Keybinds and controls

In VALORANT you almost always move with WASD and shoot with the mouse. Everything else (abilities, jump, crouch, reload, weapon swap) should be reachable without taking your fingers off the movement keys. If using an ability means letting go of D, you stop moving at the worst moment.

The defaults are already sensible: abilities on C, Q, E and X, jump on space, crouch on Ctrl. Plenty of players keep them exactly as they are, and that is a perfectly good choice.

Some changes are popular because they make frequent actions easier:

• jump on the mouse wheel (in addition to or instead of space): some find it easier for repeated jumps;
• abilities on the mouse side buttons, for those who struggle to reach X or Q;
• walk on Shift as hold: that is already the default, and it should stay a hold;
• hold to crouch rather than toggle: you stand up as soon as you let go, which is easier to control in a fight.

You do not have to make any of these changes. Only make them if a specific action feels awkward.

Some commands really help and many players have never bound them:

• ping: marks a spot on the map for your team without speaking. Put it on a comfortable key. It is very handy with strangers or when you do not want to talk over a teammate;
• the big map and the scoreboard: a quick look at the start of the round helps;
• quick messages (the chat wheel): "need help", "rotating", "I'll take it".

If you use push-to-talk, put that key somewhere you can reach while moving (many use a mouse side button).

If you want a simple starting point, this is a very common setup, close to the defaults:

It is not the only good setup. It is one that works for many people, and you can change it one piece at a time if something feels off.

Every agent has different abilities, but the keys stay the same. The trick to avoid confusion when switching agents is to give each key a general meaning, not a specific ability. For example:

• X is always your ultimate: before pressing it, always ask whether it is the moment;
• E is almost always your "signature" ability, the free or recharging one: the one you use most;
• C and Q are the abilities you buy: the ones to count in the buy phase.

When you try a new agent, spend five minutes in the range or a custom game just using the abilities on your keys, with no pressure. Then in a match you will not think about which key to press, only about when.

One last tip: check that no important action has been left unbound or on an awkward key. It happens more often than you would think, especially after an update adds a new command.

Beyond the keys, the control settings have a few options worth a look once:

• crouch and walk as toggle or hold: for most players "hold" is easier to control;
• the chat wheel and quick messages: set the ones you will actually use ("need help", "rotating", "I'll take it");
• ping: make sure the key is comfortable to press while moving;
• scoped zoom and sensitivity: leave them on default until you have a specific reason to change them.

It also helps to know how to mute a teammate's voice or chat from the scoreboard: if someone is distracting you, removing them takes a second and your attention goes back to the game.

Many mice have two buttons on the side, under your thumb. They are handy because you press them without taking your fingers off WASD. The most common uses:

• voice with push-to-talk: you can talk while moving and shooting;
• an ability you use often or struggle to reach on the keyboard;
• ping.

One warning: side buttons are easy to press by accident when you grip the mouse hard in a tense moment. Try the setup in Deathmatch before using it in a match that counts.

Like sensitivity, binds are muscle memory. Under pressure your hands do what they have repeated a thousand times; if you changed a key last week, you will fumble exactly when it matters.

When you switch agents, do not change your binds: abilities stay in the same places, and your brain soon learns that "Q is my flash" on Phoenix works just like "Q is my drone" on another agent.

One last tip: if you play on several computers (at home, at a friend's, at an event), the game saves your settings to your account, but your mouse software does not. Write down your DPI and side-button setup.