Triple AWP rounds being NEAR as viable as they are here, with triple AWP rounds being almost nonexistent. I chalk this up to quite a few things : - Movement speed. I think this is discounted quite a bit by nearly everyone. But people fail to realize how big of a deal this really is. I don't think I need to elaborate on this too much. But I think it's important to highlight "punishing" an AWPer. Typically, in CS you're only going to punish an AWPer if they miss their shot. Sure you can smoke them off or flash them, but typically at a high level they'll be playing in a position where it's easy to fall back and avoid being traded if they do get flashed off their angle, that is until you're on site. (Also important to note that not all AWPers play aggressive at lower levels). If it's mathematically easier to hit shots in Valorant, you bet your ass this is having an overall effect on how consistent this weapon can perform. It also (purposefully) eliminates the usefulness of jiggle peeking or baiting shots, which is a massive part of counter-play in CS. I'm not saying they should increase movement speed. I just think pointing this out is healthy for understanding and discussing this topic as a whole.
- Movement Speed pt. 2. On top of movement speed in Valorant being much lower, many CS players will probably tell you that the way in which you move in Valorant is instantaneous. There is no counter strafing, and as a result, if you were to stand still, and then start running, you reach your max velocity almost immediately, if not immediately. This is the same in reverse. You lose your momentum the second you let go off WASD, your momentum being what brings about innaccuracy. This allows the OP to be hyper aggressive in situations where it shouldn't be. Period. You can hold an angle, whiff your shot, and then repeek that same angle aggressively all because you have no aim penalty within a time frame where your aggression should be punishable. In CS:GO the max velocity is higher, and the acceleration has a longer time between min and max. This makes it so that repeeking an angle has a window of innaccuracy that is PARAMOUNT in balancing for a weapon like this. The OP in Valorant currently has little counter-play outside of maybe DDoSing your opponent and hoping they miss shots.'
- Utility. This isn't a secret. Most the player-base is probably aware in some form that this is having an effect on the meta. On top of there being very little vision limiting utility (smokes), I think the lack of counter play regarding flashes is also an issue. In CS, it's usually quite easy to see a flash coming, and depending on your weapon and/or position, either turn and avoid the flash, or to turn and run entirely. Sometimes if it's a pop flash you'll tank it and pray you don't die. But in Valorant, the flashes are very very quick to pop, and they last almost no time at all. You can't act off your own flash at all on most angles, and ton's of choke points require you to walk a distance where the flash is entirely negated anyway. For instance, Ascent A site. If you flash from main the distance between main and site is large enough that most people holding close aren't going to be flashed by the time you're pushed up. So maybe you get the AWPer off the long angle they're holding, and then you start pushing only for the person holding close to take contact and have the AWPer peek back out. This is why we see Phoenix being so viable in TSM's lineup. Flashing out smokes gives the entire team the biggest possible window in order to act on that utility. It's basically equivalent to a pop flash in CS, and also allows you to have more control over where you're flashing onto a site. So you can flash and pop out of the smoke much quicker than if you were around a corner, and you can also flash much deeper into a choke point then you'd normally be able to. That said, this is not a direct counter to OP meta. It's just an issue with flashes I've noticed, and a sort of "work around" I've seen take center stage.
And this kinda brings me to my next issue. And probably the one we all should have expected. - Map design. Outside of most the maps feeling incredibly linear, and despite them feeling like Hallway simulator 2020. I think there's another issue in relation to thoughtful map design. One of the things I mentioned above was how certain elements were streamlined, in relation to utility mainly. This, in my opinion, also relates to the map design.
