Riot finally explained “how far is too far” in VALORANT.
VALORANT character design lead Ryan “Morello” Scott briefly discussed ability kits that are a no-go in today’s blog post. And anything that would increase an agent’s maximum health or replace guns seems to be taboo for the tactical shooter.
“Specifically, we try to avoid abilities that would remove the high-consequence gunplay,” the Riot dev said. “Increased maximum health tends to be a no-fly zone, as do abilities that replace guns (that aren’t an ultimate, like Jett or Raze).”
It’s unsurprising that an increase to max health was in Riot’s no-fly zone. If an agent could gain health over the 150 threshold, then many weapons designed to one-tap enemies would be indirectly nerfed.
And while Raze and Jett can replace their guns by using their ultimate, it doesn’t seem like a kit designed around that will ever make it into the tactical shooter. Raze’s rocket launcher is already controversial with some fans believing it has no place in the game. Designing more agents that can replace guns would adversely affect VALORANT’s core gameplay.
Despite complaints of lethal abilities (i.e. Raze’s kit), Riot’s position is that damage-dealing abilities are a “core part of tactical games,” according to Morello.
“Guns provide the vast majority of kills, and even our damage abilities are designed with the goal of creating threat,” Morello said. “When well-played against, guns should be the primary method used to finish off opponents that are preoccupied with a distraction, or trying to avoid the damage.”
While you won’t see an increase to max health or gun-replacing kits, more damage abilities aren’t off the table.
