An Ancient Ruin of the Past, Lotus is located in the forests of India with the iconic Lotus flowers strewn across the map. Unlike the open site lines and simple entryways of other Valorant maps such as Breeze, Lotus requires a lot of clearing and control of space to play effectively on both sides of the map. The ruins house three bomb sites to plant on with unique revolving doors that grant access to key POIs around the sites. This guide will explain how to best approach the Lost City to set yourself and your teammates up for maximum success. It will help players understand how to approach the attack and defence, and the best agents to play on the map.
Lotus is different to other maps due to its structure and how accessible it is between each site. While controlling the Main area is important and therefore feels similar in some ways to Fracture, it also has 3 sites much like Haven. The map was built like the antithesis of Breeze with tighter corners, especially around the sites. The key difference between Haven and Lotus is that you can rotate between sites as an attacker more easily which allows teams to pivot if they are met with too much resistance or need to get out. There isn’t much elevation change so it’s different from Icebox and feels less execute-heavy, and requires more flexibility and adaptability as attackers and defenders can play both aggressively and passively and still find success. Valorant has introduced a map that tests the fundamentals of a lot of players while also adding its own little twist with the revolving doors and breakable doors.
The doors are one of the unique features of Lotus.
Attack
Comparing Lotus to the other Valorant maps in the map pool, it plays similarly to Fracture in that the area before the site needs to be controlled in order to push onto the site and execute effectively. Another similarity is that defenders often flank from behind and it is therefore difficult to gauge exactly where the retake is coming from. Understanding this is fundamental to attacking effectively on this map or your team will burn a lot of the clock and get ability spammed without breaking through effectively. A lot of pro teams will fight for control of A Rubble and A Main and this is due to the strategic importance this area of the map has in terms of attacking effectively on this map.
A Link and C Doors allow attackers to rotate between sites quickly and effectively in comparison to a similar three-site map like Haven. This is why these linking corridors are important for both sides as they provide flank opportunities and the ability to rush onto other parts of the map without having to go around the back through the attacker side spawn. If an attacking team does end up managing to get control of A Rubble and most of A Main through smokes, Initiator skills and flashes, they should think about how to approach the next part of their attack. The new map is multi-layered and isn’t as simple as rushing onto the site and holding it like some of the other maps on Valorant.
Lotus is full of twists and turns. See how it came to life.
Option 1: Pushing A After Gaining A Main Control
The first option is to stay around A Main in a bid to push onto A site through A Main or A Tree and ideally both. Attackers can do this by rushing into the site if they are met with little resistance or by applying pressure slowly through abilities that are on cooldown and isolating favourable matchups and getting kills or forcing enemies to overburn their utility abilities. Wide control of Main and Tree will allow for easier post plants and force defenders to burn utility onto multiple angles while trying to defuse the spike.
During the post plant, attackers can play in site, around both corners on A Main and inside Tree while one can watch the flank coming through the A Lobby, or play aggressively around the blue boxes in A Top. It is generally safer to plant next to the box on the bottom of A Site and this means that spam angles won’t be plentiful. Still, with the use of utility skills in the post-plant and peeking every time the spike is tapped, there shouldn’t be any major difficulties in at least forcing defenders off the spike and making them peak in unfavourable timings and locations.
Option 2: Rotating Onto Other Sites
The second option is to leave A Main altogether after putting a smoke down or opening the doors. After gaining control of A Main, rotating through B or C without making noise will be an effective strategy in making sure the attacking team is not met with a lot of resistance while entering the site. Rotating quickly through the breakable doors on A Link will leave attackers with plenty of choices. Perhaps they hear all 5 defenders rotating and double back to A site. Perhaps they can plant B or C for free or get a kill on agents defending on-site with the numbers advantage. Rotating on this map is more important than other maps on the attack, and understanding that A Main control doesn’t have to result in an A push is critical to getting consistent wins.
Option 3: Leave a Lurker to Gather Intel and Flank
The third option is to leave the site and leave a lurker that will gather information through audio and try to get the drop on defenders by circling around them while they try to retake the site the attackers planted on. Perhaps deliberately making a lot of noise while leaving a site and giving the enemies a false sense of security can make them careless. While lurking has the potential to be risky and won’t always come off, the fact that it has the potential to clean up a few kills without defenders knowing can heavily swing the round and even win some rounds altogether for the attackers.
After dying to a flanker, defenders might leave an agent on site for longer or might rotate more slowly after checking their backs and corners more which will slow the retake or reduce the numbers that are coming to retake the site at one time. Leaving a lurker doesn’t just help attackers win rounds, it also creates uncertainty and slows down the pace of defenders rotating which has a knock-on effect on the later rounds, although the strategy should not be overused from the same locations. It is useful even just for gathering information and understanding the numbers that are rotating and where they are coming through as you can leave lurkers around B or C when pivoting to the other side of the map and helps give valuable intel to attackers without any recon abilities.
Plant along the left wall on B site for easier post plants.
Defence
Playing defence on this map is all about squeezing the map and not getting overloaded both in terms of abilities and numbers. A Main and C Mound are particular areas of interest for both teams so understanding that enemies will try to control the extremities while knowing they will rotate if met with more resistance is key to successfully stopping the attack. While a lot of teams will rotate A on the attack, this is the site that has the most retake potential and therefore defenders should be economical with their abilities and peaks unless they are trying to rush the opponents for an aggressive defensive push.
