Guide 2022: Playing Agent Yoru abilities & tips.

Yoru is a duelist and his vocation is to drive his opponents crazy. His abilities pay as well with reflexes as with the expectations of his opponents. You can’t trust what you see or hear when he’s around. We explain in detail how his abilities work!

There are many subtleties in Yoru’s skills. They allow each of them to be used in different ways. Yoru has no truly offensive or defensive skills. They are all designed to destabilise opponents by forcing them to doubt their senses and watch their backs. This makes him an ideal agent for those who like to fight in both the physical and psychological worlds.

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

Using Yoru’s abilities

Fakeout (C):

His first ability is Fakeout. Yoru throws a clone of itself. This clone moves in a straight line at the speed of an agent. To opponents, it is a clone identical to the real Agent, but teammates can distinguish it by its dark blue colour. This copy generates footsteps which adapt themselves according to the ground: if he progresses on sand, then an iron plate, the opponents will hear well the noises of steps in sand, then noises of steps on iron.

Furthermore, this clone disappears when it suffers damage. Before exploding, he turns towards the enemy who is the source of the fire and will trigger a light cone. This one blinds opponents for about 4 seconds. Allies can also suffer this malus if they are in the area at the time of the flash. If no opponent destroys it, it will eventually disappear spontaneously.

Yoru can decide to land his Fakeout on the ground without triggering it. Fakeout then acts as a trap that can be activated remotely with the F key. The direction in which the Fakeout will go is determined at the time of installation, so it must be placed carefully. Feint’s range is not infinite, but it is very long as long as it does not get stuck against a wall or in a corner. This does not mean that it disappears at the first obstacle encountered, on the contrary. The skill progresses, more slowly and slides along walls if possible.

Finally, Feinte also has a special feature that will prove very useful. The clone acts as an Agent in the eyes of the game’s various devices. This means that he can use Bind’s teleporters, but also and especially trigger enemy traps. Indeed, the copy will attract the attention of Killjoy‘s turret, trigger Cypher‘s trigger wires (if they are set low enough) and take aggro from Raze’s boom bot.

Fakeout therefore turns out to be a multi-tool. We’ve talked about this before, but sound is almost as important as sight in a Tactical FPS. Opponents will no longer be able to trust what they hear, nor what they see. If they expect feints in calm situations, using it in the midst of chaos can fool even the most seasoned players’ reflexes.

Yoru can only buy 1 clone per round. It must therefore be used wisely. If Feint is not used for the mind-game, it can simply be used to dislodge opponents and to detect traps.

Blindside (Q):

250 Credits – 2 Uses per round. Yoru’s second ability is Blindside. Yoru throws a ball that bounces off a wall before exploding and flashing nearby players. The ability doesn’t have infinite range and it must bounce off an obstacle to trigger. It’s therefore useless to launch Blindside directly into the air, the ability will disappear before it can fall to the ground and explode.

The ability always triggers half a second after bouncing, so don’t expect it to bounce from wall to wall like an arrow of Sova. The ability can bounce off any solid surface, including players or traps. If the Blind Spot Orb cannot be destroyed, but enemies can avoid it. Once thrown, the orb is visible to all and emits sound.

It’s this surprise factor that makes the ability so interesting. The fact that it’s so easy to pull and use is also an important factor.

Gatecrash (E):

Signature – Recharges after 2 kills – 200 Credits – 2 Uses per round. Yoru’s signature ability is Gatecrash. Much like Fakeout, Yoru can drop an orb on the ground or send it forward. However, if the orb is placed on the ground, it cannot be sent forward afterwards. Once the orb is cast or placed, Yoru can teleport to it at any time by re-using the ability.

Since patch 4.04, Yoru can making false uses of Surprise Visits. Whether thrown forward or placed on the ground, the teleportation orb can be triggered without Yoru moving. This use is extremely useful for creating doubt in opponents. The false teleportation leaves a mark on the ground, which is visible to the enemies.

It’s important to note that after teleporting, Yoru maintains the orientation he had when triggering the ability. Remember to turn in the desired direction before that.

