Harbor is one of the most used Controllers in Valorant as of now. This Harbor Guide for Valorant will see how professional and Ranked players utilize him to build site hits and provide safe passage for their team onto the site.
India’s own Harbor made his debut in Valorant in Patch 5.08. Since then, he has made waves in the community, and professional players have finally figured out how to utilize him in the game. Combine this agent with Viper and you have got yourself lots of map control and safe passage onto enemy sites.
However, Harbor is a little bit different than the other Controller agents. He does not have abilities that blind or damage the enemies. His abilities are made to deny information and slow down the enemy pushes which makes him effective in controlling the map. Let us take a look at how you can take advantage of his abilities in the game.
Contents
- Valorant Harbor Guide: Tips, Tricks, and Strategies
- Abilities
- Attacker Side Strategies
- Defender Side Strategies
- Tips and Tricks
Valorant Harbor Guide: Tips, Tricks, and Strategies
The newest Controller Agent in Valorant, Harbor has a way of making lots of safe space for your teammates if used well. The priority with this Agent should be to take as much map control with his abilities as possible. The rest of it depends on the side you are playing i.e. Attack or Defense.
As we discussed earlier, his abilities do not deal damage. But they do deny information to the enemies and debuff them should they try to go through the waves. It is clinical to fully understand how to use his abilities if you want to play him as the pros do. Let us look at the abilities.
Abilities
(Q): Cove
Harbor throws down an Orb of shielding water. It can absorb a certain amount of damage. Once the shielding is gone it turns into a smoke orb before fading away.
(E): High Tide
Harbor uses his water wall to divide the site according to his convenience. Use the FIRE button and then move the mouse to split the site. Think of this ability as a moveable Viper wall. It lasts for a significant time before fading away.
(C): Cascade
This ability is a wall of moveable water. It can deny lots of information. Press the corresponding button to move the water wall in the direction of your choice. The water wall will keep moving until you press the button again which will stop the wall.
(X): Reckoning
Harbor’s ultimate ability. Pressing the corresponding button will use Harbor’s Ancient Device and mark a circular spot on the map. You can move the Mouse around to choose the spot to hit. Hit the FIRE button to use the ability. The ultimate reigns down stun circles onto enemies caught in the circle.
Attacker Side Strategies
- Cut off Operator Agent Angles using the High Tide/Cascade Abilities
- Protect the Planter/ Duelist with your Cove when they enter on Site
- The Reckoning can solely be used to clear out sites and gather information
Harbor’s abilities can cut off a lot of early angles for Operator Agents like Jett, Yoru, and Chamber. That is why, you will see that a lot of professional players slice the entry to a site in half before letting their Duelists peak that angle. Use the Cascade ability to cut off early peek angles.
You can then use the High Tide to cut the site off to make space for your teammates and deny any picks for your enemies. In addition, use the Cove ability which will cover the Agent planting the bomb. For the post plant, ensure that you use Harbor’s abilities in such a way that it blocks everything except the bomb.
For emergencies, you can use the Cove ability to create a temporary cover to peek off during post plants. The Reckoning Ultimate will delay a lot so use it if it is an important round or if you are at a man’s disadvantage. It can turn the tide in your favor.
Defender Side Strategies
- Harbor is a great Agent to play Retake with
- Retreat if you cannot stop the enemies from pushing onto the site
- Every Harbor Ability is instrumental while Retaking
- Use the Cove to cover the Defuser
The Defensive side is much more difficult as a Controller than the Attacking Side. The reason is that you are limited by range. Unlike Astra who has a global presence, you will need to be near the site when enemies are attacking to defend it. Therefore, we recommend playing two Controller Agents in your composition if you can.
That being said, Harbor is a great Defender. The Cascade ability can directly block off the entry towards any site and help in delaying the enemies so your team can rotate over to you. The High Tide does the same thing. To ensure optimum safety, divide the site in such a way that all entrances are blocked. Although most of the time you need to retreat and play for retakes if it is too much.
Now, during retakes, Harbor is the best. His Cove can protect the defuser and the Reckoning is an excellent tool to stall enemies. The High Tide can deny information and vision to your enemies while Cascade can be meticulously put down to ensure you have enough cover to pull off the defuse.
Tips and Tricks
Here are some tips and tricks you can use to ensure that you know the best Harbor tech when playing against your enemy.
- Utilize the Cascade well. It is a 7-second smoke wall; but only when it stops moving. Therefore if you do not stop the Cascade it can create a moving cover for you to advance. This works really well on the B Side of Pearl.
- Cove can be used to enter sites and create space. Aside from plant cover, Cove is one of the best abilities you can use and push through to clear multiple angles. Taking the example of Pearl B again, use the Cove once you are near the site and use it to clear multiple angles by pushing out of the orb in varied areas.
- The Reckoning can be used to farm enemies if you have them cornered. If you have a teammate on the flank, using the Reckoning can box the enemies in a spot making for easy kills. Ensure that your team has enough flashes/stuns for a retake.
That is all you need to know about this Agent in the game. If you liked this Valorant Harbor Guide perhaps you’d like some of our others? Click here to check them out.
