A Sova Guide: From Good to Great

Sova is undoubtedly one of the most valuable agents on a given VALORANT team. Where gathering information is key, Sova knocks his peers out of the water with his replenishable Recon Bolt that allows him to scan an area from any angle/distance at no cost. Coupled with his Owl Drone — which allows him ten seconds of scouting to check those close corners — makes him the ideal fifth man. Despite his straightforward utility, Sova has much more depth to him and learning how to fully utilize him separates a good Sova from a great one.

What is an Initiator?

Before dissecting his utility at a higher level we have to know what role Sova plays on the team. Alongside Skye, Breach, and KAY/O, Sova is known as an Initiator. Their jobs are to clear angles for their teammates using their utility to minimize contact. Duelists have to make space for the team, and the fewer corners they have to check in doing so allows for a much smoother execute. And if Duelists are the first in line to make space, then Initiators are you guessed it, right up next. They have to be close enough to use utility early and gather information, or blind enemies for their teammates to enter the site. Sova however finds himself in an area that makes him an exception to this rule and that is because of his Shock Bolt.

Shock Bolt — Any Angle

Shock Bolt aka Shock Dart (as it’s commonly referred to in the community) is Sova’s most under-utilized utility. This 150 Credit Bolt with two uses finds itself front and center of Sova content creation. Arcing one Bolt in the air and banking the other makes for some flashy and entertaining clips, but the reality of it is that most of these Bolts you find online are just not practical. This guide won’t give you lineups that will make your Sova great because lineups mean nothing if you don’t understand timing and positioning.

Your teammates are on the site in a 4v3 on Haven C Site, you progress toward Long in order to be in the position to use your Shock Bolt lineups if it came to it. You realize all opponents are all coming to site from either CT or Garage and you continue to play long holding for your lineups. This puts your team at a major disadvantage because the once 4v3 retake has now become a 3v3 retake. It’s no doubt Shock Bolt can win rounds but playing a round off core mechanics is better than relying on them as a crutch.

Another under-utilized method of manipulating your Shock Bolt is to destroy enemy utility. Shock Bolt does ten damage at the edges, and up to 90 if you hit a target in the center. This means that Shock Bolt can destroy most enemy utility on contact. If Killjoy is constantly putting her Nano Swarm on Speedway then you can bounce a Shock Bolt off B Main (a) and have it land on Speedway.

Shock Dart off of B-Main to Destroy Nano Swarms (a)

If the arrow destroys enemy utility after using double bounce, Sova has a notable voice line “any angle” or “trick shot”. Small details like this can help you in the long run against Sentinels.

Arrow charge & bounce UI

Understanding the trajectory of Sova arrows is something that comes with time and is much more valuable than just knowing lineups. Understanding the trajectory allows for spur of the moment plays like this that can make the difference round to round. The Recon Bolt benefits the most from this since you’ll find yourself using it more creatively than shock Bolts that you’ll usually have a lineup or set target in mind.

Recon Bolt —

The Recon Bolt is a persisting projectile on a 40 second cooldown projectile that scans for hostiles in a given area. Pulsing once every 1.6 seconds for a total of 3 pulses this arrow is the Excalibur of Sova’s utility. Since we’ve already established that information is key, it’s a no-brainer that Recon Bolt is the most valuable piece of utility in the game. The Recon Bolt’s physics all follow the same logic of the Shock Bolts so no need to learn any further muscle memory, however lineups for Recons are much more precise. After Recon Bolt is fired it sticks to a surface after the amount of bounces you choose to use. Once on this surface it can be shot by the enemy, which if you recognize the sounds of weapons can be a useful indicator even if the Bolt didn’t get a clean scan off.

If your Recon is destroyed before getting a scan off it’s useful to warn your teammates in advance (like if an Owl drone is destroyed before clearing an angle) that they should check their corners. If the arrow gets a scan off an enemy will remain tagged for just under a second, at which point you should open up your map and ping where the enemies were scanned to reinforce the information available to your teammates. You should constantly be communicating as Sova where enemies last were since you will be looking at the mini-map more than your teammates.

