What you need to know
- VALORANT's Episode 9: Act II is set to kick off on Aug. 28 with a new Battle Pass and more cosmetics.
- It's also debuting the latest addition to the VALORANT Agent line-up following Clove, finally adding a new Sentinel to the roster.
- Vyse is all about isolation and manipulation, and utilizes various liquid metal powers to control her opponents.
- This includes setting various traps and even jamming the primary weapons of the enemy team, which could be a very powerful tool.
It's almost time for a new VALORANT era to begin, resetting the rankings once again and debuting a new Battle Pass for players to grind through. Episode 9: Act II kicks off on Aug. 28, and we now have our first information on one of the biggest new additions coming with this update. That's right, the VALORANT Agent roster is about to get a little larger.
Riot Games has officially revealed Vyse, a cunning new Agent that specializes in isolating and manipulating her opponents. Finally, another new Sentinel is joining the fray, helping even out the various roles. There may be more information about the update's Battle Pass and potential new cosmetics coming out in the future, but for now we can at least fawn over Vyse.
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Liquid metal traps to trap and control your foes
Vyse will be the sixth Sentinel in the VALORANT roster, and is the latest new Agent since the undead Controller Clove was added during Episode 8. The last Sentinel added to the game was Deadlock, who specialized in preventing enemy ingress from happening in the first place. Vyse, on the other hand, is an expert at manipulating enemies after they've entered a site.
Here are the abilities Vyse will have at her disposal.
- Arc Rose. Vyse's default ability will allow her to equip a metallic projectile. She can fire the Arc Rose onto a surface (where it will be hidden from view), or she can alt fire in order to shoot the Arc Rose through the surface and onto the other side. Firing the Arc Rose again will blind all players looking at it. Vyse can pick up the Arc Rose to resuse it.
- Shear. The first of Vyse's optional, purchasable abilities, Shear sees Vyse fire an invisible filament of liquid metal onto the ground. When enemies cross the trap, it springs into action, becoming a temporary, indestructible wall blocking their retreat.
- Razorvine. The second of Vyse's purchasable abilities, Razorvine is another hidden ground trap. However, this nest of liquid metal explodes into a large bramble of razor-sharp wire, slowing and damaging all players that pass through it.
- Steel Garden. Vyse's Ultimate Ability is unlike any other in the game, in which Vyse unleashes a torrent of liquid metal thorns that tear through an area after a brief wind-up. All enemies caught in its path will have their primary weapons temporarily jammed and disabled.
Vyse looks awesome, with her grey and purple color scheme and robotic helmet, but her unique kit of abilities also presents some interesting new additions to the VALORANT meta. She's another Sentinel with a selection of stealthy traps, letting her set up at sites without drawing enemy attention. Her ability to also block enemies from retreating in addition to slowing, damaging, and blinding is fascinating.
Of course, her headlining ability is being able actually disable primary weapons entirely. Forcing your enemies to rely entirely on their secondaries and abilities, even if only for a limited time, can massively influence the flow of a round. I'm excited to see how players use Vyse and whether she can find a regular place in the meta that other Sentinels have sometimes struggled to maintain.
Vyse will be available in VALORANT on Aug. 28, 2024 as part of Episode 9: Act II, presumably launching alongside a new themed Battle Pass. Players will be able to unlock Vyse in-game simply by playing (there will likely be a Vyse-specific challenge to unlock her more easily this Act), but Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Windows PC and Xbox consoles will instantly have access to Vyse as part of their subscription.
In case you missed it, VALORANT has officially launched in full on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, instantly making it one of the best Xbox games for shooter fans. Xbox Game Pass subscribers enjoy additional perks like increased Battle Pass XP and instant access to every single Agent.
