Valorant Harbor: Abilities & Playstyle Guide

On October 18, 2022, in Act 3 of Episode 5, Valorant finally decided to launch Harbor, the second new controller agent, after two years. Since Harbor is a controller, all of his abilities are related to blocking vision. Valorant agents like Brimstone, Omen, and Astra can only block vision.

Main Points:

Harbor is a new and fifth Controller agent released in Act 3 of Episode 5 of the game.
His abilities include Cascade, Cove, High Tide, and Reckoning.
While Cascade and High Tide are vision-blocking walls, they can slow down anyone who passes through them as well.
The Cove is the Smoke Ability of Harbor, and bullets cannot go inside or outside of it. On the other hand, Reckoning stuns and gives the location of all the enemies present inside the circular range.
Getting Harbor in the early stage of Act 3 of Episode 5 will allow you to exploit the lack of knowledge everyone has about this new character.

Harbor In Valorant

Valorant: Harbor abilities — Controller Agent: Harbor [Image Credit: eXputer]

A new controller in Valorant was long awaited. Due to nerfs on Astra, her pick rate dropped substantially. Moreover, Valorant has been coming up with maps that cover a substantial amount of area. Therefore, a controller agent like Brimstone was useless on his own. Moreover, players were having issues with Viper’s wall, especially when they were on the defending side.

Once Viper players place a wall, they cannot get it back again. So, if they used the wall on A site but the enemies went to B site, then the wall was a complete waste. On the other hand, Omen, with only two smokes in hand, has trouble when there are more than two entries.

To overcome all these shortfalls, Valorant has finally released Varun Batra, having the code name Harbor. His abilities are entirely different from the controllers who came before him. Consider him as a water bender coming from India, ready to provide teams with a new meta.

Abilities Of Harbor

Viper, can induce decay in anyone who passes her wall or orb. Apart from that, Harbor has a totally different method of blocking vision, and there is a feature attached to each ability of that.

Cascade

The Cascade wall is a tall wave of water that you can send forward. You can use the ability by pressing C if you are playing with the default settings. The wall can go up to forty meters if you don’t stop it. The range of the Cascade wall is visible on the map to make it easier for you to calculate the distance.

In case you want to place the ability before the forty meters mark. Simply press the ability button again in order to stop it. Moreover, you can push forward the Cascade wall through a wall. Therefore, you will not be at risk of getting exposed to enemies.

Since you can see the place of the Cascade wall on the map, you don’t need to see the location of the wall directly. Just see the wall on the map, and once it reaches where you want it to be, simply press the ability button again. The cost of the Cascade ability is 150 Credits which is relatively cheap.

Cove

The Cove is basically the smoke ability of Harbor in the game. Just like Viper, he has only one smoke. However, the Cove’s ability is more than a smoke. Consider it a bulletproof vision blocker. You cannot shoot bullets inside or outside of the Cove.

However, unlike Viper’s smoke, the area under the smoke is visible, just like the Omen’s smoke. The smoke has a very long duration of fifteen seconds. It can keep the enemies on hold till everyone on the team takes their position. However, the downside of the Cove is that it can be shot down, and the abilities can go through it.

Even if there is only one enemy with a Vandal, they can shoot it down within one magazine. The smoke can also be broken with a knife, and you can do it with only five left clicks. Therefore, do not rely totally on your Cove while defusing or planting the Spike. Apart from that, the Cove ability will cost you 350 Credits.

High Tide

The High Tide is a long wall covering a distance, the same as Viper’s wall. Unlike Viper’s wall, you can change the Harbor’s wall direction by changing the direction of your mouse. Consider the wall bending just like the phoenix’s firewall.

The best thing about the wall is that you can even turn it 360 degrees. So, if you are outnumbered and surrounded, simply keep curving the wall. Apart from that, the wall does not only block the vision of your enemies. It even slows anyone who passes it.

Therefore, if you are passing through it, you will slow down as well. However, the slow effect lasts for a maximum of two seconds. The time is not enough for it to be impactful. So, we can expect a buff in upcoming patches from Valorant. Since it is the signature ability of Harbor, it does not cost anything.

Reckoning

The Ultimate ability of Harbor is Reckoning. The primary purpose of his ultimate is to get control of a site and force enemies to move from their places. When you press the ultimate button, you get to see a circular range. As soon as you use your ultimate, the circular range will move forward, covering even more area.

