Valorant agent guide — Control the shadows with Omen

Riot Games continuously tells us that Valorant is about precision, but also creativity. I think the developer nailed this philosophy with Omen. Precision refers to the gunplay and your need to aim with skill and speed. The creativity is where the agent abilities and tactical positioning come into play. And Omen’s ability to position, reposition, and pop up in unexpected locations is unmatched. This Valorant Omen guide will give you some tips to get creative with Omen and help you spread fear with his shadowy repertoire.

Before playing Omen, my favorite agent was Cypher. I loved how his arsenal of gadgets allowed you to play mind games with your enemies. But I always struggled a bit with Cypher on attack. Then I started playing Omen. He excels at mind games, plus he’s excellent at defense and attack. He’s my new favorite Valorant agent. Plus, I think he’s got an interesting backstory. He seems like a shadowy bad guy, but his voice lines about Sage suggest otherwise.

Shadows descend – Dark Cover

Omen’s Signature ability, Dark Cover, is arguably his most useful. I find myself using it twice every single round. You can use it in a similar manner to Brimstone’s Sky Smoke to block corridors. However, because of the way Dark Cover animates, you can do some neat tricks with it that, I think, makes it better than Sky Smoke.

Here’s the best tip I can give you for Dark Cover – it might be the most useful tip in this Valorant Omen guide. It will certainly net you some easy kills. When you cast Dark Cover, don’t just place it in the location you want to block. Lift it off the ground a bit. Now when the orb forms, it will leave a space below for a few seconds, which you can peek under. Enemies will be closer to the orb, so they won’t be able to see under it. Fire away.

Dark Cover will refresh one charge after 35 seconds, so you want to use it as soon as the round begins and get the recharge timer ticking. When you’re attacking, if you know an enemy is holding an angle on a bomb site, use Dark Cover to block their vision and give your team time to push onto the site.

You can cast Dark Cover onto a site or down a corridor and then use your Shrouded Step to teleport into it. This is a high-risk play, but if you place the Dark Cover well, you can take down a few enemies before they know what’s going on. Dark Cover can be used to fool enemies into thinking you are pushing one bomb site when you are actually going for another.

Blink and you’ll miss him – Shrouded Step

Shrouded Step will let you move unseen in a way no other agent in Valorant can. You can give away your position to an enemy, then use Shrouded Step to quickly reposition. If the enemy then decides to push you, you’ll have a free shot at their back.

On defense, you can use Shrouded Step to get into aggressive positions the enemy team won’t expect. As they push past you, spray down as many as you can. Combine this tactic with a teammate who holds the safe angle. So, if the whole enemy team is there and they turn on you, your teammate can get off some free shots.

The enemy had full sight of the corridor the entire time, that’s why she never checked my angle.

Shrouded Step can also be used to get into excellent defensive positions. You can teleport on top of boxes and other objects to hold unexpected angles. Even in the middle of a fight, you can use Shrouded Step to bamboozle your enemies and shoot them in the back. Omen is excellent at shooting people in the back.

The enemy Raze didn’t even look my way because she expected me to be where I fought Breach.

Cower in fear – Paranoia

When I first started playing Omen, I thought Paranoia would be his best ability. But the more I have played him, the more I have found that both Dark Cover and Shrouded Step are more powerful. However, Paranoia is still useful.

You can use Paranoia to clear a corner you think an enemy might be hiding around. Fire paranoia before peeking the angle to ensure the enemy possibly lurking there doesn’t see you. It’s best to fire Paranoia into confined spaces. That way it will guarantee hits on numerous enemies. Don’t forget, it will blind your allies too. So, aim carefully.

If you have planted the bomb, you can hide behind cover and aim Paranoia at the Spike. When you hear the beep of a defuse, cast Paranoia at the enemy for a guaranteed blind.

You’ll never see him coming – From the Shadows (Ultimate)

Don’t use From the Shadows like this player.

Omen’s Ultimate can be excellent at sowing doubt in the enemy team. It can create some fear about your location, which your team can capitalize on. Typically, when you use From the Shadows, enemies will check behind them. So, you need to be smart about where you choose to teleport — unlike the enemy in the clip above. It was very simple for me to look around one corner and he appeared in front of me.

Another good tip, and one you shouldn’t need a Valorant Omen guide for, is to remember that you cancel your Ultimate if you see an enemy. The enemy Omen in the clip above was looking right at me but still committed to his teleport.

From the Shadows can also be used as a fake. You can use it to teleport right next to yourself. This will allow you to remain with your team while causing doubt among your enemies.

If you have the Spike and the remaining enemy team is all on one bomb site, you can use your Ultimate to very quickly teleport to the opposite bomb site and set up a defensive position.

Omen has quickly become one of my favorite agents. I love how you can play mind games with your enemies and constantly surprise them from creative angles. And all his abilities are useful, which isn’t always the case in Valorant.

I hope this Valorant Omen guide helps you strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. If you’d like some tips on other agents or some general gameplay tips, you can check out our Valorant guides and features hub. If you’d like to hear our impressions of Riot’s character-based tactical shooter, you can read our review here.