CS has very tried and true bits of utility at play. Smokes, Mollies, and Flashes. When you play CS at a level where executes are necessary, it's actually quite fascinating to learn how each map has been designed with utility constantly in mind. Cache B site for instance, there's a window directly above site meant for throwing utility. Mirage A has a massive area above ramp for throwing util. Inferno Apts even has fucking windows on the opposite side of site, with a chimney adjacent to them in order for you to bank utility off of. Dust 2 recently underwent a change in B tuns to allow for more utility and site executes given how hard the site was too take control of. Whether it be on attacks or retakes. Valorant has streamlined "utility" so much, that they've forgotten the exact reason why it was implemented in the way that it was in CS:GO, and why it worked so well. Valorant has thrown thoughtful map design out the window in favor of meaningless gimmicks that fall flat after your 5th game on the map. Guess what Riot, I don't care about opening and closing destructible doors, or ropes that give you a surprising amount of velocity and accuracy while attached, and definitely not 3 fucking sites. I play ranked games where my opponents go 3-14 and then start fragging out when they decide to whip out the OP. The gun is too easy to use and it sports almost zero counter-play. IT IS AN ISSUE. I understand not jumping the gun and rushing towards some half ass balancing decision, but you've been so quick to address smaller issues that didn't actively suck the fun out of the game and reward players for using an obvious crutch. // People have pointed out some poor phrasing on my part here, would just like to iterate that I'm not against these kinds of gimmicks, they have a place and I don't mean to undermine anyone who enjoys them. I just think these gimmicks are being used in place of good map design. Sort of a "sure ascent is a terrible map but here are some doors you can open and close, this one has ropes!" Ascent is the closest map to CS design we currently have in Valorant in my opinion, and it still ignores most of what made those maps work in the first place. Scrap the gimmicks. Nobody wants this random shit. I want maps with intelligent design choices, meaningful spots for fair trades at the beginning of rounds, I want maps designed with rotates in mind and counter-play at heart. You can tell CS maps are designed with all the games utility in mind. I'm constantly reminded that I can't say the same about any of Valorant's maps. With that being said, what are some ways to fix these issues? - Add a slight time frame with the OP that adds inaccuracy after moving, keep this outside of movement speed, have it be its own value. For instance, if you scope in with the OP, then strafe to the side and stop moving, add an extra .5 or whatever amount of time where there is still an innaccuracy debuff applied. OPs are meant for holding angles, they are already ridiculously good at that in this game. Punish them for playing aggressive.
- Phoenix's flash needs a slight "rework" to come more into line with vision blocking utility in relation to cutting off angles. Phoenix's flash shouldn't pop so quickly. I think it sports niche usability with little counter-play. When throwing out Phoenix's flash, have it hover in air at the very end of it's duration while giving it an obvious "charge-up" animation, give a larger (but still small) window in order to either back off an angle, or to turn your back too it, and then have it pop, and increase the time frame in which you're flashed slightly. I also considered having Phoenix be invulnerable to his flash, as a way to give Phoenix a way to more reliably entry, while still forcing him to play slightly outside of his team in these situations, (or risk flashing them). This promotes playing anti flash and/or less predictable and maybe even more dangerous positions in order to deny Phoenix this ground when he attempts to entry. I think it adds a reasonable amount of counter play in a game that severely lacks it currently, I think it gives Phoenix some needed independence and room to make these types of solo plays, while also letting an agent specifically gain ground around OPers. I think a good way to envision this is Ascension A site. Instead of OPing heaven when you know Phoenix likes to flash in from main and push you off your angle, you can play on site to the left, and play anti flash in order to kill him when he attempts to entry. Diagram Here
- LET YOUR COMMUNITY DESIGN MAPS FOR YOU. For the love of god the fact that I even have to say this makes me angry. Community interaction has lead to CS being the powerhouse of an E-sport it is today. Volcano's involvement is proof of this. No one is saying you have to add them as actual competitive maps, but acting like you can produce better content than your entire community is ridiculously naive when you've already shown that's NOT the case. Add some kind of community tool for your players to design maps, and have some kind of game mode that rotates these featured community maps every couple of months or something. Even if it's just to give the team at Riot ideas and inspiration. I was worried months ago when you said you weren't going to allow even the most basic of community creativity in this regard. It's okay to be wrong Riot. Valve was smart enough to realize the community could carry some of that workload, while also teaching them and giving them inspiration. Volcano is on your dev team because of this reality.
