The cast of Agent Valorant is a colorful bunch, with many offering a unique set of utility options that bring a mix of personal and team skills to the table. As for the moody roster member Omen, there's a mix of everything with one main ethic: high risk, high reward.
Omen Valorant is a Controller class agent whose skill set offers some assistance to his team, but can also use those skills to create more daring games that correspond to the higher risk for a bigger reward game. It can be played aggressively, but requires you to use clever gameplay and patience to outsmart enemies rather than the more typical indiscriminate and rushed aggression seen by Phoenix and Breach. It is locked during the first start and must be unlocked by progression or by purchasing its contract on the agent page.
Omen capabilities
Wrapped stage - 200 credits - two charges
“Equip a wrapped step ability and see its range indicator. Shoot to start a brief channel, then teleport to the marked spot. "
Shrouded Step is a close range teleport that can be used to traverse gaps or higher areas in seconds, similar to Overwatch's Reaper's Shadow Step ability. Unlike Reaper's version, you and your teammates will hear Omen teleport, but enemies won't.
Paranoia - 200 credits - one charge
“Equip a Blinding Orb. Shoot to throw it forward, briefly reducing the range of vision and deafening any players it hits. This projectile can pass directly through walls. "
Paranoia equips a projectile which can then be thrown through walls and other players, flying at a medium distance and spreading out a few feet wide from the firing zone. Enemies hit will see nothing but pristine gray vision and hear only their own heartbeat for a short time.
Dark Blanket - Signature Ability - Two charges
“Equip a shadow orb, enter a phased world to place and target orbs. Press the skill key to cast the shadow orb at the marked location, creating a durable shadow sphere that blocks vision. Maintain fire while aiming to clear the marker away. Hold the secondary fire key with targeting to bring the marker closer. Tap Reload to switch to normal targeting mode "
Dark Cover launches an orb to a selected position in front of you that provides a large area of cover for 15 seconds. You can do this either in the normal view or in a phased world that will offer a larger 3D version of the map to the minimap. Unlike Viper's Poison Cloud, inside the Orb Cloud you can see what else is inside. It recharges every 35 seconds.
Screenshot via Riot GamesOut of the Shadows - Ultimate - 7 points required
“Equip a tactical map. Shoot to begin teleporting to the selected location. While teleporting, Omen will appear as a shadow that can be destroyed by an enemy to negate their teleportation, or press Equip to have Omen cancel their teleportation.
Omen's Ultimate displays the map, where you can then choose a location Omen will teleport to. Unlike Shrouded Step, there's no limit to the range, but your enemies will know when you've activated it, and if they're close to your chosen location, they'll hear you teleport.
Where Omen fails
When it comes to Omen's Toolkit, it can be argued that the team support and helpfulness that his abilities provide are the most situational of any of the Agents on the game's roster.
His paranoia capacity is, unfortunately, one of the weakest in the game as a tool of aggression. When he hits he can be very effective at pushing an area, and hit detection has seen improvements, but he now has a cast time to equip him, and you still need to aim him where the enemies are. for it to be effective.
Screenshot via Riot GamesThis contrasts with Phoenix and Breach who can both provide flash to the enemy as long as they are in line of sight of the flash's impact. Blocking sound on Paranoia is a bad compromise for this additional requirement.
Its ultimate is also very predictable when used aggressively. As a rule of thumb, if enemy players cover all of the spike sites because it makes noise, a decent player will at least have an idea of where Omen has teleported as the elimination process will give them enough information. . This means that when it may be most effective, such as when positioning yourself to load a site from multiple angles, its approach may be telegraphed too easily. Additionally, if you're spotted and still training, getting shot during the cancel phase will cancel it, causing you to lose your ultimate, or they'll be ready and waiting to shoot you. after teleporting, usually while you watch it happen.
Screenshot via Riot GamesFinally, while there is also more flexibility in its Dark Cover orbs compared to other smoke screens, such as the other Viper and Brimstone controllers, due to its ability to recharge and it can be placed n 'No matter where on the map they are more difficult to use in pushes as players can see in the middle of them. Opponent counter-thrust can easily catch up with attacking pushers passing through these orbs.
Where Omen excels
Omen's strength comes from the player's ability to be bold and unpredictable. While its toolkit doesn't lend itself very well to team play, it can produce excellent results in riskier single-player games against unsuspecting players. The best use of this is with Omen's Shrouded Step.
One such tactic would be to reveal your location to an enemy before getting out of sight, and then using the wrapped step as a surprise flank means that can surprise players who expect you to retreat. For example, on the Split map as a defender, a common attacking tactic is to move quickly on Sight A through A Main.
Screenshot via Riot GamesStaying close to the choke point to reveal enemies will give you information about their location, which means you can request a save.
Screenshot via Riot GamesReaching that corner leaves you open, but if you're there first, you can catch enemies in the act. In this situation, Brimstone and Omen as controllers can both drop smoke in an attempt to delay a rush. However, while Brimstone's kit lends itself better to delay and control, Omen is able to play more aggressively in case the enemy decides to pass anyway. This is also quite common as rushing to the site when defenders are retreating puts the aggressors on the front foot.
As a Brimstone, staying in this lane leaves your position too predictable, and finding your way around shouldn't be difficult as the enemy will know your exact position.
However, as an omen, you can move around until you are out of sight, such as hugging the wall to the left, then crossing the step on the opposite side without drawing attention to your movement. As your previous position has been compromised, enemies are more likely to look to the site first as that is where your last position was, and as they do, you will have the freedom of your head to shoot, not knowing that you teleported behind them.
You can do something similar with Brimstone or Viper, but for an enemy in a hurry you will need to position yourself very quickly, and since your footsteps can be easily heard, the element of surprise is gone and it is much more difficult to pull off good ones. results.
This is just a simple example of how effective a wrapped step is when used intelligently. Since it is silent to the enemy and can be used to reach higher areas, it can be a great tool for quickly reaching unexpected vantage points, such as atop a sage wall, or for gaining an advantage in height. Its scope is quite limited, but it can produce great results in the right hands, just like high-risk, high-reward nature. It also works by entering a Dark Cover Orb, which means you can jump on other players or walk through a crowded area in a safer way.
The Dark Cover ability is also very useful as a zoning cover option due to the ability to pull it anywhere on the map and recharge which, if used liberally, can allow five uses in one. tower. The ability is also now much easier to use with the option of phased world and button configuration change, where the left and right mouse buttons control distance, and the ability button triggers it.
Finally, Omen's Ultimate, while strong, can be very useful in certain situations. For example, if the game is two-on-two and you carry the pickaxe while knowing where the two remaining enemy agents are, using your ultimate can take you directly to the opposite peak site to crash quickly, which means enemies will have less turn time and will have to be more energetic trying to get a result. It's one of the weaker ultimates in the game, but using it intelligently can still give you a big advantage, especially when used where there are fewer enemy agents left.
Summary
Omen as an Agent has one of the highest skill caps in the game to be fully utilized. His abilities can play well in aggressive play styles, and if you can still use the element of surprise, you can find some great kills. It will be more difficult against more skilled players, but his kit can sometimes be very useful.
He's not a great team player, but he can still offer information if used correctly. The fact that the Dark Cover ability can recharge for rounds at no cost can be priceless, although its smoke isn't as good for control as Brimstone and Viper. He's also a lot of fun to play, so if you can use smart, unpredictable tactics, you can get the most out of his kit and make Omen a formidable force.
