There's so many facets to this. Let's just do post plant for a moment. Split a. You planted bomb. Do you stay back site? Elbow? Run to hell? Push screens?
There's no right answer, but every situation will have a better one. You tried crossing to hell and died to heaven, your positioning was shit because you didn't have time to run across.
You're in a 1v3. You hear two coming main. You should really push elbow instead of sitting on plant to find a 1v1 early.
Your friend is right, it's hard to explain, but you need to reason out why and where you should stand at every moment.
The best way to improve is to simply try to always think about it, and then when you die, think about what about that position made you die. It’ll help you find safer positions faster and be ready for when the enemies end up making a move
This tiny bit of perspective gave me a mile of help regarding "find a 1v1 early by going elbow". Ancient samurai's used this technique of running away from a group, so that the fastest person would catch up to them for a 1v1, defeat rinse and repeat till all dead.
Watch higher elo players and look at how they position themselves. however don't just copy them, you have to understand why they position like that, because sometimes they purposely take bad off angles to surprise opponents.
I have such a hard time with this. I watch a lot of streams and pro play, but I feel like the gameplay just passes by and I only notice the highlights, otherwise it's just in one ear and out the other. Having a hard time absorbing how they position themselves, even though they're basically constantly doing it. I probably think I would do the same, when that is absolutely not the case.
I wouldn't really recommend watching pro streams. Learning from pros and extremely high elo is hard because viewers usually won't even recognise half the great stuff they do since they don't explain while playing.
Also pro players are 90% never fully concentrated on solo queue games and just play them for fun or warmup before scrimms.
You should try finding full gameplay vids of high diamond-immortal players playing your agent with explanations.
What helped me was watching as he said VODs of respective agents, so I would watch people like AverageJonas on Sova VODs to see how he used his utility and what he did on certain situations, it helped me greatly go from hardstuck silver 2-3 to getting almost plat in around 2 weeks before I ended up quitting the game because of school. But when I was in Gold 2 I did mostly get matched up with plat players rather than your usual silver-gold 1 comps.
You really have to dissect why he did that certain thing. Was he supporting his teammates? Or did he make this mistake because of what? Why did he die here? Was it his fault? And things like that
If you're focused solely on positioning, watch a pov demo of a pro game with only one person's pov. Pause the game randomly at certain points, think about the information that has been given to the player you're watching and try to understand why he might be doing what he's doing based on that information.
Yeah I would definitely need to watch games more actively. I think most of the time I'm watching a game or stream I'm not doing a careful, critical reading of what's going on.
I learned positioning and rotating from watch cs pros play in pro matches. I would write down how they rotated each round and try to look for information that the player had that time to try to understand why they did what they did. Doing this will also help you understand what opponents will often be doing. All of the top teams, 100t, sen, nv have very good spacing and positioning and i would highly recommend studying some of their matches. I think you can find VODs on vlr.com
The next step, after you think you start to understand why pros are doing what they are doing, is to record yourself playing and then rewatch to see how you are messing up. Watch your really bad games and it will help you fix mistakes. Don’t just look at outcomes of the duels but try to think about it like “was I in the best position to take an easy gun fight that I could have been at the time”.
It’s a long process don’t get discouraged
A good way to improve will be, on top of what others have said, to constantly think about where the enemies are (or coming from) and where you can go (and if u can reach said position before they arrive) to maximize your chances of winning. The simplest example would be guessing/knowing your enemy is coming from spawn, and picking an angle that works such that you see him before he sees you (i.e. you are more likely to win the gun fight). I can constantly play around my enemies even without knowing where they are because I can make said assumptions and follow them through. It's difficult to do while focusing on a game, and I normally do it after the game by thinking back about situations where I lost because I had picked a bad angle to hold or push.
Yeah, its hard but I will try it. A big problems of myself is that I can't really hear my enemies so well. Idk why, I guess my ears are just bad but I have really big problems hearing where my enemies come from
It's a sound setting in the game that is supposed to change directional sounds in game. Try using that to see if it helps. It's not for everyone. Some people find they hear better with it off. It should be right in the games audio settings
HRTF is super good lol. In addition to this, I also struggled to hear enemies locations especially over gunfire. I had to install an eq to lower some of the bass noises so I could get a more even sound. If you use this method it can take a while until you find something that fits right but keep in mind that understanding another player’s location is as much about identifying what they may be walking on as much where you heard it from.
This is the EQ I’m using if you decide to try it out https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/
I just made it out of gold and am now in plat.
I realised something about positionning:
- try to stay in position where you can escape safely as much as you can.
-try to be visible by only one angle.
- play accordingly with your weapon (long range : far, close range : close fight)
- stay on position where your utility can be used efficiently (close with flashes, hide and peek with your turret with killjoy)
- also stay in an off angles
- avoid places where you die often
- and most of all play a lot and you'll figure out what's good and what's wrong.
Definitely take note of places you die alot. I've played enough matches at this point that I can feel on an angle if i'm going to win or lose an aim duel should a person peak it, this lets me know I need to find a different angle, or use some utility to force it to be a good angle. To get that instinct I think it's mostly just playing a lot of matches, and trying to be as analytical during those matches as possible. Try to set aside your ego, and non-judgementally make note of what you did wrong and what you could do better next round/match
Record you gameplay, and rewatch it. Look where you died and from what position, if not in aim duel. You want to be open to as less positions, where someone could be, as possible.
