While developing Valorant, it seems that Riot Games was quite serious when they proclaimed that they wanted their new IP to be one of the most-accessible shooters out there.
Not only did they go ahead and make a game which had the features of both CS:GO and Overwatch, but they made it in such a way that any low hardware setup would also able to run it. Let’s just say that the toaster memes are legit, and Valorant can even run on that age-old potato you call a computer.
However, the graphics settings that we’re going to deal with today are specifically aimed at those players who have an average and above-average rig.
Framerates are one of the most important aspects of a low Time To Kill (TTK) competitive shooter, and in our guide, we will help you maximise your competitive edge for all future ranked games in Valorant.
Best system optimisation for playing Valorant
1. Medium quality settings over low quality settings
Now, you might be wondering why we’re asking you to favor medium quality settings over the lower one, when it comes to getting a better in-game performance.
Truth be told, performance is important, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of visual clarity.
Valorant is a low TTK game like CS:GO, so in both games, you can kill the enemy with lesser bullets than you would in games like Overwatch and Call of Duty.
Hence, aim and precision are greatly rewarded in Valorant. But if you’re lowering the visual settings to the point that you cannot make out an enemy from the background environment, then you lose that competitive edge no matter how high your FPS and refresh rate are.
It’s important to balance performance with visuals, and if you have a decent enough rig, you will be able to get a minimum of 120 FPS, even on medium settings.
If you’re playing Valorant at a higher resolution of 1920x1080 and 16:9 (144Hz), you can turn off anti-aliasing, as that is mainly required for those who play on very low resolutions.
2. 60Hz will not cut it in the competitive scene
In competitive tactical, first-person shooters, information and reaction time are some of the most important things. So, if your monitor is displaying the game information to you late, then there is obviously going to be a delay in your reactions.
Hence, the standard 60Hz monitors are a detriment to your in-game performance. Even if you set your resolution to 1920x1080 and 16:9 (144Hz), and have your FPS locked at 300, you will still not have the competitive edge in 1v1 situations if you’re gaining information late.
So if you’re serious about Valorant’s competitive scene, then we suggest that you invest in a better monitor.
Game still needs more polish
Over the next few patches, Valorant will be receiving a lot of graphics updates, as the game still requires a lot of polish, and the recommended graphics settings will change along with that as well.