Raze: a guide to Valorant's aggressive Duelist

Valorant has a host of duelists who can burst down enemies at a moment’s notice, but none of them are as explosive as Raze. Codenamed Clay, almost all of her abilities are proactive attacks, not mobility-based or self-sustaining. This means that this aggressive power-agent was created to go in and go hard.

So let’s give the best tips on how to play the combustive duelist, Raze.

In combat, Raze uses explosives to shatter her enemies. Her ballistic tech punishes her opponents for their positioning, forcing them to move ASAP or take serious damage. Many of her abilities can decimate an enemy agent if they're caught out.

Raze equips a Boom Bot. Press fire and she will release it. It will go in a straight line until it hits a wall, then it will bounce. Once it locks onto an enemy with its frontal cone, the Bot will chase them and explode for heavy damage if it reaches them. The Boom Bot lasts for 10 seconds and will do 125 damage if it hits. That’s enough to kill a light-armored enemy in one hit. However, it can be destroyed.

This ability costs 200 credits and a player can only keep one in their inventory per round.

Raze instantly throws a blast pack, which will stick to any surface. Hit Q again to detonate, damaging and knocking back anyone close enough to get hit by it. Blast Pack cannot hurt Raze directly. The explosive does 75 damage to enemies hit, but may do more if the blast knocks them off a platform that leads to fall damage.

Blast Pack can also be used in some locations to send Raze flying across the map to pull off some crazy plays.

This ability costs 200 credits and a player can only keep two in their inventory per round.

Raze’s signature move is Paint Shells. Raze equips a cluster grenade. Fire E again to throw the grenade. Once it goes off, there are sub-ammunition grenades in the shell that also blow up after 3 seconds. After that, each smaller explosion goes off after 3 seconds of being on the ground. Can do a maximum of 90 damage if all 5 shells hit.

Unlike the other abilities, Raze’s first Paint Shells is free, but any subsequent ones are only recharged once she gets two kills.

Raze equips a single-use Rocket Launcher and lights the fuse. Hit X again to launch the rocket. Raze has 10 seconds to fire the rocket or it will disappear. After firing, Raze does get pushed back 4-5 meters. It will travel in a straight line and explode on contact. The exploded rocket will deal damage to all enemies in the blast radius. Showstopper does 20-150 damage to enemies, based on how close they are to the blast when it goes off. That means it can kill a full-health, heavily-shielded agent on a direct hit.

This ultimate ability costs 7 points and should be used to off troublesome agents or, if a player’s lucky, knock out grouped-up enemies.

In a team setting, Raze is a duelist that makes opportunities and takes them. This slight Initiator/Duelist crossover situation that exists in her kit causes a lot of chaos and damage.

It's safe to say, when assaulting a point, Raze can disorganize the enemy with her threatening abilities just like her team needs. Even if the enemy dodges her damage, doing that will force them to get out of position. That leaves perfect openings for Raze and her team to swoop in and take the point themselves.

When on her own, Raze can still be a highly effective agent. Her damage makes her a perfect surprise assailant because enemies have to do whatever they can to avoid a direct hit from her skills. All she needs to do is send out a Boom Bot, wait for enemies to move out of cover, and mow them down before they can find a way to adapt.

However, Raze doesn’t have the same mobility or sustain as some of her other fellow duelists (Jett, Phoenix) so she does need to be a little careful about getting caught out on her own. But if she can use her damage to turn every fight to her advantage, even a clever, solo Raze could burn down an entire team on her own.