From the moment Sova was revealed in Valorant, it was clear that he would be an essential part of competitive team compositions. The amount of information and vision he can provide is massive, arguably even better than Cypher. Sova’s abilities are not complex, so understanding how to play him isn’t difficult. But understanding how to get the most out of some of his abilities is a little bit less obvious. This Valorant agent guide is here to help you improve your Sova gameplay with a few simple tips and tricks.
The signature technique – Recon Bolt
Sova’s most useful ability is Recon Bolt — which gets fired from a bow. It’s his Signature ability, so he gets it for free every round. To best utilize it early, think about where enemies are likely to start each round. Fire a Recon Bolt there as soon as the round begins. With any luck, you’ll instantly get feedback on your enemies’ location. Your Recon Bolt recharges, so the sooner it’s out and providing information, the sooner it will be off cooldown.
Always try to fire your Recon Bolt from behind cover. The bolt arcs, so you can hit targets over walls or objects. Plus, you can utilize its single or double bounce. Don’t get caught with your bow out. And don’t forget, Recon Bolt doesn’t reveal everything in an area. If the enemy can’t see the bolt, the bolt can’t see and reveal the enemy.
Here’s a trick to help you land your Recon Bolts every time. Before a round starts, open your map and click on the spot you want the bolt to land. When you close the map, this spot will still be visible to you in-game. You can use this mark to line-up your Recon Bolt. You may need to practice a bit to get the distance of shots right.
Enemies can destroy your Recon Bolt before it reveals their location. So, if you know where your opponent is, you can use the bolt to briefly distract them. As your opponent turns to destroy the bolt, you can step out of cover and fire the first shot.
This last tip for Recon Bolt is a word of caution. It doesn’t reveal enemies inside smokes, like Jett’s Cloudburst or Brimstone’s Sky Smoke. Even if the bolt lands inside the smoke with the enemy, it won’t reveal them.
Shock your enemies – Shock Bolt
Sova’s Shock Bolt is a great ability to clear corners where enemies could be hiding. One Shock Bolt isn’t enough to kill an enemy – even a direct hit only does 90 damage. However, a bolt landing in their hiding spot will often cause an opponent to panic. If not, you’ll have an advantage going into the fight because they will be missing health.
All those well-drawn lightning bolts are locations enemies could be hiding. You can bounce your Shock Bolt off walls to flush them out.
Here’s a gimmicky, but a fun, trick to pull in Valorant with Sova’s Shock Bolt you probably won’t see in many guides. However, it’s likely to get you killed a few times. When you’re attacking and have the Spike planted, stand on the Spike location and shoot your Shock Bolt straight up in the air at full power with two bounces. The bolt will land on the Spike a few seconds later. And the enemy never knows if the bolt is going to detonate without bouncing, after one bounce or only after two bounces. If you time it right, you can kill an enemy trying to defuse it. Two Shock Bolts will delay the enemy even more. It’s not the most useful, but it’s hilarious when it comes off.
Spread your wings – Owl Drone
Owl Drone is a powerful tool in Sova’s arsenal. You should never die with it unused. If you find you are dying with it constantly lying dormant on your wrist, you might be playing Sova too aggressively. And not placing enough value on information.
A good tip for Sova’s Owl Drone is to always use it in conjunction with a teammate. The drone takes a few hits to die. So, if you fly it out of cover and enemies notice it, they will most likely shoot it down. If a teammate steps out of cover a few seconds after the drone goes around a corner, your teammate should have a few seconds to get some free shots on your opponents.
Unleash your rage – Hunter’s Fury (Ultimate)
Sova’s Ultimate ability, Hunter’s Fury, is one of the most fun to use in Valorant. Killing enemies with it is incredibly satisfying. But don’t just fire it into the ether and hope to hit something. Always use a Recon Bolt or Owl Drone to discover the location of your enemies first. Once you know where they are, you have three shots to try and kill them. Two hits will kill a full health and armor opponent.
Remember the tip about marking your map for Sova’s Recon Bolt earlier in this Valorant guide? It works for his Ultimate, too. If you think you know where some of the enemies will be starting the round, open your map, mark the location, and unload Hunter’s Fury into them. This mark helps with getting the difference in height right too.
I hope this Valorant Sova guide provided you with some solid tips and tricks to improve your game. If you’ve got any creative uses for Sova in your back pocket, we’d love to hear them. Also, let us know what you think of Valorant now that it’s launched.
