Lotus

VALORANT’s ninth map, Lotus is a radianite plant-powered temple-like map that boasts three spike sites (like Haven), loads of deep lore roots, and rotating doorways inspired by Indiana Jones.

Lotus joins Pearl as the second map located on Omega Earth, and despite being an ancient site, this city’s mythical plant technology is no less impressive than any of the more cutting-edge offerings in VALORANT.

“A mysterious structure housing an astral conduit radiates with ancient power. Great stone doors provide a variety of movement opportunities and unlock the paths to three mysterious sites.” Riot’s official description of Lotus

Lore

Deep in the jungles of India lies Lotus, the City of Flowers. This ancient city was created millennia ago by the Astral Guardians, as a multiverse Nexus – a place designed, we believe, to connect different realities.

The Lotus map takes place in Omega Earth’s version of this lost city, since Alpha Earth’s version has long since been destroyed. Alpha’s Harbor discovered this before joining the VALORANT Protocol, and, together with Astra, realized their artefacts were the keys to unlocking the fabled city.

More worryingly, they also became aware of the catastrophic damage that would be unleashed on their world if Omega’s Nexus was activated. With no city on Alpha to channel the energy, the fallout would kill millions of innocents.

The two agents were joined by Skye on a mission to Omega Earth to stop that from happening, and were able to put an end to Legion’s attempts to activate their Nexus without any Alpha Earth casualties.

We first see the unforgettable temple ruins themselves in the REVELATION cinematic, where we get to experience the staggering power of this lost city and its flower-powered ancient root circuitry.

The whole area is decorated with murals and carvings of native animals and figures that bear striking resemblance to Astra. Whether this city was built solely for the Guardians' use or for civilians as well is unclear, but the Guardians’ enigmatic touch is certainly felt around every corner.

FAQs

Where is Lotus in VALORANT?

Lotus is located in the Western Ghats mountain range of Karnataka, in southern India, on Omega Earth. It’s an ancient ruin nestled deep in the dense forests, and has been hidden for centuries at these coordinates: 14°07'03.4"N 74°53'21.0"E

What is Lotus?

Riot’s first new map of 2023 is an ancient ruin on Omega Earth known as the City of Flowers. It was built by the Astral Guardians as a multiversal Nexus – points that connect different realities.

Unlike other maps in VALORANT, Lotus is an ancient site powered by mutated radianite plants that absorb and convert massive amounts of solar energy. This “root circuitry” carries incredible power, capable of unleashing terrible destruction.

What was the release date of VALORANT’s Lotus map?

Riot released Lotus on January 10, 2023. It was released during Episode 6 Act 1.

Unlike other map releases, Lotus wasn’t made instantly available in unrated and competitive game modes. For its first week, players could only play Lotus in Custom matches or Swiftplay mode.

Is Lotus a good map?

Lotus probably isn’t winning any popularity contests among the VALORANT playerbase, but it’s generally considered a good map. As one of only two maps to have three spike sites, it’s certainly a large map that offers a lot of variety in every match – your own preferences will decide if that’s what makes a good map or not!

Lotus map guide

Map layout and callouts

Map features

Lotus has a few key features to take note of when planning how to play the map.

3 Ultimate orbs

Like Haven, it’s a three-site map, but in a first-for-VALORANT twist, we also have three Ultimate orbs available. You’ll find Lotus’ ult orbs at A Main, B Main, and C Mound.

Rotating doorways

Lotus’ unique map feature is its Indiana Jones-inspired rotating doorways.

There are two of these delightful walls, one on A side between A Rubble and A Tree…

And one on C side connecting B Main to C Mound and C Main…

Both revolving doors have a switch on either side that you can use to activate the door. Use the button and the door begins a rotation that lasts 8 seconds. They’ll always spin the same direction, and will destroy any utility caught in their path.

Careful though, these doors make a noise and highlight on the map when they’re moving for all players, no matter how far away they are, so be sure to use them wisely!

Rope ascender

At the back of A Site, you’ll find a rope to take you to A Top.

Destruct-o-wall

Lotus has a small destructible wall between A Main and A Link. The color of the wall indicates how much health it has left (blue = full health, red = low health).

