Meet Killjoy, ‘Valorant’s’ new agent

Killjoy’s abilities include:

• An “Alarmbot” that is placed in a single location and detonates when enemies are in range, applying a vulnerability debuff to those caught in its blast. Similar to Cypher’s tools, the “Alarmbot” can be recalled.
• A stationary turret that can be deployed to fire in a 180 degree cone. You can recall the turret, similar to the “Alarmbot.”
• A “Nanoswarm” grenade — though grenade may be a misnomer. After throwing the device, it goes quiet and can be activated on command, similar to Cypher’s “Cyber Cage” ability, to unleash a lasting circular field of damage.
• Killjoy’s ultimate ability, “Lockdown,” does what it says on the tin. After a lengthy setup, the device captures all enemies caught within its radius for eight seconds. The device can be destroyed by enemies.

On Wednesday, Riot released a trailer showcasing Killjoy’s abilities in action.

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Her abilities seem best equipped for defensive play, either in terms of keeping watch over a site on the defender side, or holding a planted bomb on the attacking side. Both the “Alarmbot” and the turret can alert site-holders to the presence of opponents, similar to Cypher’s camera and trip wires. The “Nanoswarm” can be used similarly to Brimstone’s “Molly,” closing off points of entry or making parts of a site, such as the planted bomb, inaccessible to opponents. And “Lockdown,” if activated near a planted bomb, can delay the defending team, or force them to rush the site and disable the device.

The news didn’t catch players entirely by surprise. Earlier this week, Riot’s website briefly showcased a write-up of Killjoy’s abilities and YouTube videos showing them in action. This information was quickly taken down, but not before some of it was captured by players and data miners.

Similar to the other unlockable agents in the game, Killjoy’s contract — tiers of which must be completed or bought to unlock Killjoy — includes three sprays, two titles, one gun buddy, a player card and the agent herself.

Unbeknownst to most players, Killjoy had been teased ever-so-subtly in the game’s first battle pass. Tier 48 of the 50-tier pass includes a purple and yellow player card labeled ‘Vetraulich’ — which means “confidential” in German, according to a cursory Google translation — with a lightly redacted line drawing of the agent’s turret. (Needless to say, players are likely to be more attentive to unfamiliar icons and phrasing in the Act 2 battle pass). Recently, a silhouette cutout of Killjoy also appeared on the map Split, inside a storefront on the attacker side of the map.

The Act 2 update from Riot will also bring updates to how the game tracks and displays a player’s achievements in competitive play.

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