VALORANT Mage: What We Know So Far
The recently leaked VALORANT Mage character is piquing player's interest, as their release could very well be around the corner, and their leaked kit looks like it could change things up in the hero-based tactical FPS. VALORANT characters have been slowly released during new Episodes over the past two years, usually shaking things up in the meta and forcing players to learn new tricks to deal with their abilities. It's an ongoing process, and the next shake-up could be sooner than we thought, as VALORANT Mage's release is on the horizon. So check out everything we know about VALORANT Mage, including their release date and abilities.
VALORANT Mage: Release Date
We estimate that Mage may get a release time in the middle of October. VALORANT Episode 5 Act 3 is set to drop on October 18, so it makes sense for the new character to be released during this period. Typically, we find out about the codenames of new characters a little before release, so everything points toward Mage dropping rather soon.
VALORANT Mage: Abilities
A screenshot was leaked very recently, which detailed the full kit of Mage way before we expected to see any news on their abilities. Here are the leaked abilities for VALORANT Mage:
- Vision Taker (C) - Equip a distortion wall launcher. Fire to create a small line of distortion. Enemies will get briefly blinded if they walk through.
- Tartarus Pit (Q) - Equip a Tartarus charger. Fire to launch a shot that deals some damage and slows players within the zone.
- Bubble (E) - Equip bubble and enter into a phased state to place down a bubble by press the ability key. Activate to create an impenetrable bubble. Bullets cannot pass through.
- Golem (X) - Equip the Golem doll. Fire to thrown down. All teammates get a regeneration buff, and enemies will get a decay buff.
From looking at Mage's kit, they seem to fit into the Controller role due to their abilities that have the potential of delaying enemy rotations and their attempts to attack a specific area. Both Vision Taker and Tartarus Pit are the best suited for this, and would have the potential to delay an attack long enough for your teammates to rotate or flank them.
The Bubble ability looks to have a more of a supporting function in the kit, allowing you to defend an ally when they are planting the bomb for example. As it seems to be a physical object once placed, it could also serve the purpose of blocking a tight corridor and delaying enemies more.
Lastly, the ultimate ability Golem looks promising with its both offensive and supportive functions, but without knowing the range of the ability, it's hard to comment on how exactly it can be used. Our guess would be that it will be useful to throw down at specific choke points that enemies are trying to fight through, both dealing them damage and healing any nearby allies.
VALORANT Mage: Name
Mage is likely just the codename of the character, but there are certainly hints in the game already that point toward their real name. In the Range, you can find a copy of an email from Fade, which talks about a character called Varun Batra. They are said to be a REALM operative who is an antiques expert, but we can only speculate whether this is the identity of Mage. We'll update this section once we get a concrete name for Mage.
That's all for our breakdown of the VALORANT Mage character who is set to be released later in the year, and now you know about their leaked abilities and potential name.