While it’s standing, this wall absorbs gunfire, but with only 400 HP, it won’t last long. When it’s gone, it’s gone, and you’ve got a neat new path connecting you from A to Mid.

You might hear this wall called the “vent” or “link door”.

How to play Lotus - map strategies

Attacking tips

Split any push into A Site – some entering from A Tree, others from A Main. If you don’t control A Main, get control of it, you’ll need it. A Controller like Brim works well with this strat, as he can smoke up the sightline in A Top, Drop, and Stairs.

Be ready to bug out and rotate to B through the link door if things go wrong.

B Site is chock full of angles just prime for defenders to peek, so be careful and only push this site if your comms and coordination are tight. Any agent with a strong smoke will be essential here, so make sure your team has the likes of Omen, Brim, or Astra.

Cypher will also make for a strong post-plant agent to help you watch over the entire site with his Spycam.

If you’re executing C Site, be ready to flash or blind at C Main or Mound – chances are you’ll find a Jett holding an angle with an Op that you’ll need to handle before you can take the site. Look near Waterfall and Hall for some choice spots to plant the spike that you won’t need to peek.

Defending tips

Focus on the map’s primary hotspots – places like A Main, Rubble, and C Mound. Play your cards right and you’ll get in deathly fast and majorly ruin any options the attackers have to get their plans going.

Defending A Site calls for choking up entry points like A Tree and Main. Like on attack, control of A Main is crucial. Give yourself only one entry point to focus on and sick a KJ turret down to alert you of potential flanks elsewhere. Do what you can to control enemy movements.

With B Site, smoking off B Main works wonders at delaying enemy pushes, and pretty much all of Cypher’s abilities will make retakes a hell of a lot easier.

Defending C Site is a bit easier than the others, thanks to fewer entry points. Aim to turn C Main into a focused chokepoint and you could wipe out the attackers insanely fast. Sage will help with this big time.

Avoid playing your whole team on site during a retake. With three sites, it’s not your best strat. Instead, have someone loop around to catch enemies off-guard.

And for Guardian’s sake, learn the map – the attackers’ options are limited unless they use the revolving doors, so use those cues (or lack of) to guide your defense strategy.

Be fluid

Riot literally designed Lotus with the goal of movement fluidity. The map was created to give attackers and defenders the freedom to flex and pivot throughout the rounds. It’s easier to do on Lotus, and that should absolutely factor into your strat.

Get creative with those doors

Lotus’ revolving doors trigger audio and map cues, right? Well, use that in your strategy! In the words of designer Pearl Hogbash, “Yoru can do some interesting stuff with his teleport, activating the door on one side of the map then jumping to the other.”

Lurker’s paradise

Lotus really is a lurker’s dream come true. This map is packed with connections that make it easy to sneak around. Probably best you steer clear of those noisy revolving doors though – stick to alternate routes.

Best agents for Lotus

Duelists

For our money, you’re better off with either Jett or Raze on Lotus. Either one can create space and take map control like a boss, and they both work well in the tight spaces of the map.

They’ll also both be able to get on top of some of Lotus’ higher spots for those tasty off-angles.

Controllers

Omen - his Ult, From the Shadows, can be a total game-changer. You teleport to another site and will have plenty of time before the enemy can rotate and catch you.

Astra’s another solid Controller choice on Lotus – her ability to lurk anywhere and support your team is dead handy here, plus you’ll have loads of opportunity for abilities like Gravity Well and Nova Pulse to stall pushes in all those narrow choke points.

Both Omen and Astra’s smokes are going to be no end of value when playing on Lotus, too.

Initiators

Fade, KAY/O, Breach, or Sova – pick an Initiator with solid enemy locating skills. Any of these are strong choices, but Sova’s probably your best bet thanks to his Recon Bolt and Owl Drone.

A team comp with two Initiators is never a bad thing on Lotus (we’d suggest Fade and Sova).

Sentinels

Killjoy’s probably your best choice here – Lotus has loads of opportunities for literally all of her abilities.

Cypher’s also strong on Lotus, for exactly the same reason. Or you could go for Chamber if you fancy a more aggressive playstyle.