Hey everyone, lots of good discussion in this thread. I want to take the opportunity here to provide some more info and context about some of the choices being discussed.
First shot accuracy:
In VALORANT each weapon has a base spread (deviation from the center) value. Some weapons have no base spread (Guardian, zoomed Marshal, zoomed Operator) while others have a large amount (Bucky, Judge, Ares). Weapons that are accurate but not quite perfectly accurate (Vandal / Phantom / Bulldog) have some unreliability at very long ranges to balance them against guns more sharply intended for these very long distances.
While this can incorporate some RNG into the outcome of a long-range engagement with some of these rifles, you have options to remove this RNG for nearly all ranges by utilizing ADS and crouch. ADS provides a flat spread reduction, while crouch provides a percentage reduction. These stack together so if you’re zoomed and crouched, the rifles won’t have any deviation on the first shot at pretty much any range (I’m sure there might be one or two total in the game, and of course you’ll be able to find a distance where that’s the case in the shooting range).
This means that when taking very long angles with these rifles, quickly swinging and taking tap shots from the hip while standing is not reliable like it would be with the Guardian in this scenario. You can still eliminate RNG in those scenarios by utilizing crouch + ads with Vandal/Phantom, but clearly the Guardian or Operator is going to be quicker and more potent in this example (which helps give them a clearer role in the game).
Recoil:
With recoil in VALORANT we don’t quite use a predetermined spray pattern or an entirely random one, we use a hybrid model. The first several bullets have fully deterministic recoil, but deeper into the spray, your weapon will make pseudo-random deviations.
There's a couple reasons why we chose this model:
We want to reward adaptability over memorization. Keeping track of the behavior of your weapon when firing and compensating accordingly will increase the efficacy of extended firing. The more you play, the more you’ll familiarize yourself with the weapon’s tendencies and learn to quickly adapt on the fly. We prefer this as the skill vector over spending time memorizing how to compensate for a set pattern in the shooting range.
Additionally, some uncertainty in the recoil pattern increases the value of alternative shooting methods such as tap shooting and burst firing at various distances, if you could compensate the recoil pattern with 100% certainty, it would eliminate the need for alternative firing methods in most scenarios. We want split second decision making about what firing method to use in these different scenarios to be a vector of mastery with the weapons.
Recoil is also reduced with a lower chance to deviate via the following states:
- Crouching while firing weapons will reduce recoil, moving will increase it
- ADS will also reduce recoil (this is multiplicative with crouch)
This helps reinforce angle holder advantage, so being in position crouched and pre-aimed gives you a much more controllable pattern compared to spraying on the run or standing.
With that being said, it's highly unlikely we got everything 'right' in our first pass of the game that you're playing now. It is our belief that this is the right direction for our targeted experience, but we want to hear your feedback. When we’re wrong we’ll listen, and we’re not afraid to admit that. I've already seen some suggestions here that perhaps not enough of the bullets in the spray are predetermined so you can't get reliable bursts off, these are completely reasonable points of feedback and help us trend towards tuning that you are all happy with.
Thank you for reading!
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