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Valorant new agent KAY/O release date, abilities and more

Everything we know about Valorant's new agent, KAY/O

Valorant Episode 2, Act 3 marked the first time since the tactical FPS game’s release that Riot had opted not to release a new agent. As such, players were especially eager to know more about what Episode 3, Act 1 would have in store. Riot has now confirmed that KAY/O will be Valorant’s sixteenth agent.

Prior to the announcement, dataminers had been hard at work analysing strings of code in each and every new patch. Shortly after patch 2.09 dropped, they believe they found the code name of the new Valorant agent – ‘Grenadier’.

With flash grenades forming part of KAY/O’s kit, it seems that ‘Grenadier’ is a bit more on the nose than some first thought it would be. After all, Riot has led us astray with its codenaming conventions before.

Here’s everything else we know about KAY/O, including his release date, role, and abilities.

Valorant KAY/O release date

KAY/O will release with Valorant Episode 3, Act 1 on June 22.

Valorant KAY/O Trailer

You can check out the full KAY/O reveal trailer here.

YouTube Thumbnail

Prior to KAY/O’s release, at Summer Games Fest 2021, Riot showcased a brief teaser for the agent.

Additionally, after the teaser aired, the official Valorant Twitter accounts were ‘hacked’ by Killjoy, heavily indicating the new agent could very well be one of her creations.

Related: Here’s what the current Valorant tier list looks like

Valorant KAY/O role

KAY/O is an Initiator. He is the newest Initiator to enter the game since Skye’s release all the way back on patch 1.11.

Valorant map Breeze

Valorant KAY/O Abilities

As an Initiator, KAY/O’s kit is chock-full of nasty surprises for enemy agents. From exploding blades that can suppress multiple players, to flash grenades that can be pre-cooked with a right click, players will need to tread carefully with this war machine around.

  • (Q) FLASH/drive – EQUIP a flash grenade. FIRE to throw. The flash grenade explodes after a 1.6 second fuse, blinding anyone in line of sight. Right Clicking the flashbang throws a charged flash which only has to cook for 1 second.
  • (E) ZERO/point – EQUIP a suppression blade. FIRE to throw. The blade sticks to the first surface it hits, winds up, and suppresses anyone in the radius of the explosion.
  • (C) FRAG/ment – EQUIP an explosive fragment. FIRE to throw. The fragment sticks to the floor and explodes multiple times, dealing near lethal damage at the centre with each explosion.
  • (X) NULL/cmd – Instantly overload with polarised radianite energy that empowers KAY/O and causes large energy pulses to emit from his location. Enemies hit with these pulses are suppressed for a short duration.

On top of NULL/cmd’s main mechanic, KAY/O also gains Combat Stim while overloaded. Additionally, if KAY/O is killed while overloaded, he is instead downed, entering a destabilised state until his allies can stabilise his core and revive him.