He's so-very good.
Sova is Valorant’s bow and arrow wielding scout, who fires recon arrows and controls a drone to gather information. Our guide has a bunch of tips to help you get to grips with this playstyle.
Sova’s a great choice for players new to the game thanks to his accessible, easy to understand abilities which happen to the genuinely helpful. His skills maybe be simple to understand, but there’s a high skill-ceiling for those chasing mastery of this agent.
Below we’ve put together some strategy advice to help you make the most of Sova’s abilities.
How to play Sova
Owl Drone [C] (300 Credits)
You’ll pilot a recon drone for a short period of time. While flying about, you can fire a dart which has a long cooldown. If this hits an enemy it’ll reveal their position for a few seconds. Enemies can shoot your drone and it doesn’t take much to destroy it.
First things first, make sure you position yourself in a safe spot before you use this ability. You don’t want to be out in the open, that’s for sure.
Next, try and maximise the amount of time you’ll fly and the ground you’ll cover. Think about the route you’re going to take before you send out your drone, or hunker up near a doorway to scout the room immediately rather than having to travel there from a distance and waste precious time.
While you’re flying about, don’t worry so much about hitting enemies with the recon bolt, but focus more on relaying info back to your team via voice comms. Mention if you’ve spotted anyone, if you haven’t spotted anyone, and where – all information is valuable! Just keep it clear and concise.
Shock Bolt [Q] (100 Credits)
Sova fires a bolt which deals AoE damage when it lands on the ground. You can choose to bounce it up to two times off surfaces with right click, and can control how far/fast you shoot it with left click.
For us, this is his weakest ability and one we don’t use often. However, this doesn’t mean it’s useless, far from it. If you know an enemy is hunkered down in a confined space, you can chuck one of these arrows in there preemptively and you might be lucky enough to inflict some serious damage.
While it’ll take more time and effort than you can often afford, you can use these arrows to flush out enemies defending bombsites. If you know a bomb site’s common spots and the trajectory you need to land an arrow there, then it’s a very good way to inflict some pain.
Recon Bolt [E] (35s Cooldown)
Sova equips and fires an arrow which’ll send out a continuous recon pulse once it comes to rest. If this picks up an enemy’s position, they’ll be visible for a brief flash for everyone on your team. Just like your Shock Bolts, you can choose how far you want to fire it, as well as how many bounces you’d like.
If an enemy shoots your Recon Bolt before it sends out its pulse, their location won’t be revealed. However, at least you’ll know they’re somewhat nearby.
This ability serves as a great scouting tool in all manner of situations. Don’t be afraid to fire it off at the start of a round to see if they’re pushing fast, to scout a hotly contested window spot, or just to check if anyone’s around the corner. Of course, be aware that you’ll be vulnerable if caught with your bow out, but be smart with your timing and positioning, and you’ll gather some seriously valuable info.
More essential Valorant guides:
- 1. Ranked Mode – Valorant: Competitive ranks explained
- 2. Best Agents – Valorant: Best Agents
- 3. Best Guns – Valorant: Best Guns
- 4. Best mouse settings – Best mouse DPI and sensitivity settings
- 5. Improve your aim – Valorant: How to improve your aim
- 6. Tips and Tricks – Valorant: Tips and Tricks
Hunter’s Fury [X] (7 Orbs)
You’ll fire up to three powerful arrows that’ll pierce through the map, deal damage, and briefly reveal any enemies they come into contact with.
As with all ultimate abilities, there’s a loud audio cue so enemies will know you’re winding up your supercharged arrows. What’s more, they’ll briefly see where you’re arrows will pierce, so they’ll have a chance to evade it at the last moment.
We’ve this ability pairs extremely well with information on where the enemy is. If you don’t have this info, then it’s unlikely to have an impact. This info doesn’t even need to stem from your own abilities, but your teammates. Has Cypher’s trap revealed someone? Good. Has Sage caught someone in her slowing field? Great. Has Phoenix spotted someone waiting in a corner? Excellent.
If you don’t have any info, then that’s not to say it isn’t entirely useful. We’ve found this ultimate useful when retaking a bomb site. You can use it less as a damaging tool, and more as a way of revealing an enemy’s position by blanketing certain hiding spots with your arrows and hoping they connect with a target. Even if they don’t connect, you may have forced someone to move, and they may move right into your allies’ crosshairs!
