Valorant is a tactical team-based shooter created by Riot Games. It hosts multiple colourful characters in its pool of Agents for players to choose from. These Agents are Duelists, Controllers, Sentinels, and Initiators. A strong Duelist suitable for all players is master of fire, Phoenix.
In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about playing as Phoenix in Valorant.
Read More: Valorant: How Agent Contracts Work
Is Phoenix Good in Valorant?
According to the story surrounding Valorant, Phoenix is the fire-boy, hailing in from the UK. He is a Duelist with a charismatic persona, along with incendiary abilities, which make him a fan-favourite character in the game.
His set of abilities are all about quick entry, hindering enemies vision and self-regeneration. This makes Phoenix a powerful Duelist who can hold his own when he is outnumbered.
Is Phoenix Good for Beginners?
Phoenix is one of the few agents that can be used by players without needing to unlock him first. Agents like Yoru, Reyna, and Astra require players to be relatively high-skilled at Valorant, but Phoenix is ideal for beginners to both the game or FPS games in general.
Phoenix is good for beginners due to the fact he can blind enemies, cut off areas of the map, and use his abilities to heal himself. He may not be seen as the strongest Agent in the Valorant, but he is the most stylish one. However, playing Phoenix without knowing the basics can land players in a hot mess — usually involving the likes of blinding your own teammates and yourself, rather than enemy players.
How To Play As Phoenix — Abilities & Skills
Here are Phoenix's abilities:
Hot Hands - Throw a fireball that explodes after a delay or upon impact with the ground. The fire zone damages enemies, and heals you.
Blaze - Cast out a flame wall that blocks vision and damages anyone passing through it. You can bend the wall when casting by turning while holding left-click.
Curveball - Cast a curving flare that bursts into brilliant light after a brief delay, temporarily blinding all looking at it. Left-click curves it left, right-click curves it right.
Ultimate:Run it Back - Mark your current location. If you die during this ability’s duration, or when this ability’s duration expires, you’ll be reborn at the marked location with full health.
Phoenix's Best Weapons
The best weapons for any Agent will depend on their play style. So if you're aggressively pushing sites for entry, then these weapons will be the best choice.
- Ghost
- Stinger
- Spectre
- Phantom
- Ares
In case you are hanging back as Phoenix and adopting a passive play style, then work your way around with the following weapons:
- Bulldog
- Guardian
- Vandal
- Odin
- Operator
Tips for Playing Phoenix in Valorant
Phoenix is relatively simple to master and will reward players at every rank. The scope is endless with this Agent, but players need to avoid being predictable. He offers more offensive abilities to the player than other Duelists, and also can heal himself.
Phoenix's flash ability allows him to push sites during attack, or hold off specific angles while defending. Unlike other Agents, Phoenix can create flashes around a corner with ease, confusing enemies about his exact location if used well. Players can also get creative and flash around and over a specific angle to catch the enemy off guard. However, his flashes don't last for too long, which means players have to peek at opponents instantly after flashing.
Using Phoenix's Blaze can stop enemies from pushing a certain angle, and can help players stop an active enemy rush. His Blaze ability allows players to create a wall of fire that separates a small section of the map. This can be critical while entering spike sites, and using a flash through the blaze before peeking can almost always guarantee a kill.
Hot Hands throws down a pool of fire that can be used both to either damage enemies and or self-heal Phoenix. By using this ability tactically, it can change the outcome of a round.
Phoenix's ultimate ability allows him to push spike sites fearlessly and take down a few opponents before dying. The ultimate allows him to run from a certain spot, attack a site, then spawn at the point he activated the ultimate. This is great for pushing spike sites or areas with multiple enemies, but if an enemy sees where Phoenix activated the ability, they can instantly kill him once the ultimate runs out; thus, players must be tactical about where and when they use his ultimate.
Players should try to use Phoenix as an entry fragger, that flashes and gets on site, creating a pathway for teammates to follow. Similarly, he can become exceedingly useful during retake or post-plant situations with his self-healing abilities.
Phoenix's Weaknesses
While Phoenix's abilities make the Agent easy to use, it also restricts his potential as a Duelist. There are a few abilities in his kit which can be punished easily if they are not performed properly, such as flashing teammates or dying after using his ultimate.
Once the ultimate is over, Phoenix returns to his initial position. Opponents usually bait this spot for an easy kill on Phoenix, which is why positioning matters before using it. That's his primary weakness, and makes his ultimate weak if not performed tactically or protected by another teammate.
To conclude, Phoenix is still one of the best Agents for beginners, and practicing his abilities in matches will definitely help players improve in Valorant swiftly. To find who is best for you to play as in Valorant, check out our tier list of all agents here.
This article was updated on 17th November 2021 by Kelsey Raynor.