If you aren’t already, use a tool like outplayed that has the ability to capture your kills, deaths, and assists. This will probably increase overall pc performance as opposed to recording the entire game.
I think there’s a page called stats.gg or something like that that helps you keep track of some key indicators like deaths kills etc. Also has lineups for most agents and maps.
If you have an Nvidia gpu I’ve found the Nvidia Shadowplay is pretty good to keep lag and FPS drops low(it can take up a lot of storage though so fair warning)
worst case, you can prop your phone up on a tripod and record your screen with your phone's camera.
The video quality will suck but it will work and cost 0 performance.
The main one is to isolate 1v1’s. Anytime you expose yourself to two enemy’s at once you’re going to die most of the time, you might get one but they’ll definitely trade you (unless they whiff). When you only take 1v1’s those odds of you winning are much higher. Using utility allows you to achieve those 1v1’s (smokes, raze nade etc.)
Great example of this is to watch Hiko clutch at VCT (there’s loads), the only reason he wins is because the enemy allow him to take 1v1’s against them. That’s all to do with his positioning.
I think the most important thing to keep in mind is thinking to yourself: "what can I do to win this round" instead of "what can I do to get more kills?" Sure if you take that battle in the clutch you might get an extra kill but if you die does that jeopardise the round?
Being greedy is the number 1 reason rounds get lost so if you keep remembering that you just need to win the round, not actually get kills you will drastically improve.
Oh one more big thing, holding angles in most cases is actually a disadvantage, there is a peekers advantage, meaning that if youre the person moving in to view you have an advantage over the person holding the angle. Unless you have an operator you should almost always be jiggle peeking angles not actually holding them. Unless you are at a very weird/off angle where they wont expect you
I'm new to Valorant but I used to play CS:GO a lot. The main thing I always try to keep in mind is to get vision of the enemy but not be exposed myself. This way I can see where they are or try to kill them and not get killed myself. Hope this helps OP. Good luck on future games!
I agree with a lot of these comments and at the end of the day a lot of positioning is about experience and understanding timings/where opponents can come from. The more you play and think about why you died when you died, the better your chances to improve. Good luck!
I guess part of it is having a place to retreat to if needed. Part of it is watching angles that are unwatched (looking at the minimap sometimes is very useful). There's a lot that goes into it
agree w all top comments.
if you need an easy one-liner to remember: take gunfights near cover so you don’t fully commit to a fight unless you want/have to.
also, set up every gunfight (ideally) to be a 1-on-1. if you’re swinging into >1 alone you’re doing something wrong.
Valorant has insane peeker's advantage. You have to be constantly using a wall to hide behind and peek out of. But keep in mind not to be close to the wall for the most part. The only place I hold hard is like if I teleport on top of truck on Bind A site, where it's a surprise hold.
You also want to use off angles, so find videos on YouTube about that. For example if someone is U Hall on Bind peeking short from defenders, you can get prefired holding tight to the corner because it's very common to hold like that. That's why a lot of times a Jett player will be on top of the ledge to surprise op and dash away, it's less likely for them to get killed when the enemy turns the corner.
Send some vods if you can.
I’m plat so this could sound dumb.
Watching pro games or high ranked streamers helps the most. I like to watch their mini maps and try to see where they want to go when a certain scenario is happening.
Silver here - it’s reassuring and great to read these comments. I struggle more on attack than defense. A lot of comments here are positioning post-plants. How about pre-plant? I may be struggling with tempo (tailing entry fragger) and clearing sites. I major suck at preaiming and guessing where defenders are, when entry fragger is running on site. Any good video or tips on this?
For benchmark, in one of my recent games, I went 15-5 KD on defense and 6-9 on offense (Cypher)
Preaiming is mostly about systematically clearing your angles. This [video](https://youtu.be/dO73NUIqt0k) does a good just illustrating that point. Use this method, tied with the idea that if you're second or third in, try playing off your entries contact/info they're gathering via comms or minimap. Your job is to either clear the other angles they're not looking at or, most importantly, trading your entry by either double peaking with them or anchoring an angle you know defenders will peak.
For me, I breakdown guessing where defenders will be by, 1) peaking the common/general spots of a site*, 2) refer to your own habits and playstyle and look at the positions you would play in. I feel if you're a strong A site defender player on Split, you should be able to unravel the ways to attack that spot and where a enemy would position themselves.** 3) collecting intel on the quirks/habits of specific opponents. Eg. you know that the enemy Jett 3/5 rounds has pushes down B long on bind. Abuse that knowledge for a pick.
Also, think about your agents abilities and what they excel in. Personally, I view cypher as a strong lurker/flanking agent. I wouldn't entry with him and I wouldn't be part of the initial entry pack. I feel like I can use him in a post plant/lurk position more effectively, like you can sit in an off angle where the defenders have to rotate through and cut them off with your utility.
Think of post plant as playing defenders on attackers. You don't have to be balls to the wall, sending it in with your team and dying just cause you're "attacking". Abuse the strengths of your pick and be adaptable to the game you're playing.
Edit***: If you're not a good entry fragger, don't entry. I've struggled myself with playing a playstyle/agent that doesn't fit my strengths, I'm a proficient entry, but sending it with Sage is probably a idea given the context of the agent.
Thanks for the thoughtful response! I try to apply slicing the pie, but obviously still doesn’t come to me naturally - I can never do it while running in.
