Valorant: Spike Rush guide, tips Valorant guide, tips

Last update: 26 June 2020

In this chapter of the Valorant guide, the player will find important information about the Spike Rush mode and read a handful of tips that may be useful during gameplay.

Spike Rush is a brand new gameplay mode that appeared in Valorant at its release date (June 2, 2020). Unlike the usual Unrated or Ranking mode, matches in Spike Rush mode are more dynamic, taking up to 7 rounds (approximately 8-12 minutes), and provide players with a new gameplay mechanic - powerup orbs.

• Spike Rush - general tips
• Spike Rush - the rules
• Spike Rush - types of powerup orbs

Spike Rush - general tips

Before you start your adventure with the new Spike Rush mode in Valorant, view these general tips that will increase your chance of winning, make team play easier, and help you score more kills. These tips are mostly addressed to new players.

1. Before you plant a Spike, make sure that you aren't disrupting your team's plans. If you're standing alone at Point B and the rest of the team is fighting for Point A and you decide to plant Spike that you can't defend, you're highly likely to lose the round. Before any of your teammates manages to rotate to point B, the Spike will be defused by the opponent.;
2. All powerup orbs are perfectly visible on the radar so try to locate the ones that will be most valuable as soon as possible;
3. In Spike Rush mode, all players start with the same amount of armor and equipment so that the gameplay is even. The key to success is the proper use of character skills;
4. In Spike Rush mode, you cannot play passively - you must constantly attack. By staying behind and taking a defensive position, all powerup orbs will be gathered by your opponent, giving him serious advantage over you.
5. Due to the fact that in Spike Rush mode all players receive random weapons, which should help you get acquainted with different weapons, that are used in e.g. ranking matches.
6. Spike Rush is an excellent warm-up before jumping into ranking mode - the gameplay is dynamic, lasts from a few to several minutes and allows you to practice using character's skills and check your accuracy on real targets;
7. For each kill, the player gains 2 Ultimate charges, while picking up a powerup orb gives you 1 additional charge.
8. Thanks to additional means of getting charges, each character will be able to use his Ultimate several times over the course of a single match.;
9. The characters best suited to Spike Rush are Sage, Reyna, Phoenix, and Raze. The key to success are aggressive skills dealing serious injury and skills that heal and barricade the way to powerup orbs.

Spike Rush - the rules

Spike Rush is quite different from traditional Valorant matches, during which players have to take care of the economy, buy equipment, and fight to plant/disarm Spikes. Spike Rush rules are different:

1. Teams consist of 5 people each;
2. Each player on the attacking team has a Spike, but it can only be planted in one place. When one of the players plants a Spike, the other players from the attacking team automatically lose the charge;
3. The game lasts for up to 7 rounds, and the sides switch after 3 rounds.
4. In Spike Rush, there isn't a buy menu, and you don't gather credits. Each player starts a given round with the same random equipment and possibly, armor;
5. All character skills are available for free and are replenished automatically after each round;
6. Ultimate skill is not available from the start. Each kill results in 2 charges for the Ultimate ability, while picking up the powerup orb offers an additional 1 charge;
7. Every round, 3 to 5 powerup orbs appear randomly on the map;
8. Once the Spike is planted, all unused powerup orbs disappear from the map.;
9. What reinforcement balls will be available in each game can be checked during character selection or after moving to the map, before each subsequent round begins.

Spike Rush - types of powerup orbs

In each Spike Rush match, players will have the opportunity to collect powerful powerup orbs. Currently, after Patch 1.01 has been introduced, there are 8 powerup orbs available in Spike Rush mode, each of which will guarantee the player or his entire team valuable powerups or plant a negative effect on the opposing team.

Icon	Description
	Instant Ultimate After collecting this orb, the player can instantly use his Ultimate ability.
	Health Orb After collecting this orb, the whole team receives additional health points. The Health Orb effect lasts for 20 seconds and the player recovers 12 health points after each second.
	Weapon Upgrade After collecting this powerup orb, the player receives better weapons. Weapon Upgrade gives you a huge advantage over your opponent especially during the pistol round. Remember that these special weapons can be picked up by another teammate or opponent after the death of the previous owner.
	Weapon Power Increase After collecting this orb, the player's weapon will cause increased damage. The effect lasts until the end of a given round or until the player is eliminated.
	Hyper Speed After collecting this powerup orb, a yellow circle is created on the ground, which increases the speed of movement of all the characters that pass through it. The effect lasts 10 seconds, and the countdown begins as you leave the circle.
	Golden Gun After picking up this orb, the player gains a golden weapon that has perfect accuracy, is light as a knife (the player runs as fast as with a melee weapon), and kills with 1 shot. Unfortunately, the Golden Gun has only 1 bullet in the chamber and 2 spare cartridges, but 1 bullet is received after each successful kill.
	Deception Orb In 3 seconds after taking over this ball, all opponents are subjected to paranoia, which makes their vision very limited (the radar is turned off completely), and they will also hear the fictional sounds of footsteps and gunshots. This effect lasts for 10 seconds
	Crippling Decay After 2.5 seconds, the health of all agents from the opposing team is reduced to just 10 points. When the Crippling Decay effect passes, the health of all agents is restored to the state before the powerup orb is activated.