Valorant Smoking Quickguide

Browser lacks capabilities required to play.

Upgrade or switch to another browser.

Loading…

!Welcome to my Valorant Smoking Quickguide! This guide covers the (in my humble opinion) most important basics of when and where to smoke in Valorant. To get started, pick a topic from the left sidebar or start at the beginning with the [[Fundamentals|Fundamentals]]. If you are mid-match and in a hurry or just want a refresher, go to the [[TLDR]]. I also added a small section on some basics about the [[economy|Economy]].

!!Fundamental Concepts Smoking is a crucial aspect of coordinated high level gameplay in Valorant. Properly placed smokes can block enemy vision, control key areas of the map, and provide cover for your team to execute strategies effectively. But where and when to smoke exactly? This differs greatly from situation based on: * The map you are playing on * If you are the attacking or defending team * The state of the round (early, postplant, retake, etc.) @@.emphasize;MY GOLDEN RULE OF SMOKING:@@ The general rule with smoking is, to always try to minimize the surface of the smoke you want to hold. That often means not placing the center of the smoke directly onto the chokepoint, but to put it slightly before or behind, so that you have a small, almost flat surface to watch. This way you know exactly where the enemy might push the smoke while the enemy is immediately exposed to multiple angles. If you break this rule, holding the smoke against pushes becomes much harder and the enemies can push through the smoke much easier. Also I'll hate you. ''If you only take away one thing from this guide, let it be this rule.'' [img[resources/SmokeGraphic.png]] Another important concept is the ''one-way-smoke''. Smokes in Valorant are almost always sphere shaped. If the map geometry permits, you can position the smoke higher than the floor, so that there is small gap at the bottom. Through this gap you can see the enemies feet, which lets you know where to spray through the smoke. This only works if you are farther away from the smoke than the enemy. If you can't place the smoke high enough, the spherical shape might still allow you to see the enemy earlier than they see you if they try to walk past it. Lets Start with the [[defender side|Defense Early]].

!!Early Round Defense At the start of the round, if you or your teammates want to contest neutral map space aggressively, smoke off entrances to the space you want gain control of. After that when the attackers are still off-site, you most likely want to smoke the site entrances, when you notice the enemy trying to enter that site. In both cases, remember the <<link "GOLDEN RULE">> <<script>> Dialog.create("Golden Rule"); Dialog.wikiPassage("Golden Rule"); Dialog.open(); <</script>> <</link>>. If possible, use one-way-smokes to gain vision advantage and punish attackers trying to push your smokes. Should you or a teammate be trying to hold a site but are about to be overrun by the enemies without enough time or space to fall back to play retake, consider smoking on site to give the player opportunities to isolate duels or fall back. In this case you want to disregard the golden rule, as you want the smoke to be hard to hold for the enemies. But even the best defenders can't hold every site. Know when to fall back and save your abilities for a [[retake|Defense Retake]].

!! Retake Defense Smoking on retakes is different from smoking early in the round. You probably won't have all your smokes left and have to choose wisely how to use them. You are presented with two different general options. * ''Smoke the Spike.'' Don't do this immediately or you might give the enemies hiding spots. Wait until you made it to the spike and are trying to defuse. This way, no matter where the enemies try to peek, they can't see the defuser unless they push the spike. Works great in 1vX situations because the enemies won't know if you're sticking the defuse and you have the option of carefully peeking out of the smoke without exposing yourself to too many angles, allowing you to isolate duels. * ''Smoke off the site entries again.'' This works especially well, when most enemies play offsite or if you know the enemy plays an attack operator. Remember the <<link "GOLDEN RULE">> <<script>> Dialog.create("Golden Rule"); Dialog.wikiPassage("Golden Rule"); Dialog.open(); <</script>> <</link>>. Only if you have multiple smokes left and enough teammates alive to hold the smokes, because the first option is always almost better if you have to choose. Now let's look at the [[attacker side|Attack Early]].

!!Early Round Attack At the start of the round when the defenders try to contest neutral map space, you can smoke off the defender entrances to that space, should you want to centest it too. When trying to push a site, you want to smoke off the defender entries to the site so rotating defenders can't help the defenders stuck on site. Remember the <<link "GOLDEN RULE">> <<script>> Dialog.create("Golden Rule"); Dialog.wikiPassage("Golden Rule"); Dialog.open(); <</script>> <</link>>. If the enemy plays an operator and you want to hit the site nonetheless, or in other match specific cases, consider smoking off the entry yourself. Do it the exact opposite way the defenders would normally smoke the chokepoint when using the golden rule, so you have multiple angles to emerge from the smoke. Best used for rush attacks with the whole team so that you can overwhelm the single player on site. If it's later in the round and / or you don't have enough teammates or smokes left (e.g. after a failed execute attempt followed by a rotation), to safely hold the planter while planting, consider smoking the the spot where you plan to plant the spike to get it down safely. Then we have to look at the [[postplant|Attack Postplant]] situation.

!! Postplant Attack Since you most likely used some of your smokes to get onto the site, you have to decide carefully where and when to use you leftover smokes. If you have control of the site and enough teammates alive to hold your smokes, you can re-smoke the site entries. Remember the <<link "GOLDEN RULE">> <<script>> Dialog.create("Golden Rule"); Dialog.wikiPassage("Golden Rule"); Dialog.open(); <</script>> <</link>>. If you are outnumbered or alone, consider smoking on the site itself, to play out of or around the smoke to isolate duels and regain numbers advantage. Disregard the golden rule to give yourself many possible angles. If the spike is planted in a suitable position for a oneway-smoke, you can use that to peek the defuser and the spike without him being able to see you back while he is defusing. Be ''CAREFUL'', if you accidentally smoke the spike completely'' you give the defenders a big advantage. ''ALMOST NEVER'' use your smoke directly onto the spike as the attacker! That's it for the main situations. There are of course many more specific situations and smokes for each map, but those are out of scope for this general guide. A few of those i have collected in the [[Additional Notes|Additional Notes]] section.

