A surprising number of players don’t know how to hold angles in VALORANT. It’s a critical skill that separates high-elo players from low-elo ones. Well, that and aim, game sense, and a handful of other things. Regardless, knowing how to hold angles in VALORANT is super important.
You might think you know how to hold angles, but the fact that you’re here tells me you’re not too confident. That’s good, though. Recognizing weaknesses in your game is the first step to improving. I’m going to run you through how most players hold angles and explain why that’s wrong. After that, I’ll show you how to hold angles properly. Implement this change into your game, and you’ll rank up in no time.
How to Hold Angles in VALORANT
First, let’s talk about the incorrect way to hold angles in VALORANT. I’m willing to bet most of you hold angles like the picture above – with your crosshair right up against the angle you’re holding. It makes sense, right? You want to shoot the enemy as soon as they come around the corner, so the closer you hold, the better.
That’s wrong. Unfortunately, we’re not bots. We can’t pull the trigger as soon as we see a pixel. Even if we could, VALORANT’s net code wouldn’t make those shots very consistent.
By that logic, you need to be holding these angles wider. There’s more to it than that, though. We don’t just want to hold angles wide to account for our reaction time, but it’s actually more accurate crosshair placement based on how people peak in VALORANT.
In VALORANT, peaker’s advantage is massive. Logically, a lot of players, especially at high elo, take advantage of this. Wide swings are super common, so if you hold angles wide, enemies will be swinging straight into your crosshair.
As well as that, hold the angle from as far away as possible. With how the camera works in VALORANT, the further you are away from the angle you’re holding, the sooner you’ll see the enemy’s player model. Avoid holding an angle close at all costs, unless you’re playing to catch someone off guard. In general, hold it as far back as the angle permits you to.
Holding Wide Angles in VALORANT
This is how you want to be holding angles in VALORANT – most of the time. As we’ve discussed, holding wide angles counters wide swings, and gives you more time to react and microadjust. However, there is one exception to this rule – and that’s when you think an enemy is going to shift, or walk, around the corner.
Being able to predict this is largely about your game sense, but one typical example would be if you’re holding flank. If an enemy is flanking you, chances are they’re going to be walking so your team doesn’t hear them. This means they’re going to come around that angle super slowly, so you can afford to hold it closer as you don’t need to adjust your crosshair as much to make up for the rapid movement.
That’s a niche situation, though. You generally want to hold your angles much wider, especially if you’re trying to hold down a lane. Do this, and I promise you you’ll start ranking up faster.
