When you’re playing ranked in any game, you’re more often than not working on improving as a player. Did you know that there are steps you could be taking to improve at VALORANT even when you’re not actively in-game? In today’s guide, we’re going to run through 7 ways that you can step up your game in VALORANT without launching the game.

Watch High Ranked Streamers or Pro Players

The first tip on the list is to watch top content creators or Pro players as they play VALORANT. We don’t just mean sitting back and relaxing with a stream up, though; you should be paying close attention to their habits as well as their teammate’s gameplay if you plan to improve at VALORANT. Everything from their movement, crosshair placement, communication, and their utility usage can provide you with a learning opportunity. You can even try to replicate how they’ve positioned themselves at their desk for more comfort when you end up playing longer sessions.

When you see what the top players do and bring that over to your own game, you’re elevating your performance past what your friends and teammates ordinarily expect from you, and you could begin to inspire your teammates to do the same. There are few things that are better when you’re playing than feeling like you’re a cut above everyone else in the lobby.

Taking a Course

One of the best ways to become a great player is by learning from the very best players on the scene. There are many resources out there, but none are quite as good as investing in a course from the top players in the world. ProGuides offers a wide variety of courses from some of the best players in the world, such as Boaster and El Diablo himself, Yay.

A ProGuides subscription will only run you $9.99, and you’ll get unlimited access to the entire course backlog and the new courses we continue to add. If you’re not quite sure what course would fit best, try asking the Aimlabs Discovery AI, as it can suggest courses based on the gameplay issues you’re trying to improve on.

Watching Guides and Videos

When it comes to learning in VALORANT, you really might not know what you don’t actually know. In those cases, watching educational content can be a huge help to help you along your path to improve at VALORANT. It can clue you into something you may not have realized you were doing wrong, or simply teach you something that you can do better. YouTube channels such as ours, Skillcapped, AverageJonas, and countless others are perfect for anything from learning new Agents, improving your mechanics, or developing your tactical skills.

If you really want to learn a lot and progress on your VALORANT path, consider turning on notifications for your favorite channels to make sure you don’t miss any new videos. It could be the difference between winning or losing games week to week if you’re missing out on some tips that could have revolutionized the way you play an Agent or a map.

Aim Training

Sure, aim really only represents a single aspect of what it takes to make up a good player. Having reliable aim, however, can carry you through games and cover up for any mistakes or lapses in judgment tactically. The easiest and fastest way to improve your aim is through aim training, such as Aimlabs.

Simply queuing up for ranked games isn’t usually enough to improve your accuracy since there are bouts of downtime where you’re not flexing those aiming muscles. When you use an aim trainer, you’re in a much better position to develop your mouse control, and you’ll be warmed up for your VALORANT session ahead.

Aimlabs is a particularly good choice since it has a variety of statistics to track your performance to tell you what to work on, as well as VALORANT-specific maps and scenarios to perfect your crosshair placement and positioning. There are many more benefits to aim training, so if that’s something you’re interested in hearing more about, let us know with some feedback.

Changing Your Mindset

Aiming isn’t the only thing that requires some training to improve. One of the most common factors holding players back is a lack of mental preparation before they jump into a VALORANT session. Oftentimes, players in lower ranks will lack the confidence that they need to succeed. Developing that confidence and avoiding tilt is one of the key processes that all of the top players have to go through to climb up the ranks, so we have two tips that can help you become a more confident player.

The first tip is to spend plenty of time warming up in deathmatches before your ranked sessions. When you play until your aim feels crispy and effortless, you’re more likely to take calculated risks in your ranked games, which can lead to much better results. If you aren’t feeling relaxed with your mechanics, you’ll understandably be more nervous as you take fights, and consequently, you’ll be more likely to lose your duels. Trust us when we say, it’s better to warm up beforehand.

The second way that you can improve confidence is by playing more swiftplay, unrated, or even going on an alt account. Now, we want to make it clear that we’re not suggesting that you smurf, we mean playing at the same rank on a different account. By playing at the same rank without feeling the pressure that comes from a requirement to perform well, you’re able to play with confidence and demythologize the players in your ELO, while you realize that you’re just as good, if not better than that competition.

Many players will get anxious knowing that their only VALORANT ELO points are on the line, and more often than not, these negative emotions ultimately have a very negative impact on your performance. If you’re able to show yourself that you can easily reach your own rank on a second account and potentially even outperform your perceived ceiling. Once you’re back on your main account, your confidence will either be much better, or at the very least, you’ll know that there are issues you can improve upon rather than simply lacking the raw skill.

That’s not all, though, there are more things to mindset than trying not to tilt and building up your confidence. There are also other things that you can implement, such as the ABC game for example.

We won’t go too in-depth on this here, but you can check out a video that breaks it down better. To summarize, the ABC technique is something that can help you with your gameplay consistency. It helps you quantify your skill in a range of performance, it teaches you important queues to play at your best more often, and it helps to mitigate your bad performances as well. Ultimately, it is just a very important part of esports psychology, so if you’re interested, check out the video.

Getting Coached

If you’re looking for more tailored advice on how to improve which is suited to your own gameplay, your best course of action is hiring a VALORANT coach. Coaches are able to go through a VOD with you and provide advice on how you can perform better in the situations presented on the replay.

Since the information will be tailored to your gameplay in particular, you can make adjustments to fix any bad habits you may have without even realizing it. It removes the ambiguity with respect to whether or not the advice applies to you, and it can tell you exactly what you need to do instead of having to read the tea leaves for tips.

Listening to Podcasts

Sometimes, getting better requires gathering opinions from the right people. One good way to absorb information from successful players or coaches instead of your higher-ranked friends is by listening to VALORANT podcasts. One of our favorites is the ddk podcast hosted by the caster and current 100 Thieves General Manager himself. He often has Pro players as guests and talks a lot about what it takes to climb and compete at the highest levels of play.

They cover everything from specifics on mechanics and tactics to general advice on mentality and the balance between gaming and your everyday life. If you’re serious about wanting to improve at VALORANT, make it a habit to seek out and listen to insightful podcasts. It’s not only fun to listen to people talk shop about something you’re passionate about; it’s also a great way to learn during times when you can’t be in-game.

We hope that these 7 suggestions have pointed you in the right direction to continue improving, and if you’ve had any success with this or know of something we’ve missed, be sure to let us know.