What Are the Best Valorant Agents for New Players?

New to Valorant? Deciding which Valorant agent you will main is crucial, and with a growing Valorant roster full of unique abilities and clearly defined roles, selecting the right one is essential in helping you find your footing in-game.

Why? Choosing your first agent shapes that initial learning curve and your contribution to the team. For example, some agents demand tricky setups and pixel-perfect lineups, which can be daunting for newcomers. However, others provide more straightforward, immediately impactful abilities.

Getting comfortable with an agent whose kit is easy to understand allows you to focus on mastering Valorant's core mechanics: movement, aiming, map awareness, and game sense, without the agent complexity on top.

Think of your first agent as your training wheels. You want something reliable, something that helps you understand the game's flow without demanding god-tier mechanics from the get-go.

That's why we’ve curated this list of the best Valorant agents for beginners. These are the characters whose abilities are pretty intuitive, offer clear value, and provide a solid foundation for learning the ropes in 2025.

Ready to find your perfect match among the new Valorant agents? Let’s get started.

Sage: The Indispensable Sentinel Support

If you naturally gravitate towards helping your team and appreciate a more measured playstyle, you might find that beginner-friendly agents suit you best. Sage is the perfect agent for beginners. As Valorant's primary healer, her impact can be incredible in the right hands.

Why she’s great for beginners

Sage’s abilities are direct and undeniably useful. Her core healing function is always needed. Not only that, but playing Sage teaches you positioning and awareness, as you’ll need to stay alive to support your teammates. Her kit isn't overly complex, allowing you to focus on learning the maps and basic strategy. As a Sentinel, her focus is on locking down areas and supporting the team, often from a safer position.

Key Abilities

• Healing Orb (E): Her signature ability lets you restore health to injured teammates (a full 100 HP) or give yourself a smaller heal (30 HP). Learning when and who to heal is a fundamental support skill, especially for beginner-friendly agents. Good Sage players prioritize keeping their team alive.
• Slow Orb (Q): Toss an orb that creates a lingering field on the ground, slowing anyone (friend or foe) who walks through it. It’s excellent for stalling enemy pushes, controlling tight chokepoints, or making opponents easy targets.
• Barrier Orb (C): Creates a solid, temporary wall. Use it to block entrances, create cover for planting or defusing the Spike, or even boost teammates (or yourself) to unexpected angles with a blast pack. Getting creative with wall placements is a solid strategy for new players wanting a strong defensive option, especially with specific agents in Valorant, which is key as you improve.
• Resurrection (X - Ultimate): Sage's ultimate ability brings a dead teammate back to life with full health. It’s one of the most powerful ultimates in the game and can single-handedly swing a round in your team’s favor. Don't be afraid to use it to gain a numbers advantage!

Sage provides a safety net, allowing you and your team to recover from mistakes. She’s a rewarding first choice for the beginner who wants to make a significant contribution from the get-go.

Brimstone: A Straightforward Controller

Want to command the game with smokes and ordnance? Brimstone is your man. As a Controller, his job is to use abilities to slice up sightlines and control territory, and his kit is the most direct and simple among his peers.

Why he’s great for beginners

Brimstone’s abilities are effortless to deploy. His Sky Smokes are placed via a tactical map interface, making precise placement simple without needing complex lineups. His other skills are equally straightforward, offering transparent buffs or area denial. Playing Brimstone teaches you the fundamentals of map control, which is a vital skill in Valorant.

Key Abilities

• Sky Smoke (E): Deploy up to three long-lasting smoke clouds anywhere within range using a tactical map. Perfect for blocking common angles when attacking a site or stopping enemy pushes on defense. Using smokes strategically is Brimstone's bread and butter.
• Stim Beacon (C): Tosses a beacon that grants increased fire rate, reload speed, and movement speed to allies within its radius. Great for coordinating pushes or holding down sites.
• Incendiary (Q) is one of the many unique abilities that different agents in Valorant possess. Launches a grenade that creates a damaging fire zone upon landing. Excellent for clearing corners, delaying pushes, or post-plant situations to prevent defuses.
• Orbital Strike (X - Ultimate): Calls down a massive, high-damage laser strike from orbit onto a targeted area. This ultimate is excellent for clearing out entrenched enemies or securing kills on players stuck defusing the Spike, as it's almost impossible to escape if caught inside.

Brimstone is a fantastic agent for players who enjoy tactical thinking and supporting their team's advances or defenses, and his simple execution makes him one of the best Valorant agents for beginners.

Phoenix: The Self-Reliant Duelist

If you prefer a more aggressive playstyle and want an agent who can look after himself, Phoenix fits the bill. This fiery Duelist is all about initiating fights and using his flames to both harm enemies and heal himself.

Why he’s great for beginners

Phoenix's kit is entirely self-sufficient. For example, he has flashes to initiate fights, area denial that doubles as self-healing, and an ultimate that gives him a 'free' life for aggressive plays. This makes him forgiving for newcomers learning how to take space and engage on enemies. His abilities forgive mistakes while rewarding gutsy plays.

