Top Valorant Agents for Episode 9 Act 2: A Tier List

What are the best Valorant agents? This Valorant tier list categorizes all of the game’s agents based on their potential effectiveness in the average match. The best agents in our book are those who are self-sufficient, yet have tool kits that blend well with others. Simply, this tier list is perfect for high-octane Valorant.

There are 25 Valorant characters in September 2024, but not all of them are well-suited to tackle the current cut-throat pace of the game. During each Valorant act, different agents will have their time in the sun as balance patches come into effect. To find out who tops our Valorant tier list right now, read on. If you’re a newcomer to the FPS game, check our expert picks of who you should play first at the bottom of this guide – here’s a handy link.

Valorant tier list

Here are the best Valorant agents right now:

S-tier

S-tier houses Valorant’s creme de la creme, the very best agents available – for obvious reasons. The Valorant agents in this tier list category are your best bet if you’re trying to escape ELO hell (or want to frag out more casually), and have the right tools to counter prevalent strategies.

Clove

Clove is a Controller in title only. Though they have smokes at their disposal, Clove’s kit is way more varied than the likes of Brimstone and Viper, letting them operate as a hybrid Duelist. Asides from their Ruse (smokes), Clove has a throwable fragment that can temporarily decay enemies, making it easier for them to secure a takedown.

What’s more, once your enemy’s dead, Clove can absorb their life essence, granting them movement speed and temporary health similarly to Reyna. Oh, and if you are killed with your ultimate up, don’t worry, simply pop it and you’ll come right back to life. That being said, you’ll need to kill someone to stay that way.

Jett

Jett is an agent for players who want to take big risks but are confident they can hit their shots. She’s fast, nimble, and can escape practically any situation. The best Jett players are sharp with blade-throwing ultimate, can navigate the arena quickly, and can use the Operator or Judge.

Jett is a Duelist, and her kit is all about movement: she can hover, dash, soar into the air, and throw down clouds that obscure vision for a few seconds. In the hands of a skilled player, Jett can zoom straight onto a site, carving up the defense and allowing the rest of the attackers to clean up. Her dashing ability encourages playing in unconventional and unsafe spots, as you can get a shot off and retreat immediately. Finally, Jett’s ultimate is invaluable to a skilled aimer, especially if you unleash it on an eco-round.

Raze

Raze gets a lot of flak for being too simple and only being helpful in picking up cheap frags with her Paint Shells cluster grenades and rocket ultimate. However, she’s one of the strongest agents for clearing utility in Valorant. Her Paint Shells and Blast Packs can be lobbed into default Tripwire and Nanoswarm spots, perfect for buying a quick path onto the site. On defense, these same abilities are handy for slowing down pushes.

The Duelist’s Boom Bot can be deployed for intel-gathering and corner clearing. It’s also a simple and efficient means of distracting the enemy team, allowing you to swing out and get a shot off. Raze’s Blast Packs are what separates the good Raze players from the great ones. While the satchels are extremely valuable, not everyone can use them to their full potential. The most obvious application is to throw these packs down and use them to elevate to a higher position or to push or escape an enemy quickly. Unfortunately, learning the satchels is no easy feat, so many players opt for other, simpler Duelists.

Omen

Omen’s feint moves and ability to move around the battlefield without being spotted make him incredibly difficult to read, forcing enemies to second guess anything you do. He can quickly move between cover in the heat of battle without exposing himself, blind and deafen huge areas of a site with his flashes, and cut off important Operator angles with his precise smoke placement.

The main issue with Omen these days is that he can be anticipated and managed, especially as a lot of standard strats with this character are well-known at this point. He’s still great fun for new players, but as you come across more veteran players in ranked play, you’ll find it harder and harder to surprise them.

Cypher

Cypher’s recon utility is a little too easy to predict and destroy if you’re not switching up placement every round. Still, he is a potent agent in the right hands, and far outclasses the other Sentinels on the list.

