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Imagine this: you’ve just transitioned from CSGO to Valorant, but the agents seem confusing. Using utilities appears like a tough job, so you’re scrolling from agent to agent looking for the right pick. If you haven’t chosen Raze, you might be making a mistake!
Raze has been the star of Valorant since its beginning. Almost every team consists of a Raze main, as her kit is handy on nearly every map. It might take some time to get used to playing with Raze, but the best players are always clutching rounds and winning engagements in the flashiest ways possible due to her abilities.
For players looking to become the best with Raze, here’s a detailed guide about the agent and how to be explosive with her (You’ll get the reference when you read through it). Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s take a look at Raze from a broad perspective.
Raze’s Introduction
Raze’s real name is Tayane Alves, but she also goes by Tata among her friends. She is an engineer and hails from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Raze is the twelfth agent to join the ranks of others in the Valorant Protocol. Raze’s codename is Clay, which developers might have used during her character design. Unlike other agents, Raze is a non-Radiant and doesn’t have any special abilities to help her in battle.
However, her love for explosives enabled her to build a kit that is especially useful in killing enemies from a distance. Raze is classified as a duelist, pushing sights as a first-line soldier and creating space for her teammates. The Valorant lore describes an incredible backstory to the agent. Let’s take a look at it.
Raze’s History in Valorant
Raze’s history with the Kingdom Corporation is relatively brief. The lore only states that Raze is against the Kingdom Corporation’s plans because they drive people out of their homes and destroy everything. According to them, they’re an infestation.
“Ugh. Another Kingdom infestation. Well fine, I’ll just make sure to be extra-collateral with my collateral damage.”
– Raze, Match Start on Split
Therefore, Raze did everything to drive them away from her hometown in Brazil. She was successful in many places, and her paint splats in sites where the Kingdom Co. tried to establish its bases remind people of her victories.
Soon after her struggles against the Kingdom Co. began to stir up debate, the Valorant Protocol recruited Raze. She has appeared in several different posts that describe her involvement in the game.
But after the introduction of the Blackmailer, Raze seemed shaken. Raze had disturbed vision and chills in the introductory video and even felt the door handle was cold. The Blackmailer also manipulated the agent by describing her past and predicting the future in the dossiers.
The Dossiers revealed that the Blackmailer had seen everything in Brazil, and she admired her art around the place. But because she had started working with the Valorant Protocol, she had forgotten about her hometown, which could be dangerous in the coming times.
The Blackmailer also mentioned in the Dossiers that she had abandoned her plans for the Kingdom Corporation. She also threatened Raze that her hometown wouldn’t be such a happy place once the Kingdom kills her off and invades Bahia again.
Raze’s Personality
Raze is a funky and joyous character. One can judge that just from the agent’s looks, as she has a brown skin tone and wears an orange cap on her head backwards. She also wears headphones all the time, meaning that she loves music. Raze wears an orange top with a chest plate with the spray-painted word ‘BOOM.’ She also wears dark-colored pants with a splash of paint close to her thigh. She also has a strap in which she keeps her grenades.
The Brazilian agent loves to play around and have fun. Her love for partying and messing around is evident from her voice lines.
“Let’s start this party.”
– Raze, Barrier going down
Although she is pretty clumsy and careless to specific agents, Raze doesn’t mind them. She calls them her family and vows to stick with them until they need her.
While she may be joyous and playful, she doesn’t forget her duties. Determined to drive the Kingdom Corporation out of her hometown, Raze doesn’t stop at anything to complete her objective. She is determined, but unlike Reyna, she isn’t out for vengeance.
Cypher is another agent who gets angry at Raze when she breaks his gadgets. She is also restless and chaotic, breaking strategies to clear any obstacle in her path. Because of her impatience, she has a weak bond with Sage, who thinks that Raze doesn’t stick to the plan.
The most interesting relationship that she has is with Killjoy. There are many speculations that the two like each other and might be dating. Even developers haven’t given a definite answer to the question, giving fans a reason to suspect the two’s fondness.
Raze’s Abilities and Qualities
Raze is a top-tier duelist, which means she doesn’t have to wait around and can take on enemies herself. Raze remains a viable choice, owing to her damage-inflicting kit, among the long list of agents like Reyna, Yoru, Jett, and others.
Raze’s abilities are some of the most useful ones that we’ve ever seen in Valorant. She can create advantageous situations for her team without looking at the enemy. Many players are adamant about playing Raze, and solo queue lobbies often encounter arguments on who would pick her. Let’s peek at what Raze can do with her abilities in a match.
Paint Shells
Raze’s primary ability is a frag grenade, and it consists of a large canister that blows up to ignite four smaller bombs that can cover some ground to cause heavy damage to enemies. Earlier, players could buy two grenades, but updates brought it down to a single one at the beginning of every round.
