Best ultimates in VALORANT: Ranked tier list

Success in VALORANT comes from cooperative teamwork, smart use of abilities, and skilled gunplay. Each agent’s ultimate ability is impressive to varying degrees, but unlike in Overwatch, for example, a single ultimate can’t win an entire game.

That being said, some ultimate abilities are more impactful than others and have the potential to swing the momentum of a round on multiple occasions. Here are our picks for the best ultimates in VALORANT, ranked.

Ranked tier list of best VALORANT ultimates

S-tier: Viper, Chamber, Jett, and Killjoy

These ultimates are the most impactful in the game and can turn the tide of a match at virtually any rank.

Viper’s Pit and Killjoy’s Lockdown are both the most ideal ultimate ability for either a retake or post-plant scenario, giving the team so much more control over the site and the opposing players in them. On top of being highly deadly and accurate, Jett’s Blade Storm knives restock on each kill, allowing Jett to build momentum and easily transition from kill to kill.

Jett and Chamber possess ultimates that are both deadly and cost-effective. They can provide relief to a struggling team economy while adversely impacting the enemy’s.

A-tier: Sova, Skye, Fade, Breach, Neon, KAY/O

These ultimate abilities aren’t quite at the S-tier level, but they can easily swing the momentum of a round when used right.

KAY/O, Breach, and Fade’s ultimates cover a lot of distance and will incapacitate or negatively affect the opposing team in some way. These abilities are most successfully used to kick off a site execute or retake.

Skye’s Seekers are perhaps the best info-gathering ultimate that any agent possesses, and it punishes any opponent that doesn’t shoot them down. Sova’s Hunter’s Fury is still an optimal post-plant tool. And in close quarters, there’s no ultimate that is more destructive than Neon’s Overdrive.

B-tier: Reyna, Cypher, Raze, Yoru, Sage, Omen, Brimstone, Harbor

These ultimates aren’t as overwhelming as the ones above but can be useful in the right hands.

The three ultimates for duelists for Reyna, Yoru, and Raze can be incredibly impactful if used in the right situation, but there’s also a risk for them to be completely negated or rendered useless if used improperly. Brimstone’s ultimate runs the same; it can devastate a plant or retake attempt but it can also miss completely.

Sage’s Resurrection seems like it should be higher, but it also reveals your location to the opposing team to any team paying attention to the red Xs on the mini-map. Cypher’s Neural Theft is a decent info-gathering tool, and Omen’s ultimate is very niche in that it’s most valuable when attempting to plant on the opposite site.

Harbor’s Reckoning has the potential to clear out a site during a retake or execute and has a wide radius, but it can be dodged easily and requires teamwork to really maximize. Gekko’s Thrash can also send enemies scattering, and getting two potential uses in a single round is valuable, but it can also be dodged or shot easily.

C-tier: Phoenix, Astra

These two ultimates ended up in the lowest tier because they have the highest potential to backfire.

Phoenix’s Run It Back can sometimes mess up a retake attempt if he gets teleported back to his spawn point during a defuse, and most opponents can pretty quickly determine where his decoy came from.

Astra’s Cosmic Divide can be a useful tool in certain situations, but it’s very much a double-edged sword, as the opponents can play with it too once placed. There’s no other ultimate that can provide as much potential positive benefit to the enemy side as hers.