Movement in-game is one of the most overlooked fundamentals. In most cases when people talk about mechanical skills it's mainly about someone's ability to point and click with the mouse but the in-game movement is a key fundamental in tactical shooter games. Movement is what sets you up to get frags. If your movement is poor, your fragging ability might be as well.
VALORANT is awesome because it has brought together so many game titles into one. I've seen Overwatch, Call of Duty, PUBG, Fortnite, Counter-Strike, Rainbow 6, League of Legends, and game titles I've never even heard of coming together to play VALORANT. Depending on which game you came from, you might have a hard time with movement.
If you're coming from games like Call of Duty, PUBG, and Fortnite. You're probably used to holding W the whole time and using your mouse to change directions. There's very little if no reason to strafe around corners in these games, but in VALORANT you don't want to move around the maps like this. For beginners, I would suggest using your strafe keys as much as possible to get used to this mechanic.
Here's a demonstration of me using the battle royale movement in a VALORANT deathmatch (holding W and using my mouse to navigate). This might be a little extreme but it's mainly to get the point across. As a side note, it felt extremely hard to get these kills because my shots weren't lined up before I turned corners but I was still able to get them because my crosshair placement wasn't bad.
Now, here's a demonstration of me in that exact same deathmatch still using W to move forward but as I approach corners, or am about to peek an angle I stop, use my mouse to turn my line of sight, and then press my strafe keys (A, D) to actually move out.
Can you tell the difference? If you can't, I'll explain why you don't want to W key around the map.
As soon as you W key around an angle, you can't really take cover again using a technique like jiggle peeking. You're exposed and you need to commit to your fight.
You can't control the degree of angle (easily) that you want to actually peek at. You should peek in slices, not every angle at the same time.
You're most likely going to crouch and become immobile. This is a habit for all gamers regardless of what game(s) you played before VALORANT. Crouching and shooting at the same time is the default when you feel vulnerable. It's not bad, in fact in some cases it's necessary but in a perfect world, you don't want to spray. You want to tap or burst your weapon, strafe, and then tap or burst again in a controlled manner.
If someone is actually tucked in the corner you're about to W key around, you're probably dead before you can fire an accurate shot. You can't move and shoot accurately in VALORANT, there obviously is some RNG but you shouldn't count on it.
Now your question might be. How do I practice these movement fundamentals with shooting? The best way to do it as an intermediate, or advanced player would be in VALORANT itself. I highly suggest playing lots of deathmatch and of course practice it in your ranked games.
As a beginner, I suggest playing the ValorantHavenEntry task in Aim Lab. If you want to know how to set up Aim Lab, check out my Beginner Guide To Aiming. Halfway through there will be a link to Aim Lab's site and how to change your settings so they match VALORANT.
When you're playing this entry task, there are a few things I want you to focus on.
Move forward and stop before you turn any corner
Line up your crosshair at headshot height with where the bot could potentially be through the wall
Strafe out just enough to take a 1v1 against a bot, and shoot
To add an additional layer, strafe out, shoot the bot, and strafe back to safety behind the wall. Practicing this will prepare you for jiggle peeking
Try not to strafe out too wide and let multiple bots see you at the same time. Practice your strafing left and right around corners to isolate gunfights. Here's an example. I exaggerated my strafe peeking to show you what I mean.
You have the movement fundamentals now. Time to go practice in-game and play a bunch of deathmatch. It's the best way to practice your movement throughout the map and strafing around corners while putting yourself in real scenarios with real people running around, and shooting back at you. It takes practice, but the more you do it, the better you will become!
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