VALORANT Harbor Smokes on Icebox - Best Smokes and Strategies
This will be the only guide you need on the best smokes for Harbor on the map Icebox.
Harbor is a versatile agent with a unique set of abilities that make him a valuable addition to any team.
Icebox is known for the multitude of angles and strategies that can overwhelm and redirect the outcome of the map. With viper being a dominant agent and Harbor being a fairly similar agent, utilizing Harbor will not be too difficult and can result in with rewarding performance.
In this article, we will explore his abilities and highlight the best smokes for each key location on Icebox. Whether you're a veteran player or just starting out, this guide will provide you with the knowledge to control and dominate your opponents with Harbor effectively. Get ready to take your gameplay to the next level!
Setups - Attack
The attacking side on Icebox is quite rewarding as you have many ways and approaches to each site, you just need to figure out a good approach to the defenders. You might often find yourself overwhelmed with the tight spaces and many hiding corners for defenders which can get to be a nightmare if you are failing to open up sites. Here’s how with Harbor you can make Icebox attacking side seem so easy:
Default A
You have to understand the utility Harbor has before you get a good understanding of how you can approach any site on any map of the attacking side.
Your High Tide ability is essentially a very versatile wall that can be adjusted to a decent level to match any area you’re trying to cover. It is also, very long which will do good cover on almost any map.
Your Cove (Shield Orb) ability is one of a kind, once placed you will be able to have a shielded smoke on that area that blocks bullets until it’s broken.
Cascade Wall also acts as a temporary smoke once it is stopped and as a good mechanic to push as you launch it and it goes forward until it stops but it doesn’t drop down immediately giving you a temporary smoke.
Coming Into an example of pushing A site, use your Cascade on the left side and use your high tide to cover site and Rafters as shown. Notice how you’re giving defenders more space on the left side while taking more on the right, because that is your planting spot and that control is required.
For planting, use your Cove to gain extra cover and plant safely.
B Post Plant
For pushing B site this is the typical execute in which you go for post plant positions. Use your high tide to cover site and CT as shown, right after throw your cascade into Site to even throw off anyhow on top site.
As usual, use your cove to secure the planting spot as it’s especially essential on B site.
B Control
In this set up you're allowed to explore the option to obtain full control of B site. Use your high tide wall to cover site as shown and your Cove to cover anyone who's planting, leaving CT open to cascade it and push along. This will place huge pressure on the enemy
Mid To A
To execute Mid all you need to do is use your Cascade to cover up boiler and hit anyone who’s playing from under, then use your high tide to cover your pathway into site and make sure you cover Rafters too.
If you find it suitable, make sure you use your Cove to cross but then you will need to manually cover for your teammate to plant.
Mid To B
If you’re planning to execute Mid To B here’s a perfect set up for you. All you need to do is use your Cascade at the start of the round to cover Boiler and whoever is under, by that you can fast push and place your Cove to cross safely. Make sure you have used your high tide before to match the picture shown.
Don’t forget to account for the possibility of somebody being in tube and pushing down on you.
Setups - Defense
Icebox is harder played on defense but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will always be against your odds. If you don’t learn the best set ups to hold sites down you might find yourself in a situation where it’s impossible to deny enemies from taking space on you. And that’s why we will now show you the best set ups to force your enemies into backing off your site:
A Default
This is the default set up for holding A site. The trick on A site is to avoid getting peeked by attackers as they have multiple angles that they can use to their advantage for entry frags.
Knowing that, you should use your high tide from gen and curve it around to cover all sort of peeks like in the picture above. You can also use your Cove on the other side on Maze, but that is not optimal.
Pro Tip: On defense, you tend to use your Cove a lot less because of its retake potential. When you are retaking a site, you need to defuse the spike which the Cove ability can provide great cover for.
After that just wait and hold for enemies to step through your smoke and immediately throw your cascade wall and peek off it.
B Default
This could be the best way to hold down B site on your own. All you need to do is use your high tide to cover all openings from B long. Best part is, with Harbor’s smoke that will cover top main too which allows for a great opportunity for a teammate playing crossfire on Yellow.
From there just wait on the attackers to push through so you can use your cascade wall and peek of it, possibly isolate the planter and catch them off guard.
Mid Passive
The best way to hold Mid on icebox. Just use your high tide wall to cover it like so, this will block attackers from progressing unless they use utility and walk up on you.
In which case, it’s a win win for you.
Mid Aggressive
If you’re looking for a more aggressive way to hold Mid, use your high tide wall to cover this area deeply into their CT, essentially stealing a lot of space and control.
Then wait to see if attackers fight that back, if they do throw your Cascade and make sure you have a teammate ready to peek of it. With that coordinated set up, there should be no one allowed to take Mid from you again.