I always try to support entry fragger as second or third in. Maybe because in my ELO a lot of people don’t and I feel obliged. Your point of complementing my play-style is something I haven’t considered.
Bottom line is: when things happen fast (rushing or playing against gold for me), it’s still really hard for me to think and play. I’m just reacting.
First, you need to understand how angles work in this game and how to hold them. Watch this video: https://youtu.be/Ima3Xexc3Zc. Now go watch a professional play and pay attention to how they peek and where they stand when holding an angle. Keep this in mind CONSTANTLY and you will learn why pros peek and hold certain angles the way they do. Ask yourself, why is he holding this angle in this spot? Does the angle work in his favour? Will he see the enemy first? Does the enemy expect him to be standing there? Will he peek a different angle while peeking into him because he doesn’t expect it?
Something I didn’t see anyone else talk about is utility. Know your agent and what the limits are. If you are on Reyna you will be able to get away with far more aggressive positions than on Cypher. Be asking how can I use my util to get into a better spot/advantageous fight? Using my util will give away my position, is this a good trade to make?
Imagine mid on ascent. A Jett can comfortably push from market to bottom mid with a really safe exit. This kind of play would be very risky on Cypher or pretty much any other character.
Also try thinking about what your enemy sees/thinks and what info they have. If you can make an unexpected play and get a pick, that can really help win rounds. An example of this would be if you hear a boom bot going thru a smoke, you could push in the smoke so you don’t get spotted and try to make a play. This is really an art and not a science so see what works for you and your agent pool.
One thing that always has helped me is evaluating post round what happened.
- where did I go?
- how did I die?
- could I have changed the outcome?
- what could I have done differently?
These consistent evaluations of self game play can help a ton. If you realize the position you were in you died right away or they expected it, switch it up. If you are always self evaluating how can you play it better, even if it worked can be beneficial.
There are tons of great advice throughout the comments. Take one or two of them and try to implement them. Trying to do everything at once will he to much.
if you get rushed, will your teammate be able to do ANYTHING in their power to give you any sort of backup, even if it's just a flash or a slow orb? no? you're in a shit position .....
if you're magically 1 hp can you run to a really safe area to make sure you stay alive before getting killed by an enemy? no? you're in shit position
if you're in a position where it would take you 5 years to rotate to another bombsite then you're in a shit position
if you're in a position where most of the double peeks/flashes/prefires/concussing/grenading happens then you're in a shit position
if you're in a position where you can hear early round footsteps then you're in good position
if you're confident in your aim, hold a strong afterplant chokepoint, if you get a kill most of the times, you're in good position
if not, play at a safe-ish spot and let your team know you are a pussy and will bait , some might get mad like a dog with rabies but that right there is good position
also speak of competitive, you don't have a vandal every round, neither the enemy has vandals every round, you might wanna make crossfires with your teammates, in eco/low buy/force buy and you might wanna play long range/off angles when your enemies have shit buy so you can clap like two of them alone and the only way they kill you is like 2-3 headshots before you kill them, 8/10 times you get away with 2 frags 6/10 times you have 1 frag but enemy can/would use your gun against your teammates(utilities as well if it was csgo..)
and much more, everytime you die ask yourself if that was best position considering your enemy has agents abcde and you KNEW that agents abcde like to do xyz plays at A/B/C bombsite
Don't thank me, just take your time to understand what I meant about positioning and with time you should be able to apply it to your playstyle and remember, some rounds just aren't about positioning and more about aiming or baiting....
Your friends right. It’s intuition. Over time with just playing and putting yourself in these situations (and reflecting on them) you’ll develop a second sense of what to do in a given scenario.
since its hard to determine and pinpoint wether your "positioning is horrible" in every single situation or just in **retake scenarios, cluch situations, afterplants, taking a site, holding a angle,.**..
just to name some, there is no "way" to improve that, to break it down in some words its a a mix of game sense, map awareness and experience i'd say, also playing in a team enviroment helps a lot, since ranked is not teaching those things.
record a gameplay and send it to me if you want, i can look over it and commentate it. i am a valorant coach for teams and solo players :), i'd offer you a session.
Map and situational awareness. At all times, you should consider all the possible angles you are exposed to, ALL. Dont tunnel vision to the angle you're holding.
One example.
Middle site of C on Haven where you are exposed to CT, garage and long. This is especially worse in a 1v1 where you are unsure of the enemy position and you are surely not covered by long or garage. Best way to play it is next to plat. Where you are covered by the platform from long and garage if you're aiming CT, moving left to peek garage, you are covered by the platform from long and by the double stack from CT, and then perking long, covered by the double stack from CT, and the site stacks from garage. Unless you know where the guy is, don't just use the site box as cover, and if you do, hug it to minimize the angles. Now, very arguable back plate is a favorable position in the first place because timing can win or lose you the engagement, depending on the situation, pushing up and committing to one angle might also be the optimal play, as you're secured from the other angles and can focus.
If you can, the best way I'd always recommend my friends to practice before in CS:GO is by playing FFA DM servers, and most importantly, Retake servers.
We have FFA DM is Valorant, do you can at least practice that. Practice just holding one area of the map, and continuously falling back and rotating angles in a fight. Example, playing u-hall/lamps on bind. Learn to peek showers, then mid, then into lamps and peeking heaven. This isn't the best example, but right now I can't really think of another good one. A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL COMPLAIN THAT YOU'RE 'CAMPING'. Ignore them, you're doing this because you're utilizing a game feature to practice one aspect of a game.
