Electric Nightmares

Our four part series about generative AI and its use in video games

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Valorant: How to play Brimstone

Brimming with utility.

We’ve found Brimstone to be an excellent Agent for all skill levels, especially for those who are new to Valorant. His abilities are simple to use, easy to understand, and are often incredibly helpful if used correctly.

Two of Brimstone’s abilities involve opening up a minimap and clicking where you’d like to drop a smoke or orbital strike. There’s also a molotov which’ll leave a fiery zone in its wake, as well as a stimpack which’ll buff allies in its radius. So overall, he’s got a nice mixture of aggressive and defensive abilities which makes him a safe pick in pretty much any team composition.

Below we’ll provide some tips on how to use each of his abilities. Stay tuned for further updates over time!

How to play Brimstone

Stim Beacon [C] (100 Credits)

Brimstone equips a beacon which can then be tossed on the ground nearby. Upon landing it’ll activate and any allies in its radius will be buffed. The bonuses granted by this beacon are pretty extensive, with increases to rate of fire, reload speed, weapon swap time, and recoil spread recovery too.

The buff from the stim beacon’s radius doesn’t require line of sight, so you can bung it down behind a wall and nearby allies will still receive their bonuses.

We’ve found the stim beacon comes in handy when you know your team’s about to push onto a site, or if an ally is holding a hotly contested position. You can pop the stim beacon down just before your team gets aggressive so they’re buffed up as they push onto the bomb site, or you can chuck it at someone’s feet if they’re peeking a dangerous angle.

Of course, you can also use the stim beacon defensively too. If you know an enemy team’s about to push, you can chuck it down at you or your teammates feet to give yourselves an extra edge.

One thing to be aware of is your fire rate when buffed. It’s much faster than usual, so be careful when spraying as it’ll be much easier to lose control!

Incendiary [Q] (200 Credits)

Activate this ability and Brimstone will equip a molotov launcher which’ll work exactly as you’d suspect. When fired, molotovs will bounce off any surfaces and detonate only when it’s hit the ground, leaving a fiery pool in its wake for a short period of time.

We’d recommend using this ability to disrupt pushes in narrow chokepoints, or to flush out enemies from pesky hiding spots. Be warned that it does take some time to whip out this launcher, fire a molotov, and get your gun out again. With this in mind, it’s better to pull the trigger earlier rather than later, otherwise you’ll be caught totally defenseless.

Sky Smoke [E] (100 Credits)

Easily the most useful ability in Brimstone’s arsenal, this allows him to select up to three nearby spots on the map, and after a short delay, smoke grenades will land precisely where you clicked. It’s important to note that he can’t see the entire map and can only select spots near to his current position. However, you can move while you’re minimap is out, meaning you can call in smokes while repositioning.

We’re huge fans of these sky smokes as they’re brilliant for locking down a bomb site with ease. Think they’re about to push in? Line up two or three smokes at key entrances and it’ll give your team time to reposition and counterattack. What’s more, you can use it to push a bomb site by obscuring vision, or even pop it on your bomb planter to give them a little more protection.

Try and take an extra half second to pinpoint exactly where you want the smoke to go and take into account its radius. We’ve made the mistake of rushing the process a little too much, thinking we’d perfectly smoked an entrance, but quickly realised there was a small gap the enemy could see through.

It also goes without saying, but avoid activating this ability if you’re out in the open. Find some cover first otherwise you’ll be totally caught off guard by aggressors.

Cover image for YouTube videoVALORANT WALKTHROUGH - BRIMSTONE | Team Liquid Character Tutorial

More essential Valorant guides:

Orbital Strike [X] (6 Orbs)

Again, this involves opening up the same minimap as your sky smokes. This time, though, you’ll only select one position. After a short delay this spot will be hit by a large fiery pillar of death. Any enemies caught inside its radius will take large amounts of damage over time.

There’s a clear sound cue when activated and the location you pinpoint on the map will be briefly highlighted to the enemy before it erupts in flames. So, it’s definitely not a guaranteed kill ability, but this isn’t really it’s job. Think of the orbital strike as a way of forcing the enemy to reposition in a pinch and likely botch the job in the process.

We’ve found success with this ability when we know someone’s planting or defusing on site, as you can chuck it down and force them to stop or get burned to a crisp. It’s also great for covering entire rooms if you know someone’s holed up in there.

Rock Paper Shotgun is the home of PC gaming

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

In this article

Valorant

PC

Related topics
About the Author
Ed Thorn avatar

Ed Thorn

Reviews Editor

When Ed's not cracking thugs with bicycles in Yakuza, he's likely swinging a badminton racket in real life. Any genre goes, but he's very into shooters and likes a weighty gun, particularly if they have a chainsaw attached to them. Adores orange and mango squash, unsure about olives.

Comments