The grenade can also be earned mid-way through rounds. Getting two kills in a single round gives Raze another grenade to use, increasing her impact in the game. Using the fire button will throw the grenade over a longer distance, while secondary fire will lob it. It is beneficial when the enemy hides behind boxes or Sage’s wall.
The first grenade explosion can bring an enemy’s health from 150 (100 health and 50 Heavy Shields) to 96 (82 health and 14 Heavy Shields.) If the enemy suffers damage from two smaller grenades, they will only have 33 health left. Use it in choke points to secure a guaranteed kill.
Boom Bot
Raze’s Boom Bot is an excellent ability that lets players scout areas for enemies and deals damage to them. Just for 300 credits, players have a small robot that crawls along, scanning for enemies.
If the bot detects an enemy within its range, it starts chasing them faster and jumps up to detonate in the enemy’s face, dealing damage. An opponent with 100 health and Heavy Shields will only have 26 health if the bot goes off on their face.
The Boom Bot is a practical ability that players can use to finish off enemies that have taken significant damage from Raze or her teammates. Utilizing the Boom Bot is also great for clearing corners since enemies tend to fall back from their position to avoid damage.
Raze’s bot can ricochet off walls, so players can use it to clear distant angles from a relatively far position. However, it only works for ten seconds, so estimating how far the Bot can go is better. A trajectory also comes up when the Bot is ready for deployment, so players can see where they want it to go.
However, the bot makes noise when it travels on its path, giving enemies a clear sound cue about your potential move. Enemies can also shoot the Bot to destroy it, so be sure to use it when the enemy walks into a choke point. That way, they won’t have many options, and the Boom Bot might even finish them off if they’ve taken hits.
Blast Pack
One of Raze’s best yet underrated abilities is her Blast Pack. It consists of a short, detonable charge that can stick to surfaces. A player can buy two Blast Packs in one round for 200 credits. Blast Pack has many impressive aspects. The Satchel can detonate by itself, or the player can blow it off by pressing the assigned key.
With a detonation time of six seconds, it can deal damage to enemies and slow down rushes. The Satchel can also stick to the enemy, dealing them a massive 75 damage. So, it’s a great utility to get an additional kill when you’ve already killed one enemy and tagged another.
Raze’s Satchel is also great for herself. Raze can launch herself with great speed with proper placement and detonation, helping her elude tight conditions. Ordinary jumps can give fall damage, but Raze can jump from a higher ground through her Blast Pack, but she will not take any damage.
If Raze uses the Blast Pack horizontally, it pushes her to the other side, escaping and making quick peeks easier. Vertical deployment gives her height and speed to boost up on surfaces where other agents cannot climb.
Like the Boom Bot, enemies can also shoot and destroy her Blast Pack. If Raze’s teammates are standing nearby, the Satchel will push them a small distance away but won’t deal any damage. So, if used correctly, Raze can also help her teammates peek at angles differently.
Using the Blast Pack requires a ton of practice because it’s not easy to deploy and look in the right direction from the first instance. You can quickly get cornered because of a lousy Satchel and lose your life. So, it’s better to learn at the Range first.
Showstopper
Perhaps the most exciting part about playing Raze is her ultimate ability. The Showstopper has a rocket launcher that can deal massive damage to anybody in close contact, and it means that enemies, teammates, and even Raze can take a hit from the Showstopper.
Raze requires eight Ultimate points to generate a Showstopper. A small bar shows up upon deployment, indicating the time Raze can use it. So, it’s crucial to know the enemy’s location before going for it. Otherwise, it’ll only be a waste.
The Showstopper is dangerous. It covers a vast area of damage, so using it in tight spaces is lethal, especially against teams that push together. A precise shot can guarantee multiple kills.
Another exciting aspect of the Showstopper is that you can use it with Blast Packs. After deploying the ability, players can use the Satchels to cover distance quickly. Enemies not expecting such a fast push cannot do much, and her Showstopper takes them out instantly.
You can find many highlights where players deceived their enemies by combining these two abilities. However, it will take some time to get it going for the newer Raze mains, so don’t forget to learn how to use them efficiently.
Updates on Raze
Raze hasn’t been perfect since the beginning, and the agent has gone through significant changes that enabled Riot to balance its level of play on all grounds. She has been a considerable part of almost every team, and therefore, developers needed to keep her explosive and adaptive.
Raze has received many improvements over two years. Here’s a glimpse at some significant changes:
- v0.47+: Paint Shells brought down to one. It also received a kill reset of two, meaning players could kill two opponents and get another Paint Shell.
- v0.50: Blast Pack became expensive at 200 credits.
- v1.0: One-meter limit in Blast Pack’s maximum damage radius.
- v1.04: Showstopper’s Ultimate Points raised from six to seven.
