While Agent abilities and movement is important in Valorant, aiming is king. Here are the key points you need to consider when finding your mouse’s sweet spot in Future Earth.
There are a ton of variables to account for when perfecting your aim in a first-person shooter. While perfecting your crosshair and learning when to scope is great, these don’t count for much if you don’t have the fundamentals locked down.
At the core of improving your aim, is finding the sweet spot on your mouse sensitivity. And while it’s all well and good checking what a high-profile pro uses and plugging in those numbers, you’ll never truly feel comfortable until you tailor yours to suit.
Luckily, there are some tried and tested methods that will help with that — and popular Valorant YouTube channel, ‘SkillCapped,’ has broken this down into the most key points.
Best mouse sensitivity for Valorant
First of all, you’ll want to understand that your sensitivity in Valorant is determined by two things: your mouse’s ‘dots per inch’ (DPI) setting and your in-game sensitivity setting. It’s the combination of these which will affect your crosshair movement speed… and ultimately your aim!
There are a plethora of conversion equations available from a variety of popular FPS titles, but each of these negates the movement mechanics of Valorant in the sense that you will almost always be rewarded for good positioning over superior movement.
Since movement takes a back seat, higher mouse sensitivity isn’t necessary for a game like Valorant. Smoother, more reliable crosshair movement should be prioritized. So with that in mind, you’ll want to select a DPI in the region of 400-800.
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After you’ve selected your DPI, you can now begin to experiment with your effective DPI (eDPI). To calculate that, you’ll simply want to take your chosen DPI (lower the better) and multiply that by your in-game sense. As a basic example, 400 DPI x 0.50 Valorant sensitivity = 200 eDPI.
While there is no magic number here, it is recommended that players fall somewhere between 200 – 400 eDPI when starting out. A tried and tested method to figure this out is the simple 180° test.
To do this, take your mouse to the left-most side of your mousepad and drag it horizontally across to the right-most side. Your character will want to complete a 180° turn from one side to the other.
If you’re experimenting with either DPI or your in-game sensitivity, make sure that you either gradually increase/decrease the variables mentioned above, to ensure you don’t find yourself in ‘no man’s land’ and struggle to find your feet.
While the eDPI range is recommended (and most professional players fall somewhere within that), just know that this all comes down to preference. For example, T1’s Braxton ‘Brax’ Pierce has an eDPI of 141.6, whereas 100 Thieves’ Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin runs a staggering eDPI of 576.