Valorant Sova Agent Guide | Abilities and How to play

Everything you need to know about Sova

Sova is a simple yet effective Initiator who can both locate and kill enemies. He is always welcome in any team as their Initiator and is often seen as the go to for the role.

His Recon Bolt (E) and Owl Drone (C) both excel at finding enemies from a safe distance, whilst his Shock Bolt (Q) and ultimate, Hunter’s Fury (X) allow Sova to kill those enemies from a secure location.

Is Sova right for you?

Do you love gathering information in Valorant and playing around that? Sova is perfect at that, he can scout out enemies to find out where enemies are pushing or defending, as well as use his damaging abilities to force enemy agents out of tight spaces and prevent them holding angles.

Sova is easy to learn but hard to master, so if you think you are up to the challenge, then Sova is right up your street!

Sova’s abilities

Owl Drone (C)

How to use Owl Drone (C)

Sova becomes unable to defend himself whilst using the Owl Drone (C) but gets to control the drone for 10 seconds to scout out enemies. He can also fire a dart at enemies to tag them- which has a 5 second cooldown.

The ability costs 400 credits so is very expensive for an ability, but is very good for pushing onto a site safely and distracting enemies. It also has 120hp so takes a fair bit to destroy.

When and where to use Owl Drone (C)

We would suggest using Owl Drone (C) to scout around corners and in open areas, such as in Courtyard on Ascent. Make sure to let your team know you are using the drone so they can peek just after you push with the drone, meaning they can kill a distracted enemy!

Sova cannot defend himself when using the drone, so do not use the drone when you are standing out in the open or vulnerable- go and hide first!

Shock Bolt (Q)

How to use Shock Bolt (Q)

Sova fires an arrow that does area of effect damage to any players nearby, and can be bounced twice and fired further the longer it is charged up. It is very good for forcing enemies out of angles and defensive points.

Sova can have up to two charges of this ability at once, which both cost 150 credits each. The damage increases from 10-90 depending on how far away the Shock Bolt (Q) is from the enemies.

When and where to use Shock Bolt (Q)

The ability does not explode the second it touches a surface, so enemies can jump away a little bit to reduce the damage they take from it

Shock Bolt (Q) damages enemies in the area, regardless of if they are behind cover or not- a good use of Shock Bolt (Q) is to fire it into a wall that you know an enemy is hiding behind as it will damage them through the wall and won’t give them time to see the arrow and minimise damage they take.

Even though the ability can do minimal damage, a lot of players are scared of taking any damage at all and will instantly move if they see a Shock Bolt (Q) flying towards them. Use the ability to flush out enemies and angles, regardless of if you can kill them with it or not.

Recon Bolt (E)

How to use Recon Bolt (E)

Being Sova’s signature ability, his whole kit and Sova’s playstyle revolves around Recon Bolt (E). Similarly to Shock Bolt (Q), the arrow that Sova fires can be fired further the longer it is charged for and can be used to bounce off of up to two surfaces.

Recon Bolt (E) spots out any enemies that directly come in line of sight with the arrow, but the arrow can be destroyed with a single bullet.

The ability is free and lasts for 3.2 seconds. It also has a 40 second cooldown.

When and where to use Recon Bolt (E)

Recon Bolt (E) is best used at the beginning of a round to scout out where enemies are pushing or defending- plus you will get a second Recon Bolt (E) sooner!

We recommend learning your lineups for Recon Bolt (E), especially as there are many places on every map that are exceedingly hard to shoot the arrow, but that will still ping enemies’ locations.

Some places you may fire the arrow may be too far up however, so make sure you do not waste it and lure yourself and your team into a false sense of security.

Hunter’s Fury (X)

How to use Hunter’s Fury (X)

Hunter’s Fury (X) gives Sova 6 seconds to fire up to three arrows that ignore walls and cover. Each arrow does 80 damage and reveals enemies for 1 second if they are hit. This makes it easier to hit the follow up shots.

The ability costs 8 ultimate points so is one of the more expensive ultimates in the game.

When and where to use Hunter’s Fury (X)

Hunter’s Fury (X) is very good later on in the round for either preventing spike defuses or plants with it. Enemies are forced to move off of the spike or die.

