Valorant Economy: terms, buying guide in rounds 1 and 2, tips and examples
Economy refers to the amount of money you earn each round, and how you manage that money throughout the match. Economy is one of the most important aspects of Valorant, and if improperly managed, it can legitimately cause you to lose games.
All members of both teams start off Round 1 with Classic, Knife, one ability, and 800 credits to spend.
You earn money through killing, planting, defusing, winning, and losing.
What you choose to purchase or not to purchase is up to you.
There is a lot of debate as to what is the most valuable loadout. We will talk about 1st and 2nd round purchases for each half of the match.
Economy terms
Save Round: No one on your team spends any money. They strictly perform the round with whatever equipment they have on hand or pick up off of enemies.
Light Buy: Each individual on your team spends a small amount of their money in order to be fully prepared for the next round, and possibly some rounds afterwards.
Light buying is often used when you are ahead on economy, and your team is performing really well, or when you are behind on economy, and you need a boost to better prepare yourself for the future of the match.
Full Buy: You spend as much as you can to fully load your abilities, side arm, main arm, and armor.
You can also buy weapons for other players: this can be done if some of your players have a lot more money than others. Usually, you purchase the best weapons possible in order to have the best chance at winning the round.
Economy in round 1
Round 1 is one of the most important rounds in the game. If you win round 1, you have a high probability to win also round 2 because it is common for a team to save after losing a pistol round, in order to set up a strong economy for rounds 3 and 4.
There are a few common purchases for players to make, and they have both pros and cons.
Light Armor + Classic + Abilities (A.C.A.)
As we all know, proper ability play can make or break a round. The more abilities you have, the higher your chance of success if your enemies have the same weapon type as you.
The argument is that Classic has a high rate of fire, it is an accurate sidearm, and using Light Armor provides you with protection against almost every sidearm available. Players who use this loadout, and players who spend their money on Ghost or Frenzy, are on an even playing field.
Essentially, you gain the upper hand hand by having more abilities than the opponent.
Ghost + Abilities or Ghost + Save
Against A.C.A., this build is safe to purchase due to the poor damage output of the Classic.
However, Ghost versus Ghost users often find themselves killing and dying to each other quickly, leaving the living Ghost users damaged enough to get one-tapped by A.C.A.
I recommend using this build only if you are confident in your aim and you have self healing capabilities. It is preferable if only a few members of your team buy this loadout, as you need also the balance brought by A.C.A. users and their abilities.
Brimstone with A.C.A. round 1 loadout. On attack, the smokes make a massive difference when assaulting a site to plant the Spike.
Economy in round 2
Round 2 almost always depends on what unfolds from round 1.
If you are attacking, and you lose round 1, but you did plant the Spike, your team can potentially light buy, and through careful team play and good communication skills, you will have a chance of winning round 2.
If you are attacking, and you lost and did not plant the Spike, I would highly recommend saving in most situations, or just buying a cheap sidearm and baiting out kills, as you will be severely out gunned most of the time.
If you are attacking, and your team won, you will have enough money to perform a light buy, and if you got 3 or 4 kills, you have the ability to buy Phantom or Vandal, which can put you at a large advantage over a full team at a distance.
Defending works the same way aside from there is no Spike to plant, so you only have a win or lose outcome.
Team composition is also something to keep in mind because teams with high aggression characters will be able to take more chances when attacking.
The key word when looking at the economy is always Value. For example, there is no value in buying Sheriff during round 1 compared to playing A.C.A., as you are not comfortable making those tough shots yet.
Practical examples
Attack - Pistol round
Let’s pretend you are on attack, and you just won the pistol round.
Your team will have a large advantage over the opponents because your economy is not only guaranteed to be strong enough to light buy, but the enemy’s one will also be in poor shape.
It is necessary to look at the economy from this perspective: you must not only manage your economy, but you also want to compare it to your enemy’s one.
Operator user
If the enemy agent that has been defending C Long on Haven for 3 rounds in a row with an Operator has been killed, and each round they purchased an Operator, then by the 4th round they will have absolutely no credits to spend.
If the rest of the opponent team is also low on funding, it means that they will not have an Operator this round, and it will be much safer to peek Long Hallway with a long-ranged weapon yourself. This puts you and your team in an advantageous position if you enter the site through C Long, as the defenses are weak.
Sage protecting C Long with an Operator. She exploits her wall for an unconventional sniping spot.
When to Save or Light Buy
Here is a perfect example of when it is preferable to save or light buy.
The game is close, your economy is weak, you have 12 wins while the enemy team has 10, however, their economy is stronger than yours.
In this case, it is preferable to save or light buy one round in order to prepare yourself to take on the final rounds with a stronger economy. If your team gets obliterated, and the enemy wins the round, your team will reach a 12-11 score with a strong economy.
Never be afraid to give up a round or two in order to reset your economic strength. You should force only in desperate situations, or if you have the upper hand because of abilities and ultimates.
Manage the economy with your team
Managing economy will always be a balancing act between risk and reward. What can you afford, and what can you afford to lose?
When you need to build economy, you must communicate with your team your purchase plan, and work together to figure out the bare minimum purchase required as a team to have the highest chance at winning the round. In this way, even if you fail, you can have a stronger opportunity to succeed in the next round.
If your economy is in a comfortable place, and you notice the enemy has an economy that won’t allow them to buy full armor and a solid weapon, you can purchase a Rifle and Heavy Armor. This will give you the upper-hand, and force the enemy to lose any economy they were attempting to build, which keeps your team in an advantageous state.
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Credit to Drowsy Boar who provided the information for this article. Header image: Riot
