Valorant Fan-Made Agent

If you’ve had two conversations with me ever you know my biggest passions are videogames and diverse storytelling; particularly ones with diverse characters. Which is why I’ve always been drawn to hero shooters due to their inherent synergy with presenting unique characters (my uni dissertation was on this so if you want more details please ask as I never stop talking about it and its super interesting!). Games like Overwatch, Apex Legends, and Valorant continue to be a touchstone to me in regard to storytelling and what I want to do within the industry. I love so many characters in these games (Gekko is my fav) but one that truly opened a world of possibility was Valorant’s Fade. I love being able to learn about or further strengthen my knowledge and appreciation for cultures. When seeing the reaction to Fade I realised this was one of the first times I’ve seen a culture similar to mine be at the forefront of a game. The only characters I could think of off the top of my head as being Balkan in some way are vampires like Dracula/Lady Dimitrescu, games that go into the Greek pantheon and the non-descript ‘Eastern European accent’ used in fantasy games. Although I adore games like Hades (super excited for Hades II), Baldur’s Gate 3 and think that Lady Dimitrescu will always be iconic I don’t really see them as representing my culture. A sentiment shared by most of my Eastern European friends.

When researching Albanian video game characters so I could add easter eggs to my choice-based story game prototype Grisville, a neo-noir story filled with diverse characters (see more in my portfolio) the only people who came up were in a Grand Theft Auto game. The game had you murder a number of Albanian mafia members as a part of a side quest. This prompted a lot of thinking about game characters I love and why, most of which boiled down to relatability. Playing games, seeing their stories unfold and seeing the profound effect this had on people in my life was inspiring. For example, when I saw my friends from sixth form picking up gaming because they saw themselves in Lifeline to all the new words I’ve learned from my Filipino friends when they’re beaming with pride when Conduit is speaking Tagalog. These are only two of thousands of stories I have about what representation in games does. Which is why I’m always making sure authentic POC, LGBTQ+, and disabled people are in my work and that I champion games that do similar. Below, I’ve made a bunch of materials for a new sentinel called Mimic (my idea of an Albanian Valorant Agent) including Valorant styled teasers (with the amazing Fern who made art better than I could have wished for), a character poster (created by the incredible @Diaroza) and ability sheets for my agent (for a game design insight of the abilities read this linked post:  or in my portfolio). I’ve also created a 500+ line script of voice lines which I can’t attach fully but I have a screenshot of for a taste of Mimic’s vibes and his job as a teacher figure for Radiants and Radivores whilst still being fun and welcoming.  This project was a great opportunity to share parts of my culture and maybe do for someone what these games have done for me. As well as having a reason to put my game design skills to use again to make an exciting yet balanced character.  So, I invite you to have a look at the materials and comment if you’ve learned something new, recognised something or just want to scream at me about how wild the ult sounds.

For those of you who don’t know I made a fan-made Valorant Agent (for more read this post:  or in my portfolio). This post looks into my thought process into the game design elements that went into creating Mimic. I primarily wanted to create a sentinel which was great at holding a site whilst also able to go for more aggressive plays like Chamber who is the poster boy for aggressive senti. To do this I wanted to create a character that was great at gathering info and prevented rushes onto site all while ensuring the enemies weren’t completely stifled by Mimic’s presence as out aiming him and breaking his util is fair and rewards good gunplay. I also wanted to make an Agent who interacts with the macro elements of the game, one of the many aspects which I think makes Valorant the best (or at least my favourite) FPS. Below I will go through his abilities and explain how this maintained this vision.

One of my favourite abilities to make as it interacts with the macro elements of the game was Fortify. The ability itself gives a player full armour once which may sound lacklustre compared to some abilities but can be integral and game changing for higher elo or players who are smart with game economy etc. This ability can help sway a pistol round or stop a team forcing an outlaw on the second round. As well as really defying the limits by allowing some teams be able to force a rifle in the second round with full armour if you believe you have a carry player or even be able to buy an OP with full armour in overtime. Using Fortify to alter economy can let intelligent players who understand the macro to empower teammates in essence making a Jett ult something you can give to the team if you don’t think you’re the best shot in the lobby. This ability would be his most expensive so it doesn’t let players be reckless in pistol but allow Mimic to empower himself and allies if the play thinks they can swing the fight in their favour with it.

Interdiction gates are placed like Cypher traps and act like Kayo knives as they supress and call out players who pass through them. Unlike other sentinel traps which usually concuss this ability incentivises gunplay making these traps more of a tool for passive info and an advantage for Mimic’s team whilst still letting the player caught by this trap have the agency to shoot back, break the gates using mollies (a good trade-off for both teams) or have utility used more intelligently to breach the site e.g. a well-placed dizzy as duelists entry (stuff of dreams, I know).

Mimic’s signature ability, Sun’s Up, is a piece of utility that you can stick to walls and surfaces which are triggered by spotting a target once spotted it explodes revealing and near sighting targets in a 360° cone but is blocked by terrain essentially a placeable Sova dart. Which like the latter can be shot during its wind-up phase. This ability inhabits an interesting place in sentinel signature abilities as although it isn’t as versatile as a Cypher cam or instantly reactive like KJ’s turret, Sun’s Up encourages players to get creative with line ups and moving util to create favourable gun fights and passive info throughout a game.

Mimic’s ult, Facsimile, just like most sentinel ults is super interesting and game changing letting mimic to copy a dead agent’s abilities and be three points from their ult. While this can be used to do huge plays like res your sage for her to res, get two Thrashes on the field etc. It’s mostly a good tool to course correct your team’s mistakes: like ensuring you have smokes if they were eliminated early or need to copy a Skye to keep your team healed. Being 3 points away from ult means you are less likely to stack two allied Viper’s Pits as you already have one less opportunity to get an ult point because you copied an enemy already. However, you could still potentially get an ally’s ult if they died early as you can pick up orbs and/or eliminate their killer. This ult does power down Mimic’s normal abilities and keeps him at his same health from when he used Facsimile so can’t be used to essentially have 6 players worth of util on the field or a self-heal (unless you copy Sage that is). This makes the ult hugely impactful whilst still requiring good game sense so you can straddle the line between great ult and overkill or even a waste.

I’d love to hear your opinion on the design of these abilities so feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for reading!