submitted by /u/mckaystites [link] [comments] |
| Sunday morning rated Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:28 AM PDT |
| Every time Omen uses ult Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:16 PM PDT |
| Shooting Range is Good, Here's How I Think It Could Be Great Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:35 AM PDT  | I use the practice range before jumping into my first game, ranked or not, as a bunch of you also do. Although its not perfect it has helped me get better at the gun play in the game. I think with a few small(ish) changes the Range could be much better, and even for me, would offer things in regards to warming up and finding consistency with the weapons, that not even Deathmatch would offer when it comes out. Below is the list of things I would love to see in the Range. I know, I know, my Photoshop skills are incredible...there should be no reason to find anything to complain about in those regards...dont be jealous...dont cry.... tl/dr: - The Range should be deeper (increase from 20m to 50m+), from Start button to back wall, to allow for players to practice at longer ranges with guns capable of the those ranges.
- Allow players to be able to set the distance they want bots to spawn, allowing them to customize their practice to focus on areas they are weak. Would require the Range to be larger per the first suggestion.
- Allow obstacles, such a standard set of boxes and barrels to all be toggled on and off to offer variances in targeting for a more realistic approach to practicing for those that wish to use it.
- Enable bots to be able to spawn at random on top of said obstacles to allow for the players to practice gun play at different heights. Would require obstacles to be enabled but is also itself a toggle option.
- Allow bots to crouch (also controlled via a toggle in the settings), at random, with a weight heavier towards not crouching, to allow for more realistic practice.
- Add a secondary Start and Practice button to the score board so that you dont have to be behind the barrier to begin.
- Add areas where the player can stand at a height to allow for practice shooting down at enemies.
Area Depth During a deeply scientific process to calculate the distance from the Start button to the back wall of the range, I found myself out of funding and tired, but after applying for a government grant to continue my research and through tough and tedious research I finally concluded after....years(?)....of research that the Range is around 15-20 (I think 18) meters deep from Start button to back wall. The study included setting the distance target to 20m and then counting "Mississippis" while walking the distance, then doing the same on the Range, I know, it sounds hard, but someone needed to do it. I believe the Range should be 50m deep, at minimum, to practice shooting guns that have ranges reported of that distance. Even deeper would be great to practice sniping against long range targets. Speaking personally, I can hit short and medium range shots pretty consistently but sometimes struggle with the longer range shots. Because I use the range so often to practice I find that not having those distances hurts my overall practice because I am unable to train, in an easy way, the thing I struggle most with. depiction of a \"deeper\" shooting range, didnt measure the depth to make the picture, just for example purposes As it sits right now, I mostly use the Range "sideways" where I shoot the Start button, jump the barrier, then stand on the right or left most side and shoot "sideways" down the range. While this does help as the distance is greater, I personally find the most benefit from shooting Strafing bots, and because many bots strafe left to right when you stand on the left or right they effectively do not look like they are strafing. using the Range \"sideways\" Depth Setter This feature piggybacks on the Area Depth ask. With a deeper Range I think there should be selection options in the F3 menu to choose at which depths you want to practice with, allowing users to set the depths which in game would enable or disable bot spawn regions in the Range area. `Short`, `Mid`, `Long`, `All` should be options, but the user should be allowed to select a combination of of the them unless obviously they have selected `All`. You wanna practice short and long ranges because your mid range is already tight ass? Boom, select Short and Long and the bots will only spawn there, preeeetttyyy clutchhh. not showing the extended depth I propose, but gets the point across Obstacles (Optional Layout Structures) The overall layout is good, and I have no complaints for what it is, but I think with a few obstacles where the bot spawn point would be just to the side of the obstacle (not hidden, I'm not looking to have to search out hiding bots) would help practice getting