For Valorant, the new agent Killjoy has been announced. However, she is causing discussions because her abilities primarily target damage. In the meantime, Riot Games has spoken up and explained what many players overlook about her and the shooter in general.
What happened? The 12th agent of Valorant is named Killjoy and is an engineer from Germany. She was leaked ahead of time and has now been officially introduced. Killjoy’s skills have encountered criticism in the community because her kit is almost entirely geared towards causing damage:
- She has multiple turrets that automatically deal damage when enemies come close to them.
- Additionally, she uses a grenade that inflicts damage to all opponents.
- She does not have any defensive abilities or walls to block paths.
Moreover, some fear that the fun of fighting against her will be lost because her turrets operate automatically.
Why is this a problem? Valorant stands between the games Overwatch and CS:GO. Riot aims to create a shooter that focuses on firearms, thus competing with CS:GO. The abilities are intended only as tools, not as the primary source of damage. Many players also desire this.
On the other hand, some believe that the abilities play a (too) significant role and see the game more as a kind of hero shooter like Overwatch.
This discussion has been ongoing since the announcement of Valorant and continues to flare up on reddit or other social media platforms.
Are abilities in Valorant such a problem? In the meantime, Ryan ‘Morello’ Scott, the Character Design Lead at Riot Games, has also voiced his opinion.
He understands the concerns, but strongly disagrees with them. According to him, while the abilities are useful, a large portion of kills ultimately results from weapon handling. Abilities are rather used to control areas of the map or to put pressure on opponents.
More than 90% of kills are executed with weapons
What exactly does Morello say? According to the developer, the abilities of the new agent, as well as old characters, are mainly aimed at putting opponents under pressure.
Abilities should only lead to the deaths of other players when they do not handle them properly:
With abilities that deal damage, it’s about creating threat or pressure – kills are what happens when you cannot deal with the ability (because the opponent cleverly uses it for a checkmate) or do not want to deal with it (when you make the wrong decision).
Furthermore, they allow you to control specific areas and angles of the map.
Things like the Boom Bots or grenades from Raze should support combat with weapons. When we develop abilities (including those of Killjoy), that is always our goal.
The developer is also bothered by the comparison with Overwatch, where abilities actually lead to player deaths. Riot sees them in a position where they assist in killing players rather than serve as a primary damage source.
Morello also emphasizes this with a statistic that states 90% of kills are executed with weapons (via Twitter). He expects that nothing will change with Killjoy since the developers have known her for 4 years and have been planning with her since then.
Is Killjoy an easier agent? Additional criticism from players concerns the difficulty of the new agent. Killjoy seems easier at first glance because she just needs to “deploy” her turrets, and they then automatically do their job.
Morello has also commented on this:
The [idea that Killjoy is supposed to be easier] only comes from the fact that you associate skill with mechanics. However, it will be a mix. Gunplay is the area where skill is utilized the most. We have both; some agents will be more strategic, while others have a complex sweatlord gameplay [mechanics for people who want to push their limits].
“Competitive” is not automatically a synonym for “higher difficulty” here. Many things that are harder raise the skill floor [the level to be effective with the agent] but not the skill ceiling [the maximum potential of an agent].
Learning everything is hard work, but once players have improved, it doesn’t make any difference in mastery.
What does this mean for the future of Valorant? Future agents of Valorant will likely continue to receive abilities designed for damage. Moreover, abilities can also lead to the deaths of opponents repeatedly.
However, the fundamental idea, according to Riot Games, is that they will always take on a supportive role. Gunplay and weapon handling should always play a significant role.
If you want to prove your skill in Valorant, you will soon be able to do so. Because there are some improvements to the ranked system that are coming with Act 2.