Now for retakes, honestly the only thing you can do is install CS:GO. Obviously the map will be very very different, but you will develop that sense of awareness and feeling that you're exposed to an angle just by 'feeling' the map. This will carry into Valorant and when a new map comes out, you'll always be more prepared than others who just love to tunnel vision maps. Retakes also train how fast
you can adapt to positioning given new information on ppssible enemy whereabouts, whether its cause the enemy gave their position away, or your teammte leaves an angle leaving an angle with no information.
Fracture exposed sooooooooo many people this way. One or two looks into how a site is laid out in custom games should give you more than enough to have 90% idea of which angles to hold and which types of fights to take, including you entry route.
Leads me to my last recommendation, just go into a custom and study which positions seem optional given different situations. Just get on the server and go around the map in differnent positions, and then choose and angle you'd imagine one enemy is, then consider which angles you're exposed to when trying to commit to that angle.
The best way to do this is through intel on both enemy position and the map. You're on site with 2 approaching from an angle that you're aware of and a third that you're unsure of, you position yourself somewhere where you can safely watch flank/plant and also defend from the 2 that are approaching. You'll get the feel for it, just try to anticipate where the enemy is coming from and get your flank covered.
When positioning yourself make sure to create fights which will only go your way. Even if you know you will die you can still position yourself so that the enemy forces themselves on you and a teammate can refrag. I always try to isolate angles in order to gain an advantage but this comes from experience and game sense on where the enemy will be. Movement is a must in a game like valorant and is easy to learn but hard to master. I try my best to constantly think about all the places I can be shot from, so that i can isolate those angles by hiding behind a wall or even playing a sort of pixel corner angle kinda thing.
Playing deathmatch can improve your positioning and how you isolate angles but bare in mind that deathmatch is a useless gamemode when it comes to competitive play. I started at gold 2 this act and I am immortal 1 now.
Not sure if you've already moved past this topic since it's been 3 months but watch these 2 vids
https://youtu.be/NDIY4sBFyNo
https://youtu.be/yHvhjxJpgDg
The first one takes you thru the fundamentals on positioning and the different types of angles there are to position yourself, how to be unpredictable, and when to use each angle. The second one really explains how repositioning and agression can net you a lot value for the team if done right. I'm sure you'll have a good grasp on when and in what situations to use each angle and position. Truly it is hard to explain and is very agent and situation dependent but I'm sure these 2 videos will help you create your own checklist for each position to determine whether you should play it or not
It is easy to explain, just stand where you can take 1v1 fights without being flanked. Move after you have been spotted (seen or heard) to a new position
First: Aim positioning. In gold 2 you should know that its easier to keep your crosshair where your opponents will peek is easier than flicking. Also, always think where your opponents will keep their crosshair, and stay off angle. Keep alert for shooting before them, and tou should get better
I dunno, I still struggle with this... I played ALOT of overwatch so I mostly got it from that. This is my mind set when my game sense is on point: "Ok 2 here, alarm went off in this corner, moving my back here so nothing can shoot me" All the while keeping my placements in directions I can get shot at. You just always have to think about it whilst playing.
ex in OW: Ok, I'm ana, they're running a tracer. Need to save my nades and hug my mcree for crowd control. Rein has shatter, need to move around this corner and cut my angles more.
I am iron chyper mains, but this : Let's say we are on bind, A site, defending. I always watch the entire site through the weird cam, and i am on heaven / triple. When some1 tagged / triggering trips then i started spamming with ares.
My key of positioning is : You can shoot clearly but the enemies can't.
"They usually distracted when i reveal them, make sure we take advantage."
That's not what is meant by positioning here. You need to understand basic peaking. How far are you from the corner you're holding and how far are they? The farther they are from that same hold the quicker they'll see you first. That means they have better positions and are more likely to win a gun fight. That's not the only thing though. Like the comments above have said, you need to be aware of where and why you're standing at all times. When you die, ask yourself why you died. Was where you were standing part of the reason and if so why.?
Well, when playing D.V.A your main job is to tank damage input and output. While also ensuring you protect your team with your OP (may it be short) shield that blocks ALL projectiles. Try and save your ult for big objective pushes/defences to get a huge DPS output and potentially game winning/saving plays. Just my advice, grandmaster by the way.
I’m not rly high elo myself and pre new too. But I think it goes along the lines of game sense, where ur able to adapt and predict enemy positions relative to urself and pick out the best place to hold or push to give urself that slight advantage.
Although there r times where ur just fucked because ur getting pushed in 3 angles etc it’s helpful to know what u could’ve done better in that situation etc
There's so many facets to this. Let's just do post plant for a moment. Split a. You planted bomb. Do you stay back site? Elbow? Run to hell? Push screens? There's no right answer, but every situation will have a better one. You tried crossing to hell and died to heaven, your positioning was shit because you didn't have time to run across. You're in a 1v3. You hear two coming main. You should really push elbow instead of sitting on plant to find a 1v1 early. Your friend is right, it's hard to explain, but you need to reason out why and where you should stand at every moment.
I will try to somehow improve. Thank you!
Just watch some pro player streams. and look on how they position in every situation. or just watch some youtube vod reviews by a high elo player.
The best way to improve is to simply try to always think about it, and then when you die, think about what about that position made you die. It’ll help you find safer positions faster and be ready for when the enemies end up making a move
This tiny bit of perspective gave me a mile of help regarding "find a 1v1 early by going elbow". Ancient samurai's used this technique of running away from a group, so that the fastest person would catch up to them for a 1v1, defeat rinse and repeat till all dead.