It is also very good at forcing enemies out of tight angles and corners- especially if you have scouted them with Owl Drone (C) or Recon Bolt (E).

Best and worst team compositions for Sova

The best team compositions for Sova

The best team compositions for using a Sova in revolve around information gathering and playing slow- it could look like this:

• Sova
• Brimstone
• Cypher
• Viper
• Phoenix

All of these agents are either able to gather information from enemies and force them to rotate or reposition. Whether it be due to the innate intel gathering skill of the Sentinels in Sova and Cypher or the Controller smokes. Phoenix is the designated Duelist but also provides vision prohibiting abilities.

The worst team compositions for Sova

As Sova you do not want too many agents on your team that do similar jobs. There is no point having three Initiators. It could go as follows:

• Sova
• Killjoy
• Breach
• Skye
• Raze

Killjoy is very good at locking enemies out of spike sites, which is sometimes not what Sova wants. He needs to be able to gather intel on pushing enemies before they get onto site, which Killjoy needs enemies to do.

Breach stops enemies getting onto site and blocking them off, which can sometimes overlap with Sova’s job. Skye is good at scouting out enemies but requires more effort than what Sova can do with a singular Recon Bolt (E).

Raze has no smokes or vision prohibiting abilities, meaning the team would struggle to push onto site.

The Best and worst maps for Sova

Sova wants open space on maps he plays so that his Recon Bolt (E) can get a direct line of sight with multiple enemies at once. Tighter and smaller maps are what Sova struggles with as his scouting abilities are limited.

The best map for Sova

Ascent is the best map for Sova. Sova is a very good and stable pick for most of the maps in rotation, but the verticality and considerable amount of open areas on Ascent make it ideal for Sova.

The bomb sites are quite small so he can easily locate an enemy with his Hunter’s Fury (X) and Shock Bolt (Q).

The worst map for Sova

The worst map to play Sova on is Split. Although Split has a lot of verticality, there are a lot of places to hide and avoid being detected by Sova’s Owl Drone (C) and Recon Bolt (E). A site has a massive pillar in the middle so enemies can easily shoot the Recon Bolt (E) if it is fired on there or avoid it by going to the other side of it.

Best and worst guns for Sova

The best guns to use when playing Sova

The guns best utilised when playing Sova are those in which he can stay a fair distance away from the enemies. They go as follows:

• Operator
• Vandal/Phantom
• Marshal
• Ghost

The Operator is perfect as you can stay at a safe range and peek enemies you spot with your Owl Drone (C)- a job the Marshal can do but to a lesser effect. The Vandal and Phantom are good long range rifles but really depend on your personal preference.

The Ghost is the best pistol to purchase as a Sova as you will want to stay back and locate enemies on pistol rounds and the Ghost is the best long range pistol.

The worst guns to use when playing Sova

The worst guns for Sova are close range weapons. They go as follows:

• Bucky
• Judge
• Shorty
• Frenzy

The Bucky is never viable on Sova as you need to be gathering intel from a distance, not up close. The same reasoning is why you should never buy the Shorty- unless you have an Operator too. The Judge is more viable as it is a far better close range weapon than the Frenzy and Bucky.

Defending Tips for Sova

• Zone enemies with your Shock Bolt (Q) and Hunter’s Fury (X) to force enemies out of tight areas and chokepoints as they push.
• Try and shoot your Recon Bolt (E) somewhere that it can still detect enemies but is difficult for them to destroy. Also try and get the bolt to cover multiple angles to see if any enemies rotate.
• Play safe when using your Owl Drone (C). You do not want to be out in the open or leave yourself exposed to a flank when using the drone. You cannot defend yourself whilst operating it- so be careful!

Attacking Tips for Sova

• You are not a 1v5 agent and do not deal a vast amount of damage. Make sure you keep Duelists in your team and with you when defending after planting as you cannot hold down a site yourself.
• Only push sites after your Duelists have made space for you. Use your Recon Bolt (E) to scout out enemies so your Duelists can entry and distract them- then go in.
• Use Hunter’s Fury (X) to stop enemies defusing your planted spike. You can go and hide somewhere safe and wait until you hear them defusing then fire the bolts through walls at where you planted!

This Sova guide should be intensive enough to allow you to figure out whether you want to play Sova and even one-trick him! Let us know what you think!