Valorant is set in a recently destroyed world, and its operators use their skills through technological advances, scientific advances or discovery through Radianite, which is a source of great strength and energy and emerges worldwide as a result of the catastrophic event.
While Valorant is FPS at its core, its agents and capabilities are already pushing the limits of what can happen in this realm, adding dynamic power throughout the game, its meta, and scope, in general.
Therefore, when the developers of the Riot put their determination to press even further limits with new agents and maps, one may wonder how far they will be able to extend it, given its already existing balloon.
However, a new Valorant agent set to arrive has done just that. Astra name, Agent number 16 (No agent 8 currently in Valorant Protocol) is a natural Controller and has the following characters:
“Ghanaian attorney Astra uses local power to reshape the battlefields for his own good. Completely controlled by his astral form and foresight, he remains eons ahead of his enemy’s next move. “
The rumors were true! Astra is native to Ghana and is connected to space in a way that allows him to rise above the size of the earth and be in his astral state easily. However, Astra is far from your standard control.
Before we get into how Astra can shape every meta and give us an insight into how Riot Games will continue to push the envelope of opportunities, let’s dive deeper into Astra’s capabilities.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Astra Valorant
X (1): Astra Form
Warning: This is not his last but his last form. Confused? Don’t worry. Astra has to get into his Astral form so he can put stars on the map, which will be used according to the skills the players choose to make working with those stars.
The Astral form enables him to climb over a map and gives him a bird’s eye view of it. Astra may be up for grabs because of the Astral Form but the Ghanaian is making sure he pulls down the stars with his skills, and his stars need to be replaced. Astra can have 5 stars per cycle.
C: Gravity
This, when inserted into the star, absorbs the players around the hole before the explosion and makes the players more vulnerable. Its final result is similar to Killjoy’s Alarmbot but players can avoid ‘gravity’ easily, making it perhaps the weakest of all of his skills.
However, Gravity Well can be used to fully operate during plant-backing by the Attacking Side and to identify common holding positions.
Q: Nova Pulse
Compared to Gravity Well, Nova Pulse is quicker to use and has a shorter driving time. Players who live in or near the Nova Pulse area meet in a manner similar to Breach’s Fault Line.
However, users will not have to use the skill in the Astra case and all one has to do is activate the Nova Pulse star set.
Players will find it difficult to avoid Nova Pulse, with highly effective protections that require users to be equipped with agents like Jett, Raze or Yoru – skilled agents that allow for rapid migration.
it is less powerful and faster than Breach’s Fault Line. However, a powerful skill that will make it difficult for players to enter sites and use dense points.
E: Nebula
The proper name of the skill, Nebula allows players to turn a designated star into a Smoke with the same end-time approach to Omen’s Dark Cover.
The appearance of Nebula Smoke removes that galactic, interstellar felt that the word ‘Nebula’ is associated with, which compliments developers and designers, who hit a nail in the head with this.
Players can use two Nebulas at the same time, cold for 15 seconds before turning another star into a Nebula. The glorious part about Astra is that players can bring in Stars in their place.
While doing so, there is a counterfeit Nebula breeding and disappearing in no time – Fake Smoke Pop adds an extra dimension to Astra’s capabilities.
Basically, one could equate the Nebula with a mixture of Omen’s Dark Cover and Cypher’s Cyber Cage. However, Astra users can take the Star at any time during the game while Cypher is only allowed to take the Cages during the pre-game stage of each round after the update.
X (2): Separation of All Things
All new agents have the ability to break the game or appear to have it when they are released. In Astra, its Cosmic Divide. Once charged, players can select two locations with Secondary Fire and Primary Fire before using the ‘Cosmic Divide’ which separates the map into two areas.
The Divide is like a bulletproof wall in time and has perfect opacity, which means players can’t see the other side of David, with a much affected sound as the wall absorbs sound like sponge. However, players are allowed to go through Divide.
Cosmic Divide can be a game-breaking skill especially when trying to protect a plant, where opponents can create a Divine Restoration.
Since players have to go through the Divide to stop repeating the next jump and can see through the Divide before going through their own, the returning side can use it to their advantage.
MAP OPERATION
The only advantage with Astra’s capabilities is that the Stars need an area to be placed on, which affects the Nebula, because half of it will bloom at the bottom of the map if the Star is placed at ground level.
This makes Astra less effective for Bind, especially since there aren’t many things to put the Stars in a Nebula strategy, which is a great skill for Astra users as a Director. Astra will work well in Haven a
Where is Astra from Valorant?
Astra becomes the 15th agent in the game. Her backstory is that she’s a space-themed Agent from Ghana. A teaser from Valorant in the YouTube description says with Astra, you can “harness the cosmos and control the fight.
What agents do you start with in Valorant?
When you first download Valorant, you will be able to access five agents: Brimstone, Jett, Phoenix, Sage, and Sova. You can unlock the remaining six by completing their individual contracts or simply arranging the top. While every first five agents are a good point of escape, there are three to consider.
How many agents does Valorant?
Valorant is a 5v5 strategy shooter in which each player plays as a character called “agent”.
There are currently fourteen agents in the game: Breach, Brimstone, Cypher, Jett, Killjoy, Omen, Phoenix, Raze, Reyna, Sage, Skye, Sova, Viper, and Yoru.
Each agent has four different abilities (including one).
To date, agent skills range from traditional use from real shooters like flashbangs and smoking bombs but include magical / future skills such as turning walls and sonic arrows that act like radar.
How Can ASTRA CHANGE META?
While the developers have marked it as a controller, the Astra is also very different. The Ghanaian agent is equipped with skills that also have the same impact as the Sentinel, especially during the Defense.
Skills can also be used to start with aplomb, with a clear example of the use of Nova Pulse to clear A-halls in A Bind, the worst corner behind B in Split, and more!
In terms of having a Sentinel-like effect, there is a lot of variation in which Gravity Well can be made to work, thus using the effect of being as risky as Killjoy.
Even Fake Smoke Pop can be used to launch or create a simple exit. Astra is above your standard controller and Cosmic Divide just puts Astra at the highest level.
MatchMaking’s competitive meta is likely to spot many Astras, as is often the case with new agents. However, the results eventually fade. When it comes to Competitive meta,
we have seen teams travel to three duelist meters and Astra is likely to spread the change even further, with Valorant’s new Controller allowing teams to donate an Initiator or Sentinel according to their preference and map.
The Agent 16 number is on the ship and looks set to make a big difference in the competition matrix. We may be looking at switching to three duelist meta from multiple groups as discussed above. T
There is no denying that Astra could be better, on paper at least, compared to other regulators, which means that the selection rate for Omen and Brimstone should be reduced as a result.
This will also highlight the seemingly absurd costs of Omen’s Paranoia (400) and the same should now be addressed in future patches (One can only hope as Omen Main).
Astra is awaiting his ascension. So it is with us.