Interrupting the plant on C is key as an open plant on C will be very difficult to defuse, and B allows defenders to roam around the map and sneak around the defender side for retakes so that should also be considered. Understanding that A Tree is a critical area for attackers denying retakes should also make defenders aware of the need to control that area or at least put up resistance so that it doesn’t fall into the opponent’s lap without a fight. Valorant’s Lock In tournament showed defenders even stacking A Main in a bid to gain control of it so we can understand its importance for sustained success on the map.
Ability Pressure on the Defence
In a strictly technical sense, delaying pushes with abilities and stopping executes from being done with a mixture of peaking and vision denial is key to making sure that enemies do not overload defenders that are outnumbered in their sites. Valorant is a simple game at its core, with attackers being on the clock to plant the spike and make sure it explodes, so extended time wasting favours the defenders more than attackers. This is why Killjoy is so powerful on this map because she excels at defending two sites as a single agent and her ult creates the space needed for retakes and area control. If you don’t have the ability to meaningfully delay or stop the plant from happening, waiting in a safe space for a full retake is recommended. Characters such as Viper and Sage that can also have their presence felt across a whole site are key to making sure defenders allow their teammates time to rotate and help them lock down sites.
Contesting A Main and Rubble is important as it slows down pushes and doesn’t give the attackers options once it is locked down. Funnelling them to B or C gives defenders advantages as both site entries favour the defenders, and are open to clear site lines while the spike is being planted.
Movement fluidity, ancient secrets, and flower power 🪷
Check out Lotus: Unearthing VALORANT’s Lost City and learn how the dev team gave new life to a hidden history with our newest map.https://t.co/zXBFR9kEtk
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) January 26, 2023
Best Agents for the New Valorant Map
While attackers can play a full rush comp that aims to overwhelm opponents with sheer numbers and volume early into the round, it will require a lot of coordination and will not be as effective once the initial push comes to a halt and utility abilities won’t be coming back online for a while. Up to a certain rank playing the likes of Neon and Breach for a high-tempo entry will be successful but once the enemy figures out the game plan, they can make your offence ground to a halt and make it very difficult to sustain pressure and presence in key areas.
The meta for this Valorant map at the highest level seems to be a double controller setup that generally features a Viper and a mix of Astra or Omen alongside her. Killjoy also has abilities that help control the extremities and her presence can be felt both on attack and defence. The initiator is a mixed bag but Skye sees a lot of play for her ability to flash into sites and her all-around utility being better than someone like Sova due to the many corners and angles that the sites are shaped around. Skye also excels due to all her abilities being useful around the rotating doors as teammates can follow her Trailblazer or Flash through these points for favourable peaks.
In terms of duelists, Jett’s value comes from breaking onto the site with her dash and her ability to peek with the Operator safely along A Main and C Mound. These parts of the map are key POIs for both sides and are the areas with the most fighting potential so having an Operator along these long sightlines be able to dash back to safety after getting a pick is a huge bonus. Another option is Raze due to her Paint Shells and Boom Bot being effective in stopping rushes and combining with other agents for easy kills and favourable damage. Valorant doesn’t have another agent that punishes enemies more for not respecting her abilities and this can stop a lot of aggression and delay a lot of pushes in their tracks. Her ultimate is also good for securing kills and generating an advantage in key moments.
Hard carry with an Operator in hand. Jett has the potential to pop off.
Killjoy: The German genius is a quintessential pick for this map due to her ability to lock down multiple sites on defence and watch out for the ever-present threat of lurkers on the attack. An Alarmbot on B and a turret on C will notify her of the presence of attackers on each site and allow her to react accordingly. Her vast array of utility can allow her teammates to meet firepower with firepower as enemies attempt to take control of key POIs like A Main while she can watch flankers coming through with her turrets and alarm bots. She can also delay entry and plant onto the site with her ultimate and swarm grenades from safety, and due to the large area of the map, she gives her team valuable time and intel across multiple facets of the map.
She’s good in the post-plant with her swarm grenades and ultimate, and her Lockdown can allow attackers and defenders to take the site for free. While Valorant added another detaining agent in Gekko to the Agent pool, Killjoy’s ability to force enemies out of the area of her Lockdown is unmatched. Cypher can replicate some of the strength that Killjoy has around the map, but Killjoy’s overall kit and number of tools make her the clear favourite on a map that is all about space and time.
Viper: American scientist Viper can cut off key areas of the map and set up her team for success both offensively and defensively. One of the few agents with the ability to anchor the site and stall plants from safety, her value comes from vision denial, strong post plants, and her ultimate giving her team the ultimate edge inside the pit. Valorant’s toxic controller is also adept on the attack with her abilities assisting in creating pressure for the main POIs for this map and her utility also allowing her team to fake a push as her toxins are controlled remotely.
Skye: Skye’s synergy with the rotating doors and tight corners of the map make her a valuable pick for the initiator position. With the double controller meta, she is still a good pick with her abilities more suited towards the narrow corridors of Lotus in comparison to the other Initiators and Trailblazer able to clear multiple angles. Peaking off her flash can stop enemies from holding initial positions and she can push back a lot of defenders too stupid to back down from her abilities with the help of her teammates. She has the only ultimate in Valorant which chases enemies with her Seekers, which is good for creating time and recon.
Check out how to play Gekko.
