Every Valorant match takes place on one of the seven available maps. Even though Valorant is one of the tactical FPS games, the good aim is just not enough. You need to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Therefore, you need to familiarize yourself with Valorant maps. Keep reading this article to learn basic things about every map and all Valorant map callouts you need to know to be able to communicate with your teammates.
Best Valorant maps
Bind
Bind is one of four initial maps released by Riot Games in the closed Beta version of this game. The map’s real life location is Rabat Morocco and the whole build environment resembles Moroccan style with dusty floors and mosaic tiles. It is a regular two plant site map. With proper Agent setup, both sites are relatively easy to defend, and it is slightly a Defender sided map with a win rate of 52.8% in favor of Defenders.
As you can see from the map layout on the picture above, there is no mid-area on this map. This makes it harder for Attackers to breach into sites as there are only two entry points to each site.
A is accessible through “Showers” and “A short” while B through “B Long” and “B Short”.
Unlike other maps, the Bind map has a unique Valorant feature, two one-way teleporters which allow quick rotations for both Attackers and Defenders. One teleporter provides instant teleportation from “A Port” to “B Short” while the other one leads halfway across the map from “B Port” to “A Lobby” allowing Attackers to quickly rotate to the other site. Teleporters are noisy, and they will always reveal your location. So, be careful while using them because your enemies will always expect you to come from there, and some of them might be even flanking outside of the teleporter for free kills.
Haven
The second map that was also released in the closed Beta version is Haven, located in Thimphu, Bhutan. This map is Attacker sided with a round 51,7% win rate. But why is that? Well, Haven is currently the only Valorant map with three bomb sites.
This means Defenders have to set up their defenses on three sites. There are five defenders in total, which means they can send two players to two sites and only one player to the third side. This will leave one site totally vulnerable to attacks. If five Attackers decided to storm the site with only one Defender guarding it, it is pretty much game over, and Attackers will definitely win that round. They have a 33% chance of attacking the right site every round.
Sites are accessible through five pathways; “C Long”, “C Garage”, “B Door”, “A Short” and “A Long”.
Haven Valorant map is relatively easy to learn. Make sure to check all map callouts in the picture above and try to memorize as many as you can before you decide to play this map.
Ascent
The Ascent was the first map of “new” Valorant maps added in the Riot Games 1.0 patch on the release date of June 2nd, 2020. The map is located in San Marco, Venice, Italy, and you can see St Mark’s Campanile from everywhere on the map.
Even though this map has a mid area, it is still a Defenders sided map with a 52,4% round win rate favoring the Defenders. It is mainly because Defenders can cut-off surprise mid attacks by closing the doors on both A and B. Doors are destructible panels with 400 HP each. However, it takes quite a bit of time to destroy those walls, and Defenders will be more than ready waiting on the other side.
Sites can be entered through four entry points; “B Main”, “Mid Bottom”, “Mid Cubby” and “A Main”.
Icebox
Icebox is a map that no one feels neutral about, you either love it, or you hate it. The map was released shortly after Ascent in Riot Games 1.10 patch, and it introduced horizontal ropes, so-called ziplines to the game. It is located in Bennett Island, Russia. When it comes to which side this map favors, it is quite neutral with 50%-50% of round win rates between Attackers and Defenders.
This map has a lot of boxes on which certain Agents can climb on. It favors Jett, Raze, and Omen, no matter which team they are on.
It is a two sites map, and there are plenty of access points to both sites. However, in a passive approach, both sites can be defended directly from the site with no need to escalate an unnecessary fight anywhere else on the map. In the end, it all comes to aim and map awareness. The better team will almost always win the round.
Breeze
Breeze is a mysterious map located in Bermuda Triangle, Atlantic Ocean. It was released in Riot Games Valorant patch 2.08 during Episode 2, Act III. It is a big map with slow rotations and a lot of lurking possibilities. It is currently the largest map in the game. Keep in mind that the size of the map can play a huge role in Agent selection. Some abilities are almost useless on this map. For example, Reyna’s flash “Leer” does not work on long distances, and your enemies won’t get flashed. Due to long distances and open spaces, this is a great map to use Operator. You can defend and attack both sites with Operator. As for the unique features, it has one one way drop doors that lead to the middle area.
A site has three main entry points; “A Cave”, “Hall”, and “Mid Wood Doors”. On the other side, site B has only two, which are “B Main” and “B Tunnel”. If there is a player guarding mid, the B players should only look at “B Main” which makes site B nearly impenetrable. Be that as it may, the map is still well-balanced with 50% – 50% of win round rates between Attackers and Defenders.
Fracture
Fracture is a futuristic map located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. It was released as a part of 3.05 patch and brought a completely new set of strategies and map features to this game. Defenders spawn point is in the middle area of the map, which connects both sites. In addition to that, Attackers have a zip line that will lead them all the way across the map allowing Attackers to attack both sites from a different sides. The map is perfect for split attacks as the attackers can come in from both fronts.
However, if one side of a split attack is too early or too late and fails, all of the defenders can focus on the other side. In addition to that, the mid area of this map is inaccessible to attackers, which works in favor of Defenders. Therefore, it is also a well-balanced 50% -50% map.
Pearl
Valorant’s newest map Pearl arrived with the Episode 5 update. The map’s real life location is in Lisbon, Portugal. The general environment of this map reminds us of CS:GO’s Inferno with similar shapes and somewhat similar map callouts. It is a relatively small map, similar in size to Split, which is probably the main reason this map replaced split in the active map pool. Pearl is currently the only map in the game that is straightforward with no additional map features. There are no teleporters, no zip lines, and no doors that can be opened or closed.
Every site has two entry points, one main and one from the middle area. You can enter A through “A Main” and “A Link” and B through “B Main” and “B Link”. The map is full of chokepoints it will probably favor Defending side. However, it is still too early to guess as the map will definitely get a few updates in the following weeks.
Old Map – Split
In the Patch 5.0 update, Riot Games announced in their Valorant map updates that Split is no longer in the active map pool for both competitive and Unrated queues. The Split was a small, fast-paced, popular map and one of the maps that heavily favored Defending side. It requires a balancing update and a complete revamp. As Riot Games confirmed, it will probably come back to the game sometime in the future after they are finished with remodeling.
FAQs
How many maps are there in Valorant?
There are always seven maps in the active pool. With every new release, one old map will be removed from playable maps.
How many Valorant maps are there?
There are 9 Valorant maps in total, including the old map Split and the practice map called Shooting Range.
How to play Fracture map in Valorant?
Fracture is a slow-paced map that revolves around map control and strategy approaches. You should play it carefully in coordination with your team.
When is the new Valorant map coming out?
The newest Valorant map Pearl came out in Episode 5. The next map will definitely be a part of a new big update, probably Episode 6, but the release date is still unknown.
