Sova Valorant Guide

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Lawrence Serafico

Lawrence is a MOBA whizz who primarily enjoys games with cryptic lore and an overwhelming amount of in-game text. When Lawrence isn’t writing about games you can find him listening to a podcast, reading a book, or attempting to cook a foreign recipe he saw online. He’s also involved with local theatre productions and is willing to stay up all night writing meticulous feedback on your manuscript.

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Sova is one of the agents you start with when you create your account, and he’s a great character to have if you’re fresh to a first-person shooter like this. Sova enables you to gather critical information that may be used to split enemy forces before they reach you.

Sova is the best initiator in the game. He has a 33.9% pick rate and 49.2% win rate, according to Valorbuff, which means Sova has the highest pick rate in the game and has the highest win percentage. This is a painless guide to playing Sova and giving your team the advantage on where enemies are located using your abilities. 

Sova may be one of Valorant’s deadliest agents when on the job, but there’s more to the Russian reconnaissance specialist than meets the eye. 

Who Is Sova?

Sova is the sixth recruit for the VALORANT Protocol, originating from the town of Severomorsk (Russian: евероморcк) in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. He has long blonde hair and a bionic right eye with blue lenses. He is seen wearing a fur coat with a dark blue cape. He has his bow strapped behind his back, his owl drone is placed on his left arm, and his hunting strapped on his left leg.

Sova has had many interactions with radianite-related events, having journeyed through a rift and seen his mirror counterpart after his right eye was replaced with a mechanical one after he lost it. Sova means “owl” in most Slavic languages. Sova has a good relationship with his Grandmother.

He doesn’t like Cypher because he keeps secrets to himself, which Sova doesn’t like. After all, Sova values honesty and openness, making Cypher difficult to trust.

A ruthless and precise hunter born from the endless winter of Russia’s tundra. He follows, discovers, and destroys adversaries with brutal efficiency and accuracy. Even if you flee, you can’t hide because of his unique bow and exceptional reconnaissance abilities.

In-game, Sova belongs to the initiator class. Initiators are great to contest dangerous angles to start an encounter smoothly. In addition, some initiators give their team valuable information on the whereabouts of their enemies.

Why Should You Pick Sova?

One of Valorant’s best Initiators in Valorant is Sova. With a combination of intel collecting skills and playmaking abilities, he allows teammates to start fights and receive information on where the opponent is.

A good Sova can make taking risky bomb sites a breeze as well as exposing an entire site of defenders to your squad exactly as you begin pushing back on bomb sites. However, it will take time to understand all the areas you can take advantage of and all the ways you can use your abilities.

Sova’s Abilities

Sova’s abilities are based on his ability to use his custom bow. Sova, a modest hunter who has hunted both men and beasts, works meticulously and precisely, looking for and acquiring information before wiping down the enemy.

Owl Drone

This ability lets Sova use an owl drone. While using the drone, you can shoot a marking dart at your enemies, revealing the location of any players hit by the dart. Because the Owl Drone has a powerful sound effect, adversaries will be able to hear it coming, forcing them to back off or risk giving away their position.

On attack, you utilize it in the same way as on defense: inspect corners for adversaries and use your bolt to alert the entire squad to their position before it is blown up. When you press, the reason you’re using this like a Skye dog or a Boombot comes into play.

Instead of a real teammate, you send out your owl Drone to survey the area and maybe trade out the Drone other than a real comrade. Sova’s kit’s two most important elements are this and Recon Bolt.

Shock Bolt

Shock Bolt is the offensive option to Sova’s arrow collection. The primary fire and alternate fire is similar to Recon Bolt, but this time it explodes on impact. Like Sova’s other arrow-related abilities, Shock Bolts may be charged for increased range and can bounce off up to two surfaces before blowing up. 

Shock Bolt is a vital early purchase as it only costs one hundred credits yet provides so much utility. In the early rounds when everyone is saving money, the explosive blast is enough to kill an unshielded Agent. A skilled Sova can really take advantage of the explosive blast. Whether you hit someone directly or with splash damage, that’s enough to force them to move, surrendering their precious position.

Recon Bolt

Recon Bolt is Sova’s defining ability. You can use around two to three bolts per round. A well-placed arrow can define the round and easily snatch you the victory. Use this ability to arm Sova’s bow with a recon bolt. Firing the bow will send a recon bolt that activates on impact. This will expose the location of enemies within the bolt’s line of sight.

You can hold the fire button to further the projectile’s range. Its alternate fire is interesting since it lets the arrow bounce up to two times. For creative players, this feature allows you to outsmart your opponents by exploiting the environment. There are truly fascinating trick shots experienced players can do by ricocheting off surfaces, and it’s one of Sova’s most rewarding mechanics.

The arrow emits three pings upon impact, lasting nearly 2 seconds. These pings will reveal the location of your enemies to you and your teammates.

However, there is a tiny flaw: enemies must be visible to the arrow to be exposed, which means that blocks, walls, and other obstacles will prevent an opponent from being pinged. If you want to limit view concerns and land them in difficult-to-see areas, aim high to minimize view issues and destroy them with bullets or any other ability. Take care to place the bolt in hard to see areas since enemies can destroy it.

