How to drop the spike in VALORANT

As a VALORANT player, picking up and dropping the Spike are some of the most basic mechanics you learn. But even the easiest things in life can seem complicated in certain situations. If you’re wondering how to drop the Spike in VALORANT, we have a judgment-free guide.

The Spike—or the bomb—is an essential feature in a round of VALORANT. As an attacker, you (or one of your teammates) are supposed to plant it on a site, after which your goal is to stop defenders from trying to defuse it before detonation. As a defender, your task is to defuse a planted Spike before time runs out—or prevent the attackers from planting it at all. That said, some rounds will simply involve gunfights and no interaction with the Spike. But in most cases, you’ll still need to work with the Spike for a chance to win.

Whether you’ve accidentally picked up the bomb or simply changed your mind to be the planter in between rounds, here’s how to drop the Spike in VALORANT.

Drop the Spike in VALORANT, explained

If you want to pass the Spike to a teammate in VALORANT or simply drop it on the ground to get rid of the responsibility, you can follow the steps we mention below.

On PC

1. Press the four (4) key to select the Spike and bring it to your hand. You can also use the Scroll button to get to the Spike.
2. Press the G key to drop it.

On console (Xbox or PS5)

1. Use the D-pad to equip the Spike in your hand.
2. Press the left D-pad button to drop it.

In VALORANT PC, the four key is set by default to equip the Spike. G is default for dropping any item, including weapons, that you have equipped in your hand. You can change the drop item or equip key binds from Settings > Controls. 

If you want to pick up a dropped Spike in VALORANT, however, you just have to walk over it.

How to fix Spike not dropping issue in VALORANT

If you cannot drop the Spike despite using the designated keys, let’s stop and examine what’s going wrong here.

You may be trying to drop the Spike while on site

If you’re trying to drop the Spike while standing on a plant site in VALORANT, you can’t use the basic four and G key combo. This is because the equip and plant actions are bound to the four key by default. So if you try to equip the Spike while on a site, you’ll end up planting it.

Thankfully, there’s a workaround you can use to drop a Spike on site: Simply jump and, while in the air, press 4. This will bring the Spike to your hand, and then you can press G to drop it. 

Alternatively, you can bind the equip and plant actions to different buttons from Settings > Controls: Under the Equipment section, choose different key binds for the Equip Spike action and the “Use Spike (Plant or Defuse) action.

You may be using the wrong key

If the four-G combo doesn’t let you drop the Spike in VALORANT, make sure you haven’t set these actions to custom keys. You can check your controls from the in-game Settings: Go to Controls and then, under the Equipment tab, scroll down to find the Equipment section. Here, check the key or button bind for Drop equipped item.

Who should carry the Spike in VALORANT?

There’s no hard and fast rule about who should carry the Spike in VALORANT. It mostly depends on your team’s strategies. That said, initiator and duelist agents are generally considered apt for the job. The sentinel and controller roles are usually responsible for flanking and holding space away from the fight, which may require them to be far off from the site. So, these agents are better off focusing on their specialties without the burden of having to plant the Spike. 

Planting the Spike also gives you an ult point, so if one of your teammates is just one point away from their ultimate, definitely pass them the bomb.