The Complete Guide On Harbor

After well over a year, Riot Games finally released a new Agent in Valorant in Episode 5 Act 3. He is the 21st to be introduced in the game and is slightly unique from the rest. Harbor is a water-bending controller hailing from India who is capable of taking control of the entire map.

His sovereignty with ancient technology dealing with water helps him create space for his team to take control, defend, or retake sites. Like all the other Agents in the game, Harbor also has his own unique set of skills that players need to learn to be able to utilize him fully.

Harbor can also slow down enemy attacks and has the ability to fire an ultimate that can clear out corners and force the enemies that are caught inside it to reposition. Unlike most controllers in the game, he requires a specific understanding and playstyle so you can extract max value.

If you want to get to know him a little better, our detailed guide covers everything to make the most of him in Valorant.

Harbor’s Abilities And Ultimate

Like the other controllers of Valorant, Harbor’s kit is geared toward covering angles for your team. Let’s dive into his abilities and Ultimate and learn more about it!

High Tide (E)

High Tide, also known as his E ability, is a far-reaching wall of water that is somewhat similar to Viper’s wall in height and length. However, like Phoenix’s wall, you can also bend and curve Harbor’s wall.

This ability of his can be sent through walls as well as objects and is perfect for covering large amounts of space for your team. Moreover, Alt Firing will cut the walls short, and the enemies who try to pass through the wall are hit with a short-lasting slow.

This will grant your teammates some more time to punish overheating duelists trying to make a play. At first glance, it may seem to you like this ability is pretty straightforward, but the skill required to attempt it is pretty high.

Firstly, this ability is on a 40-second cooldown which means that you will be able to cast this about two or even three more times per round. Once the wall is placed, it stays up for around 15 seconds and initiates the cooldown.

This means that it is only 25 seconds until you can use the wall again once it has gone down. This is actually pretty decent for setting up defaults on bigger maps or creating timings the enemy team needs to pay attention to. The maps Breeze, and Icebox, are great examples of where this is difficult since most team comps only run Viper as their only controller.

Viper’s wall is terrific for taking this space, but it is extremely choreographed and cannot be picked once it is placed. On the other hand, Harbor’s wall allows teams to set up elaborate fakes and take important space without committing their only long-range smoke.

Adding him to the game is going to change map metas and reveal plays that were previously unimaginable. Not to mention the lurking power that can give your teammates if you curve it through specific areas of the map.

Harbor is most likely to be played in the secondary controller role since he doesn’t have the Precision Smokes like Brim, Astra, or Omen. Instead, he falls into a more controller initiator hybrid role as he can be easily played in a more fast-paced tempo comp.

Cove (Q)

Harbor’s Cove, or Q ability, is a smoke that must be thrown on the ground and is almost like Viper’s ore. Once the orb hits the ground, it expands into a Brimstone-size orb smoke which alone is great for covering angles for your team and holding choke positions.

The unique aspect of this smoke is that the enemies cannot shoot through the sphere since it has some armor around it. This ability is especially to help your teammates complete tasks like planting or diffusing the Spike.

You can even combine this ability with Sage's Wall to make spamming the bomb planter impossible with a single mag. You have to be careful, though, because KJ, Viper, and Brim mollies will all go through this armor.

Once the armor on the smoke empties, the smoke will disappear soon after. Now, using this ability to defend Spike Planters and Diffusers is a given for sure. Another aspect that people might overlook is using this ability to take or retake bomb sites.

It is very powerful to have a utility that is capable of blocking bullets like a Sage Wall but is fast acting, can be thrown instead of placed, and can be walked through. Some notable use cases of this can be seen on a bomb site like A Site Ascent.

However, walking out of Haven can feel like you are gambling your life away! You are spammed out of the smoke too often or end up walking into too many angles to peek at once. With Harbor’s orb, you can throw it down on Haven and safely drop it onto a site without the risk of being spammed.

On the other side of the coin, if your team is trying to run a B Site, you can execute his orb to safely get your team onto Lane without getting spammed from CT or Market.

Most players hate losing a team member to some unlucky spam from the enemies while walking onto Site. This is where Harbor’s cove comes in, which is the fastest-acting, bullet-absorbing utility that will be highly valuable in Limitless situations.

He doesn’t always have to use his ability to help his team on retakes or side takes. This ability allows Harbor to play in locations other controllers consider dangerous!

At the click of a button, he has an impenetrable fortress that can be used to stall or maneuver the enemy, stall/bait for his team, or buy himself time to use his other utility to block dangerous angles. It almost functions as a get-out-of-jail-free card as it takes longer to break.

Once this smoke is thrown, it needs to be broken by the enemy team to make sure you are not getting any lurk off through the smoke. This information can be used to make calls on where to rotate or use it as a cue to flash your team out of the smoke.

This ability is incredibly interesting, so go ahead and think outside the box to make those Harbor-exclusive plays!

Cascade (C)

Moving on to the Waterbender’s C ability or Cascade, it is truly unique and unlike any other smoke that has been seen on Valorant. Compared to all the other utilities like it, this smoke is taller than all of them.

This attribute makes it perfect for blocking off elevated angles like Rafters on Icebox or stairs on Breeze. However, the most crucial detail of this Tsunami Smoke is how it moves towards a targeted area.

