Between Points: Why Distance Matters in Valorant

by uGRAVEL - 12/26/20 @ 8:59am PT.

There's an argument out there about which Valorant rifle is the best. Phantom versus Vandal.

This is not an answer to that debate. Whether you want to argue feeling, I want to argue fact cough cringe cough...

But when we get down to it, distance matters in the argument for which gun is best to use in "x" scenario. And why does it matter? Well good sir or madam,  have you heard of my good friend? "Fall-oof" damage. Fall-off damage always hits you at the worst times. It's that nice little mechanic that let's that guy you definitely hit, get away with 1 hp.  I mean sometimes is walls but most of the time... it's bad luck.

BUT! What if we could  harness the power of the fall off damage and use it against our opponents? Finish this article and I will arm you with that knowledge.

Let's cut through the words. We're more than a 125 words in and I haven't showed you any pictures.

Look at the simple math and beauty of the the gun they call the Vandal.

Focus in on the complexity. Just the abundance of additional numbers the Phantom has. Yuck!

What this article is about is the numbers in the "Damage" box. For the Vandal, three numbers. One-sixty, forty and thirty-four. And for the Phantom, well my 3rd grade teacher would be ashamed but I'm not going to spell out each number.

ALRIGHT WE GET IT! THEY'RE DIFFERENT! SO WHAT!?!

If we assume that we are always going for head-shots, let's take a look at the entry of spike-site "A" in Ascent with a Phantom:

If we go back up to the chart, we see that at 15m and beyond the Phantom does 140 damage. Which means that in order for you to secure this kill, at best, it will take two shots. And that's if both land on the head or if one happens to hit the body first then the head.

Sometimes you just end up with two body shots. Smile.

Let's take the opponent's view with a Vandal:

The Vandal doesn't have fall off damage. So the distance isn't taken into consideration. The Vandal player would just wait for the person to turn the corner and tap their head.

Wait, who wins?

This is where the drama of Valorant plays out. Maybe the defender is holding the angle too tightly. Maybe the attacker jingle-peeks the corner and then wide-swings.

BUT! If we played this out in a vacuum, and each player had the same reaction speed and knew where each other were, the Vandal would win every time. And that... that is what we like to call in the biz, "an edge."

Hold up. You said "If we played this out in a vacuum, and each player had the same reaction speed and knew where each other were..."

But We Don't Live in a Vacuum...

Keep digging Watson! It is true, and obvious, we don't live in a vacuum and there are a world of things that can't be controlled. We can't be perfect every time. However, we sure can practice and prepare to be perfect, right? That's why I am here, to help with practice and get you to perfection.

So this is what we need to do, one, I'm putting out a map for all site-entries which measure the distances to most points of interest from the start of the spike-site. This will allow you to estimate and know what you're going to encounter when you put you're pre-firing or re-taking a site.

Second, I'm putting out another article about utilizing the ping system to get you closest to pre-firing all angles. SO STAY TUNED AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG!