ICEBOX: New Map
Merely four months after its official launch, Valorant is getting its fifth map in the form of Icebox. This is the first snowy map in the game and will be a good chance of pace for players. Icebox appears to be an abandoned shipyard surrounded by ships and ship loaders at the dock. The map itself is littered with shipping containers, an office space with pizza boxes, vending machines, and more. You will also find horizontal zips as opposed to the vertical ones found on other maps. Icebox will have two bomb sites and a lot of options to hold high vantage points. Riot Games has shared a 45-second teaser of the new map, which you can check out right here:
“Icebox was designed to emphasize skirmishes, sharp aim, and adaptive play. The gameplay premise of Icebox is that each of the sites is intended to be complex combat spaces that feature plenty of cover and verticality,” revealed Salvatore Garozzo, level design lead at Riot Games (via The Washington Post). Excited much? Well, if you are an avid Valorant player, then I am sure you as pumped as I am for a new map. Icebox looks pretty cool (pun intended) and brings a whole new environment for the agents to experience.
SKYE: New Agent
In addition to the new map, Valorant is introducing a new agent ‘Skye’ with the third season. She is the 13th agent is the game’s roster and could soon become the go-to pick for Sage mains. Skye could be an essential part of the team for her healing and scouting abilities, helping out the team in both offense and defense positions. Now, let me detail all of Skye’s abilities to help you better understand what role she can play in your team:
Guiding Light (E) – She can equip a hawk to flash and blind enemies. It is very similar to Phoenix’s signature ability but the hawk makes a screeching sound to confirm it has blinded an enemy. This gives you an idea of when to push and take control over a bomb site.
Trailblazer (Q) – Skye can embody a Tasmanian Tiger to scout enemies and explode in a concussive blast while also dealing damage to enemies. You cannot simply use this as a scouting ability as the Tiger is near-sighted and can be destroyed with a few shots.
Regrowth (C) – This is one of Skye’s most powerful abilities. It enables her to heal not just one ally (like Sage) but all allies in her vicinity. Once equipped, you will see a circle around you and all teammates within range will be healed over time. The shortcoming of this ability is that Skye cannot heal herself.
Seekers (X) – This is Skye’s ultimate ability and sees her equip three seekers that can run out and find three enemies, whichever corner they are holding, and nearsight them to give your team the time to eliminate them and plant the spike. The seekers can also be destroyed by shooting at them. You can see all of these abilities in action right here:
I don’t know about you but I am pretty excited and hyped for the upcoming season of Valorant, Ignition Act III. Moreover, with the introduction of the new Mumbai-servers, gamers in India will also have the benefit of lower pings and lesser packet loss, which sure is nice. So, are you excited, agents? Let us know down in the comments. Also, you can always invite me for a game or two.