Valorant has yet to have a type of moving smoke, but this one allows Harbor to make more initiator-like plays with his team. Other smoke Agents trying to place their util are effectively out of the fight for a short time while they do this.

Harbor could be the first Agent into Site following his fast-moving wall of water! The enemies who attempt to walk through this wall will be slowed down, which means that most enemies will try their best to avoid the wall flowing over them because on the other side lies Harbor and his team following the wall.

You can use this wall to systematically clear angles with your team and make it a decent space creator. Enemies are backed into a corner and forced to decide when they see the wall of water approaching them.

They can either walk past the wall and fight the unknown on the other side or back up and wait for the team so they can effectively trade. This creates much room for the team to take advantage of.

For example, if the Defenders wanted to make an aggressive play Mid on Ascent with Harbor, he could send the wall from the bench to block off the top of mid while his team fights tiles like Arch and Cat.

The speed Harbor can bring to a team comp is terrifying and something the enemies need to respect.

Reckoning (X/Ultimate)

Rounding out Harbor’s amazing unique kit is his equally amazing ultimate ability, Reckoning! Reckoning turns whatever bomb site you want into an active danger zone. Enemies in this area have to face the guys respawning under their feet, similar to an Astra Stock.

This stun can be avoided but depending on how many enemies are in one location; it can get difficult. Enemies who get caught up in the tide are stunned with a gold and purple plume of smoke, which are shown above their head, thus revealing their location.

This very much works like Breach and Fade’s ults for clearing a bomb site, except it is on a controller. The information Harbor’s ultimate provides on the enemies is more valuable than the stun itself.

The best times for using this ultimate would be when you and your teammate are looking to take or retake a bomb site. Moreover, the size of the ability is enormous and can be a little misleading as to how it is useful.

It is perfect for clearing out large vast spaces, but if you use the ult on smaller bomb sites where multiple enemies are close together, moving will become impossible since the stones will overlap each other.

Ascent B Site is a great example of where this ultimate can completely turn around for your team. The opposing team is playing multiple people on the bomb site or backside; the stuns are going to Compound on top of each other.

Regarding the compounding stuns, your team members are not immune to these geysers. The situation is rare for your teammates to be on top of an enemy, but it can happen in Ascent.

In case enemies are standing in Hell when you ult for retake, the stun will hit your teammates up top. You must be aware of this fact so you can avoid stunning your team members mid-retake.

Harbor’s abilities got the players super hyped to play comp and watch Pro matches to see what strategies are developed. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him chosen on maps with wide areas that need to be smoked off, like Breeze, Pearl, and Icebox.

While his value on smaller maps could be surprising, especially to avoid highly spammed angles and clear bomb sites with his ultimate.

Harbor’s Playstyle

There are several Agents in Valorant that fit into what is called thy Hybrid Aging Category. For example, Viper being a controller Sentinel hybrid since she blocks angles like a controller while she can defend bomb sites like a professional Sentinel.

Another example is Chamber, who can be considered a Sentinel Duelist Hybrid because of his ability to hold down areas of the map like Ascent with his trip in TPS all while contesting neutral areas of the map with the aggression and safety of top-notch duelists.

Harbor is the first Controller/Initiator type of character we have been introduced to, so his General Playstyle is a gray area. Your first and foremost job as Harbor is to make sure that your team always has the most dangerous or hard-to-hold angles covered by your utility.

If you do not incorporate aspects of a passive playstyle into your Harbor games, you are going to end up dead before your utility does all it needs to do for your squad. Also, remember that your main controller ability, i.e., your wall, recharges, so the more cast of disability you can use, the more value you will get out of it round around.

The initiator aspect of Harbor is where you can really make the character shine and create and execute strategies that other teams simply cannot do. After establishing a plan of attack around your High Tide, you want to team up with your initiator player to get this fast-paced gameplay underway.

Start with your signature ability to form the boundary of your attack. Use this to block the angles where enemies are most likely to Peek to catch your team off guard. Secondly, think of a route for your Cascade ability.

This is fast-moving and forces the enemy to either be passive or aggressive. Ensure you prepare for both! Pre-aim angles the wall is going to wash over where enemies might be searching to strike once the wall passes over them.

If you notice the enemy team being more passive, you can organize your team to flash through water walls to make a play.

Lastly, ensure you use your Cove ability to secure a safe plant for your team. If you feel there is no chance of them getting killed via bullet spam, save this utility at all costs. You can use it later to delay the enemies’ retake, help save yourself or a teammate from being cornered, or maneuver safely.

The sky is the limit when it comes to how Harbor can work with his team just keep in mind that your abilities are key, and if you are finishing multiple rounds with your utility, you probably need to reevaluate your team plan or maybe look to change the tempo or speed of the rounds to help match your playstyle.

If the rounds are ending too quickly, try using the fast cast of your wall to take control of a neutral area like Mid, then using the space you created, look to envelope a bomb site and send your enemies into a watery grave.

Moreover, if you find yourself running low on time or late into rounds, then look to make fast-moving lightning rounds where you can use your Cascade and Cove combo to take space and secure a safe plan!