Cypher’s ultimate is very ‘feast or famine’, relying on Cypher being near a downed enemy. That said, it can be a round-saving ability if it confirms the site is clear for you to plant on, or if it reveals the last couple of enemies hiding in corners ahead of you.

A-tier

A-tier agents are those who narrowly missed the cut to be ranked higher, but they are still highly viable, hence remaining close to the top of the tier list. Players who can’t get the hang of S-tier agents can sail through the ranks just as easily with our A-tier picks.

Iso

Iso is a wonderful Duelist for teamplay thanks to the utility his kit brings. Between his bullet-blocking Contingency wall and fragile-inflicting Undercut orb, Iso’s flexibility is a huge tactical boon.

But that’s not to say he doesn’t have enough tricks up his sleeve to win out in those 1v1s. His Double Tap ability, while situationally strong, can enable him to go on rampages as he tanks hit after hit. What’s more his ultimate ability Kill Contract allows you to isolate a target who could be stationed in a key position, and pull them into a duel to the death – putting the ‘Iso’ into ‘isolation.’

Neon

While Neon has the potential to be an exceptional duelist in the right hands, her toolkit is a double-edged sword that demands finesse and skill to wield. For example, High Gear provides sonic-fast speed, but you must also have crisp aim to tackle an enemy right after hitting pause.
Fast Lane is another great ability for giving a clear pathway into space or potentially for isolating an enemy agent for a 1v1 bout. Her other two abilities are less about speed and more about harassment.

Relay Bolt is a great way to disrupt an enemy formation and create an opening for the rest of her team, while her ultimate ability can either be used to crank up her speed to 11 or condense it all into a lightning bolt attack that will make you feel like Emperor Palpatine.

Neon does come with some risk, however – she’s not exceptionally hard-hitting and will need support to ensure she doesn’t get stuck in a position she can’t zoom her way back out of.

Sova

Sova is a pure reconnaissance agent, although his ultimate is handy for netting some free kills, and you must spend hours in the range to be decent at piloting Sova. With the right lineups though, you can get a read on how many enemies are stacked up on a certain site.

Another initiator, Sova’s Shock Bolts are useful for clearing out traps, chipping enemies with damage, and halting pushes. His Owl Drone can then be used as a follow-up to the Recon Bolt to gain intel on any areas the bolt couldn’t see. All of this makes Sova equally viable on attack and defense, making him the best agent in the game for supporting a push onto the site.

Finally, there’s Sova’s ultimate, which can be used with map pings to deliver deadly blows to key map positions like heaven and window. Even if you can’t land a kill with the three arrows, you should at least be able to flush the enemy out of position so your team can clean them up.

Gekko

This green-haired agent nabs a very respectable spot our list for his Wingman and Mosh Pit. Intel-gathering, planting or defusing the Spike, blinding enemies – Gekko can do all of this and more. He’s a jack of all trades and master of all things Spike.

Gekko is a great pick for his reusability potential. Sure, there are other great agents, but no one can reuse their abilities as often as Gekko can. With Gekko, you’ll get seven flashes in a single session and a sidekick that’d go the extra mile to plant that Spike. The initiator is perfectly self-sufficient, but his viability increases tenfold in a team setting.

Viper

Viper’s unrivaled mastery of the post-plant meta allows her to secure large areas and defend against aggressive enemy pushes. For those seeking to climb the ranks quickly in the controller category, the poison handler is the ideal choice. Difficult to master, Viper requires precision. However, if piloted by the right person, she can lock down a site on her own.

Most of her abilities do chip damage rather than killing enemies, so she needs good support so that others can come in and capitalize on the opponent’s weakened state. The addition of the ‘fragile’ debuff to Viper’s Snakebite means players have to avoid her molotov unless they want to take double damage, making it considerably more effective on eco rounds.

Killjoy

Killjoy is one of the best Valorant agents thanks to her low learning curve and high viability. Her no-nonsense toolkit can punish aggressive pushes, lazy default plants, and deal damage. The sentinel’s main benefit is that her gadgets can collect information without risking her own neck, and her powers are synonymous with Valorant’s post-plant meta that’s so good, many players have grown to hate it.