- v1.05: Blast Pack’s damage decreased from 75 to 50. Showstopper also received an increment in Equip Time from 1.1 to 1.4.
- v1.08: Blast Pack’s initial damage brought down to 15 with a two-meter inner radius. Shooting the Satchel caused it to detonate, and teammates no longer took damage from Blast Pack.
- v3.0: Boom Bot’s cost increased to 400 credits. Showstopper’s Ultimate Points also increased to eight.
- v3.05: Boom Bot’s damage reduced from 50-125 to 30-80. Riot also reduced its cost to 300 credits.
Statistics About Raze
Raze’s statistics have been awe-inspiring recently. Valorbuff reports that the pick rate for Raze is quite substantial at 42.1%. Reyna leads the chart at 79%, with only Sage and Chamber ahead of the Brazilian agent. But Raze has the highest impact in those games, with a win percentage of 53.2%. Other agents like Brimstone, Killjoy and Fade are closely at around 50%.
However, Raze is quite far behind in ranking her according to first blood. She has a chance of 12.8 to pick out the first target. KAY/O, Fade, Chamber, and Jett lead this list with close competition at 14%. Her kill-to-death ratio is also excellent at 1.03, with only Reyna, Chamber, and Jett above her at 1.14, 1.10, and 1.05, respectively.
When it comes to picking Raze, it seems like Immortal lobbies prefer to pick her the most. She has a very close win rate in the Immortal rank, at 49.18% at a pick rate of 36.03%. Surprisingly, the Valorant players prefer other agents, as Raze stood in 20.32% of matches. But she has also won 49.77% of the games, going past the lower-ranked lobbies.
Overall, Raze has picked in Silver lobbies the most and boasts the highest win percentage in those lobbies. With a pick rate of 32.14%, she has won 50.01% of her matches, the highest proportion in any rank. Other lobbies come close to 29-30%, with an average win rate of 49%.
Raze has worked in great synergy with Reyna, Brimstone, and Killjoy in terms of teammates. The former two have been a better ally for the agent, closing out on several maps with a win percentage of 51-52%. Brimstone has been very effective with Raze, providing efficient support in four out of seven maps.
Raze and Reyna has dominated the other three, known for their deadly combat abilities. Killjoy has also been a helping hand for Raze, with a win percentage close to 51%.
How to Play Raze
The only way to play Raze and be good at it is through being offensive (not in the chats, that’ll only land you long bans!) If there’s anything she’s good at, it’s taking battles right to the enemy’s door.
The agent’s kit is beneficial in creating choke points for the enemy, from which escape becomes difficult. Through some simple map knowledge and understanding of the opponent’s strategies, Raze becomes a helpful agent in every situation.
It is easy to figure out how the enemy plans their move for the rest of the game in pistol rounds. Raze’s grenade is available in the first round, so saving it for a good time might be better. As she doesn’t have healing abilities, it is better to buy Light Shields in the first round so that one can fend off enemies with some extra health. With her Boom Bot, she can gather some important information right from the get-go.
Making Raze play independently can be good when defending on a map. Playing together with a healer like Sage or Skye can be helpful in both support and healing. Raze can provide excellent flanking opportunities to catch the opponent off-guard. Simply pushing the opponent might not work when they expect the player to come flying in with a Blast Pack.
Her explosive utilities remain equally important in these rounds to prevent the enemy from rushing into the site. Falling back and using her grenades when the opponent is in place and planting the spike can create a potential chokepoint, giving the player’s teammates to arrive for support and take the round by surprise.
Raze is almost good with any weapon in defending. Whether a Vandal or the Operator, the agent can take quick peeks, take a kill, fall back, and then use her utility to keep the enemy at bay.
With Skye or Yoru to flash out corners, Raze can quickly work out her offense and gather multiple kills. Using Astra’s Gravity Well ability and Raze’s grenade has worked out effectively, even in professional matches.
Attacking rounds are the ones where Raze comes in the best use. Whether it be any map, Raze will always be the one to clear out sites and make room for her teammates. Peeking mid, entering a site after flashes, and holding corners after a plant are all favorable situations for players that pick Raze.
Even when enemies are keeping an eye on the site with an Operator or Odins, Raze can provide opportunities for the team to take rounds.
Almost every map needs a crucial duelist who can provide sufficient impact, and Raze is the best pick. Suffice it to say; Raze is an excellent agent to give you the edge in fights. Engaging in battles, damaging enemies when they’re behind corners, and taking the enemy out in one hit using her Showstopper makes her ideal in both attacking and defending scenarios.
What Maps are Good/Bad for Raze?
Smaller maps have proven to be the best for picking Raze. Valorbuff reports that Split has the highest pick rate for Raze at 54.5%, and it is also the best map for winning with the agent at 50.1%. Split is famous for some of the best Raze highlights we’ve seen so far, and with Reyna, Sage, and Killjoy by her side, it’s almost impossible to beat a team that plays a good Raze main.
