Initiators are Duelists in disguise, built to serve a more serious purpose in VALORANT. If you prefer occasional chaos and like to play a little bit on the backfoot, then Initiator agents should be your primary pick.
Unlike the Duelists, there are only four Initiators in VALORANT. Almost every team has one or two dedicated Initiators in their compositions. Whether it’s North America or Europe, the undeniable importance of the Initiator agents are the same in every region. However, learning to play all four Initiator agents isn’t a viable idea. Instead, we have to settle with one or two agents.
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Riot’s intention with VALORANT is sometimes difficult to predict. However, the game is now a far cry from what it used to be in 2020. VALORANT is beginning to take a new shape, thanks to the continuous updates coming from the developers. Similarly, Initiator agents now have more roles to play than before, and many teams now consider the Initiators as backup Duelists.
Best Initiator Agents Tier List
| Tier | Agents |
| S-Tier (Best) | Sova |
| A-Tier (Good) | Skye |
| B-Tier (Average) | Breach |
| C-Tier (Poor) | KAY/O |
S-Tier
Sova
Back in Patch 3.05, Sova’s ultimate ability, “Hunter’s Fury,” received a minor but crucial buff. Sova as an Initiator is already quite powerful, and his information gathering ability is almost second to none. With the buff from Riot, he is now the agent to choose.
Sova’s primary ability is the Recon Bolt which can reveal almost anything within its visible range. Combined with the Shock Bolt, Sova can easily neutralize pre-positioned enemies from common locations. His Owl Drone is also a way of gathering information from long distances.
A-Tier
Skye
Skye had her ups and downs throughout multiple patches. After receiving a small nerf during the release of Patch 3.06, Skye’s ability to act as a Duelist got somewhat shattered. The nerf was meant to reduce Skye’s agility to keep her in line with other Initiators.
Despite these changes, Skye’s Guiding Light & Trailblazer are effective abilities to punch a hole through enemy defenses. Her Regrowth ability is also useful in certain situations. Skye’s Ultimate ability “Seekers” might need some rework sometimes soon.
B-Tier
Breach
Breach allows Initaors players to be aggressive and fast. His Flashpoint ability is still one of the best entry-pathing tools to allow the team to gain access anywhere. Even though it was nerfed a while ago, Flashpoint offers some unique attributes that are not comparable to other flashes available in VALORANT.
Additionally, Breach’s Aftershock is now more powerful than ever. During Patch 3.05, Aftershock was buffed to damage some other abilities like Barrier Orb, Recon Bolt, Nanoswar, or Lockdown. Breach’s Aftershock is now lethal and effective. The infamous Jett & Breach combo is still alive, thanks to Breach’s Fault Line ability. Furthermore, Breach’s Ultimate ability is also sufficient enough to clear an entire site in maps like Split, Fracture, or Haven.
C-Tier
KAY/O
First introduced in Patch 3.0, KAY/O’s journey hasn’t been smooth across the year. Players had mixed feelings about KAY/O’s debut since his abilities presented a completely new way of playing the game. Initially, multiple teams tried out KAY/O as it was the new meta back then. At best, the results were underwhelming, and teams were more hesitant to have KAY/O in their lineups.
Even on the casual side of the game, players dropped their interests from KAY/O. Despite this condition, KAY/O is a great agent if the player has enough knowledge about the game itself. KAY/O’S abilities like FRAG/ment, FLASH/drive & ZERO/point could be lethal if utilized perfectly. However, KAY/O’s NULL/cmd needs an improvement.
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Playing an Initiator agent will require you to have extensive knowledge about the existing maps of VALORANT. Initiators agents basically have to make opportunities for the team and show aggression where necessary. Learning to play Initiators isn’t a comfortable experience since you’ll need to learn a lot of lineups, especially with Sova and KAY/O. Comparatively, Skye and Breach are easier to master as their abilities are more offense-centric. VALORANT’s gameplay is bound to shift with the release of each update. So, keeping up with emerging meta’s is a crucial& time-consuming task. No matter what Initiator agent you choose, adaptability is the most important skill you’ll need in VALORANT.