Another key aspect of using the Recon Bolt that will improve your effectiveness as a Sova player exponentially is timing. A mistimed Shock Bolt is the difference between 90 damage and 30, but a mistimed Recon Bolt is the difference between a clean execute and a round loss. If you’re firing an arrow from a lineup you should take two things into account

1. How long will it take for this arrow to land?

2. Where are my duelists positioned right now?

Knowing these answers is crucial — you don’t want a Recon Bolt landing before your teammates are in position to make contact, but you also don’t want to be so late that your arrow didn’t even make a difference in the first place.

Your average Sova C long lineup will take about two seconds to land which means you should shoot it until you have a teammate at least up to Cubby or in Garage. Lineups are half the battle and timing is king, you want the enemy focusing on either the Bolt or your teammates and when they focus on one they become vulnerable to the other which will make or break rounds.

The Recon Bolt has its fair share of counters that you need to keep yourself aware of. All smokes will block line of sight of the Recon Bolt, meaning if it’s inside of a smoke, all enemies outside will be safe.

Arrow location that can be Cloudbursted by an opposing Jett

This creates a blind spot that Jett players can abuse since your Recon Bolt won’t be destroyed and her Cloudburst won’t be audible from distances like Back-site C to C Long.

The blind spot you have if you rely solely on your arrow.

If a Jett Cloudbursts your arrow the enemy can move up without you knowing, so if you’re aware that you’re up against a Jett you should opt for an angle that can’t be Cloudbursted as easily.

Recon Bolt landing inside of smokes isn’t always a counter since it can reveal players inside the smoke for you, but it’s something that you need to be aware of. Recon Bolt also functions inside of Vipers Pit which makes Sova one of the best counters to the oppressive Ultimate. Paying attention to a Vipers ult and holding onto your Owl Drone will also be very valuable in scanning her and picking her off with your ultimate Hunter’s Fury to make quick work of her.

Hunter’s Fury —

Sova’s Ultimate ‘Hunters Fury’

Hunter’s Fury is a hard hitting ultimate that does 80 points of damage a hit for three hits total. It damages enemies through walls but not before giving them a nice big indicator that a hit is coming. After clicking to fire you can adjust your shot slightly but find that the sensitivity drops drastically after confirming a target. Because of this you will want to attempt to read your opponents movements in order to eliminate your target.

What ‘Hunters Fury’ looks like on the receiving end

Some pros have found that starting the Sova shot from the ground up can better catch their opponents off guard. But it’s important to know what works for pro players won’t always work for you in ranked since the two are very different beasts. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try it and see what works and what doesn’t.

Hunter’s Fury is often used in tandem with Sova’s Owl Drone, players will scout an area and then scan a player and use Hunter’s Fury to eliminate the enemy. This is not how you want to use Hunter’s Fury since it costs 8 ultimate points which allows a Sova who is farming orbs only two ‘good’ uses a half. Hunter’s Fury can destroy Killjoy’s Lockdown in two hits, and postpone a plant. The versatility of the Ultimate is what makes it so valuable and is a reason why it’s one of the most expensive Ultimates in the game.

For this reason Sova’s should often think twice about how they use it. Like we said earlier with Shock Bolt lineups, you don’t want to take yourself out of the fight and leave your teammates in man advantage rounds. In some cases your team will play around your ultimate if you communicate it to them ahead of time and that can easily secure you a round with minimal economic loss.

Finally —

Sova is a must have agent on any given team and if you’re into playing a middle of the pack character that can make the difference in a round in more ways than just eliminations he’s just the agent for you. On the surface he’s very straight forward, but in order to use him to his fullest ability you have to focus on refining your game sense and become a more rounded and aware player. Remember that positioning and timing is everything. Make sure that you’re aware of man advantage before going for lineups, and communicate thoroughly with your team. Communication is key if you want to excel as a Sova player in ranked. Hopefully this guide has given you all you need to know and don’t be afraid to test out what works and what doesn’t based on the information given.