kills on characters not completely exposed. Obstacles should be able to be toggled on and off in the F3 menu. crazy photoshop skills Verticality Having the bots spawn sometimes at different heights would be ideal as in game you are playing against players who not always at eye level, both because of map design but also because you have agent abilities to account for (looking at you Jett, Sage, Omen, Raze) which allow for gun fights at disproportionate heights. Would love to practice this to help build some twitch muscle memory in changing combat heights. This would also be selected in the F3 menu and would require that obstacles be enabled to provide areas for the bots to spawn on top of. I also think utilizing some of the existing geometry would be good too, such as the boxes to left, the stairs to the right and potentially even the window up top to the right if it were just opened up. Crouching Randomly have the bots crouch, maybe something in to the ratio of 1:7-10. This is a simple one but I think it would be effective for many people to utilize during training as it is common for players to crouch while shooting. This would be awesome to have in the range to help players build the skills and accuracy around switching between standing and crouching enemies. Also toggled on and off in the F3 settings. Start and Practice Button on Score Board Another simple one but as a person who often jumps the barrier to shoot the bots in their own territory, attacking the enemy on the front lines, looking them in their dead robot eyes before their timely deaths at the hand of my weapon equipped with $300 dragon skin, I would like the Start and practice buttons to also be on the score board. Not only on the score board, but in addition to the ones that already exist. https://preview.redd.it/znm88m1icga51.jpg?width=1918&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e78037154270338a16f1def433b165de3ef997c Player Height Last but not least...well actually yes, least, because I dont think its as important as any of the other options would be. Provide some areas where a player might stand, at a higher angle to allow them to practice shooting down at targets, to mimic situations like A and B heaven on Split, Hooka on Bind, Heaven on Bind, just to name a few. This could be as simple as a catwalk or even by opening up the building on the right side with the stairs, making the windows larger, and removing the cross slats on them. F3 Menu Mock Up I forgot to add bot crouch, just imagine its there Let me know your thoughts, I would love to see some or all of these changes put in place.
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| The operator needs a scope in sound Posted: 12 Jul 2020 01:43 AM PDT It would be really helpful to hear if an enemy player is scoping in and out in their position to make them feel less dominant when holding a close angle submitted by /u/Dawndee670 [link] [comments] |
| I love headshots, so I made a small compilation of my own for your satisfaction, enjoy! Posted: 12 Jul 2020 04:07 AM PDT |
| Picture this: Haven, Doubledoor. Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:06 AM PDT |
| I was flashbang immune for a comp game Posted: 11 Jul 2020 04:56 PM PDT |
| Quickest game of Valorant you've ever seen? Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:04 AM PDT |
| Two things that would make Valorant better IMO Posted: 11 Jul 2020 11:50 PM PDT More maps over more agents. Riot plans on pumping out 6 agents in a year, which many have speculated to be WAY too much, and could be a potential threat to the integrity of the game. I actually rather have more maps come out as that could really change the dynamics of each agent and how the game is played. All the maps so far in Valorant are pretty good, but i think if we have a good variety of maps, and not just four, we'd always be refreshed to keep playing over and over. At that point, it would be cool to have a map select menu and such. A menu focused on personal stats and records. Some days i pop off and some days i'm missing every shot. However, I'm always wondering if I'm improving my game. It would be nice to have a section of the game that analyzes your long term performance in all areas such as, most kills in a game, most spike detonation/defuses in a game, best KDA, avg KDA etc. feel free to post your own ideas! submitted by /u/duershabba [link] [comments] |
| Really enjoying Valorant, decided to make an edit let me know what you think. Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:32 AM PDT |
