Valorant Reveals Its First Character, British Agent Phoenix
The HUD also shows a further three abilities with a single charge each, one of which Phoenix uses to summon a wall of fire that’s impossible to see through. This allows him to cut a lane of the map off, use a fireball to help take on two enemies, and then eliminate someone approaching from the other angle as the firewall extinguishes.
The other two abilities are not used in the video, but the icons suggest one may be another form of the fireball ability (perhaps one that deals damage instead) and another ability that seems as if it could heal. With Phoenix borrowing his name from the legendary bird that rises from the ashes after death, could this be a resurrect skill?Abilities in Valorant work differently to other hero shooters, in that they are ‘bought’ at the start of each round with currency earned from kills and objective wins, rather than a permanent part of an Agent’s kit. If anything like Counter-Strike’s economy elements, certain abilities will be very expensive and require a certain amount of success in a match to afford.
For more on Valorant, check out our hands-on preview of Riot’s potentially huge FPS.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.