Change in the stars: First impressions of Astra

As of March 2, Valorant has moved into Act 2, Episode 2. That means a lot of changes for the game. One of the largest additions is the 15th agent, a controller named Astra.

Fittingly, Astra is an energy-bender who uses the powers of the cosmos to bend the world around her. She also has a particularly stunning celestial-inspired design.

Just like her visual style, her abilities are all galactic-themed. Every single one of her powers uses a resource aptly named “Stars” that cost 200 points each and can be placed around the map to pinpoint where she plans to use her powers. At the beginning of each round, she gets two for free, but after that Astra has to pay up.

However, because Stars can get so pricey, all of Astra’s abilities are all cooldown-based. She can also recall a star if it goes unused, but it will take some recharge time before it can be used again.

Her most frightening ability is her Gravity Well (C). It pulls all nearby enemies into its center before exploding and making them vulnerable. Astra’s team can easily use Gravity Well alongside other agent’s powers to create some devastating combo attacks.

She also has a stun (her Q, Nova Pulse) and a smoke (her E, Nebula/Dissipate). They have their own little quirks, but they’re still pretty standard abilities for Valorant agents.

As far as her ult goes, it’s called Astral Form/Cosmic Divide (X). She can use this to turn astral and look around the map from above as well as create a huge wall divide across the entire map. This wall blocks bullets and dampens sound, but abilities can pass through.

While parts of Astra’s kit seem standard, some of her powers could be completely game-changing. Her Gravity Well and Ult seem insanely powerful, but like many fresh Riot creations, she’s likely doomed for a crippling nerf.

Yoru looked like he could make a serious impact when he first came out, but he’s barely made a scratch on the meta. In fact, the only post-release agent to escape the bottom of the pick-boards has been Killjoy. All the others hover at the bottom.

Let’s hope Astra, a cool agent with an even cooler kit, doesn’t have the same fate.