Valorant gameplay video showcases Phoenix's fiery abilities

News
By published

He throws fire, and he's pretty handy with a gun too.

(Image credit: Riot Games)

Riot Games has dropped a new trailer showcasing the combat talents of Phoenix, one of the eight characters who will do battle in its upcoming competitive FPS Valorant. He's handy with a gun, but his real talent is throwing fire—literally.

The video is very brief and there's no explanation of what's going on, but fortunately we got a rundown of all the Valorant characters earlier this week and so it's not too hard to figure out what's up. 

The fireballs he's pitching are his Curveballs, a flashbang that curves around corners and blinds enemies, while the big wall of fire is Blaze, which blocks line of sight and damages players who step through it. His other two abilities—the Hot Hands fireball and Run it Back ultimate—aren't shown.

This is the first Valorant gameplay trailer dedicated to a specific character, but given its Overwatch-like approach to characters, I expect we'll be seeing more soon. Valorant is expected to launch sometime this summer, preceded by a beta, with purchasable cosmetics but no loot boxes.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.