VALORANT introduces new agent mastery track and Gauntlet game mode

Along with the new automatic rifle, the Warden, VALORANT is also introducing a new game mode called Gauntlet. In the same update, the Agent Mastery track will change, bringing different levels, rewards, and Mastery Points according to the time you spend playing with that specific agent. There is a lot to unpack, so let’s dive right into it.

Agent Mastery

For the first time in VALORANT, Riot Games is rewarding players who spend a lot of time playing and mastering certain agents with the new progression track. Agent Mastery is all about celebrating dedication and the hundreds of hours certain players put into learning an agent.

These tracks will give players new goals to chase, along with cool rewards for their favorite agents, while giving them another way to show everyone who their true main is.

Players will keep everything they have already unlocked. New rewards will also be released when the update goes live, giving players more ways to showcase their best agents.

Key Features

• Act Levels: A seasonal progression layer that resets each Act. Players can unlock temporary portrait upgrades and visual UI modifications to showcase their current investment in that agent.
• Lifetime Levels: A persistent progression layer that reflects a player's long-term commitment to an Agent, with specific rewards.
• Mastery Points: A new progression currency that contributes to players' progress, earned by playing with bonuses based on factors like performance and match outcomes.
• Agent IDs: A new customization and recognition surface where players can equip earned modules, including stances, backgrounds, and tracked stats, to personalize their Agent ID.

New Game Mode: Gauntlet

Gauntlet will take the agents' abilities and mix them up, recombining them into something entirely new. Eight teams of two will draft abilities round by round, upgrading them from their baseline versions. The mode features familiar bomb-site spaces, remixed and stitched together at glitching seams.

Every pick is a bet. You have no idea what ability is coming next. In some rounds, you'll have the chance to randomize your options, just like in Teamfight Tactics. However, you might end up with something even worse, so choose wisely.

Each game will take between 8 and 15 minutes, so players can have some fun without being in a match for too long. Players can either solo queue or play with a friend.

Key Features

• Draft and Upgrade: Choose from randomized ability options each round, upgrading your kit from Level 1 to Level 3, each level adding power and enhancements to the selected ability.
• 2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2 (multi-team): Sixteen players enter as eight duos. Each round, a team is paired against another in a 2v2 duel. Lose the round, lose health. Hit zero, and you're out.
• The Thrill of the Roll: Every draft screen is a slot pull. The randomized options create tension, surprise, and the rush of landing the perfect ability for your build.
• Stitched Simulations: Four arenas inspired by existing VALORANT maps, stitched together with glitching seams. They're familiar yet uncanny but totally optimized for 2v2 duels.
• Hybrid Robo Agents: Players take the form of hybrid robo agents. Abilities from other agents appear in unexpected, glitched-out ways.
• Creative Expression: No two matches play the same. Ability combinations create emergent archetypes that players discover, experiment with, and chase.

And just like the Agent Mastery updates, the Gauntlet game mode will be released on September 22.

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Featured Image by Riot Games