Bind comes in second in both aspects as well. It featured choke points so close to its sites that it was a great option to pick the agent. Raze appeared in 51.3% of matches, with 49.9% of those ending in victory. She has been chosen in Ascent around 36.9%, a significant drop, but winning 49.9% of matches.
Icebox, Fracture, and Haven are the following maps, with a pick rate of 36.6%, 35.3%, and 33.4%, respectively. Raze has won 49.4% of matches in Fracture and a close 49% in Icebox. But when it comes to winning percentage, Haven stands on top of the three with 49.8%.
Although Breeze is a humongous map where Raze would have the freedom to do anything she wants, she remains a questionable choice. Her pick rate is the lowest on that map at 21.6%, and she also has the lowest win rate in Breeze out of seven maps, at 48%.
It’s close, but it still raises doubts about picking Raze on Breeze when there are other efficient duelists capable of using that map better than her.
What Guns are the Best/Worst for Raze?
Raze is not only about her kit. A player needs to be able to use the weapons just as well. Raze with the Vandal has been a deadly combo for such an opportunistic duelist. Used in 35.9% of the kills, Raze has been relatively impactful when wielding the assault rifle.
Used primarily without its secondary fire, Vandal has landed 23.5% headshots, third in the list behind the surprising pistols.
Vandal’s counterpart, the Phantom, comes second in the list of the best guns for Raze. Although only accounting for a mere 17.2% of the kills, half of that of the Vandal, it remains a better choice for people that are more about controlling the gun’s recoil. It only surpasses Vandal in body shot percentage with 71.2%. Spectre comes third in the rankings with 9.9% kills to its name.
The Ghost takes the lead in its race against the Classic regarding pistols. With a headshot percentage of 25.7%, it has registered 5.6% of the total kills. The Classic has only got 4.4% kills, with a headshot percentage of 23.8%, making it the second-best pistol for Raze.
The Sheriff has only been impactful for one-shot kills, overtaking the two sidearms with an impressive 37.5% headshot percentage.
Weak guns like the Marshall and Bucky have only been good in providing significant damage. While the Marshall has the highest headshot kill percentage out of all weapons at 38.3%, it doesn’t outweigh the risks of a potential fast-rush while Raze holds a close angle.
Similarly, Bucky comes second in the list of body shot percentages with 75.7%, but there’s no reason to use it when your team is low on cash and you decide to rush the opponent stacked up in a large site.
FAQs
Question: Is Raze a good agent to pick for beginners?
Answer: Raze is one of the best agents anybody can use in beginner matches. She is a simple agent who doesn’t require much effort to use her abilities. She’s a trustworthy one-on-one combat agent and substantially impacts the team. There are many basic techniques to learn about Raze and create practical strategies for players to use in matches.
Question: How good is Raze in a match?
Answer: Raze is only as good as a player can use her. So, it depends on how the player plans to play with Raze and how he involves his teammates in situations. There are countless instances where players couldn’t use Raze’s potential to the maximum and lost plenty of rounds. Conversely, we’ve even seen some unbelievable moments in professional matches that made us insta-lock Raze in the next few games.
Question: How to get better at using Raze’s abilities?
Answer: Practice is the only way to learn more about Raze’s abilities and use them better. The simplest way to get through this is to enter the Range and find a good place to execute your strategies. From the Showstopper to the Boom Bot, players can try everything in the Range area.
It also provides a simple spike-plant scenario against different difficulties of bots to defend. So, you can also try out what you learned minutes ago in the Range. Of course, all of your practice needs implementation in matches. Otherwise, it’s a mere waste of time.
Question: Which agent works great with Raze?
Answer: Several agents can help make heroic plays with Raze. A good flashing teammate like Skye, Breach, or Yoru can be effective (Sorry Phoenix, but your flashes are still broken!) Sova and Cypher can also help gather information about the enemy, and Raze barges in to eliminate all of them with her Showstopper.
Killjoy and Astra can also provide significant help with their utility, but there’s no use in Raze combining her powers with Omen, Chamber, or Viper.
Raze Valorant Guide: Conclusion
Valorant’s competitive scene is becoming so exciting. Raze can turn the game on its head with just a few good rounds to her name. To become the best Raze main, you’ll need to learn how to use her kit. Her grenades and satchels are a great way to learn about the enemy’s position or create a favorable situation for your team. Either way, it will need a lot of practice to learn about them, so give them the time they require for precise functioning.
Despite all the practice, without a good aim and game sense, picking Raze could be a mistake. So, work on that headshot placement to stay alive through the rounds.
Now, get out there and start taking them out, or in the words of Raze:
“Here comes the party!”