How To Improve Your Aim in Valorant

As with any tactical shooter, having great aim in Valorant means being comfortable with the many mechanics that make up its core. You’ll need to get familiar with proper movement, crosshair placement, and spray patterns before seeing major progress.

The more you play, the more your understanding of the game will grow, and before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert marksman.

So, whether you’re a complete novice to tactical shooters or just looking to brush up on the basics, here are 5 steps to improving your aim in Valorant.

Naturally, the biggest factor in improving your aim will be how fast you’re able to place your crosshair on an opponent’s head accurately. Crosshair placement means keeping your crosshair at head height even when you don’t see any opponents to minimize the time it takes for you to adjust your aim when you do.

There’s no need to aim at angles or places where opponents can’t be, such as the ground or the sky, as having to readjust your aim will put you at a huge disadvantage. Instead, have your crosshair already pointed where you expect opponents to be. This is also known as pre-aiming.

In Valorant, every Agent has the exact same height, which makes it easy to predict where you should keep your crosshair centered. Adjusting for distance is something you’ll also need to do, seeing that their head height will differ depending on how close they are to you at any given time.

Recoil has a significant impact on your accuracy. Each weapon has a distinct spray pattern, so familiarizing yourself with especially the Phantom, Vandal, Bulldog, and Spectre will help you out a lot.

Control your spray by moving your crosshair in the opposite direction of where it wants to go when you hold down the trigger.

How to control your spray

One of the most popular weapons, the Vandal, has a pretty consistent spray pattern. Holding down the trigger, the spray travels upwards while pulling to the right within the first second. Almost exactly after one second, it immediately goes from right to left, to right to left ending the spray.

To counteract that, you would need to move your crosshair down for the first second, pulling slightly to the left, and after one second go from left to right, to left to right in an opposite zig-zag pattern.

Having good movement in Valorant greatly impacts how you aim. Being a tactical shooter, moving while shooting is a huge no-no, and even a small step at the wrong moment could offset your shot considerably. At the same time, standing still to take aim in the middle of combat makes you an easy target, and won’t get you far either.

To prevent getting caught out, you’ll want to incorporate a few techniques into your gameplay. Counter strafing and shoulder peeking are techniques meant to make you harder to hit, all while allowing you to shoot accurately on the move.

What is counter strafing?

When you move in Valorant, your aim is impaired. It’s another part of the game's intended skill ceiling, and as such, there are ways to get around it with enough practice.

Counter strafing basically means that you cancel the animations that get activated while you move, which would otherwise impair your aim. Not only does this make you harder to hit, it also allows you to run and gun accurately.

How to counter strafe in Valorant

You can counter strafe in any direction, depending on where you’re coming from. If you’re looking to perform a leftward counter strafe, the sequence would look like this:

• Press A, release A, press D, release D, shoot

Pressing D instantly after releasing A compensates for the movement in the opposite direction, effectively canceling the animation that would otherwise harm your aim.

Counter strafing is one of the harder techniques to master, but as you practice more and more, you’ll be able to perform the sequence correctly more often.

What is shoulder peeking?

In a nutshell, shoulder peeking is baiting your opponent into firing and punishing them, by shooting in between their shots.

It’s a technique that requires great timing, but once mastered, it can be a devastating tool in your arsenal.

How to shoulder peek in Valorant

To shoulder peek, you’ll need cover to peek out from. It can be a wall or a structure that protects you from any incoming fire from the opponent you’re shoulder peeking. You’re not trying to get any visual information from a shoulder peek – your only goal is to get them to shoot first.

Line up your shoulder peek by pre-aiming your crosshair towards the spot you think your opponent is. Hug the wall or structure you’re in front of while as close to the edge as possible without showing yourself.

Once you’re ready to peek, quickly move towards the edge of the wall to reveal your shoulder and then retreat. Rinse and repeat this sequence until your opponent reacts by firing a shot, upon which you punish them by shooting back as soon as they stop.

Once you’ve done it for a few games, you’ll get a better feel of how much to reveal and when to shoot back.

Preparing for your upcoming matches with a quick warmup session is one of the best things you can do to improve. There’s a reason why the pro’s never go into a match without having warmed up for at least half an hour beforehand. Still, they’re getting paid to do it, and sometimes you don’t want to spend that long just to play two matches, so we’ll make do with a shorter session.

You should definitely consider picking up a warmup routine before your next match – luckily Valorant has a great tool in the Shooting Range to help you get off and running.

Our recommended warm-up routine

• 3 minutes of peeking training. Go to the left corner of the Shooting range behind the stacked boxes, and practice shoulder peeking without shooting.
• 10 minutes of general aim training. Spawn bots with armor enabled. Go to the back of the range and practice headshots moving up and down the stairs for the first 5 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, strafe left and right while practicing your headshots.

This short routine will ensure that you’ll be relaxed, focused, and ready before your first match. As you improve, you can extend the duration of your routine with 5-minute increments to your general aim training.

When you play, you’re automatically building muscle memory. Crosshair placement, movement, aiming, strafing – everything becomes easier the more time you spend doing it, so long as you’re playing, you’re improving.

Take the time to enjoy the journey and the process of becoming gradually better. There will be days when you don’t feel like playing, and that’s fine. Go do something else – you’ll have plenty of time to play later. You should never feel like you’re forcing yourself to play, the point is to enjoy it!