Valorant announces Waylay, latest Duelist set to join roster

Valorant's upcoming Agent is Waylay and will release on March 5, 2025. Thailand's prismatic radiant will play the role of a Duelist in the meta. The announcement came during the VCT Masters Bangkok Grand Finals, showcasing glimpses of her abilities and prowess. The community had already seen teases of what she can do in official posts and media.

So, who is Waylay?

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Meet Waylay: Agent #28 in the Valorant roster

Waylay is described as a "space taking duelist," a group that is currently occupied by Raze and Jett. Her abilities include Refract, Light Speed, Saturate, and Convergent Paths (you can check them out in-depth in our Waylay Abilities Guide).

The upcoming Agent also introduces a new debuff in Valorant - Hindering. The official description states it as "a debuff that slows which impacts" the following mechanics:

• Fire Rate
• Recoil Recovery
• Equip Time
• Reload Speed
• Movement Speed
• Jump Speed

Talking about Waylay's gameplay style, Game Designer June Cuervo stated:

"Waylay is the tip of the spear for your team. She is flexible and creative with a lot of options for how she approaches taking the site. Since you have a lot of options for how you use your dash, grenade, and ultimate, you can combine these things to attack from unique angles and vantage points to always keep enemies guessing. That said, Waylay thrives in coordination with her teammates. A well placed Sova dart or Omen paranoia can ensure she gets the frag after dashing rather than having to escape with Refract."

Waylay's abilities (Image via Riot Games)

Her classification as a space taking Duelist by Cuervo is also interesting because we have had only two Agents — Raze and Jett — that properly fit that subtype. It will thus be interesting to see how Waylay's ability kit and the new debuff will impact the current meta.

Waylay's Agent Gear will include:

• Tier 1: Spray - FTL
• Tier 2: Player Card - VALORANT Waylay
• Tier 3: Title - Prismatic
• Tier 4: Spray - Infinite Reflections
• Tier 5: Kingdom Credits - 2000
• Tier 6: Gun Buddy - Prism
• Tier 7: Spray - Waylay Spray
• Tier 8: Title - Iridescent
• Tier 9: Player Card - Dawnstrike
• Tier 10: Sidearm (Frenzy) - Kaleidoscope

We don't think Waylay is meant to replace any current Duelists (a point on which the Valorant dev agrees) but rather excel in certain maps and certain compositions (even double-Duelist compositions). All such things will be answered when the Agent comes online with Season 2025, Act 2.

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Check out other Valorant guides:

• Valorant Agent tier list
• Valorant active map pool