On larger maps like Ascent, Killjoy is a force to be reckoned with as her Turret takes form of a sixth operator on the squad. Even new players can take full advantage of Killjoy’s toolkit without spending hours in the range. That said, her ultimate ability – Lockdown – can be lethal. Locking down anyone in range can either prove fatal for a well-timed push, or it can help your team retake the site and defuse the Spike.

Chamber

If this list ranked agents in terms of how well dressed they were, Chamber would be God tier. Sadly, it’s ranked on how well agents fare, and while the exquisitely cut Frenchman is in a far better state than he has been, he’ll never quite reach the sort of sartorial dominance he achieved when he first launched.

Chamber’s excellent for eco rounds and has some maneuverability thanks to his Rendezvous ability, but the majority of his lethality comes from how good a shot the person controlling him is. His ultimate ability summons an Operator – so unless you’re particularly good with this sniper rifle, Chamber will be as much use as a sharp suit in a firefight.

B-tier

B-tier agents are useful but may not work as well in the current game meta. However, they can help you get to a certain rank until high-skilled enemies, wielding the likes of Jett and Omen, start to test your resolve.

Vyse

Vyse has plenty of ways to make the enemy miserable, making her a potent Sentinel in the right hands. Her Shear – a hidden trap that springs an unbreakable wall up behind the agent triggering it – is particularly powerful when defending, as you can completely cut off a rushing Duelist from the rest of their team and pick them without answer.

While her other two basic abilities – Razorvine and Arc Rose – aren’t quite as potent in our book, her ultimate, Steel Garden, completely cuts off the primary weapons of players hit. This is amazing when your team’s on an eco round, as it prevents the opposition from making use of the rifles they’ve just bought – nasty. Kit aside, Vyse has one of our favorite agent designs ever, and her visual effects are incredible.

Yoru

Yoru’s had perhaps the weirdest trajectory of any agent on our Valorant tier list. His launch state was so below par that he was quickly lined up for a rework, which did little to turn the tide in the Duelist’s favor. Yoru languished at the bottom of the pile for so long that seeing him pop up in pro play was either considered a treat – specifically in the hands of Paper Rex’s Jason ‘f0rsakeN’ Susanto – or a troll.

Nowadays, Yoru’s in a much better spot – great news considering he’s incredibly fun to play. The proto-typical trickster can send out clones to divert fire, while flinging forward a tether he can teleport to. If things get too hot on entry, Yoru also has a couple of flashes at his disposal.

The big one is Yoru’s ultimate, Dimensional Drift, which turns him completely invisible and allows him to run around the map as he pleases. While in this state, you’ll be able to find the perfect position to rack up kills while gathering a ton of intel for the team.

KAY/O

As Riot keeps adding more ability-heavy agents, Kay/O becomes more relevant. The war machine is equipped with a suppressor crucial to deal with the likes of Gekko, Chamber, and agents with aggravating utility within their toolkit. Kay/O can shut down the formidable heavy-lifters with just a small holographic dagger.

Again, Kay/O has a low learning curve but a high mastery curve, meaning green players can put their rank grind into motion, and old-timers may go wild with the tricks Kay/O’s simple toolkit has to offer.

Phoenix

A jack-of-all-trades duelist, Phoenix is one of the best agents for the ranked grind to get you out of ELO stagnancy quickly. He doesn’t need heavy team support, so he’s perfect for days when you keep matching up with no-mic griefers.

From his Hot Hands ability that he can use to heal while it burns everyone around him to death to his ultimate that lets him run in, wreck house, and essentially rubber-band back to where he started like nothing happened, Phoenix can do a little bit of everything.

Skye

Skye is a fabulous Initiator who can both create space and generate intel for the team. Guiding Light can blind enemies with its flash effect, and Trailblazer or her ultimate Seekers can help you flush enemies out of cover and deal damage.