Whichever enemy is in your ultimate will be marked with golden lightning from the sky, allowing you to see their location. Not only that, but a small circle will also form around them, and within seconds they will get concussed. Agents like Neon can get out of that inner circle trying to concuss them.

But Neon will eventually end up exposing herself, given that your team will already know her position. The ultimate, in a certain way, acts like a combination of Breach and Cypher’s ultimate. It is able to concuss the enemies and reveal their position at the same time, but its constraint is limited range.

One thing to keep in mind here is that you should not get too close to enemies while they are getting stunned. If you get into the circle that is around them, you will be stunned as well. To use the ultimate, you will need seven ultimate points.

Playstyle Of Harbor

There is no doubt that Harbor will change the perception people have of controllers. Harbor has the ability to block many openings at one time. The play style of Harbor will differ depending on the side he is playing on.

For the attacking side, he needs to make as much room as possible for his teammates to plant the spike. For the defending side, he will need to push away the enemies by blocking as much view as possible. He will also delay their push due to the slow effect his Cascade and High Tide abilities have.

Attacking Playstyle

On bigger maps like Pearl and Fracture, you can bend the High Tide to minimize the area for enemies. The enemies will have trouble peeking through the wall. Moreover, once they peek through the wall, they will have trouble getting back.

The retreat will be difficult due to the slowness that will induce on them. However, this can lead them to push with the intention of aggression, knowing there is no way back. So, keep a watch on your wall because the same strategy will not work every round.

Moreover, if your team’s strategy is to push in and plant the spike without clearing the site entirely, then you can put the Cove to good use. The Cove will allow the spike planter to plant without being in the open. Not only will Cove save them from the bullets, but it will also give them the freedom to plant wherever they want it to be.

What usually happens is that the attacking team plants the spike in a tight spot. It happens due to the threat of enemies peaking. So, in a post-plant situation, they get a disadvantage because the spike is not in their line of site. But due to Cove, your team will be able to plant in the open and allow you to peek with ease in a post-plant situation.

The Cascade will allow you to push forward with ease. The enemies will either change their position or get slowed. Moreover, the wall can be great for providing cover behind which you can push forward.

Most importantly, if you have run out of the Cove, you can simply place the Cascade before your ally who is planting to provide cover. However, don’t forget that bullets can travel through Cascade and High Tide. So, if enemies spray through the wall, they have a chance of hitting you or your teammates.

Reckoning, the ultimate ability, will allow you to make an entry on the site easily. Not only will it allow you entry, but it will also provide you with information about enemies who will be in a state of stun. Therefore, duelists in your team, like Jett and Neon, can take full advantage of your ultimate and eliminate whoever gets in it.

Defending Playstyle

When it comes to defending, Harbor will excel in slowing down the push of attackers. His High Tide has a long-range, so it will easily allow you to control mid. Since the Cascade ability has the same purpose, you can use it to block off the site entries.

To ensure total safety, you can get the help of other damaging agents, such as Killjoy, Phoenix, and Viper, who can use their mollies. Once the enemies pass, they can simply throw their molly, which will damage the opponents even more.

The Cove, on the other hand, can have multiple purposes since you can place it in a one-way fashion. It will allow you to see your opponents early, and you can even shoot at their feet. However, since the Cove is not penetrable, you cannot hit the enemies on the body or head through it.

Usually, in a post-plant situation, you can place the Cove on the spike and let someone diffuse it. The diffuse will be easy, given that the bullets cannot travel through it, and it will be there for a total duration of fifteen seconds.

However, it will be quintessential that there is someone outside the Cove providing cover. Otherwise, the enemies will be able to break it in no time. Once the Cove breaks, anyone who was diffusing will be wide in the open and have a strong chance of eliminating. Moreover, remember that abilities can go through it. So, watch out for Viper’s Snake Bite or Killjoy’s Nano Swarm.

The ultimate ability: Reckoning, will majorly help you during a retake. It will force the enemies to fall back, during which you can easily place the Cove on the spike and diffuse it. We recommend you use the ultimate in such a way that all tight corners get covered. That way, your ultimate will have maximum utility, and the enemies will have no option but to die.

Final Words

Since the release of Valorant back in 2020, they have released a variety of agents apart from the original ten. Until now, they released three duelists, two sentinels, three initiators, and only one controller.

All in all, if you are a controller player in Valorant, then we recommend you unlock Harbor as soon as possible. Not only will he be more fun in the game, but you can also take advantage of enemies’ lack of understanding. The fastest way to get XP In Valorant is the best way to unlock Harbor in the game.

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