Valorant: A beginner’s guide on the Spike (from Planting to Defusing)

Valorant is a tactical first-person shooter that features a ‘Search and Destroy’ theme revolving around a ‘Bomb’.

It is also the case in Counter-Strike and Call of Duty. No matter how different the two games feel, this particular core mechanic is a constant in both games. The ‘Terrorists’ or the ‘Attacking Side’ plants the bomb, stalls the enemy till it explodes and then wins the round.

Riot Games’ latest IP Valorant is also based around much of this core game-play. However, instead of a bomb, you have a ‘Spike’ that works a lot like a ‘Bomb’. But the spike in Valorant has some distinct features that makes Valorant’s game-play very unique and different.

So if you have just gotten your hands on the closed beta, or waiting for the 2nd of June to finally have access to the official release, then chances are that you would want to know every core mechanic of the game, along with the complete workings of the Spike. If so, then we have the perfect guide for you today.

Attack and Defence in Valorant

Valorant

Just like with the Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists in CS, in Valorant too you have an attacking side and a defending side. Both sets of players take turns to be on either side of the match-up. The rotation happens after a particular set of rounds. The team who reaches 12 ‘round wins’ first, wins the entire map.

Like in CS: GO, if the difference of wins between the two teams is not greater than 1, then they both go into ‘Overtime’.

What is the role of the attacking team in Valorant?

When the map starts, then the purpose of the attacking side in Valorant is to plant the Spike.

Most maps have two bomb sites - ‘A’ and ‘B’, CS: GO’s ‘Haven’ has three - ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C.’

The attacking team successfully wins the round if they eliminate all five Agents of the defending team, or stall the other team long enough to plant as well as detonate the Spike.

What is the role of the Defending team in Valorant?

Vise-versa, the role of the defending team in Valorant to defend the plant site and prevent the attackers from planting the Spike. There are two ways that they can do it: either by eliminating all the members of the attacking team, or stalling them long enough for the round timer to go down, and they are not able to plant the Spike in time.

Alternatively, if the attacking team does manage to plant the Spike in time, then the defending team can just defuse it and get themselves a round win.

How does the Spike in Valorant work in-game?

Taken from Riot Games

To explain the in-game mechanics of the Spike in Valorant, let's take a look at how it interacts when inside a round, and how to go about planting or defusing it.

1. When the round starts:

At the beginning of any round in Valorant, one of the five agents of the attacking team is given the Spike. However, the player that gets it in a round is chosen at random.

Like in CS: GO, the possessor of the Spike is allowed to drop it whenever he/she chooses and can do so by pressing the “G” key.

2. Planting the Spike:

Taken from Dexerto

The Spike can only be planted in select sites around the Valorant map, that are marked with a yellowish outline on the map as well as on the mini-map.

Now, to plant the Spike, you will need to press and hold down the “4” key that will begin the planting process. It takes four seconds to plant the spike. But remember that you may be shot at while doing so and die before you successfully planting the spike. In this case, the planting of the spike would remain incomplete.

You can however, cancel the plant by letting go off the “4” key. But do keep in mind that there is a short animation delay when your gun comes back up once you cancel. So keep that in mind when electing to plant the spike.

3. Defusing the Spike:

taken from Dexerto

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

It takes seven seconds to defuse the spike in Valorant. However, it doesn’t come with an overhead timer. The spike makes a beeping noise that gradually grows in frequency the closer it gets to detonation time. In the last seven seconds it gives off a triple beep. If you haven't already started defusing it by then, you would not be able to allowed to try and diffuse it.

Any Agent caught in the blast radius of the Spike dies, irrespective of which side they’re on.

You can ping the Spike with the ‘Z’ key. A dropped Spike would then appear on the minimap of the attacking team.