• Guide

How to unlock agents in Valorant

Here's how you can unlock new agents in Valorant.

Donovan Erskine

June 2, 2020 10:40 AM

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Riot Games’ Valorant is finally available around the world for players in all regions. As players begin to jump in to this brand new title, they’ll only have access to a limited amount of Valorant’s full roster. If players want to unlike agents such as Viper or Reyna, they’ll need to recruit them. We’ve put this guide to show you the simplest way to unlock agents in Valorant.

How to unlock agents

When first jumping into Valorant, the easiest way to unlock new agents is from simply playing and gaining experience. There is a progression-based unlock system that works like a provisional battle pass for players early in their journey. Titled “play to unlock free agents”,  this pass requires players to reach tiers 5 and 10 to earn two agent unlocks. These don’t take too long and can be reached within your first several matches. The two character unlocks can be spent on the agents of your choosing.

Unfortunately, this pass caps off at ten tiers. However, there will still be several agents yet to be unlocked. To unlock the additional Valorant agents, you’ll need to use contracts. Each agent has a contract, which yields cosmetic rewards for having it set as active. Reaching tier five rewards the player with unlocking the respective agent. Like the other systems in Valorant, you can rise through these tiers by gaining exp. Be aware that you’re able to set a contract active for an Agent even if you haven’t unlocked them, and you don’t need to play as them to gain progression. If you haven’t yet completed the introductory tiers to gain the two free agents, it will cost you 200 Valorant poins to unlock a contract.

Now that you know how to unlock agents in Valorant, you’re ready to take the battlefield by storm. Each of Valorant’s agents have their own unique abilities that they bring to combat, so it’s imperative that you at least try them all to see which one best fits your playstyle. For more on Riot Games’ FPS, visit our Valorant home page.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_