In a new video that was posted on YouTube, Riot developer Ryan “Morello” Scott explains how they go about designing agents in the game and how they make sure these agents stay true to the nature of VALORANT.
Scott starts out by saying they design agents from the perspective of who should be playing it and lists Reyna as an example for entry fraggers. In the second space of designing they start looking at roster impact, where they decide what the character should do as part of a team and how it affects them. “We think the player experience does matter, but the health of the competitive ecosystem matters more.”
He also acknowledges that when prototyping and testing kits not everyone will like the agent, talking about how Killjoy came to be and how she ended up being completely different from what they originally envisioned. They also show a small clip of Killjoy at the early stages of her development.
Also check out: Riot addressing “Abilities don’t kill”
To close out the video, Scott talked a little more in-depth about the balance-ability. “This is shorthand for the tuning levers that would be available if and, if i’m honest, when agents are under- or overperforming.” Riot spends a lot of time looking at the impact and balancing of an agent early on, without completely overhauling the identity of an agent. “In the end it’s about a big picture approach. Balance is temporary and metas come and go. Balance ability is permanent.”
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