Sova is one of the best Agents in the game to gather information about the enemies. This Sova Guide will see why he is undoubtedly the best Initiator in Valorant.
Initiators are the heart and soul of an attack in the game. Without information about the enemy’s whereabouts, you would be rushing the site blind. This might foil your plan of attack. That is why, having Initiators is crucial so you can obtain a rough idea of the whereabouts of the enemies and what better Initiator to pick than Sova.
Sova has been here since the very beginning and has found a way to stay relevant throughout all the new Agent releases. A reliable Initiator, Sova is much more than just using a Recon Bolt to gather info on-site and this guide will explore that possibility. Without further ado, let us get into this Valorant Sova Guide.
Contents
- Sova Valorant Guide: Tips, Tricks, Abilities, and Strategies
- Abilities
- Attacker Side Strategies
- Defender Side Strategies
- Tips and Tricks
Sova Valorant Guide: Tips, Tricks, Abilities, and Strategies
Sova heavily relies on his team to execute the information he provides. Since information in the game tends to be less relevant as time passes, it is important to execute off the Sova’s utility such as the Owl Drone or the Recon Bolt. That is why communication has to be top-notch between you and your teammates before even talking about Sova.
After you have proper communication you need to ensure that you can use his abilities properly and do the right job with them. To do that, we will have to understand his abilities first. His abilities make Sova a really versatile Initiator because you can do damage and gather information. Plus his utility is really useful for post-plant. Let us do that in the next section.
Abilities
Q: Shock Bolt
The Shock Bolt does lots of damage upon direct hit. You can even change the bounces of the dart to make it bounce off walls with the Alt Fire button. The longer you charge it, the farther it goes. Lineups are the name of the game with this ability so make sure to learn some.
E: Recon Bolt
Sova’s first information-gathering ability; the Recon Bolt scans a wide area of the map and shows the location of the enemy within the Line of Sight of the dart. However, if enemies are behind the cover, it won’t reveal them. That is why, one should prioritize learning darts that land on the upper areas of sites where it can be hard to break the dart.
C: Owl Drone
The second information-gathering ability; the Owl Drone can be controlled manually to search out corners of the map to know the positions of enemies. Most professional players use this ability to gather info on-site and mark enemies. You can mark enemies by putting the crosshair on them and pressing the FIRE button.
The Drone will tag the enemy and ping them through the wall. You can then use Sova’s Ultimate, the Hunter’s Fury to combo along with the Drone.
X: Hunter’s Fury
Sova’s Ultimate, Hunter’s Fury is one of the most powerful abilities in the game. When activated, the user gets 3 Charges of powerful bolts that penetrate through walls and do 80 damage every hit. This can be a crucial ability to get the number’s advantage or as a last resort during a post-plant situation.
There is a timer for this ability as well so keep in mind not to delay it unless absolutely necessary. Most of the information-seeking utility can be combined with this Ultimate to reap the benefits of the damage of this ability.
Attacker Side Strategies
The Attacker Side is where Sova truly shines due to his abilities. Sova depends highly on his team to act on his intel which is why your team must respond promptly to your utility. Having another Initiator to gather info, in the beginning, is pretty helpful. However, your primary concern is to ensure your Duelists can take first contact using your abilities.
The Recon Bolt is going to be your friend in providing information to the whole team about the enemy’s whereabouts. But it can also be used as a distraction. When the enemy turns to destroy it, you can take advantage of that split second to peek and kill them. However, do this only when the numbers are in your favor.
The Owl Drone will be to scout the whole site so use it wisely. To do so, ensure that you use it from a height to get more information about the site and tag enemies when you can. Sova is also a prominent Agent to use if you want to spam enemies through walls and smoke. His utility is built for that.
When you take an enemy, you can use your gun to spam them through walls or the smoke. Make sure to use this from time to time to turn the tide of the battle in your favor. The Shock Bolts are excellent to do chip damage and reduce the HP of your enemies hiding in corners and cubbies. Although, we recommend utilizing them for line-ups and for post-plant because that is where they will provide the most value. So will the Hunter’s Fury.
Defender Side Strategies
The defensive side is a little different for Sova. Your objective is to get early picks and deal chip damage. You can get early picks by gathering info for your duelists. Your Recon Dart will be the key to doing that. Once your Duelist takes the first fight you can do two things, swing with them or retreat back. Now retreat if they get a kill and get out and swing if they die and you want to trade out the kill.
But be careful before you do that because there might be other enemies waiting for your swing. Also, ensure that you play with your Sentinels because both of you will be the anchor of a site. Do not use your Recon abilities unless it is to help your Duelist. Wait for the enemies to hit your site and save the Owl Drone for a retake.
Your Ultimate, however, can be the difference maker. If you read your enemy’s patterns, you can use the Hunter’s Fury to get the numbers advantage. You can also learn lineups to protect certain Ultimate Orbs to deny your enemies easy progression of their Ultimate abilities. If you have the Hunter’s Fury during the start of the round, go ahead and use your Recon because it can get you the number’s advantage.
Tips and Tricks
Sova is one of those Agents that can have unlimited tricks up their sleeve due to the nature of their utility. The Shock and Recon Bolts are sublime instruments to have map control. The Shock Bolt can deny Ultimate orbs, do damage, be used for post plants and so much more. That is why, learning line-ups and pre-set darts are going to be the key to winning the round as Sova.
That being said, let us take a look at some tips and tricks you can use as Sova that you might have missed earlier in the guide.
- Communicate everything with your team ranging from the enemy position to what weapon they have. It might be a crucial piece of info the Duelists might need to clear the site. For example, if you are droning B Site entry on Haven and an enemy is sitting with a Judge on the other side it might be trouble for your team. If you do not relay that info, your team will be killed easily when they enter the site.
- Do not hesitate to rip the Hunter’s Fury out of the blue. If you have an intuition or a sound cue based on your game sense, use Hunter’s Fury. Although we still recommend pairing up the Owl Drone with the ability.
- If you are on Attack, save the Shock Darts EXCLUSIVELY for Lineups. They are crucial utility pieces that will ensure that the round goes in your favor even if you die.
- Bait your Recon Dart. Every Valorant player cannot refuse the urge to shoot the Dart when it first lands on site. When they turn you can use it to kill them or at least swing together with your team to get the advantage. This is a really important tip to use in post-plant scenarios.
That is all you need to know about this Initiator. If you liked this Sova guide perhaps you’d like some of our other Valorant guides. Click here to check them out.
