Every game contains bugs and errors within it. We can even see this trend in popular releases such as Apex Legends, Cyberpunk 2077, and so on. Riot Games’ tactical shooter Valorant does not differ from this rule, showing the player base error codes for various reasons, mostly problems with the Riot Client and the Riot Vanguard anti cheat system.
One of these error codes is the Valorant Error Code 152. If you have encountered it, no worries because here you will learn why you are getting it and how to fix Error Code 152 Valorant.
The Reason behind Valorant Error Code 152
Error Code 152 appears as a connection error in the game. The error message which shows it as a connection error does not explain enough, but the main reason behind Valorant Error Code 152 is due to something that’s called an HWID ban (Hardware ID ban).
An HWID ban appears when the Valorant game or Riot Client recognizes your system and hardware as malicious, thus hitting you with this connection error code. This Valorant ban is not something to be taken lightly, since it can last up to 4 months, and ultimately it may not even be your own fault.
Once you start your Riot Client, the Valorant game does some checkups on your hardware and background processes to see if you may be potentially cheating. Since the Riot Client is connected with the Riot Vanguard, and this anti cheat system has control over the heart of your Operating System, it has the potential to do these checkups in the game really deep and thoroughly.
The problem with Error Code 152 though may not be your fault, if it recognizes some other unrelated processes and hardware as malicious, you will be met with an HWID ban. Lifting this ban up may prove to be tricky, but stick around and you will learn if you can and how to fix Error Code 152 in the Valorant game!
How to Fix Valorant Error Code 152
Check VPN and other Third-Party Apps
The most common apps to cause Error Code 152 are those that are also connected deeply to your PC and hardware. One of the most common apps that every player has reported making this Valorant ban is a VPN.
By now you know that a VPN is an app that hides your identity online by creating a Virtual Private Network between your PC and the Internet. You may have seen the problem by now why you get Error Code 152 with an HWID ban by now: The Riot Client and Valorant recognize VPN and the hidden network as malicious! Although a VPN is meant to only keep people secure on the Internet, we have seen countless times that it has been used for malicious intentions too. That is why the Riot Client, Valorant, and Vanguard think a VPN is worth a Hardware ID ban.
This has also been proven by a Reddit user (see post here) that he used WTFast VPN which caused him Error Code 152 and an HWID ban altogether.
Although VPNs seem to be most prominent in causing Error Code 152 with its ban, other apps can cause it too. Say, if you are using third-party apps while you play the game, that can cause the Riot Client and Vanguard to find it malicious and hit you with the HWID ban. Examples of third-party apps like this are game boosters such as Razer Cortex.
Simple fixes like trying to restart Valorant and opening the Riot Client again won’t work in this situation. This is a serious ban and your options towards fixing and lifting it are limited. If you feel like this ban is not your fault, then follow up to see how you can try a fix or lift this HWID ban.
Change to Another PC or Laptop
This solution is really susceptible and volatile, but since the Riot Client and the game recognize only the ID of the hardware malicious, you can try and change your device! The problem in this solution though is that the chances are really high for you to be hit with another ban on the other PC or laptop too. So if you are only absolutely sure you want to risk it and have another laptop or PC laying around, install Valorant, open up the Riot Client, log in with your Riot ID, and try to start playing the game again!
If changing to another device helped you out with avoiding this ban, you should still be very careful to not get banned on your other device. Though if you feel like you weren’t in the wrong with this ban, then your last resort is to
Contact Riot Support
The Riot Support team’s purpose is to help out the community with any error codes they may encounter. If you feel like Error Code 152 with its ban was wrongfully given to you, you can submit a ticket on the support site banner here.
Be it problems with the Riot Client and game client, or access problems with Vanguard and Windows Firewall, error codes are special and can really appear for tons of reasons. If you want to check out fixes for Valorant Error Code VAN 0, you can do so here. Though if you want to see the latest news and solutions for error codes, you should visit the Valorant Error Code Hub.