The orb remains available for 20 seconds, but it can be destroyed by opponents… At least if they find it. Indeed, after a certain time, the Surprise Visitor Orb becomes invisible to enemies, unless they step on it. The orb can therefore pass through the nose and beard of inattentive teams, but also traps. The orb can also use Bind’s teleporters.

Visite Surprise is therefore an excellent skill for repositioning, but it has weaknesses on both offense and defense. On offense, if the orb is silent when it is thrown and sneaks behind enemy lines, using the teleportation only makes noise upon reception. In defense, you can place the orb in a safe spot before an assault, but using teleportation freezes Yoru to the ground for half a second. Reactive opponents will have time to kill Yoru before he escapes. This problem can be somewhat offset by a jump before teleporting. Yoru will teleport following the inertia of his jump.

Dimensional Shift, Yoru’s Ultimate

Finally, Dimensional Shift is the Ultimate ability of Yoru. It requires 7 charges to be launched. Once launched, Yoru dons a mask and becomes invisible and invincible for 8 seconds. In addition, he gains a significant movement speed bonus. Since patch 4.04, Yoru can charge and use his skills while in the other dimension.

In masked form, Yoru can be detected by enemies if it passes too close to them. If he passes too close to an opponent, the outline of the opponent’s screen will start to display blue flames. Also, enemies can hear Yoru’s footsteps when he is close by. However, even if he hits his opponent, Yoru remains completely invisible and invincible.

Dimensional Shift is therefore an excellent tool, both for repositioning and to for recognition. By putting his mask on, Yoru can enter a point and spot the positions of opponents before returning to his starting point. In vocal, he can easily give the opposing positions to his allies. Yoru can remove his mask at any time, so he can step behind enemies to surprise them while they are busy containing an assault. As a last resort, it’s also a good ability to get across the map quickly, if necessary. Keep in mind that Dimensional Shift doesn’t take long enough to go from one site to another.

Like most abilities in Valorant, it’s nearly impossible to use Dimensional Shift reactively. The animation where Yoru equips his mask and trigger the ability is extremely long, approximately 2 seconds.

Playing Yoru in Attack and in Defense

Like all Duelists, Yoru excels at attacking. Use his skills to surprise your opponents. Make them think you are close to them or in a specific place, or on the contrary to appear behind their backs by surprise. Yoru can use Visit Surprise and Dimensional Transfer while carrying the Spike. He is therefore the ideal Agent to land the Spike without the knowledge of opponents.

In Defense, Yoru will mainly assume the role of lurker. His mission will be to find his opponents alone and cause havoc among them. Feinting can be used to force the attackers to change sites or simply to make them look behind their backs at the wrong moment. Visit Surprise can also be used to cover two sites at the same time, if Yoru has taken care to position it well at the beginning of the round.

Yoru’s Synergies and Counters

Yoru doesn’t really benefit from any particular synergies with other Agents. He performs well on all teams and it’s more for him to adapt to them than the other way around. Yoru must be able to take advantage of situations created by his allies to use his abilities.

But if there’s another Agent he’s wreaking havoc with, it’s Omen. The two Agents can teleport together to grip the enemy team. Omen’s smokes can also create the ideal cover for the teleportation or Dimensional Shift.

There are, however, a few abilities that are particularly effective against Yoru. With her wall, Sage can block all of his abilities and moves. This makes it difficult for him to establish his game plan. You should also know that Skye and Cypher‘s ultimate abilities reveal Yoru’s presence, even though he’s invisible. (Note: This could change in the future.)

Few tips and tricks:

You can jump before triggering the Surprise Visit teleportation to avoid standing still.

Throwing Blindside at your feet like a ninja smoke bomb is definitely an option while you rush. The flash will take place behind your back, but opponents in front of you or in pursuit of you will be blinded.

Blindside destroys Ascent‘s window.

Pay attention to the delay before Dimensional Shift is active. You run the risk of leaving too early and being seen by your enemies.