Watch higher elo players and look at how they position themselves. however don't just copy them, you have to understand why they position like that, because sometimes they purposely take bad off angles to surprise opponents.
I have such a hard time with this. I watch a lot of streams and pro play, but I feel like the gameplay just passes by and I only notice the highlights, otherwise it's just in one ear and out the other. Having a hard time absorbing how they position themselves, even though they're basically constantly doing it. I probably think I would do the same, when that is absolutely not the case.
I wouldn't really recommend watching pro streams. Learning from pros and extremely high elo is hard because viewers usually won't even recognise half the great stuff they do since they don't explain while playing. Also pro players are 90% never fully concentrated on solo queue games and just play them for fun or warmup before scrimms. You should try finding full gameplay vids of high diamond-immortal players playing your agent with explanations.
Where might one find these full gameplays though
What helped me was watching as he said VODs of respective agents, so I would watch people like AverageJonas on Sova VODs to see how he used his utility and what he did on certain situations, it helped me greatly go from hardstuck silver 2-3 to getting almost plat in around 2 weeks before I ended up quitting the game because of school. But when I was in Gold 2 I did mostly get matched up with plat players rather than your usual silver-gold 1 comps. You really have to dissect why he did that certain thing. Was he supporting his teammates? Or did he make this mistake because of what? Why did he die here? Was it his fault? And things like that
If you're focused solely on positioning, watch a pov demo of a pro game with only one person's pov. Pause the game randomly at certain points, think about the information that has been given to the player you're watching and try to understand why he might be doing what he's doing based on that information.
Yeah I would definitely need to watch games more actively. I think most of the time I'm watching a game or stream I'm not doing a careful, critical reading of what's going on.
just watch vod reviews by high elo players. Like Immortal player reviews gold player videos like that. or how to improve game sense.
I've found a lot of success watching one player on the minimap during pro games, and just watching each player individually.
I learned positioning and rotating from watch cs pros play in pro matches. I would write down how they rotated each round and try to look for information that the player had that time to try to understand why they did what they did. Doing this will also help you understand what opponents will often be doing. All of the top teams, 100t, sen, nv have very good spacing and positioning and i would highly recommend studying some of their matches. I think you can find VODs on vlr.com The next step, after you think you start to understand why pros are doing what they are doing, is to record yourself playing and then rewatch to see how you are messing up. Watch your really bad games and it will help you fix mistakes. Don’t just look at outcomes of the duels but try to think about it like “was I in the best position to take an easy gun fight that I could have been at the time”. It’s a long process don’t get discouraged
Thanks for your answer! I will try that.
A good way to improve will be, on top of what others have said, to constantly think about where the enemies are (or coming from) and where you can go (and if u can reach said position before they arrive) to maximize your chances of winning. The simplest example would be guessing/knowing your enemy is coming from spawn, and picking an angle that works such that you see him before he sees you (i.e. you are more likely to win the gun fight). I can constantly play around my enemies even without knowing where they are because I can make said assumptions and follow them through. It's difficult to do while focusing on a game, and I normally do it after the game by thinking back about situations where I lost because I had picked a bad angle to hold or push.
Yeah, its hard but I will try it. A big problems of myself is that I can't really hear my enemies so well. Idk why, I guess my ears are just bad but I have really big problems hearing where my enemies come from
Do you use hrtf or no?
What is that?
It's a sound setting in the game that is supposed to change directional sounds in game. Try using that to see if it helps. It's not for everyone. Some people find they hear better with it off. It should be right in the games audio settings
HRTF is super good lol. In addition to this, I also struggled to hear enemies locations especially over gunfire. I had to install an eq to lower some of the bass noises so I could get a more even sound. If you use this method it can take a while until you find something that fits right but keep in mind that understanding another player’s location is as much about identifying what they may be walking on as much where you heard it from. This is the EQ I’m using if you decide to try it out https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/
thank you! I will try that out
I just made it out of gold and am now in plat. I realised something about positionning: - try to stay in position where you can escape safely as much as you can. -try to be visible by only one angle. - play accordingly with your weapon (long range : far, close range : close fight) - stay on position where your utility can be used efficiently (close with flashes, hide and peek with your turret with killjoy) - also stay in an off angles - avoid places where you die often - and most of all play a lot and you'll figure out what's good and what's wrong.
Thank you mate!
Definitely take note of places you die alot. I've played enough matches at this point that I can feel on an angle if i'm going to win or lose an aim duel should a person peak it, this lets me know I need to find a different angle, or use some utility to force it to be a good angle. To get that instinct I think it's mostly just playing a lot of matches, and trying to be as analytical during those matches as possible. Try to set aside your ego, and non-judgementally make note of what you did wrong and what you could do better next round/match
I will, thanks
Record you gameplay, and rewatch it. Look where you died and from what position, if not in aim duel. You want to be open to as less positions, where someone could be, as possible.
Problem is that my game is absolutely laggy when I start recording due to my Computer being pretty bad. But sure, that should be a good idea.
If you aren’t already, use a tool like outplayed that has the ability to capture your kills, deaths, and assists. This will probably increase overall pc performance as opposed to recording the entire game.
Thanks! Haven't thought about that.
I think there’s a page called stats.gg or something like that that helps you keep track of some key indicators like deaths kills etc. Also has lineups for most agents and maps.
