Guide: Master Raze, tips, tricks and advices

Raze is one of the first of Agents. She is an explosive duelist who doesn't mess around. She specialises in devastating area attacks, forcing her opponents to move and be reactive if they don't want to go up in smoke.

Before anything else, we advise you to familiarise yourself with Raze's abilities.

Using Raze's abilities

Raze's abilities are all based on explosions. Keep in mind that your explosives can hurt your opponents as much as your allies… or yourself. You’ll then never throw a Paint Shell under your own feet and you’ll not even try to rocket-jump with your precious Showstopper.

The Paint Shells is one of the most powerful explosives in Valorant. It combines heavy damage with a large and persistent area of effect. It not only explodes once, but spreads other grenades behind it, extending the duration of the explosion. This allows damage to be done over a larger area and for longer, but it also allows opponents to avoid taking all the damage at once and to get out of the danger zone.

At the launch of Valorant, its potential was even higher when synergised with skills to slow down an enemy or when taking advantage of the chaos of an assault to throw the grenade into your opponents' back. Nowadays, it is preferred to use it to dislodge opponents or to zap them. It allows you to easily push the opponents hidden behind a shelter to leave it, without which they risk losing the majority of their HP, or even dying. Even though it won't always kill, it will at least scratch your enemies a little before the firefight.

The Staggered Grenade can also be used to buy time and stall opponents. When you see enemies coming through a door or if you need to run away, you can throw your grenade which will cover the area for a while. This should potentially split the enemies into two groups, giving you time to run away or allow your allies to come in.

The Boom Bot is another of Raze's formidable tools, which can be used both to find opponents and to cause damage. By placing it so that it bounces off corners, it can traverse dangerous areas and inspect corners that you cannot see yourself. On the other hand, it is extremely fragile and can be destroyed in a few shots. This is why it is better not to use it in a simple corridor where it would be too easily exposed.

When it spots an opponent, the Boom Bot accelerates and runs at him before exploding. The explosion is not enough to kill a player in one hit, but the damage is not to be ignored. In most cases, the opponent will destroy the bot before it explodes. This does not mean that your Boom Bot has been wasted, as it will have confirmed the presence of an enemy.

You can also accompany the Boom Bot to put your opponent in a complex situation where he has to decide whether to shoot you or your bot. Be careful not to get too close, though, as you could be damaged by your bot yourself.

Finally, Raze has a Blast Pack. This is a dual-use skill. Its primary use is of course to use it as a trap. The pack works wonders in defence or for controlling the entrances and exits of a lane. You can even hide it next to the Spike (primed, or after killing its owner) to use as bait. Also, the Explosive Pack can be stuck to a wall, to surprise an opponent who is a little too quick.

But experienced Raze players will use it mainly to move around. Since Raze takes no damage from her own pack, she can use the blast from her explosion to propel herself up or forward. This allows her to reach heights comparable to Jett's Ascending Current. To maximise height, jump at the exact moment you trigger the pack's explosion and lower yourself into the air to bend your legs. It's also possible to use the pack to throw yourself to the sides rather than into the air, if you need to get out of a Sage's Slow Orb or a Viper's Poison Cloud.

Used properly, the Explosive Pack will allow you to cross very long distances in the blink of an eye, catching your opponents off guard. The coordinated assaults of your allies will force the enemy to fight on several flanks, with no possibility of staying under cover.

Showstopper, Raze's Ultimate

The Showstopper is Raze's ultimate skill. It's hard to beat the subtlety of a good old-fashioned family rocket launcher. Raze's fires a high-speed missile that explodes on impact, damaging anyone in the blast zone.

The rocket explosion has an inner and outer radius. All enemies within the inner radius will be killed instantly. Players who are between the inner and outer radii will suffer heavy damage, depending on the distance to the heart of the explosion. Of course, players outside the outer radius will not suffer any damage.

The Final Bouquet wreaks havoc against groups of enemies or in corridors. However, never aim your rocket launcher directly at an opponent, as the enemy may simply dodge out of the way or you may easily miss your target. Instead, shoot at the ground or walls to create an explosion as close to your target as possible.

When you trigger Final Bouquet, you have about ten seconds to fire your rocket. During this time you can switch weapons or use other skills before re-equipping the rocket launcher and firing your missile. Just make sure you don't do it too late or you'll just have wasted it.

Playing Raze in Attack

Raze has the advantage of having a fairly complete kit that works both in Attack and in Defense. in Attack, she can use her Boom Bot as a scout to secure corridors. However, her efficiency is reduced at most bomb sites because enemies at a distance will know it’s better not to shoot her if they don’t want to reveal their position.

This is where Paint Shells comes in, able to dislodge opponents who think they're safe. Combined with a Slow Orb, your opponents will have absolutely no chance of escaping your explosions.

Once the Spike is planted, you can use your Blast Packs to protect it or to protect the site entrances.

Playing Raze in Defense

Raze strategies are not that different from the one used in Defense, they just need to be adapted. If the Blast Pack remains excellent to securise entrances to a site, it can also be used to reach the top of a wall or a stack of boxes to get a better view of an area. Paint Shells will be even more devastating if you throw them in a corridor as soon as you hear enemies approaching.

Boom Bot use is a bit more complex. By using its rebounds well, you can make it go back and forth to monitor an entrance, but its lifetime being limited, you are likely to waste it. You should perhaps use it to track down an enemy if you know where they are hidden.

As every duelist, you can also use Raze to bypass opponents. Her explosives will wreak havoc if they manage to surprise a team.

Few tips and tricks:

• It is quite possible to propel yourself with a second explosive pack when you are already propelled by a first explosive pack. Raze can then cover much longer distances, build up more speed or, on the contrary, correct its trajectory and brake.
• When she fires the Final Bouquet, Raze is propelled backwards a few centimetres.