Valorant: How to unlock more of the agents

Some people like to spend hours on end playing the same character. But if you’re anything like me, then variety is what gets you going. I love trying all the options and experimenting with abilities until I find a few characters that I really enjoy. To do that in Valorant, you need to know how to unlock the agents you don’t get for free at the start of the game.

When you first start the game, five of the 11 agents are unlocked. They are Phoenix, Sage, Sova, Brimstone, and Jett. So, you have plenty of options to keep you entertained while you work on unlocking the remaining six Valorant agents.

Your first task

The first two Valorant agents you unlock will be done through the introductory contract. This will automatically be activated when you first start playing the game. Just playing Valorant matches will earn XP towards completing the tiers of the contract. But you can earn XP even faster by completing daily and weekly missions. And by winning rounds in matches. You get 100 XP per round you play and an additional 200 XP per round you win.

You will unlock the first agent when tier five of the contract is complete. The second agent is unlocked once tier 10 is complete – this is the final tier for the contract. You will unlock the first two Valorant agents much quicker than the remaining ones. So, decide which of the locked agents you want to try most and pick them during the introductory contract.

The final five tiers of the introductory contract.

Valorant agent contracts

After completing the introductory contract, you will unlock agent contracts. Every Valorant agent has a contract filled with cosmetics associated with that character. Each agent contract has 10 tiers for you to progress through, and you do this in the same way as the introductory contract – earning XP by playing the game and completing missions. The only exceptions here are the two agents you unlocked during the introductory contract. They will already have the first five tiers of their personal contracts unlocked.

Valorant agent contracts are how you unlock new agents in the game. As I mentioned earlier, each contract has cosmetics associated with the agent. However, the tier five reward for each agent contract is the agent itself. Hence the ones you unlocked in the introductory contract start their personal contracts at tier six. The five free agents have another cosmetic on tier five since they are already unlocked.

You need to earn 375,000 XP to unlock one agent. That’s a lot. Like I said before, choose your first two wisely because the next ones will take longer. The missions will help you get there a lot faster, so don’t grab your pitchfork and start bashing down the Valorant social media door.

To begin an agent contract, click on the Collection tab at the top of the screen in-game, then select Agents. Scroll through the agents until you get to the one you want to unlock and select Activate. The XP you earn in matches will now progress the selected contract. Only one agent contract can be active at a time.

If that sounds like too much work for you, or you simply can’t wait to have all the agents at your disposal, you can pay 1,000 Valorant Points (VP) per agent you want to unlock. That’s about $10 USD per agent. Personally, I enjoy the reward of unlocking them through XP.

If you want some tips and tricks for playing some of the Valorant agents, check out our guides for Sova, Phoenix, and Sage.