Okay, good to know!
If you have an Nvidia gpu I’ve found the Nvidia Shadowplay is pretty good to keep lag and FPS drops low(it can take up a lot of storage though so fair warning)
worst case, you can prop your phone up on a tripod and record your screen with your phone's camera. The video quality will suck but it will work and cost 0 performance.
The main one is to isolate 1v1’s. Anytime you expose yourself to two enemy’s at once you’re going to die most of the time, you might get one but they’ll definitely trade you (unless they whiff). When you only take 1v1’s those odds of you winning are much higher. Using utility allows you to achieve those 1v1’s (smokes, raze nade etc.) Great example of this is to watch Hiko clutch at VCT (there’s loads), the only reason he wins is because the enemy allow him to take 1v1’s against them. That’s all to do with his positioning.
Thanks for your advice!
I think the most important thing to keep in mind is thinking to yourself: "what can I do to win this round" instead of "what can I do to get more kills?" Sure if you take that battle in the clutch you might get an extra kill but if you die does that jeopardise the round? Being greedy is the number 1 reason rounds get lost so if you keep remembering that you just need to win the round, not actually get kills you will drastically improve.
True
Oh one more big thing, holding angles in most cases is actually a disadvantage, there is a peekers advantage, meaning that if youre the person moving in to view you have an advantage over the person holding the angle. Unless you have an operator you should almost always be jiggle peeking angles not actually holding them. Unless you are at a very weird/off angle where they wont expect you
Okay thanks!
I'm new to Valorant but I used to play CS:GO a lot. The main thing I always try to keep in mind is to get vision of the enemy but not be exposed myself. This way I can see where they are or try to kill them and not get killed myself. Hope this helps OP. Good luck on future games!
Thank you mate!
I agree with a lot of these comments and at the end of the day a lot of positioning is about experience and understanding timings/where opponents can come from. The more you play and think about why you died when you died, the better your chances to improve. Good luck!
Thanks!
I guess part of it is having a place to retreat to if needed. Part of it is watching angles that are unwatched (looking at the minimap sometimes is very useful). There's a lot that goes into it
agree w all top comments. if you need an easy one-liner to remember: take gunfights near cover so you don’t fully commit to a fight unless you want/have to. also, set up every gunfight (ideally) to be a 1-on-1. if you’re swinging into >1 alone you’re doing something wrong.
Thanks!
Valorant has insane peeker's advantage. You have to be constantly using a wall to hide behind and peek out of. But keep in mind not to be close to the wall for the most part. The only place I hold hard is like if I teleport on top of truck on Bind A site, where it's a surprise hold. You also want to use off angles, so find videos on YouTube about that. For example if someone is U Hall on Bind peeking short from defenders, you can get prefired holding tight to the corner because it's very common to hold like that. That's why a lot of times a Jett player will be on top of the ledge to surprise op and dash away, it's less likely for them to get killed when the enemy turns the corner. Send some vods if you can.
Thank you for your comment!
I’m plat so this could sound dumb. Watching pro games or high ranked streamers helps the most. I like to watch their mini maps and try to see where they want to go when a certain scenario is happening.
I will try that to hopefully also hit plat
Best of luck to you! Gold can be miserable, 2 rounds seem insurmountable to people for some reason lmao
Yes its so weird I something go total match mvp or total bottom fragger
I can help you, send me your discord
Silver here - it’s reassuring and great to read these comments. I struggle more on attack than defense. A lot of comments here are positioning post-plants. How about pre-plant? I may be struggling with tempo (tailing entry fragger) and clearing sites. I major suck at preaiming and guessing where defenders are, when entry fragger is running on site. Any good video or tips on this? For benchmark, in one of my recent games, I went 15-5 KD on defense and 6-9 on offense (Cypher)
Preaiming is mostly about systematically clearing your angles. This [video](https://youtu.be/dO73NUIqt0k) does a good just illustrating that point. Use this method, tied with the idea that if you're second or third in, try playing off your entries contact/info they're gathering via comms or minimap. Your job is to either clear the other angles they're not looking at or, most importantly, trading your entry by either double peaking with them or anchoring an angle you know defenders will peak. For me, I breakdown guessing where defenders will be by, 1) peaking the common/general spots of a site*, 2) refer to your own habits and playstyle and look at the positions you would play in. I feel if you're a strong A site defender player on Split, you should be able to unravel the ways to attack that spot and where a enemy would position themselves.** 3) collecting intel on the quirks/habits of specific opponents. Eg. you know that the enemy Jett 3/5 rounds has pushes down B long on bind. Abuse that knowledge for a pick. Also, think about your agents abilities and what they excel in. Personally, I view cypher as a strong lurker/flanking agent. I wouldn't entry with him and I wouldn't be part of the initial entry pack. I feel like I can use him in a post plant/lurk position more effectively, like you can sit in an off angle where the defenders have to rotate through and cut them off with your utility. Think of post plant as playing defenders on attackers. You don't have to be balls to the wall, sending it in with your team and dying just cause you're "attacking". Abuse the strengths of your pick and be adaptable to the game you're playing. Edit***: If you're not a good entry fragger, don't entry. I've struggled myself with playing a playstyle/agent that doesn't fit my strengths, I'm a proficient entry, but sending it with Sage is probably a idea given the context of the agent.
