Vyse, the new Sentinel agent introduced into Valorant, brings a unique set of abilities and characteristics to the game. This guide aims to provide players with a deeper understanding of Vyse’s equipment, role, and strengths in Valorant.
Vyse is a new Sentinel agent set to be released globally on August 28th. Armed with unique Sentinel equipment, Vyse actively challenges the battlefield and punishes opponents who underestimate the power of his abilities. With a blend of various Sentinel traits and his unique talents, Vyse effectively controls space and becomes a bloodthirsty punisher in his domain with his arsenal. This guide will delve into his abilities, best maps to play on, and counterattacks so that players can grasp all there is to know about this Agent from day one.
Do Sentinels now have a flashbang? Vyse possesses a series of powerful AOE abilities that can incapacitate or neutralize opponents. With mollies, weapon disruptors, and indestructible walls, Vyse brings a fresh flavor to the Sentinel roster in Valorant without compromising the role and strength of his counterparts.
While Vyse may not have the traditional flank watch abilities, he fills a Sentinel role similar to Sage and Deadlock, where instead of flank watching, he places traps or debuffs on the ground and works around his powerful Ultimate to block opponents and protect the space. Here is a breakdown of each ability and its interactions within the Valorant map and Agent ecosystem.
Skill Ability
Razorvine
Equip a clump of liquid metal. FIRE to launch it. Upon landing, it becomes invisible and spreads out into a large razorvine trap that slows and damages all players who pass through it.
Razorvine serves as an AOE damaging ability that is invisible, akin to Killjoy’s Nanoswarms. The area of effect affects both enemies and allies when triggered, acting as a deterrent to push into the zone for control and delay. It also makes for a worthwhile post-plant tool, although the goal of Razorvine might be to delay enemies as they tap rather than using it later, which can be useful for Nanoswarm.
Shear
Equip a filament of liquid metal. SHOOT to place a hidden wall trap. When enemies cross, an indestructible wall explodes from the ground behind them. The wall lasts for a short time before disappearing.
Beyond Sage’s Wall, this ability is intriguing as it is an indestructible wall that blocks movement. While conceptually similar, I think it acts more like Mei’s wall in Overwatch. The ability to separate enemy teams while isolating fights makes it easier for the team to focus on an area, get a pick, and then reset.
Playing with Vyse, this ability punishes tight chokepoints, prevents follow-ups, disrupts enemy utility windows, and provides power spikes to penetrate locations. When attacking, they can isolate post-plant cleanups and punish uncoordinated enemies in their timing setups.
Arc Rose
Target a surface and FIRE to place a hidden Arc Rose, or ALT Fire to place it through. USE AGAIN to blind all players who see it. This ability can be picked up to be REDEPLOYED.
A flashbang for a Sentinel? Arc Rose feels like a punitive ability for an area initially controlled by Vyse because it needs to be pre-placed and activated to trigger, differentiating it from more reactive blinds like Phoenix’s Curveball. This also means it has a window where it can be shot and destroyed before being thrown, and its static nature makes it better for defense and attack.
The flash duration is quite long, especially for a flash that comes from an invisible point on the wall, and triggering the flash and redeploying it can also instantly return it to Vyse’s inventory, intentionally or not.
The ability to push back enemies with a flash gives it variability and control over static chokepoints in an attack in a way that other Sentinels cannot. It also makes its attack viability higher and more balanced compared to Agents like Cypher who feel awkward and limited in their abilities beyond their passive information gathering and space-holding capabilities.
Steel Garden
EQUIP a clump of liquid metal. FIRE to spew metal spikes from your body as a burst of metal thorns, which INFILTRATE the enemy’s primary weapon after a brief attack.
Vyse’s Ultimate is fundamentally disruptive as it can infiltrate the enemy’s primary weapon, meaning they have to battle with a pistol; most likely the Classic. Although the weapon is potent because it’s entirely free, its single-shot nature and low damage make it much weaker than commonly used Rifle weapons.
This ability counters aggressive ability usage in the area and prevents enemies from fighting back when rushing a location. If used when enemies have already expended their utility or positioned themselves in a non-recoverable spot, this Ultimate will provide maximum value. Using it in a way that allows enemies to still escape might only delay the inevitable as opponents regroup and counter-attack the originally targeted location. This ability relies on timing and in the hands of a skilled player who can read the opponents, it can be maximized to punish without repercussion.
Map and Counter
Vyse is an agent that thrives on active and passive play due to the nature of the battlefield significantly affecting his effectiveness in locking opponents in unfavorable positions. If the team can be on high platforms to avoid Shear and Razorvine, then his strengths as a Sentinel are less potent compared to other Sentinels like Killjoy or Cypher who can provide guaranteed information and passively hold space. With this in mind, flat maps with small yet clear chokepoints and large sites on 2-site maps are where he will excel when defending against opponents using his utility will be challenging when attacking the sites he defends. Considering these factors, we can identify the best-performing maps for him in the current Map Pool and the best counters if Vyse gains popularity and players need answers to his utility.
Abyss
New map and new Agent go hand in hand. Abyss is intriguing and a map where Vyse should be able to shine compared to maps like Icebox where changes in elevation in locations make his equipment avoidable. His Sentinel utility is better on flat surfaces, and while it is true that Agents can enter boxes on both sites, the fact is there is enough open space after the choked point for his utility to gain good value, and the use of interesting walls can separate the main chokepoint or even force people to jump to their doom.
The wide central space benefits Vyse as his AOE abilities can easily find value while there are plenty of walls for him to set up his flashlights and swing at that time. The one-way value on Abyss is also greater as alternative approaches to sites require a difficult scale in the middle and force the enemy to the choked point where Vyse’s abilities can effectively punish a flood. When attacking, Vyse’s stationary flashlights and utility on-site are useful to hold the site after planting and allow the team to stay on-site and hold space rather than just spam the spike, which can make it difficult for Agents like Gekko and Harbour who can gain an effective time window for safe defusing. His ability to hold open space is perhaps the best on the Sentinel roster, and outside of the heaven area on both sites, he controls space on-site most effectively outside of Breach Ult, which destroys everything on-site.
Counter
KAY/O
KAY/O counters strong stationary utility abilities like Cypher’s that hide behind their wires. The robot also fills this niche because if Knife finds and presses Vyse, the utility in his place becomes visible and almost useless, providing a critical window for attackers to control the space he holds and execute attacks and defenses. Vyse heavily relies on his trigger kit to hold space, so KAY/O becomes a natural counter as his utility has to be placed and therefore can be destroyed when pressed. Even if his utility returns and is active, if the site has been taken, it will not be as effective. Enemies already in the post-plant phase on his site will make his utility much weaker.
Just like Cypher, avoiding the site and making him re-attack might be the most optimal choice in the attack, but being able to press him and ignore his utility is the second best way to avoid his effectiveness, and only KAY/O fulfills this role without truly defeating Vyse in a direct confrontation. KAY/O’s Fragments also provide a natural barrier for Vyse to escape unwanted areas as the timing is adjusted with flashes and traps on-site, and KAY/O’s flashes can also punish Vyse so he cannot escape when the team aggressively rushes.