!!Additional Notes * An additional possibility for agents like Astras or Jett with short lasting smokes that are not needed for general site entry is to use them to block off and cross common sightlines like Haven A Long or Split A Main to lurk behind enemy lines. This also works very well with Viper due to her rechargeable smokes. *

!!Basic Economy Guide To buy or not to buy, that is a question even <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be">Shakespeare asked himself</a>. Just kidding of course. Nonetheless, the answer to that question is very important achieve success in Valorant. Here are some very basic guidelines to help you decide when to buy and when to save your credits. To start, a few important terms: * ''Full Buy'': A round where you have enough money to buy a full loadout and do so. * ''Eco Round'': A round where you don't spend all your money, but save for the next round. You usually only buy pistols or very cheap weapons/abilities. * ''Force Buy'': A round where you spend either all your money, or at least more than you would in an eco, although you don't have enough money to full buy. * ''Bonus Round'': The third round of a half after winning the two first rounds. You usually try to make do with your leftover weapons to be able to full buy in round four. The first thing to consider is, if you even are in a position to actually decide if you want to buy or not as a team. Most of the time it is better to follow the majority, even it is objectively false. Otherwise you end up with every single round being half of people who eco and half of people who force buy. If you are in position to decide, here are the basic guidelines. Henceforth, "you" means your whole team. Lets start with the first rounds of a match half: * ''Round 1:'' Always spend all your money. Ecoing doesn't make sense here because everyone starts with the same money. Also the pistol round has a disproportionally large impact on the outcome the following rounds. Just to get an idea for this: Pro teams that win both pistol rounds of a match have a ~83% chance of winning the whole match. * ''Round 2 if you won Round 1:'' Full buy as much as possible. You want to capitalize on your economic advantage. If you are the attackers, consider one or two players not full buying. Since you are close together and gaining ground, you can pick up the weapons should your teammates fall, an thus save money. Only do this if you're onfident you win the round regardless; be careful of an enemy force buy. A high risk - high reward play can be to buy very little and take advantage of the enemies thinking they will lose their eco anyway. I don't like this tactic but it is not uncommon in ranked play. * ''Round 2 if you lost Round 1:'' Eco. You want to get back into an even economic state for Round 3. If you are the attackers, consider a force buy if you managed to plant in Round 1. Planting the spike gives your team a relatively large amount of credits compared to the meager overall starting economy and you might surprise enemies if they're not full buying . *''Round 3 if you won the pistol and 2nd Round:'' This is your "bonus" round. Use the weapons you kept from round two. Share upgraded pistols with teammates that don't have a weapon left. You want to be able to full buy in round 4. If you were able to afford and keep multiple expensive weapons from round 2 or spent very little money, you can full/force buy instead. *''Round 3 if you won the pistol but lost Round 2:'' Eco. If you spent no money in Round 2 because you were too greedy and the enemies forced, you might consider a force buy here. *''Round 3 if you lost the pistol but won Round 2:'' Depends on how much you had to invest to win Round 2, but most likely you'll be able to buy more than the enemies and do so. *''Round 3 if you lost both Rounds:'' If you ecoed in Round 2 you are able to full buy here. If you lost the force buy, eco. *''The Last Round of a half or enemy match point:'' Buy as much as you can, force if you have to. Money doesn't carry over to the next game after all. ''Other Rounds'': Buy if you can full buy or at least as much as the enemies. Eco if you can't. Force if all of your teammates can full buy. If you are close to a full buy as a team and/or have impactful ultimate abilities ready, consider a force buy. Unless you're really poor, keep buying after you won a round to keep momentum.

!!Too Long; Didn't Read - Quick Summary ''MY GOLDEN RULE OF SMOKING:'' Minimize the smoke surface you want to hold - you want to look at an almost flat surface - not a half-sphere. (See [[Fundamentals]]) * Attack Early: Smoke off site entries or key sightlines defenders commonly hold. If you can't hold the planter, smoke the plant spot. * Attack Postplant: Resmoke site entries if you have site control. Can smoke on site to play around them to isolate duels if outnumbered/clutch. One-way smoke the spike if possible to make defusing harder for the enemies. * Defense Early: Smoke off site entrances when the enemy tries to enter the site. * Defense Retake: Smoke the spike while trying to defuse. If you have enough smokes and teammates to hold them, or the enemy plays an attack operator, smoke off site entrances like a defender would.

Valorant Smoking Quickguide

by Ylox

[[Home|Start]] [[Fundamentals]] [[Defense Early]] [[Defense Retake]] [[Attack Early]] [[Attack Postplant]] [[Additional Notes]] [[TLDR]] [[Economy]] <<link "Credits">> <<script>> Dialog.create("Credits"); Dialog.wikiPassage("Credits"); Dialog.open(); <</script>> <</link>> <<link "Changelog">> <<script>> Dialog.create("Changelog"); Dialog.wikiPassage("Changelog"); Dialog.open(); <</script>> <</link>>

Guide by Ylox Made with: * <a href="https://twinery.org/">Twine</a> * <a href="https://www.motoslave.net/sugarcube/2/">Sugarcube 2</a> * <a href="https://www.motoslave.net/tweego/">Tweego</a> * Hate for temamates that can't smoke properly

* 0.1.0 - Initial Release with first draft of the guide but no pictures. * 0.2.0 - Added golden rule picture, revised text and formatting. * 0.3.0 - Added Economy section

[img[resources/SmokeGraphic.png]]