VALORANT community divided over how long it takes recoil to reset after shooting

Riot’s new tactical shooter has garnered massive popularity in its closed beta state. But one controversial mechanic appears to have pitted players against each other.

A VALORANT fan recently addressed issues with the long recoil reset time. When tapping left-click to shoot enemy targets, the player argues that recoil becomes increasingly sporadic and doesn’t reset until you stop shooting for a set amount of time. 

“You need to literally wait a whole second in order for the gun to have its recoil reset so you can control it,” the player said. “I believe that VALORANT is unique regarding this because I don’t know any other FPS games that the guns work that way… It makes the shooting less fun in my opinion.”

These sentiments were echoed by other players who believe tapping multiple enemies is “almost impossible” since your accuracy becomes inconsistent. Others suggest reducing the delay by half and seeing how that impacts gameplay.

While this mechanic has certainly rubbed players the wrong way, many feel that the game relies on smart positioning until your recoil resets.

“Your positioning is everything and if you are out of position you die,” one argued. “Jiggle peeking and tapping gives you time for the crosshair to reset. You will have to spray in this game from time to time but again if your positioning and recoil control is good you will be fine.”

The dissenters believe that players shouldn’t be able to one-tap multiple enemies in quick succession without being contested. Instead, use positioning and abilities to reset before jumping back into the fray.

It’s unclear if Riot will tweak this mechanic before its official launch this summer. But if devs deliberately added a longer recoil reset timer, then they likely want players to find other ways of reentering the fight.