Skye’s pick rate drastically improves when playing on smaller maps on both offense and defense, thanks to her impressive utility options. She even has some light healing, although she’s not a replacement for Sage in this regard.

Fade

The Turkish bounty hunter is a certified hit in Valorant, and it’s no surprise why – she’s just that darn good. Though she’s not quite the best intel-gatherer in Valorant’s current meta, she has her advantages as her Haunt ability spots enemies in rat corners unreachable by the likes of Sova’s dart. Typically, initiators like to stay at the backlines, but Fade can use her Seize to pull enemies right into her crosshair.

Fade’s Nightfall is a great tool to take control of a defender-infested area. Marked by terror trails, deafened and blind enemies are completely vulnerable under Fade’s spell. At this time, pairing Fade’s ultimate with her Prowler can yield unbelievable results.

Brimstone

Not the fanciest controller in Valorant, Brimstone’s impact is nonetheless unmatched. The pack leader brings a unique Stim Beacon to Valorant, instrumental in breaking open sites, especially after the buffs. Attackers can swing into the bomb point at the back of the Stim Beacon, providing a solid speed and fire rate buff.

Brimstone is the superior controller for smokes that last for an eternity, owning Valorant’s longest-lasting smokes that stay up for almost 20 seconds. That’s the better half of the round if you use all three smokes in the same spot. Then, of course, his incendiary and ultimate add more luster to his reputation. Originally, Brimstone was thought to be boring, but now that’s the only downside to him.

Astra

Astra literally changed the game when she was introduced, and it’s no wonder because she has powerful cosmic abilities, meaning she plays quite differently from the other agents on the roster.

The controller can, by definition, crowd control with her Gravity Well ability or concuss enemies with Nova Pulse. She also has smokescreens to block line of sight in an emergency, but underpinning her themed ability set is the need to go into the astral form and place ‘stars‘ used to fuel the other abilities. Make sure you don’t get lured by the beauty of this form – as cool as it is to be a ghost, you are entirely vulnerable and unarmed in astral form.

The astral form is also where Astra triggers her ultimate – Cosmic Divide. This splits the map along a set axis with a giant wall that can block bullets and dampen sound, giving your team the breathing room to either regroup or plan an ambush. She’s definitely not easy to steer, but a good Astra player can be valuable in high ELO games.

C-tier

C-tier agents may struggle to stand their ground against most Valorant agents, but players may still run them on specific maps or situations. These agents possess valuable skills that may require a significant investment of time to master, and therefore may not be worthwhile given their lower effectiveness.

Reyna

There are many positive arguments and things to be said about Reyna’s potential and toolset, but she’s another ‘feast or famine’ agent, which means she’s only as good as the player controlling her. She can be S-tier in the hands of the right player, especially when solo-queuing, but for this list, she struggles to remain in C as she’s a poor team player.

To her credit, Reyna’s flashes are powerful for peaking and pushing, and her ability to chain frags together makes her the ultimate agent for clutching out rounds. This is extremely powerful when paired against a lesser team, but Reyna’s abilities simply aren’t as good when matched up against equal opposition, as she can’t score kills as easily.

Deadlock

The perfect teammate, Deadlock’s defensive abilities could be game-changing in the right hands but need team comms to be most effective. Particularly, we think, when it comes to the likes of wrangling skills Annihilation (the ability to pull a captured enemy towards your location) and Barrier Mesh, which can trap an opponent when placed correctly. Sonic Sensor is Deadlock’s greatest ability though, which not only senses nearby enemies but also concusses opposing players in the area.

Breach

As with a lot of the agents in Valorant, Breach can be a powerhouse in the right hands. In the wrong hands, however, he’s as much a hindrance to his own team as he is to the enemy team – and he’s almost always in the wrong hands.

