Valorant is the first-person shooter game from the Creators of League of Legends — Riot. It took the world by storm when it was released in 2020 and has been one of the most played FPS games. What makes Valorant unique is their agents’ roster with their own set of skills. The agents are divided into four types: Duelist, Sentinel, Initiator, and Controller.
Mastering the agents is one of the keys to fully mastering and enjoying the game. This will prove difficult because unlocking agents in Valorant is not easy — or cheap. We have got you covered if you want to learn more about Duelists.
Duelists are agents that have the greatest firepower in the game. The description in the game reads :
“Duelists are self-sufficient fraggers who their team expects, through abilities and skills, to get high frags and seek out engagements first.”
This is how Riot describes Duelists. Duelists are the cornerstone of damaging and cleaning the enemies’ ranks in the game. It is fair to say that all agents have the same level of importance in the game, but Duelists are critical in a straight-up gunfight.
They are the true carriers in the game and should have the most kills at any time. The game has five Duelists with unique personalities: Raze, Jett, Yoru, Phoenix, and Reyna. They have very different skills and, therefore, their specialty and playstyle.
Let’s check out one of these Duelists and help you determine if he will suit your playstyle.
Valorant Duelist Phoenix
Phoenix is an agent from the UK and is one of the first agents you can use when playing Valorant for the first time. His skills are integral for initiating attacks, and he is a potent initiator in the game. He is cool and wears a very add-to-cart jacket that many fans are now starting to order online.
Ambushing and defending zones become easy with his skills, proper planning, and game sense. Although Phoenix is an early-access agent, he is easily one of the most used agents in Competitive games worldwide.
This confident hunk can play safe and plan accordingly, but he can also be played aggressively. Mastering fire-based skills can greatly affect your win rate, even in one versus five situations. Phoenix can carry an otherwise outnumbered team, and his ultimate skill encourages aggressive play.
We will get to that in a minute. If you want to play a versatile agent who can bag frags under any circumstance, read on. If you have played Phoenix a few times before and realized he is too difficult to use, let us help you understand him better so you can give him another try on your next match.
Valorant Duelist Phoenix’s Skills
Blaze – 200 credits
Phoenix uses his mastery of flame skills and sends out a firewall by pressing E. The wall follows the cursor as you cast it so that you can curve it depending on your preference. This skill is very tactical as it conceals the enemies’ line of sight, giving your allies time to position themselves. Blaze lasts 8 seconds, enough time to prepare for a surprise attack or escape from the crossfire.
This firewall continuously damages everyone passing through it — enemies and allies alike. So, put this into consideration when using the skill. On the other hand, Blaze heals Phoenix for a max of 69 hit points. This means you can use the firewall to buy your team some time while recovering the hp you’ve previously lost.
Utilizing Blaze in critical moments gives Phoenix a great advantage, especially in one-on-one situations. The range of the firewall is long enough to cover an entire bomb site area or close off entrances and passageways. You can isolate an enemy into a corner and walk around the fire while he wonders whether or not you’re still behind the wall.
The sheer appearance of the firewall is intimidating enough to make enemies fall back from their assault. You can also use this skill to be creative and play mind games with your enemies, as they have no idea what is happening on the other side of the firewall.
Curveball- 250 credits
Phoenix’s blind skill is unique because it is thrown to the left or right, unlike the blind skills of agents like Yoru, which can be bounced off surfaces like a ball. This skill is great for entering battle zones and rendering enemies blind for 1.1 seconds.
Read: How To See Dead Bodies in Valorant
Phoenix snaps his fingers when you press Q in preparation for the blinding fireball. This is inaudible to enemies but can be heard by your teammates to give them a heads-up of your intended course of action. The harm with Curveball is that it can give away your position. So be careful when using this skill since enemies can pre-aim from the direction of the Curveball and kill you even when they are blinded.
Additionally, this skill can easily blind allies and yourself, giving enemies the upper hand they were not exactly hoping for. Use this skill when you are in a wall facing an entrance — positioned in a way that does not blind you together with the enemies.
Hot Hands – Free
This is the signature skill of Phoenix. When you press E, he conjures a fireball in his hands that can be thrown and bounced off walls. The fireball lands on the ground and becomes a puddle of fire that lingers for 4 seconds damaging enemies and allies alike in its duration.
Hot Hands can damage at 60 hitpoints per second or a total damage of 240 if the enemies (or allies) stay in the area for the entire skill duration. If Phoenix stands in the fireball area, he is healed for 12.5 hit points per second.
Although Hot Hands does not last long, it can delay enemies long enough for you to reposition yourself for a gunfight. You can throw Hot Hands over walls or make it bounce in corners so you can hit enemies hiding behind covers they thought were safe. Unlike Cypher’s trap skills, you can not hear if an enemy is getting damaged by your skills or not.
This skill does not cost credits and is available at the start of every round. To recharge Hot Hands mid-game, you need to make two kills. You can use 3 Hot Hands per round if you kill 4 out of 5 enemies.
Run It Back – 6 Ultimate Orbs
This is the Ultimate Skill of Phoenix, which gives his name justice. When you press X, you will leave a mark where you are positioned, and for the next 10 seconds, Phoenix can be as aggressive as he wants. Use your ult to charge or scout the enemies in a high-risk area.
Getting killed by enemies or having the timer expire will respawn Phoenix to the spot where you used your ult with full health (but with no armor). This means you have an extra life to spare for 10 seconds. Using this skill gives you an edge in trading lives since killing you won’t count as a kill.
If you can land a kill or two while Run It Back is active, this will give your team a big advantage. You can even use Phoenix’s ult to intentionally expose yourself and divert enemies’ attention from your flanking or escaping allies. Be careful of where you plan to use your ult, as there will be a small flame on the ground where you will be respawning.
Ensure to activate your ult safely, preferably in hard-to-see corners or behind large covers. If enemies come across this, they can stay and wait for your 10 seconds to end and take you down. There is a two-second animation when you respawn, where you are vulnerable to attacks and cannot move.
Valorant Duelist Phoenix Bonus Tips
- You can heal yourself using Blaze or Hot Hands. Use your credits in the first and early rounds to purchase skills and the Ghost handgun. This gives Phoenix an edge over other agents who must spend their early credits for armor and go broke early on.
- Using Blaze and Curveball in early rounds gives Phoenix an offensive advantage. Do not worry about spending credits on them since you can regain these and more when you have gotten some early frags in the game.
- Your skills can heal you, but an enemy Phoenix’s flames will not. This includes Brimstone’s Inciendary — foe or ally. Learn to distinguish which one is yours and avoid the enemy’s skills. You are not immune to ALL flames, after all.
- Learn the habit of throwing a Curveball overhead of your enemies. Experienced players will want to look away from being blinded and often move their cursors down to avoid overhead blinding. This will give you a better chance to blind spray them with your gun and retreat to cover. Do not be afraid to use Curveball for both offensive and defensive tactics.
Conclusion
Do you think Phoenix is for you? He is an attack specialist, and many pro players worldwide, along with Reyna, prefer him. His skills are not exactly noob-friendly, so many people only try him a few times before moving on to another agent. If you have tried him and gave up on the first try, you might want to check again.
In the hands of a player with good reflexes and an even better game sense, Phoenix can be the difference between a losing fight and an easy win. Also, Jett has a crush on him, so it might be worth giving him another shot if you like the lore. Phoenix might be up your alley after all.
