Are VALORANT skins pay to win? A look into the cosmetic side of Riot’s tactical shooter

“Pure aimbot!” a teammate in one of my VALORANT matches exclaimed, and as the rest of my team begged for me to drop my “Blub Blub” Vandal, I reasoned, “It was all you.” Unfortunately, my words meant nothing, summing up the beliefs of a majority of the community today.    

Having played VALORANT for a couple of years and owned skins for most of it, I don’t find it new that players are hailing certain skins as aimbots. That said, Riot Games has repeatedly confirmed that skins are specially crafted for aesthetic purposes and not to provide any competitive advantage. But with Riot’s claims contradicting the thoughts of several players, it certainly begs the question: Is VALORANT pay-to-win or not?

Scoring a multi-kill round is a commendable feat, and when slapping a skin on a weapon enhances the feeling of a clean headshot, it’s only natural for players to hail it as an enhancer of some sort. Except that it’s not; you hit those headshots and scored that clean clutch, and the skin played no role in it. For the umpteenth time, VALORANT isn’t a pay-to-win game. You can’t buy your way to victories in the tactical shooter.

Be that as it may, skins belonging to the Reaver, Prime, Araxys, Oni, and RGX 11z Pro collections have earned their place as some of the most satisfying cosmetics to use in VALORANT. The Neptune Vandal, nicknamed “Blub Blub” because of its soothing, bubbly SFX, is one of the community’s favorite Vandal skins, not because of how it looks, but more because of how satisfying headshots feel with it. I love the Blub Blub, too, but if you claim it gives you an edge over the default skin, hit the Practice Range bud, ‘cause that sounds like a skill issue to me.

I don’t prefer the default Vandal skin either, but if I miss a shot, I won’t blame my whiff on the fact that I didn’t have my Reaver Vandal equipped. In fact, the skin you’re calling an aim-bot today might not feel like it tomorrow, when you’re having a bad day.

Again, some theories state that certain skins provide a visual edge over others, as content creator Archmeton points out in their informative video, but the advantage you is minuscule. For example, certain Operator skins have bigger reticle models than the default skin, and it might block you from perceiving crucial intel. I’ve never heard anyone say that a particular skin lets them see more of the map than others. It’s mostly the sound design that fools players into thinking that they’re using an “illegal” skin.

If skins were pay-to-win, the ones considered aimbots would surely be game-changing for everyone who bought them. But I know many VALORANT players who swear against the Blub Blub and even the iconic Reaver Vandal because it “messes up” their firing pattern. I love using the default skins at times, especially when I whiff shots a bit more than usual. They help me reset my aim and focus on my targets.

You might find the VFX and SFX design of a certain skin more pleasant than others, giving it a psychological benefit that only applies to you. But this doesn’t mean you’ll be able to win more games with it. Don’t shell out your hard-earned money thinking that. It’s just a cosmetic. On top of this, if you attribute your 25 headshot percentage in VALORANT to a cosmetic, well, that’s just like saying you won a trophy because you were wearing comfortable shoes.