Astra Valorant Guide

Image Credit: Riot Games Valorant

Written by: carrico14

06/01/2022

An in-depth Astra Valorant guide that will explain everything you need to know about the Agent and the best way to play with it. From her strengths to weaknesses you will find everything you need to know about Astra.

Astra Role

Astra is one of four controllers in the game. She was released on the second of March 2021 and since then has been the best controller in Valorant. The role of the controller is to help their team to gain control of the map. They do that by blocking enemy vision, slowing them, and more.

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The abilities Astra posses are what make her so good as a controller. It's one of the main reasons Astra is one of the most played Agents, especially in the competitive scene.

So let's take a deep dive into Astra's abilities, and what is it that makes Astra so much better than other controllers.

An in-depth look at Astra abilities

The smokes Astra is able to place on the map, and the ability to take them back and place them somewhere else is one of the things that make Astra so strong. Join that to the fact she has abilities capable of pulling you or lowering your shield, making her seem like the undisputed controller Agent.

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However, you have to notice that it is difficult to play with Astra. She is an Agent that works in favor of the team. So in a ranked scenario sometimes it's going to be difficult to get the most value out of her.

ASTRAL FORM

Cost: 150 credits for each charge
Charges: 4
Cooldown: 25 seconds
Function: Allows you to place stars anywhere on the map
Default Command Key: X

When activated Astra enters the Astral Form. This allows her to place stars anywhere on the map. The star placed by Astra can later be activated or recovered.

You can activate the stars transforming them into Nova Pulse, Nebula, or Gravity Well. Which are the names of the other three common abilities Astra possesses.

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Astra is the only controller in the game that can place her smokes or other abilities anywhere on the map. By entering Astral Form she can be in her base and place stars in the enemy base and both bombsites.

GRAVITY WELL

Cost: 150 Credits
Charges: 1
Duration: 2.5 seconds
Cooldown: 45 seconds
Function: Players that are in that area are pulled to the center of the Gravity Well, then it explodes making all players inside it vulnerable for five seconds.
Default Command Key: C

With Gravity Well Astra can set up her teammates to take control of an area of the map. If she activates Gravity Well while the enemy is inside it they will be pushed losing all accuracy. This makes it easier for her allies to capitalize on it and kill the enemy. It can also be used to slow down enemy executions.

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You can also use this ability to comb with other Agents' abilities. For example with the Sova shock bolt or Raze grenade. Astra can pull the enemies, and then Raze, Sova can use their abilities, dealing a lot of damage to the enemies and sometimes even killing them just with utility. However, this is something that requires a lot of coordination and synergy.

NOVA PULSE

Cost: 150 Credits
Charges: 1
Cooldown: 45 Seconds
Function: Detonates a star that dazes/concusses all players in the area.
Default Command Key: Q

When activated Nova Pulse will charge briefly, then it will strike concussing all the players in the area. This is a perfect ability to force players out of choke points or dazzle them making it harder for them to hit you.

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Once again you have to set up this ability in a way your team can benefit from it, and take control of the map because of its use. You need to communicate with your team once you activated it and if any player was affected. That way they can act and take advantage of it.

It's great to play post-plants, and it can also help you slow the executes of the enemy team.

NEBULA

Cost: 150 Credits
Charges: 2
Duration: 14 seconds
Cooldown: 25 seconds
Function: Blocks the vision in that area
Default Command Key: E

Nebula is probably the best smoke in the game. Like all the smokes it is used to block the enemy vision in specific places on the map.

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You can use it to block the vision when executing into a bombsite. This makes it easier for your team to gain control o that part of the map. On the other hand enemies can either play in front of the smoke which is a huge risk, or relinquishes control of that part of the map.

However, be careful with enemies spamming through smokes. Sometimes they are able to get a random kill like that when your team is entering the site.

COSMIC DIVIDE

Costs: 7 ultimate points
Duration: 21 Seconds
Function: Blocks the vision, bullets and dampens the audio
Default Command Key: X

Cosmic Divide is great to get you a "free entry" into a bombsite. It's a huge wall you can place to cut the enemies of vision to the bombsite or that specific part of the map. It takes 2.67 for the wall to completely form.

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When completely form the wall not only blocks the enemy's vision but also completely cuts the sound cues of the other side of the wall. This also applies to you and your team since you won't be able to hear anything from the other side.

It also blocks bullets. However, it doesn't blocks abilities so be aware of that. The wall has a duration of 21 seconds and it will still be up even if Astra dies after having just cast it.

How you should Play with Astra

As mentioned previously Astra is the ultimate team player Agent. Everything you do is to set up your teammates to take controller of an area of the map. Basically, you want to set them up for success.

This makes it so you and your teammates have to constantly be communicating. It's the only way for you to know when to use Gravity Well or Nebula. Having synergy with your team is also important. A combo like Gravity Well into a Raze grenade can be devastating when well executed.

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Astra is hands down the best controller in the game at the moment. She can provide every piece of utility your team needs. The ways in which you can use her utility and combo it with other Agents are endless. When played at the high level she is one of the stronger Agents overall.

The fact she is viable in most of the maps also plays in her favor. The other controllers apart from Viper are very situational, and only really work in a few maps and team comps.

Astra Weaknesses

Astra doesn't have many weaknesses. The main one is the fact you have to play really well with your team. This is something we all know doesn't exactly happen in ranked. Meaning you really have to play with some teammates that know what they are doing and can use your utility in the correct way.

In maps like Breeze, Icebox, and Fracture, it's normally more difficult to have as much impact as Astra. Normally there Viper is the best pick and is used by most players as the main controller choice

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Overall Astra is still the best controller Agent. She is a difficult Agent to master, but one that is definitely worth the work.

I hope this guide helped you understand how you should utilize Astra to the best of your abilities. Her strengths, weaknesses, what makes her the best controller in the whole game, and how to find success with her.

You can also check our guide How the Pros play Astra to get a detailed explanation of how the best players in the world use her.

If you want to learnabout more agents check our Beginners Guides Section.

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