Hunter’s Fury

Sova’s signature skill. Sova will arm his bow with three wall-piercing devasting energy arrows. These arrows can travel a long distance, dealing decent damage and even tagging the enemy when hit. It’s best paired with Recon Bolt so safely assassinate an enemy. However, it also works as a fast alternative to Recon Bolt if you’re in a desperate bind.

This ability has a set timer, so you fire everything lest you’ll waste it. Be careful not to needlessly give away your position when using this ability.

How to Play Sova

Playing Sova demands effective teamwork, coordination, and communication. He and the other initiators are intended to assist in putting their teammates in situations to succeed. His powers help gather information, but it isn’t much you can do with them on your own.

Sova’s game strategy includes relaying enemy positions to your team. Therefore, even his damage-dealing skills are most effective when used in conjunction with team efforts. This might be a problem if you are not entirely comfortable with Valorant’s communication mechanism, which is understandable.

If you don’t intend to connect with your colleagues, you may find it more challenging to play Sova than other Agents. On attacking Recon first, if you pinged an enemy, use your drone first to enter so your Duelist will not die because enemies will shoot the Owl Drone First. 

Talk to your Duelist, like Yoru, so that you can execute this properly. 

Using your Recon Bolt at the start of the round gives you the information advantage. There are many ways to use Sova’s Recon Bolt and Shock Bolt’s. Valorant’s maps have no sky limit, so you can use your arrows across maps. You can make or learn a line-up to fake the enemy on rotating a site; they will think that you will commit and enter a site because you used your Recon Bolt on that area.

While on defending, same with attacking, use your Recon Bolt to get early information; this will give you an advantage on where enemies will attack a site. If your Recon is destroyed by enemies while getting early info, use your Owl Drone to confirm that they are committing to the site you are guarding. 

Learn a Double Shock Bolt line up for easy frags on bonus and eco rounds. Since enemies won’t have armor on these rounds, your double shock is a sure kill ability if they land on the same target.

On every map, there are various ways to play Sova, both offensively and defensively. For example, because you can bounce your Recon Bolt and Shock Bolt all around the map because there are no sky limits on Valorant, making his arrows deadly if you know line-ups for positions that are frequently played by enemies.

However, it all simply comes down to the same fundamental principles. Get information that will allow your team to make more plays or better prepare for defense. Sova will be the last one in most of the time, but his powers will be the first to be deployed. To facilitate a speedy site, take on attack, recon Bolts to clear corners. With Sova, a common move is to use your drone to push the enemy’s weak side with a teammate before delivering the bomb to the target.

What Are Good/Bad Maps for Sova

He is good at open and big maps like Breez, Haven, and Bind. However, there is a lot of space for Sova’s Recon Bolt to move around and ping enemies, and there is little to no cover to hide from his Recon Bolt and Owl Drone. On Ascent, you can use your Recon Bolt and Drone to take control of mid because mid is heavily contested by enemies, so you can’t rotate easily through the middle if you can’t push a site.

Split is one of the worst maps for Sova because Split has far too many corners and places to hide from his Recon Bolt and Owl Drone. In this map, enemies can hide from your Recon Bolt and Owl Drone in off-angle positions. This will render your abilities useless. Breach is better on this map because it has tight spaces, and Breach can maximize his abilities in this situation.

Who Synergizes/Counters Sova

Jett is the best teammate for Sova. Jett can battle for control with one-way smokes, gain kills without exchanges with his dash, and repel peekers with an Operator while Sova fights for information.

Use your Owl Drone before you let your Jett dash in a site. This will minimize your Duelist to check every corner and dying during entry. Additionally, your Owl Drone has a load sound effect that will make your enemies back away; this will make Jett’s access safer.

Against Cypher, you can use your Owl Drone to activate Cypher’s Trip Wire. For example, if you know that Cypher is defending a site, use recon to know where he’s hiding. Then, use your Owl Drone to activate his Trip Wire’s so you won’t trigger the Trip Wire yourself.

Another Sova is the best counter for Sova. Your enemy will not have the information advantage because you, too, have a Sova. This will balance out the information, and enemies will have a tricky time pushing a site.

What Guns Are Good/Bad for Sova

In my opinion, the Vandal or Guardian are the best guns for Sova. Since you’ll tend to take long-range fights due to your abilities,                                                                                             

You can use the Operator with Sova, using your Recon Bolt or Owl Drone before peeking an angle to not lose to a Jett dash. However, if you ping her before you peek, she will probably go behind cover and re-peak the angle again.

But probably the best eco gun for Sova is the Ares. With Ares’s high bullet penetration, you can wall bang enemies with it. Use your recon bolt to ping enemies and wall bang them in walls that are wall bang-able.

FAQs

Sova Valorant Guide: Conclusion

Remember to use Sova’s abilities with other agents such as Jett’s Dash while using his drone to entry first. Use high penetrating guns like Vandal and Ares so you can wall bang enemies and have easy frags on the enemy team. Always use abilities to gather info on enemy positions before committing to a site, if you use your abilities correctly, your abilities will give your team the information advantage over the enemy team.

Sova is the best initiator in the game, maximizing his info gathering abilities to make plays of the information that is gathered. Learn different line-ups for different maps, there are videos on YouTube that will guide you on how to execute a line-up and Double Shock Bolt, this will give you amazing opportunities to have an advantage against enemies.

And remember keep Grinding, train your game sense and your aim so that you can be better than anyone.

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