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Valorant: How to break into the higher ranks with Breach
Take your game to the next level and Breach the leaderboard with Valorant’s earth shaking initiator.
Breach is one of the best heroes in the game right now and there is no better option to get your team safely through choke points and onto the bomb site than him. As an initiator, Breach’s offensive kit helps him win duels and take space with low risk to himself and his team, as long as they don’t get caught in the crossfire. While on defense, he can stall a push long enough for help to arrive, thanks to a slew of annoying, movement impairing, and sight blinding abilities.
While he is an initiator, Breach is rarely the first person in, saving that role for an accompanying duelist or entry fragger. Often, the first in will die and Breach has a kit that can help your team late into rounds and will be sorely missed if you end up on the bad side of a trade early in a fight, Going in second, gives you more time to set up a play for your entry fragger or guarantee the trade off kill from the first one in. With such strong utility, Breach needs information to truly maximize his kit and that won’t happen if you die as the first one in. Going in second, you don’t have to scan so thoroughly for enemies and instead focus on the bombsite, surroundings and enemies all for the cost of nothing.
Mastering breach is about reading the situation and the enemy. Knowing how an enemy will panic when hit by one of your many irritating abilities is a must, as is knowing when and where to place them. Being able to displace the enemy team and push aggressively with your Flashpoints will be the key to top fragging with Breach. Knowing how the enemy will react to your Aftershock will tell you how to play your Flashpoint which, in turn, will help you position your Faultline. Getting true value out of Breach comes with some growing pains but, for one of the best heroes in the game, it is worth it.
Aftershock (C ability)
Aftershock lets you shoot a detonating blast through a wall you are facing. The blast takes time to detonate, which can give you the time to push around the corner with it and catch the enemy unaware. Aftershock is, by far, the best ability in the game to clear corners, so make sure to use it on a push to cover a blindside you may not check right away. It can also be used to push people from their cover and into your line of sight and, if you catch them off guard, it can even buy you a kill. Using it in combination with Flashpoint or Faultline will stun the other team and maximize Aftershock’s value. Be careful, though. This can hurt your allies as much as the enemy. Fire it into common enemy locations for the odd early pick, or find other ways to get value where you can, since you only have one charge per round.
If you have just used a flashpoint, now is the perfect time for aftershock. More often than not an opposing player will stay still when hit with a flash, take that and the fact that they won’t see the prompt until too late and start punishing those corner campers. Similarly, if you know a player is trapped in a corner with no escape from you and your team, use aftershock. It will either catch them oscillating or force them to face down you and multiple allies.
Flashpoint (Q Ability)
Another strong and annoying, if you’re on the receiving end of it, ability. Flashpoint requires you to shoot the flash into the wall, blinding anyone who looks at it, friend or foe. Since it goes through walls, you can use it to punish campers in sharp angles and to surprise a team that hasn’t managed to set up a defense. Typically, by the time the flash has detonated, you will have your weapon re-equipped, with plenty of time to push before the enemy gets their sight back.
There are many uses for flashpoint. Using two at once to cover different vantage points, progressively working your way through narrow chokes, or flashing in tandem with a teammate's push are but a few. It’s handy on bomb sites since few enemies expect to get hit by an ability through the site's cover, let alone flashed. Another strategy, which may seem counterintuitive at first, is to willingly concede some ground to the enemy. Whether in mid or on a point like B on bind.
Allowing the enemy team to push past their cover and into the open can lead to some of the best playmaking potential Breach can offer. Since he can wait close behind cover and fire his ability safely through, it can punish teams consistently with no other counter than to take their time. Remember… This is the longest lasting flash ability in the game. Make sure you use it right.
Faultline (E ability)
Breach’s signature ability. Every 35 seconds, breach is given the option to set off a quake in a straight line that will daze all players caught within it. You can charge the ability to have it push farther but, regardless of distance travelled, the daze effect will last about 2 seconds. Very useful to protect pushes, displace people from high ground or from corners.
You will find more than just a few uses per round for Faultline, and with good reason. It’s another great corner clearing tool, typically sending anyone caught off guard back to the spectator screen. Don’t discount its use as a setup tool for your teammates, either. Time its use on a corner the team is checking to give them an easy win over the camper in hookah and then, when it recharges and you have a bomb set up on point, you can use it to punish players rushing to defuse. While it can be easily dodged, moving defenders from their chosen positions is extremely valuable.
This will stun teammates too, so be mindful of how you use it.
Ultimate: Rolling Thunder
The best pushing ultimate in the game to date. Rolling thunder sets off a shockwave that covers a large area in front of breach. Going through cover and obstructions, anyone hit by it will be sent into the air and dazed for about 5 seconds. The shockwave progresses so you and your team can follow it with little risk while the enemy is reeling and trying to find cover or their wits in time to fight back against you.
As one of the best engagement tools at your disposal, you can easily win fights and take points with smart use of this ultimate. It’s safe to use from cover, just make sure you have positioned it as best as you can. Don’t discount its use on defense either, like all of his abilities, it works equally well as an entry tool as it does for a stalling tactic. Few things halt a push like a flash, or stun, let alone the ability that stuns you and pops you up into the air to be easy pickings. Either as a stall tactic or to safely displace the bomb defenders, it can win you even the most dire of fights almost by itself.
Buy strategies
With relatively cheap, play making powers, it always makes sense to buy some combination of breaches abilities. 200 credits for a Flashpoint and 100 for an aftershock gives you enough for either a shield or a ghost. Typically, teams sacrifice one of their abilities for the ghost and light shield combo. At the beginning of attack or defense, it’s unlikely that other agents will have access to as many abilities as Breach does.
Breach is an all around great hero to play right now. As powerful on offense as he is on defense, you’ll find new ways for his abilities to help serve you in each game, as you learn all the spots you can abuse to really gain the upperhand. Remember to hunt down intel on the enemy and listen for any prompts they give you. Oftentimes the sound of footsteps rushing a point is all you need to punish a few sloppy players, which is part of the reason why he is great at mid on most maps. Letting your enemy take space in the open, only to unleash the full power of your kit can net you more than a few aces. With the right combination of map knowledge, decision making and skill you can climb the ladder with Breach like few others and with a kit as versatile as his, you’ll rarely find yourself in a bad situation you won’t be able to turn on its head.
