Avalon 6.1 Adds New Agents to Valorant
Want to know what the best Valorant agents are for Ascent? Don’t be fooled by other agents on maps like Magnus or Oasis; some struggle on the competitive map due to how its areas and chokepoints are laid out. These renowned agents skyrocket the chances of your team winning, showcasing how the map’s unique features need to be meticulously accounted for when building your lineups.
It’s certainly true that whether you’re new to Valorant or a seasoned veteran, you need to account for the changes in agent balance as new patches and seasons of the game pass by. The very first agent balance patch for Ascent, Valorant 6.0 Legacy, happened just a day before Season 1 began, so you’ll want to make sure you’ve grabbed these Ascent-specific agents before the month-long split kicks off.
Ascent maps have been a staple in the competitive scene since Valorant came to life, witnessing countless memorable plays over the last few years. When they are at the top of the competitive ladder, players need to be cracking into the best lineups to get those wins, and there’s nowhere better to start than here.
The Best Ascent Agents in Valorant 2023 Are
You’ll need to carefully select the best Valorant agents at your disposal to stay winning against Ascent’s top competitors, but who are they? Well, if you’re following the meta, you have to have a Sage on Ascent. A classic Sentinel choice, Sage has the damage and healing abilities that make her one of the best healers in the game. She’s essential on Ascent to heal any teammates who get poked at the top or bottom of the map, while her wall ability is potent to block key locations on Ascent’s defense and attack.
If you’re confident in your aim and can use it on multiple ranges, Reyna is a solid Duelist pick to put in your wheelhouse. With strong mobility and good offensive abilities, she can grab quick wins even if plans go wrong against Ascent opponents.
Fade is the Initiator that we see the most on Ascent now and for a very good reason; she has the perfect tools to contest for the two rings on Ascent. However, it does take learning primary lineups for her Haunt ability to scan for enemies effectively, therefore, her Ascent pickiness drops a notch.
Cypher is also known to be excellent on Ascent due to his traps and above-par surveillance skills – you’ll know exactly where all of your enemies are, which is invaluable on this map. Not many are familiar with this utility-orientated agent, but he can place radius traps at a quick pace if you need to find foes that are camping at the top or bottom. If things are going poorly, you can also switch to Sombra and reveal enemies conclusively, or provide more sustain with On Point and heal your teammates.
Astra is one of the most frequently played controllers for strong reasons. Not only does she have strong star applications, but her stars can be placed at highly contested angles and ‘block off’ angles with her smokes. Get in the mindset of your opponent by placing Astra smokes, then throw down the stars for a critical hit that may net you wins against even the tankiest of Overwatch agents.
If you’re confident in your aim, KAY/O is a solid choice for a bursty blocker thanks to his ZERO/POINT and FLASH/DRIVE utilities. ZERO/POINT reveals and suppresses any enemies hit while FLASH/DRIVE blinds enemies caught by the channeled ult. KAY/O is no doubt one of the best Initiators for Ascent due to these potent reveals, helping allies barrage enemies with follow-up damage.
Find a well-balanced Initiator with strong utilities? Enter Killjoy. With abilities such as Alarmbot and handy Nanoswarms, you’ll be able to reveal and provide serious damage if the enemy team is caught in the cluster. Killjoy is widely considered the best due to the uncanny versatility of his utilities, rather than the damage values alone.
Merely find a great Initiator with critical information? Make it Sova. A great all-rounder, you need no gimmicks with Sova as he can deal consistent sustained damage and reveal enemies with critical utility options, giving you flashes of information to plan around throughout a match on Ascent.
Isaiah Crimson makes his return to the guide.
