Guide 2022: Playing Agent Sova abilities & tips.

Sova is one of Valorant basic Agent. As an Initiator (like Breach, Fade, KAY/O, and Skye), he has abilities that allow him to analyse a situation before starting a fight.

Hailing from the town of Severomorsk, in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, Sasha Novikov is an archer who became an agent for the VALORANT Protocol as its sixth recruit, “Sova”. As an agent, Sova primarily served as the team’s scout, gathering information and searching for targets using olden methods should technology come up short. His capabilities in the field earned him a reputation of being the most trusted man of the Protocol’s commander, Brimstone.

What makes Sova special is that he can reach opponents without endangering himself. He is a character suitable for beginners and it’s easy to be useful when you play him.

Before anything else, we advise you to familiarise yourself with Sova’s abilities.

Using Sova’s abilities

Sova is a skillful archer, which shows through his abilities. Three of them are used with a bow with different ammunition.

You’ll master Sova by managing three factors: strength, angle and number of rebounds. The more bounces you add, the more usually inaccessible areas you can reach, but the more complicated it is to deal with other factors. You can also shoot your arrows upwards by gauging the strength to make them fall behind enemies.

If you want to make Sova your Agent of choice, we strongly advise you to train in custom games. Look for Spike’s sites first, especially the nooks and crannies where defenders usually hide.

Shock Bolt (Q):

150 Credits – 2 Uses per round. The mastery of arrows and their rebounds is all the more useful in the case of the Shock Dart. This arrow deals area damage, in the form of a sphere. The closer the targeted enemy is to the center, the greater the damage suffered. This spell can even eliminate an opponent with a single blow, as long as he has less than 75 life points left. The Electro Arrow is also a good way to dislodge opponents all in in corners, like the recess in the long hallway of Site C on Haven.

Besides, when the Spike is planted, it is a good tool to defend it. It is thus possible to hit the enemies by yourself, with the right timing. You can also throw the two arrows up, above the Spike and wait for them to fall to inflict damage on the player who tries to defuse it. When this arrow shot is successful, it is usually rewarding, even if you have already fallen in battle.

Recon Bolt:

Automatically available at start of the round – Recharges after 40s. The Recon Bolt is easier to use effectively, but still takes some practice. Note right away that this arrow is very fragile, since only one opposing ball is needed to destroy it.

Use it only if you suspect the presence of an adversary or to check the absence of enemies on a site. With this last information, you can initiate a rush with your allies. It can also be clever to throw the arrow at a site, to make your opponents believe that you will come there if the way is clear, or even initiate a rotation of one or two of them. In reality, your team is attacking the other point.

The arrow emits multiple pulses that only reveal the position of the opponents at the time of the pulse. Your enemies may well have moved between pulses, so don’t assume that an enemy behind cover will always be behind cover by the time you attack. Most of them will even react upon seeing the first pulse, so we advise you to wait for the second or third pulse to determine if your enemies are the static or fidgety type.

This arrow is extremely useful for taking information, throughout the game, even when the spike is planted. While remaining crouched in a corner, all you have to do is throw your Recognition Arrow near the Spike. By doing so, you will delay the moment when your opponent would try to defuse it since he will not dare to show himself, or you will force him to stop the deactivation to take cover. Conversely, you can easily use this arrow to search for hidden opponents, ready to pick you up when you start a defuse.

Owl Drone

400 Credits – 1 Use per round. At first glance, the Owl Drone may look like an inferior version of the Recon Arrow. It is rather slow, difficult to manipulate and fragile, but it allows you to see different things, like devices and traps. Its field of vision is larger than the area of effect of the arrow.

In addition, Owl’s Drone has darts. If you manage to hit an enemy with one of them, it will be marked, and therefore visible even through walls, until he removes it. This is another good way to defend the spike once it’s landed.

Even if you can’t see an opponent before he destroys your drone, you can rely on the sounds of his weapon to estimate his position.

Hunter’s Fury, Sova’s Ultimate

Sova’s Ultimate skill consists of three supercharged arrows that go through walls instantly. These shots are powerful, but a single arrow is not enough to kill an opponent who has full health. Enemies close to an arrow’s path are revealed to your entire team, allowing you to attempt to take them out with a new arrow. This skill is perfect for killing an opponent who tries to plant or defuse a Spike. It also pairs very well with your Recognition Arrow (Recon Bolt).

Be careful, launch Hunter’s Fury only when you’re ready to fire. You will only have a handful of seconds to use your three bursts. The time allowed to adjust between two shots is very short.

Playing Sova in Attack

As you understood, Sova’s role in attack is to gather as much information as possible about the position of defending opponents. It’s much more interesting to use the different arrows to analyse the explosion sites than to inspect a corridor.

If you spot opponents, notify your teammates immediately. It’s important that everyone is up to date to make your assaults more effective. A Recon Bolt that doesn’t detect anyone is not necessarily a failed arrow. Knowing that no opponent is in an area is a very useful information.

Playing Sova in Defense

Sova is just as useful in defense, but he requires a little more timing. Only use your arrows when you suspect there are opponents in a hallway or a site entrance (pay close attention to footsteps).

It’s during this phase that Shock Bolt will be the most useful, excellent in corridors. You can try to hit your opponents by maximising rebounds as well as firing your arrow directly at the ground in narrow passages.

Few tips and tricks:

The arrows of Hunter’s Fury don’t need to be tensioned and loaded, unlike the others. When you click, the arrow is fired no matter what.

Information:

He is the favorite agent of your favorite streamer “FrenchBalut”. If you haven’t already, you will be able to meet him in games that take place in the Philippines regularly.
Visit and follow the FrenchBalut Twitch stream, and join the Discord of the gaming community in the Philippines.