How to Valorant: Breaking down the how-to and tech of the initiator Breach

In everyday Valorant, few things are as annoying to deal with and as oppressive as a good Breach. The Swedish cyborg is the master of crowd-control and brute force, with long-range engagement tools well-suited to bash one’s face in as his team enters the site.

Abilities Breakdown

Like other Valorant agents, Breach makes use of four abilities: two purchasable ones, one signature ability (replenishes every round), and an ultimate ability (earned through ult charges).

Breach’s first ability is Aftershock, where after equipping a charge, he can select a part of any wall/surface to set a slow-acting damage burst through. His second ability is Flashpoint, a key part of Breach’s kit. Equipping a flash charge, he can fire to set a blinding charge that bursts through walls/surfaces. Enemies within vision of the charge will be blinded.

Breach’s signature ability is Fault Line, where equipping a seismic blast, he can discharge a line of concussive crowd-control. Enemies caught in the line will be concussed (slowed movement, reduced fire rate, greyscale vision and crosshair/FOV wavers slightly). Rolling Thunder is Breach’s ultimate, where after equipping a charge, he can unleash a cascading quake in a conical direction. The ultimate causes enemies caught within to be concussed and thrown up.

Playstyle

Breach shines as one of the few agents that is capable of both playing a supportive role and taking matters into his own hands (pun intended). With utility capable of long-ranged engagements, he shines in the hands of an experienced player with a wide-view of events. Enabling fast-moving agents such as Jett and Raze, who are capable of capitalising on windows he creates is a speciality and often reason for running Breach. Moreover, his utility is still powerful in close quarters, albeit with good timing and gamesense.

Team Comps

Breach shines best on team compositions that allow him to make best use of his utility. Maps such as Haven and Fracture especially are where he shines, with long sightlines that allow him to quickly stun enemies. Furthermore, Breach shines best in coordinated teamplay, with fast executing teams such as Neon, Jett, Brimstone, and Raze.

Tips to Level up your Breach game

Mastering Breach takes a good accumulation of game sense and communication. Since most of your utility can affect both enemies and allies, calling it out before pulling utility can really turn the tides of fights. Breach is one agent that can have immense impact on a round, with tempo killers such as his Aftershock and Fault Line. Utilising his flashes in peeks can also be immensely powerful, as his flashes are one of the hardest in the game to dodge, allowing one to net easy kills.

Saving your ultimate for the moment can also be the difference maker in a lot of rounds. Being a great Breach isn't crafted overnight, but rather a culmination of experience. However, simply starting with simple comms will make a world of difference in making you a good Breach.

Image credit: Raphal Boris