This initiator is a very complex agent to pilot, meaning he’s very difficult to get to grips with, and you need to understand his abilities and how they work to a very high degree if you want to give him a go. Otherwise, you might find yourself blinding your teammates more than the enemies. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Sage

Not only is Sage Valorant’s only dedicated healer, but she can also bring dead teammates back to life with her ultimate, which can instantly swing the tide of a match.

Her signature orbs also have other uses – she can place a wall to seal off a route with the Wall Orb, and she can also slow down enemy agents who are caught by her Slow Orb. While these can be destroyed by the enemy, doing so forces them to reveal their position, which can be used to gain the upper hand. Sage can pair quite nicely with specific operators, so if you’re taking her, make sure you think hard about team composition.

D-tier

Harbor

When launched with his water shield, the hype around Harbor was nothing short of remarkable. But, like many new additions to Valorant, Harbor turned out to be a bust. Some players still swear by his toolkit, but his Cascade and High Tide have nothing valuable to offer. The water screens slow down enemies and create new angles – a job that many other agents are capable of doing much better.

Harbor’s smoke might be unique and valuable, but it can be easily countered. Cove blocks bullets, but a mere seven Vandal shots will leave the defuser out in the open, ready to be toast. Compared with other ultimates in Valorant, Reckoning feels like a waste of seven points, especially at high ranks. The concuss is wimpy, and sky wisps are tricky to catch during chaotic battles.

How this Valorant tier list was created

This Valorant tier list considers the current meta, so while some of the lower-tier agents are very powerful on paper, you’ll find their abilities hard to use because of how most teams generally play. To determine each agent’s ranking, we considered factors such as their overall viability, success/pick rate, and whether their skills align with the current meta and popular playstyles.

It’s also worth noting that no Valorant agent is bad. You may see some players breezing through the ranks with a C-tier agent and some at the bottom of the scoreboard with a God-tier character. At the end of the day, it comes down to personal play style, practice, and tactics. While some agents may be classified as S-tier, they may not be suitable for everyone.

If your team is trying to figure out what comp they should be running in ranked, hopefully, our Valorant tier list will help you. We’ve done our research tuning into pro streams and dying countless times over in ranked play, so you don’t have to.

Best Valorant agents for beginners

Here are the best Valorant agents for beginners:

• Brimstone
• Clove
• Gekko
• Killjoy
• Reyna
• Sage

These agents all sport relatively simple kits to get to grips with, though they all have a level of skill expression to them if you’re prepared to put the time in. Brimstone for example offers smokes, a movement stim, a Molotov, and a big death laser. His kit can be picked up and played by anyone, but things like smoke spots, one-ways, and molly line-ups make the best Brimmys absolute demons.

Clove is similar in the way that they deploy smokes – smokes that can also be used after they’ve died. On top of this, their ability to yoink life essence like Reyna means that two parts of their kit are pulled directly from two of the most beginner-friendly agents in the game. Throw in a simple timed decay orb and a self-revive, and Clove is the perfect modern agent for newbies to get to know.

Speaking of Reyna, the Duelist is the ultimate one-woman army due to her ability to heal up from defeated enemies. Her ultimate itself is a massive combat stim, so there’s nothing too complex to learn there.

Gekko is a fantastic agent for beginners because he can not only send one of his buddies to plant the spike for him, allowing you to focus on getting your aim and crosshair placement right, but his rechargeable utility makes it difficult to be punished for misusing it – at least, early on in your Valorant career.

Similarly to Brimmy, Sage has a low-skill floor. Packing slow orbs, a wall, a heal, and a revive, there’s not a lot to understand about how she works. However, between gnarly wall placements and clutch revives, proficient Sage players can be absolute menaces on the server.

Now equipped with our Valorant tier list for ranked play, you should have no trouble blasting through enemies with a solid team of our top picks. If you’re looking for more, then you might want to check out when you can pick up some new skins for cheap in the Valorant Night Market, and pay even more attention to detail by equipping one of the best Valorant crosshairs for precise shooting. Good luck, and have fun.

Original guide by Fariha Bhatti.