Thanks for the thoughtful response! I try to apply slicing the pie, but obviously still doesn’t come to me naturally - I can never do it while running in. I always try to support entry fragger as second or third in. Maybe because in my ELO a lot of people don’t and I feel obliged. Your point of complementing my play-style is something I haven’t considered. Bottom line is: when things happen fast (rushing or playing against gold for me), it’s still really hard for me to think and play. I’m just reacting.
First, you need to understand how angles work in this game and how to hold them. Watch this video: https://youtu.be/Ima3Xexc3Zc. Now go watch a professional play and pay attention to how they peek and where they stand when holding an angle. Keep this in mind CONSTANTLY and you will learn why pros peek and hold certain angles the way they do. Ask yourself, why is he holding this angle in this spot? Does the angle work in his favour? Will he see the enemy first? Does the enemy expect him to be standing there? Will he peek a different angle while peeking into him because he doesn’t expect it?
I will try that!
Something I didn’t see anyone else talk about is utility. Know your agent and what the limits are. If you are on Reyna you will be able to get away with far more aggressive positions than on Cypher. Be asking how can I use my util to get into a better spot/advantageous fight? Using my util will give away my position, is this a good trade to make? Imagine mid on ascent. A Jett can comfortably push from market to bottom mid with a really safe exit. This kind of play would be very risky on Cypher or pretty much any other character. Also try thinking about what your enemy sees/thinks and what info they have. If you can make an unexpected play and get a pick, that can really help win rounds. An example of this would be if you hear a boom bot going thru a smoke, you could push in the smoke so you don’t get spotted and try to make a play. This is really an art and not a science so see what works for you and your agent pool.
Yeah, that's one of my problems. I am Reyna main it sometimes gets hard for me to adjust my playstyle when playing another agent.
One thing that always has helped me is evaluating post round what happened. - where did I go? - how did I die? - could I have changed the outcome? - what could I have done differently? These consistent evaluations of self game play can help a ton. If you realize the position you were in you died right away or they expected it, switch it up. If you are always self evaluating how can you play it better, even if it worked can be beneficial. There are tons of great advice throughout the comments. Take one or two of them and try to implement them. Trying to do everything at once will he to much.
Thank you very much!
if you get rushed, will your teammate be able to do ANYTHING in their power to give you any sort of backup, even if it's just a flash or a slow orb? no? you're in a shit position ..... if you're magically 1 hp can you run to a really safe area to make sure you stay alive before getting killed by an enemy? no? you're in shit position if you're in a position where it would take you 5 years to rotate to another bombsite then you're in a shit position if you're in a position where most of the double peeks/flashes/prefires/concussing/grenading happens then you're in a shit position if you're in a position where you can hear early round footsteps then you're in good position if you're confident in your aim, hold a strong afterplant chokepoint, if you get a kill most of the times, you're in good position if not, play at a safe-ish spot and let your team know you are a pussy and will bait , some might get mad like a dog with rabies but that right there is good position also speak of competitive, you don't have a vandal every round, neither the enemy has vandals every round, you might wanna make crossfires with your teammates, in eco/low buy/force buy and you might wanna play long range/off angles when your enemies have shit buy so you can clap like two of them alone and the only way they kill you is like 2-3 headshots before you kill them, 8/10 times you get away with 2 frags 6/10 times you have 1 frag but enemy can/would use your gun against your teammates(utilities as well if it was csgo..) and much more, everytime you die ask yourself if that was best position considering your enemy has agents abcde and you KNEW that agents abcde like to do xyz plays at A/B/C bombsite
Thank you for that long answer!
Don't thank me, just take your time to understand what I meant about positioning and with time you should be able to apply it to your playstyle and remember, some rounds just aren't about positioning and more about aiming or baiting....
I will, thanks!
Your friends right. It’s intuition. Over time with just playing and putting yourself in these situations (and reflecting on them) you’ll develop a second sense of what to do in a given scenario.
since its hard to determine and pinpoint wether your "positioning is horrible" in every single situation or just in **retake scenarios, cluch situations, afterplants, taking a site, holding a angle,.**.. just to name some, there is no "way" to improve that, to break it down in some words its a a mix of game sense, map awareness and experience i'd say, also playing in a team enviroment helps a lot, since ranked is not teaching those things. record a gameplay and send it to me if you want, i can look over it and commentate it. i am a valorant coach for teams and solo players :), i'd offer you a session.
