What is Squad Boost in VALORANT?

With each battle pass, VALORANT players map out the level they want to reach based on the rewards waiting for them, whether it’s a Vandal skin, a player card, or a tantalizing melee item. To reach that level faster, you’d be wise to make use of the Squad Boost events.

Squad Boosts are limited-time events that grant players the opportunity to earn even more experience by queueing together, earning more per player in a stack. Whether you want to keep it more casual with Swiftplay or Team Deathmatch, or you want to take on Competitive with a full stack of five, all your matches (except custom games) are more rewarding with Squad Boost.

Squad Boost is an excellent way to grind through the battle pass faster while having fun with friends. Here’s how it works.

How does Squad Boost work in VALORANT?

Squad Boost grants XP bonuses based on the size of your queue, and the more players you queue with, the bigger the bonus is.

• Two players in a queue will earn eight percent extra XP
• Groups of three will earn 12 percent extra XP
• Groups of four will earn 16 percent extra XP
• Full stacks of five will earn the maximum 20 percent extra XP

As mentioned above, all game modes except for custom games will give out extra XP to those playing in a squad. Additionally, the extra XP you earn from Squad Boost will stack with other bonus XP methods, like an active and connected Game Pass subscription and upgrading the battle pass.

Activating Squad Boost is easy: Just queue up with friends and play matches during the Squad Boost event window.

When is the next Squad Boost in VALORANT?

The next Squad Boost is set to run from Dec. 5, 2023, until Jan. 4, 2023, meaning that players will be able to earn extra XP by teaming up throughout the entire holiday season. 

Riot Games has activated Squad Boost for the holiday season for three years now. Outside of those events, the only other time Squad Boost was activated was to celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary in June 2021. Hopefully, players get access to another Squad Boost before the holidays next year.