Key Abilities

• Curveball (Q): Throws a flash orb that curves around corners (left or right, depending on the mouse button) and blinds anyone looking at it. This ability is beneficial for checking corners or blinding enemies before you peek. Mastering the curve requires practice, but the concept is relatively simple.
• Hot Hands (E): Throws a fireball that explodes on impact or after a short duration, creating a fire zone that damages enemies but heals Phoenix. Great for clearing tight spots or healing up after a fight. It recharges after two kills.
• Blaze (C): Creates a wall of fire that blocks vision and damages enemies passing through it. Phoenix can curve this wall during deployment. Standing in the fire heals him. Use it to block sightlines or heal safely.
• Run it Back (X - Ultimate): Marks Phoenix's current location. If he dies or the timer expires (10 seconds), he respawns at the marker with full health. Perfect for aggressive site entries or gathering information without risk. Use it from a safe spot!

Phoenix offers a great introduction to the Duelist role. His straightforward, impactful abilities and self-healing make the learning curve less steep for new fraggers.

Sova: The Initiator for Intel

Knowledge is power in Valorant, and Sova is the master of gathering intel. As an Initiator, his role is to help his team push onto sites by revealing enemy locations and clearing defensive utility.

Why he’s great for beginners

Sova’s core ability, the Recon Bolt, provides immense value simply by revealing enemy positions. While mastering his arrow lineups takes a little bit of time, the basic function is easy to grasp and immediately helpful. His kit encourages learning map layouts and common defender spots.

Key Abilities

• Recon Bolt (E): Fires an arrow that emits sonar pulses upon landing, revealing nearby enemies. Even poorly aimed Recon Bolts can sometimes provide value. Learning basic lineups for common spots significantly elevates his effectiveness.
• Owl Drone (C): Deploys a controllable drone that can fly ahead, spot enemies, and fire a marking dart. Great for scouting dangerous areas before your team commits.
• Shock Bolt (Q): Fires an arrow that detonates upon impact, dealing static damage in a small radius. This ability helps clear utilities, such as Killjoy's gadgets, or damage enemies in predictable spots.
• Hunter's Fury (X - Ultimate): Equips Sova's bow with three long-range, wall-piercing energy blasts. Deals heavy damage and reveals enemies hit, which is excellent for clearing corners, finishing off low-health enemies, or stopping Spike plants/defuses.

Playing Sova teaches invaluable lessons about information gathering and its impact on strategy. He's a solid pick for beginners who want to support their team through intel rather than raw firepower.

Killjoy: The Defensive Sentinel

Do you prefer setting up a fortress and letting enemies walk into your traps? Killjoy is a Sentinel agent who excels at locking down sites with her arsenal of gadgets.

Why she’s great for beginners

Killjoy's abilities are largely 'set and forget'. Her Turret provides automated information and chip damage, while her Nanoswarm grenades offer strong area denial. This allows beginners to focus on holding angles and reacting to the information their gadgets provide. We’d say she’s excellent for learning defensive setups.

Key Abilities

• Turret (E): Deploys an automated turret that fires at enemies within its 180-degree cone. It alerts you to enemy presence and deals minor damage, making it excellent for watching flanks or key entrances.
• Nanoswarm (C): Throws a stealth grenade that can be activated remotely. Once activated, it creates a swarm of nanobots that deals high damage over time to enemies within it. Perfect for placing on the Spike or in common hiding spots.
• Lockdown (X - Ultimate): Deploys a device that, after a long wind-up, detains all enemies caught within its massive radius, slowing them significantly and preventing them from shooting or using abilities. Extremely powerful for retaking sites or forcing enemies off objectives.

Killjoy is a fantastic agent for beginners who enjoy a defensive playstyle and want to control areas effectively with minimal mechanical complexity. Her straightforward utility makes her one of the easiest Sentinels to learn.

Understanding Agent Roles and Finding Your Playstyle

Remember, these agents represent different roles, each offering unique playstyles.

• Sentinels (Sage, Killjoy): Defensive experts who lock down sites and support the team.
• Controllers (Brimstone): Slice up sightlines with smokes and control territory.
• Duelists (Phoenix): Aggressive fraggers designed to seek out fights and create space.
• Initiators (Sova): Assist the team in entering sites by gathering information and disrupting defenders.

While our recommended agents are beginner-friendly, don't be afraid to experiment as you unlock more characters! Perhaps another agent's play style simply clicks better with you.

Agents to Unlock First

When you start Valorant, you get five free agents(Brimstone, Jett, Phoenix, Sage, Sova) and unlock two more quickly through the introductory contract. Beyond that, you'll unlock agents using Kingdom Credits earned by playing. Based on ease of use and impact, prioritizing unlocks like Killjoy Raze is a solid strategy for new players wanting a strong defensive option with unique abilities. If you're leaning towards aggression beyond Phoenix, Reyna is often suggested due to her straightforward (though kill-dependent) kit.

Ultimately, the "best" agent is subjective and depends on your preferred playstyle; however, these five agents simply offer a smoother entry point into the world of Valorant, as they provide robust, easy-to-understand tools that let you contribute meaningfully while you master the fundamentals of playing different agents.