Valorant Needs To Remove RNG From Spray Shooting

Every player who wants to get better at a competitive FPS shooter must practice their recoil control and aim to ensure they can take the enemy out quickly and efficiently. This happens with Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike games, and even Overwatch 2 to an extent. However, one popular FPS game that’s separate from the others is Valorant.

Valorant has a weird RNG spray shooting system, unlike similar FPS competitive games. Even though Riot Games’ free-to-play game prides itself as a tactical shooter, it adds an RNG factor that betrays the title it’s trying to be. Every time a player holds down the shoot button to spray, the recoil is always random, something Riot states to make the game more casual-friendly.

However, I think the spray shooting system is one of the worst things in an otherwise excellent game. After all, I don’t want luck to be a deciding factor in whether I eliminate the enemy or die in a 1v1.

Skill Gap? More Like Luck Gap In Valorant

I feel like it’s unfair and weird that people can win gunfights in Valorant only thanks to sheer luck. While every weapon has a different amount of recoil that the player can adjust to, it stinks knowing it’s impossible to be 100% accurate every time. That is, unless the person has the luck of the devil which I unfortunately don’t have.

Let’s say I’m in a combat scenario with someone new to Valorant, and we both missed our first shots. Well, everything after that will just be luck. I can’t tell you how many times my weapon let me down by shooting everywhere but the enemy because it felt like it.

This RNG mechanic is a strange decision because it takes away the skillfulness of shooting. Don’t get me wrong, you still have to use your abilities or hit that first shot accurately, but everything after that? That depends on whether Valorant feels like you deserve a win or not. I know I sound like a broken record, but for an eSports title, players should be able to win games over their skill and strategies, not just because they lucked out while spraying.

Having something set your game apart is fine, honestly. However, what really irks me is how inconsistent the spray movement is. My Vandal could shoot like a laser beam in one round and then have the accuracy of a blind person throwing paint on a canvas in the next. I don’t want to pray to the RNG gods every time I start a game because that ruins the point.

Learning Weapons Feels Like A Waste Of Time

Every weapon in Counter-Strike 2 has its distinct spray pattern. This encourages the player to learn their favorite weapons and keep the recoil pattern in mind to ensure they can play it if the circumstances require it. Don’t get me wrong, CS spray patterns deviate sometimes, but not much, and resetting the recoil is relatively simple.

Spraying/Gunplay is terrible in Valorant
byu/xWarmasx inVALORANT

Basically, if I miss a shot and die, it feels like it was a mistake on my side and that I should practice the gun so it doesn’t happen again. On the other hand, it’s just frustrating in Valorant. There’s no point in learning how to use a phantom instead of a Vandal if both behave similarly when I have to spray and pray.

Tap-firing and the first few bullets are crucial, and I have no queries. If I land the first shot then I’m golden, but everything after that is up to the luck God. The worst thing is how it takes forever for the recoil to reset since I’m almost always dead by the time it does. I feel like what Riot can do is go the route almost every other tactical shooter goes and give each weapon unique sprays.

Riot Games And Its Hand-Holding

If you’re an avid enjoyer of games developed by Riot Games then you’re likely already familiar with how the company holds player’s hands. League of Legends is easier to play than Dota 2, which is why it appeals to a more casual audience. This is one of the forefront reasons for the MOBA’s popularity.

Similarly, Riot wanted to develop a simpler CS:GO, which resulted in Valorant. A game being easy is well and good, but League of Legends has player learn different Champions and perfect their skillshots. Even though League of Legends isn’t hard to play, attacks are always reliably consistent, so players can actually get better. I wish I could say the same for Valorant and its spraying.

All in all, I enjoy Valorant. However, while utilizing agent abilities and playing with friends is always a blast it takes one failed RNG check to ruin my day and remind me why I prefer playing Rainbow Six Siege.