| Last week I asked a question here about training my aim, today I got two Match MVP in unrated! Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:41 AM PDT Hi! So this post is just to encourage people who feel they aren't doing very well. I just wanted to share my short journey. I'm at bronze 1, so please don't take it to mean I'm an exceptional player. So I haven't been into gaming much. Before Valorant I had played a little UT and GTA. Both games didn't require much of an aim so I definitely feel that I don't have the skills to play this game. I think I've been playing about three weeks now. And that's maybe translates a total of 50 hours. And from mostly struggling, I feel like I've found my bearings. This is what has worked for me Buying a gaming mouse. I bought the cheapest one I could find. But it's so much better than a stock mouse. I don't use any of the extra buttons on the mouse tho. I recommend you buy one of you haven't already. Using the in game training to improve reaction time and aiming for the head. I've gone from struggling at the low speed to scoring 10 at medium speed. Like I said, it isn't impressive but it's an improvement. Switching my main. I started with Jett and moved to Reyna. And while both of them were easy to play, they didn't feel right. I felt over reliant on Reyna's Stealing Sight and Jett's dash and while it got me kills, I had to accept that my over reliance was holding me back. I moved back and forth until settling on Brim. The mix of having a projective weapon, and unstoppable ult and smokes has dovetailed well with my playing style. Will I switch mains again? I might. Omen's lack of projectile weapons, and Viper's limitation of planting smoke within sight are holding me back from maining them for now, but yeah - I might. Talking to team mates. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it helps. I initiate communication regardless. Watching twitch and seeing what people who main agents I like are doing with them. Letting the opposition make mistakes. Rather than rush in every single time, I've noticed that if you play slow you make the other team nervous. And when you do that, they make mistakes. So yeah. I try not to get nervous myself. I should add that both Match MVPs today came in matches we lost. So I'm still not winning all the time. Just improving. Edit: Using a larger table has also helped. My work desk is tiny. I moved to my dining table and i'm able to rest both elbows on the table and while it may not have improved my game a lot, it definitely is a big improvement while playing submitted by /u/HairLikeWinterFire [link] [comments] |
| Reyna was significantly nerfed this patch with no mention in patch notes Posted: 11 Jul 2020 02:49 PM PDT Reyna can now no longer cast Devour of Dismiss on a soul orb unless the orb is on her screen. Previously she could cast either if she had line of sight on the orb - whether on screen or not. Similarly, if Reyna casts Devour, she will only heal while the soul orb is on her screen. There was no mention of this in the patch notes despite this being a very significant nerf. submitted by /u/InertBrain [link] [comments] |
| Is peekers "disadvantage" a thing? Posted: 12 Jul 2020 06:39 AM PDT If peekers advantage exists, wouldn't that imply that peekers "disadvantage" also exists? If you peek an angle and there is a slight delay, then I would assume there is also a slight delay when you move back into cover. This would mean that it's possible to be seen by the enemy in the same way that you can see the enemy first during peekers advantage. I suppose it's just a bit more rare, because the enemy would have to be peeking as well, but it still sounds possible. If I step to the right of my cover, see no one, then step back, there is a moment where I'm still exposed to the enemy in the same fashion that they would be exposed to me during peekers advantage. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I can't see it working only one way. Yes, I know that it's such a short duration that it shouldn't matter, but peekers advantage is still a huge talking point in the community, so it must be important to some degree. submitted by /u/MangeStrusic [link] [comments] |
| So we gave relationship advice with the boys for the people in need while playing a couple days ago Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:32 AM PDT |
| A so called competitive FPS Shooter game can't have stuff like this happening, dont you think? Posted: 12 Jul 2020 06:28 AM PDT https://clips.twitch.tv/CaringCrispyMonitorCclamChamp Honestly I dont even know what the hell is this. Why is it that in CS GO when you play your own movement seems fast and the enemy's movement look slow while in valorant is opposite, which is why we got the whole "ferrari peaks" in this game aswell. Not sure if its a matter of FOV tho. But i think something is broke with the netcode and hitboxes of this game. submitted by /u/MaestroLA [link] [comments] |
| Compilation of the 10 most advanced Tips and Tricks I know! Hope you enjoy :) Posted: 11 Jul 2020 04:54 PM PDT |
| Border poking out in Spilt Posted: 11 Jul 2020 11:46 PM PDT |
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