How To Retake in Valorant – Guide + Tips

Learning how to retake in Valorant is a crucial skill to have, so let’s go through some of the many options you need to be aware of.

As mentioned in our Valorant Defense guide, learning how to defend a given point is really important, and it will increase your win rate by a lot. Unfortunately, there will be many cases where you or someone from your team will fail, which will give your opponents an advantage. This is where you need to know how to retake in Valorant, which is not an easy thing to do. Fortunately, we have plenty of experience playing from such positions, so here’s what you need to know.

How to Retake in Valorant – Basics

There are more than 11M active plates as of December 2023 in Valorant, but it’s safe to say that most of them do not have a clue about how to retake Valorant. Learning this skill is incredibly important, and it will allow you to climb ranks much faster. Sadly, it is easier said than done, especially if your team knows how to defend.

But what is retaking? Retaking in Valorant is when you have lost a given point to your opponents, and you have to get it back. Usually, this is done when your enemies plant the Spike, but it could be when you need a given part of the map. Professional players do this all the time.

If you think about it, once the Spike is on the ground, the attacking them that placed it actually becomes the defending team. This means that the defending squad is now in an attacking mode, which means that a lot of things people need to know when attacking in Valorant also apply to this situation.

When you should Retake?

Aside from the general information mentioned earlier, retake in Valorant should be used when you are holding a given site and lose it. Once that happens, you and your team have to decide whether the situation is in your favor to go for a retake. Every case is specific, so there is no right or wrong, and it depends a lot on your role.

You need to retake the site together

When it comes down to how to retake in Valorant, the first important thing to remember is that this is a team effort. Sure, we’ve all seen clips where people do a 1v5 and kill everyone, but let’s be honest, it is very unlikely to happen. That’s why the first thing you need to remember is that this needs to be a team effort.

We know that retaking a given site in Valorant is no easy task when you are playing with random people, but you need to try to coordinate your actions. Take a good look at your roles and agents and decide what will work best. Do you have someone who can flash? What about someone who can smoke and use it to engage? It all depends on the given situation.

Besides using utilities and abilities, you also need to peek together. This can be very problematic, but going one after another is never a good idea, especially against good Valorant players. The latter will kill you 1 by 1, but if you peek together and cover all possible angles, you will be much harder to bring down. Once again, it all depends on your Agent Comp for the given map.

Speaking of maps, each one is different, so you have to adapt to the situation. We can’t go over every single map, so we suggest watching videos to learn more.

Remember that you have 45 seconds after the spike is on the ground

Another factor that people need to remember when it comes down to how to retake in Valorant is time. Even though it is not advisable to rush all the time because you can make a mistake, you also don’t have to be slow either. If you think about it, you have 45 seconds after the Spike is planted. This gives you enough time to gather and try to retake, but you definitely have to be quick if you want to win.

When talking about time in Valorant, there are a few essentials you must remember. For example, you have to consider mollies, ults, kills, and so on, so the reality is that you have to act as quickly as possible. 

To defuse the spike and win the round, you need to know things like your enemy’s position, your utilities, what kind of utility they have, and more. Every situation has its specifics, so you need to be able to evaluate it and decide what to do.

Risk Calculation is key

The last thing we want to mention in this how to retake in Valorant guide is risk calculation. Regardless of your role, the map, and your gun, you need to be able to evaluate the risk and decide what to do. For example, there are many cases where it is better to let the enemy push rather than die for no reason. It may also be better to go for a risky play and try to retake alone rather than wait for your teammates to arrive.

Speaking of risk calculation, you also need to consider the resources that you and the enemy team have. For example, if you have the manpower advantage, use this and try to push a given angle together so you can increase your chances of killing. Trading kills in these situations is an advantage.