Given that a game like Valorant appears to have locked player roles or abilities how do you actually fairly balance a team (or perhaps how do you best plan for your opponents weakness)? In pro CoD for example while all players have perks etc that they can use (silent footsteps etc) there is only a certain amount of combinations that have merit and further the players apply gentlemen's agreements (GAs) to limit what is used. Is the same done in Valorant/CS?
so full disclosure, I haven't played Valorant in a long while, I was active in beta and at the start of the game but not for a bit. I don't know how the meta has changed.
But at the time I played, the only role that was typically an "always have" was Sage (shes a healer and can res one team mate). But beyond that, it doesn't matter to a huge degree. The game (as of when I stopped) was fairly well balanced. You'd want someone with good smoke ability (Omen and Brimstone), you'd want someone as an aggressor (Raze, Jett), and the rest kind of fall into place. The roles don't matter as much as you think they might, because the core of the gameplay is always the gunplay NOT the abilities.
I have the same question for weapons, those are purchased in CS or Val if I am understanding correctly? Is there restrictions on what can and can't be used to maintain competitive balance. Then from there how as a player do you know what to pick? I assume there is a meta or is it all just based on what you like using.
yes, all weapons are purchased in both games, and in CS, utility is purchased agian. (utility refers to smokes, flashes, and molotovs, area denial/vision obstruction type of actions). You can have one primary weapon (shotgun, SMG, sniper, assault rifle), one secondary weapon (a pistol, or sometimes a sawed off shotgun), armor (either just chest, or chest and head), and utility. In CS, you can choose any 4 of the following (depending on money) HE Grenade, Flashbang, Flashbang, Smoke, Molotov and Decoy. Flashbang is the only one you can stack two of, but you can choose any combination of those 4. for Valorant you can buy "additional charges" for one of your abilities. So if your character has a flashbang ability, you can buy 1 or 2 (or whatever) of them for use in the round. The big difference between the two in terms of utility, is that in CSGO, you use it or you lose it next round if you die with them. In Valorant, you keep your abilities that you haven't used regardless of whether you die or not.
from this point forward, I'm going to talk purely about CS as that's the one I know better and have more experience with.
The money system *IS* the single biggest wall to new players and new viewers. here's the EXTREMELY ABBREVIATED RUNDOWN
a primary rifle costs 25-2700, armor+helmet 1000, 4 grenades (I think) is between 900-1200 depending on which ones you choose.
A "full buy" is when you can get ALL of those things. a primary weapon (specifically an assault rifle or a sniper), armor with helmet, and a full compliment of utility.
A "half buy" usually means not everyone on your team can afford a full buy, and some people will say, buy armor with no helmet, or no grenades, or some combination of those.
A "force buy" is when the game is on the line, either its the last round of the half and you're gonna lose your money anyway, or maybe the enemy team is one round away from winning, you spend all the money you have in any way you can to put up as much a fight as possible.
and an "Eco" is one your whole team agrees to spend little to no money in an effort to get to a full buy. Sometimes players/teams might choose to just buy a couple of grenades, or maybe a cheap SMG, or even just a better pistol. But typically on an eco, no one will have an assault rifle, and often times will not have any armor, or not have head armor.
the big thing is buying is always supposed to be done AS A TEAM, it's not an individual decision. If all 5 players on your team have over 3700 (enough for an assault rifle and head armor), then your entire team buys. If one or two of them are under that amount, sometimes one player might have a lot of money, so t hey'll buy the rifle for the team mate (the most expensive item) and let them buy the rest.
if EVERYONE is poor, you eco. If the amounts of money on your team are all over the place, you play it by ear, maybe you force buy (and have some people just buy SMGs or shotguns), or you decide to eco to "equalize" the money.
Buying is always done AS A TEAM, it doesnt matter if you have max money (16000) if the rest of your team cant even afford to get armor.
Who are some of the best pros in those scenes that I could watch on twitch or YT to see them play?
this is a hard question to answer because the scene has changed SO much since I was actively playing and watching. guys like n0thing and fl0m are good influences and are both American so are more prone to posting "tip" videos. There's a lot of others. go to the CSGO twitch page find one of the players with the most viewers, and start from there.
