Valorant is a free-to-play tactical-shooter and Riot Games’ take on the FPS genre. After a grand beta phase where millions of players tried the game, Valorant is now gearing up for its global release. A game with huge potential and high ceiling, fans have been swarming around Valorant since its release, trying to get inside the closed beta.

Related: 10 Pro Tips For Valorant You Need To Know

Even though Valorant has been heavily streamed in recent times and most fans are familiar with all the nuances of the game, there are certain aspects that many players are unaware of. Here are all the major things that players rarely know they could do in Valorant.

10 The Ping System

Somehow the game doesn’t give out details about the ping system in the tutorial. Players can use the ping system to give calls, mark locations, or ping items by simply pressing ‘Z’ and selecting the required ping. This is a great feature for any player without voice communication and makes communicating very simple.

New players are usually unaware of the ping feature and inculcating a habit to use it properly will significantly improve a player’s game.

9 Footstep Sound Travel

Gathering information is very crucial in Valorant, and one of the ways to do so is by hearing the enemy's footsteps. Similarly, it's important to give out minimum information by minimizing the footsteps sound you make. Another feature that players are usually unaware of is that the audio range of each Agent can be seen on the minimap.

The footsteps sound for each Agent can only be heard within the audio range which then can be used to avoid potential clashes or getting caught out.

8 Most Of The Walls Can Be Penetrated

An insane amount of walls in Valorant can be shot through and penetrated. No place is safe in the map, and all the maps have been designed in such a way that it promotes aggressive playstyle.

Related: Valorant: 10 Tips For Playing As Agent Cypher

However, not all the walls are penetrable, and players can check it by shooting at the wall, and if a bullet leaves a hollow mark on the surface, it's penetrable. Most of the wooden walls are penetrable, and few armored walls are destroyable.

7 Gadgets Can Be Retrieved

Some gadgets and utilities in the game can be picked back from the map if not used. Players can redeploy the gadgets or utilities in the same round, and it can be done as many times until it is activated.

Viper’s grenades or Cypher’s camera or tripwire are a few of the gadgets that can be picked back. It’s always recommended to do so rather than just leaving them unattended.

6 New Agents Can Be Unlocked By Progressing In Contracts

Players unlock contracts after receiving the first few Agents for free from the game. After earning contracts, players need to choose a specific contract and earn general experience just by playing games, which will then go towards the contract of the player’s choice.

Level 1-5 in any contract is stage 1, and level 6-10 is stage 2. Agents can be unlocked by reaching level 5 of any contract and players can also get other rewards from it. For free-to-play players, it’s recommend hitting level 5 in every contract so that every Agent is unlocked.

5 Ultimates Can Be Tracked From The Scoreboard

Ultimates are game-breakers in Valorant. If used correctly, it can massively impact the result of any game. Players can keep a tab on their Ultimates by simply looking on the Scoreboard, which displays the recharge duration for every Agent’s Ultimate in that game.

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Similarly, players can also look up the recharge duration of enemy Ultimates and prepare themselves beforehand. There are different ways to recharge Ultimates in Valorant which include, kills, assist, Spike plant/defuse, or by consuming the Black Orbs that are scattered around the map.

4 Only First 6-8 Bullets Will Follow A Spray Pattern

Whenever a player shoots in Valorant, only the first 6-8 bullets will follow a spray pattern after which, the bullets become more sporadic. Each gun has a different spray pattern and players can test them out in the practice zone.

Apart from spray pattern being sporadic after 6-8 bullets, counter strafing also doesn’t work in Valorant. Players need to be still while shooting to get better accuracy.

3 Secret Parkour Challenge

Players can test their jumping and leaping skills by trying the Parkour Challenge in the practice mode. To attempt the challenge, players need to play the practice mode in Open Range. Players can attempt the Parkour Challenge by reaching the end of the map near the wall with blue paint on it.

Related: Valorant: 10 Tips For Playing As Agent Phoenix

Players need to cross a bunch of hurdles by parkouring over small rocks. There is no reward for completing the challenge, but it’s a good zone to test out your jumping skills.

2 Some Abilities Can Be Shot

Some of the gadgets or utilities that have been deployed by the enemy using their respective abilities can be destroyed. The two main ones being Sova’s Recon Bolt and Cypher’s Trapwire. If a player gets hit by Cypher’s Trapwire, the player can shoot it down before it scans the player or blows up.

This also applies to Sova’s Recon Bolts, which scans three times but can be shot down before all these three are completed.

1 Spikes Can Be Partially Defused

It takes 4 seconds to plant a Spike (bomb) in Valorant while it takes 7 seconds to defuse it. Unlike CS:GO, where a bomb needs to be fully defused at once, Spike can be defused in two parts in Valorant.

While defusing the Spike, players can leave it unattended after reaching the halfway mark (3.5 seconds) and resume defusing later whenever they want. This not only provides extra time to strategize, but it is also a great tactic for luring out enemies that are in the covers.

Next: Valorant: 5 Biggest Fixes It Still Needs (& 5 Things We Hope Riot Games Add)