Valorant - Get Perfect Positioning. In-depth Guide. Positioning Guide
Intro
Well, have no fear, because your favorite radiant cero is here. I've just been extremely busy with school and projects and exams and all that boring stuff, but luckily I'm back with another banger for you guys. Like aim and movement positioning, it's one of the most important skills in valorem and that's why in this guide I'll go over all the positioning tips and tricks you need to know to help you climb the ranks to reach your desired rank of immortal and radiant.
I'll also be going over the different levels of being unpredictable, how to win more post-plan situations, and much more, so without wasting any more time, let's get right into the article.
Always have a plan
First, I'll go over all the positioning fundamentals that you need to master when it comes to positioning.
One of the most fundamental concepts is always having a solid plan and being able to fall back quickly or escape the situation. So this obviously includes you knowing where to fall back if you miss your shots or need to reload, but one important yet overlooked aspect is considering the enemy's utility.
Consider enemy utility
You always have to consider the enemy team and what agents they are playing. For example, if you want to play on top of a double box on ascent, look up to see if they have arena silva or phoenix, etc.
If you know that they have a rain or sova, you can ask your teammates to be ready to destroy the lyra drone. Likewise, if the enemy team has a phoenix, you have to be ready to play anti-flash.
Retake instead of dying solo
Whatever the reason is, if you're the solo site player, your goal is to get a kill and, more importantly, stay alive, because if you die and they take the sights and plant the bomb, the round is practically over.
Playing a bit aggressive
Another decent strategy if you're a solo bombsite player is to be a bit aggressive and gain some space for your team.
For example, if you're solo on B Bind and know that all the enemies rna, then you can push up and hold for the rotation. So if you die as a solo, your team has enough time to rotate so the enemy doesn't get a free plant, but remember that this can be risky, especially if you aren't in a jet arena, because it will be easy for the enemies to trade you, so if you're playing as a support character, it may be better to just play back and retake with your team.
So always remember to have a concrete plan in mind and please don't die inside by yourself.
Communication & teamplay
This brings me to my next point of communication and team play. You won't believe how vital a role communication plays in positioning. For example, if you're playing more passively, you should always let your teammates know what angles you are holding so that they can play crossfires or play off each other's contacts.
Play crossfires w/ teammates
This will force the enemy into choosing to fight either one of you, giving the other the opportunity to secure the kill. If your team wants to play a little bit more aggressively, on the other hand, you can time each other's flashes and decide when each person beats the enemy. Always Remember that positioning with your teammates is always better than positioning alone.
Peeking off contact
Try to consistently put yourself in a situation where you can play off a teammate. This is known as "picking off contact." The idea is that you hide and cover, pre-aiming the angle while your teammate is holding from a different position.
Once you hear your teammate shooting, you peak and basically have a crossfire on the enemy netting, giving you guys free kills. I'm in silver and my teammates are dog water and don't listen to anything I say. In most cases, your teammates who decide to not use their mics or play as a team are generally more temperamental and play more aggressively.
This can be used to your advantage because if they're constantly taking first peak, that allows you to play off of them instead of peeking first and trusting them to trade you.
Angle perception advantage
Another concept that most low-rank players don't understand or acknowledge is the concept of angle perception advantage.
In essence, you want to be farther from the angle or the wall than your enemy. This happens because the weight of the camera works in violence, so if you're hugging a wall, you won't see the enemy but they'll be able to see your shoulder, putting you at a pretty big disadvantage.
Never play in corners
A big low elo mistake that I see is players sitting in corners, and it always hurts me because corners are always cleared by enemies, and at the same time, you have nowhere to escape and will get traded.
Instead, you should always be playing a bit away from the corner to catch the enemies off guard and gain an angle perception advantage on the opponents.
The 2 ways to hold angles
So in valorem, there are two main ways to hold an angle through a standard common angle or with an off-angle, so the issue I see with most players, especially below diamond appliance, is that they don't really know when it's the right time to use each one.
Let's go over what standard angles are and the possible issues that come with them.
Standard / common angles
Using them A standard angle is an angle that is very commonly played because it gives the player the ability to quickly escape or get behind cover. The problem is that since these angles are so common to your opponents, they will be pre-aiming you and will have their crosshair lined up in your head, giving them an easy kill.
The other problem with standard angles is the issue of peaker advantage. Pika's advantage basically means that, due to human reaction time ping difference and server tick rate, the person peaking has roughly a 70 millisecond advantage of seeing the opponent first. This means that if an enemy swings at you, they'll be able to kill you before you can react, making it look like they're still running on your screen, despite these inconsistencies.
Standard angles can actually help you win more games if you're playing them correctly. The main idea you should focus on is not holding static angles. I see countless lower-ranked players who like to hold angles while standing completely still. But doing this puts you in an extremely unfavorable position.
The enemy already has their crosshair on their head when they peek out. This is where the importance of peaking and on-peaking comes in. The idea is that if you're playing on a standard angle or you don't have any advantage, you should constantly be peaking and on peaking every three to five seconds.
If you're constantly peeking out on peaking, you can catch the enemies at the moment they clear you and they start clearing the next position. This puts the enemies in a really uncomfortable spot as you can peek them even after they've cleared you, giving you an edge over your opponent. Remember how I said all these advantages the opponent has while peaking?
