How to Play Attackers in VALORANT – Best Tips in 2025

Attacking in VALORANT isn’t just about charging into the bomb site, crossing your fingers, and hoping for the best – it’s a layered process of gaining map control, collecting information, using abilities properly, and outsmarting the defenders. Here are 10 tips to learn how to play attackers in VALORANT and help you rank up!

Control the Map First

Before committing to a single site, it’s vital to gain control of key areas on the map first, such as mid or long approaches. If you have more control of the map, enemies will have less room to play with, meaning less information.

This lack of information leads to uncertainty in the defenders and often forces them to spread out, which weakens their hold on bomb sites. Taking early space can also open up opportunities. You can pivot, fake, or commit based on what you find.

Controlling space doesn’t always mean you’re rushing in – sometimes, slowly walking to a chokepoint carefully is more effective than using all your utility immediately to take control.

Let Initiators Gather Information

One of the biggest mistakes in lower and mid-rank brackets is entering bomb sites without any information. Every VALORANT lineup should have an Initiator agent, specifically a “Recon” agent.

Recon agents include Skye, Sova, Fade, or Tejo, all of whom have abilities that allow them to send a drone (or creature) into a bomb site to gather information. This is the most effective way to scout enemy positions and flush defenders out before you commit to a push.

Make sure to wait for the info, then act on it. Don’t throw initiator utility just for the heck of it – use it to set up a safe and successful entry to the bomb site.

Clear Common Angles

Defenders thrive off predictable attacker behavior, so if you don’t check the common spots, you’ll get picked off early.

It’s important to familiarize yourself with all the VALORANT maps in the current map pool and figure out the most commonly played angles for defenders. You’ll have to combine good crosshair placement with utility (like a Raze grenade or Phoenix flash) to clear these angles.

The aiming concept of “Slicing the Pie” is a great way to clear these angles. The idea is to reveal angles one at a time by slowly moving around a corner while keeping your crosshair trained on the area that becomes visible first.

Duelists Enter First and Make Space

Duelists are the spearhead of the attack. Their job is to:

• Take first contact
• Win opening duels
• Create chaos and space for the rest of the team

If you haven’t noticed already, duelist agents are equipped with mobility, such as Jett’s dash, Raze’s satchels, Neon’s sprint, and more. These abilities can break through a chokepoint and force defenders into awkward positions.

However, the team must commit behind the duelist and capitalize on the space they make. Use all of this chaos to get as much room as possible on the site and kill any stragglers.

Always Be Ready to Trade

We’ve just discussed how crucial duelists are to the attack. Though they are tasked to win the opening fight, the reality is that they can’t win all the time. This is why trading is one of the most fundamental tactics in VALORANT.

If your teammate dies entrying to the site, you, as someone who went after them, are responsible for being close enough to refrag immediately. This not only evens out numbers but keeps the momentum going.

That’s why you’ll often see professional teams attack in pairs or trios and peek off each other’s contact. You don’t need to be a duelist to get kills – just be positioned well to trade, and you’ll notice an influx of easy frags adding up to your kill count.

Have a Lurker Ready

A well-timed lurk can make or break a round. Lurkers operate independently by applying map-wide pressure. They’re responsible for watching flanks, catching rotations, or backstabbing defenders during full-on site hits.

The lurker on the offense is most often the Sentinel. Sentinels are tasked with a useful kit of abilities on defense, but their abilities aren’t too helpful on the offense. With this in mind, they are often tasked to be the lurker on teams.

Being a good lurker is about having patience and not over pushing, timing enemy movement, and reading enemy rotations and habits. Since you’re operating alone, you also need to win out individual duels, as nobody will be there to trade for you!

Plan for the Post-Plant

If you’ve broken into the site and planted the spike, you can pat yourself on the back – but the job’s not done. It’s the beginning of the second phase: the post-plant.

You have to think about:

• Where to plant for maximum control (understand default vs. open plant)
• Where to reposition (back site, main, or long angles)
• What utility to hold onto for the post-plant (smokes, mollies, recon)

For example, if you have a Killjoy or Brimstone with lineups, you can plant open for them and fall back. If you’re all low on HP, look for a safe plant and play off audio cues and trades instead.

Don’t stay bunched up on the site – you need to spread out and set up crossfires to deny re-entries or defuses.

Call Your Utility

Communication plays a vital role in VALORANT, and good teams win by layering utility well, not wasting it.

Whenever you’re about to use utility, be sure to call it out:

• “Flashing left, wait for it”
• “I’m mollying default, hold for it”
• “Smoking Heaven, wait before we go in”

You don’t need to communicate like nAts from Team Liquid – just some quick and simple callouts will do the trick. Coordinated utility can clear an entire site without a single bullet fired, while uncoordinated utility gets teammates killed and wastes important cooldowns.

Keep Enemy Economy In-Check

Just like in the real world, money plays a crucial role in VALORANT matches. Economic awareness will give you a strategic edge.

If enemies are on an eco, expect them to play close-range with a Shorty in corners or “gamble stack” a bomb site. Make sure to take long-range engagements to capitalize on the weaponry difference.

If the enemies just full bought, expect Operators and long-range setups. Use utility carefully and avoid giving early picks to potential snipers. Overall, use the information of their economy to adjust your pacing for the round.

Identify Enemy Habits and Trends

Remember that defenders are humans, and humans are creatures of habit. As you play out an attacking half, you should notice trends or habits:

• Who always anchors B site?
• Who always flanks from mid?
• Where do they dump utility in early rounds?

If you know their Cypher is always playing the B site, you can hit the opposite site to avoid his utility or plan a coordinated attack knowing he might be on the site alone. Adapting to patterns is what separates average attackers from high-ranked players.

How to play attackers in VALORANT – Conclusion

In conclusion, attacking in VALORANT is a team-driven chess match – with bullets. It’s all about control, coordination, and calculated risk – not running into a site and praying for the best. Use these 10 tips as a framework, not a script. The more you play with intention, the more you’ll start to win on your terms, not just by out-aiming opponents.