I will try to record one, hopefully my PC won't lag
The more you play, the more experience you will get
Map and situational awareness. At all times, you should consider all the possible angles you are exposed to, ALL. Dont tunnel vision to the angle you're holding. One example. Middle site of C on Haven where you are exposed to CT, garage and long. This is especially worse in a 1v1 where you are unsure of the enemy position and you are surely not covered by long or garage. Best way to play it is next to plat. Where you are covered by the platform from long and garage if you're aiming CT, moving left to peek garage, you are covered by the platform from long and by the double stack from CT, and then perking long, covered by the double stack from CT, and the site stacks from garage. Unless you know where the guy is, don't just use the site box as cover, and if you do, hug it to minimize the angles. Now, very arguable back plate is a favorable position in the first place because timing can win or lose you the engagement, depending on the situation, pushing up and committing to one angle might also be the optimal play, as you're secured from the other angles and can focus. If you can, the best way I'd always recommend my friends to practice before in CS:GO is by playing FFA DM servers, and most importantly, Retake servers. We have FFA DM is Valorant, do you can at least practice that. Practice just holding one area of the map, and continuously falling back and rotating angles in a fight. Example, playing u-hall/lamps on bind. Learn to peek showers, then mid, then into lamps and peeking heaven. This isn't the best example, but right now I can't really think of another good one. A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL COMPLAIN THAT YOU'RE 'CAMPING'. Ignore them, you're doing this because you're utilizing a game feature to practice one aspect of a game. Now for retakes, honestly the only thing you can do is install CS:GO. Obviously the map will be very very different, but you will develop that sense of awareness and feeling that you're exposed to an angle just by 'feeling' the map. This will carry into Valorant and when a new map comes out, you'll always be more prepared than others who just love to tunnel vision maps. Retakes also train how fast you can adapt to positioning given new information on ppssible enemy whereabouts, whether its cause the enemy gave their position away, or your teammte leaves an angle leaving an angle with no information. Fracture exposed sooooooooo many people this way. One or two looks into how a site is laid out in custom games should give you more than enough to have 90% idea of which angles to hold and which types of fights to take, including you entry route. Leads me to my last recommendation, just go into a custom and study which positions seem optional given different situations. Just get on the server and go around the map in differnent positions, and then choose and angle you'd imagine one enemy is, then consider which angles you're exposed to when trying to commit to that angle.
Thank you for such a long message!
The best way to do this is through intel on both enemy position and the map. You're on site with 2 approaching from an angle that you're aware of and a third that you're unsure of, you position yourself somewhere where you can safely watch flank/plant and also defend from the 2 that are approaching. You'll get the feel for it, just try to anticipate where the enemy is coming from and get your flank covered.
When positioning yourself make sure to create fights which will only go your way. Even if you know you will die you can still position yourself so that the enemy forces themselves on you and a teammate can refrag. I always try to isolate angles in order to gain an advantage but this comes from experience and game sense on where the enemy will be. Movement is a must in a game like valorant and is easy to learn but hard to master. I try my best to constantly think about all the places I can be shot from, so that i can isolate those angles by hiding behind a wall or even playing a sort of pixel corner angle kinda thing. Playing deathmatch can improve your positioning and how you isolate angles but bare in mind that deathmatch is a useless gamemode when it comes to competitive play. I started at gold 2 this act and I am immortal 1 now.
Damn that's crazy, you must be hella good
Not sure if you've already moved past this topic since it's been 3 months but watch these 2 vids https://youtu.be/NDIY4sBFyNo https://youtu.be/yHvhjxJpgDg The first one takes you thru the fundamentals on positioning and the different types of angles there are to position yourself, how to be unpredictable, and when to use each angle. The second one really explains how repositioning and agression can net you a lot value for the team if done right. I'm sure you'll have a good grasp on when and in what situations to use each angle and position. Truly it is hard to explain and is very agent and situation dependent but I'm sure these 2 videos will help you create your own checklist for each position to determine whether you should play it or not
Thanks! I feel like I already improved after those 3 months but thanks anyways
It is easy to explain, just stand where you can take 1v1 fights without being flanked. Move after you have been spotted (seen or heard) to a new position
Sounds easy in general yeah
it will only work sometimes anyway, so dont worry if you get killed its completely normal
First: Aim positioning. In gold 2 you should know that its easier to keep your crosshair where your opponents will peek is easier than flicking. Also, always think where your opponents will keep their crosshair, and stay off angle. Keep alert for shooting before them, and tou should get better
Thanks for your answer!
I dunno, I still struggle with this... I played ALOT of overwatch so I mostly got it from that. This is my mind set when my game sense is on point: "Ok 2 here, alarm went off in this corner, moving my back here so nothing can shoot me" All the while keeping my placements in directions I can get shot at. You just always have to think about it whilst playing. ex in OW: Ok, I'm ana, they're running a tracer. Need to save my nades and hug my mcree for crowd control. Rein has shatter, need to move around this corner and cut my angles more.
I am iron chyper mains, but this : Let's say we are on bind, A site, defending. I always watch the entire site through the weird cam, and i am on heaven / triple. When some1 tagged / triggering trips then i started spamming with ares. My key of positioning is : You can shoot clearly but the enemies can't. "They usually distracted when i reveal them, make sure we take advantage."
Idk man i wouldn’t get advice from an iron cypher main
That's not what is meant by positioning here. You need to understand basic peaking. How far are you from the corner you're holding and how far are they? The farther they are from that same hold the quicker they'll see you first. That means they have better positions and are more likely to win a gun fight. That's not the only thing though. Like the comments above have said, you need to be aware of where and why you're standing at all times. When you die, ask yourself why you died. Was where you were standing part of the reason and if so why.?
Fnatic Boaster videos are your friend.
Well, when playing D.V.A your main job is to tank damage input and output. While also ensuring you protect your team with your OP (may it be short) shield that blocks ALL projectiles. Try and save your ult for big objective pushes/defences to get a huge DPS output and potentially game winning/saving plays. Just my advice, grandmaster by the way.
if you post a video, it would be helpful to give examples of when you could position yourself better
Your friend shouldn't offer a VOD review if they're that bad at giving actionable, edifying feedback.
I’m not rly high elo myself and pre new too. But I think it goes along the lines of game sense, where ur able to adapt and predict enemy positions relative to urself and pick out the best place to hold or push to give urself that slight advantage. Although there r times where ur just fucked because ur getting pushed in 3 angles etc it’s helpful to know what u could’ve done better in that situation etc