Valorant: A short guide on planting, dropping and defusing the Spike

Much like CS: GO, Valorant is a shooter which revolves around the ‘search and destroy’ formula.

Both games have a bomb (Spike in Valorant's case) which the attacking team will need to plant in designated sites around the map. The defending team will then have to prevent them from planting the Spike.

Round wins and losses take place when either one of the teams loses their five players. The wins and losses are also decided when the attacking team is not able to plant the bomb before the timer runs out, or when the defending team is able to defuse it post-plant.

Now, the mechanics around the Spike might sound a little complicated at first. So, if you’re new to Valorant and curious about the different elements in this new shooter from Riot Games, here is a short guide:

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How to plant, drop and defuse the Spike in Valorant

1. Spike pick-up during Round start

At the start of every round when in the attack, the Spike will be lying on the ground in front of the attackers and anyone will be able to pick it up.

It is recommended that Valorant backline supports and recon agents like Sage, Sova and Cypher pick up the bomb and not duelists like Reyna or Jett. Dying with the bomb in vulnerable spots- where defenders will have a very clear angle of covering it- is a bad idea.

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2. Planting the Spike

Planting the Spike in Valorant (Image Credits: Dexerto)

As we have mentioned before, the Spike can only be planted in certain designated sites around the map. Once you’re at the site, you will be able to plant the bomb by pressing and holding ‘4’. You can even cancel the plant by letting go of the button, thereby allowing a lot of fake plant strategies.

Though it takes four seconds to plant the bomb, it’s important to note that you will not be able to shoot or use an ability during the planting animation.

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3. Defusing the Spike

Defusing the Spike in Valorant (Image credits: Dexerto)

The Spike has an explosion timer on it and goes off exactly after 45 seconds, which is five seconds longer than what the CS: GO bomb takes.

While defusing the Spike will take you seven seconds, you can defuse it in two parts. Once you defuse the Spike till the mid bar, you can let go of the defusing key (which again is ‘4’) but when you start the defuse process once again, the meter will continue with the second half of the bar.

This mechanic exists as there is no defusal kit which can make the defusing go any faster, like in CS: GO.

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4. Throwing the Spike

If you want to throw the Spike in a safe spot or want some other member in your team to carry it, you can select the Spike by pressing ‘4’ and then press ‘G’ to throw it on the ground.

You can even throw it to a teammate if you want that member of the squad to carry it, and it will automatically get added to their inventory.