Check out the newest VALORANT Controller Clove, their kit and abilities, and some words from the Rioters about some unlikely inspirations they had as well as a snippet of the journey they went through to ensure authentic representation.
VALORANT – Clove Abilities
Clove goes live in VALORANT Episode 8 Act 2, expected on either March 26 or 27, 2024.
E – Ruse
EQUIP to view the battlefield. FIRE to set the locations where Clove's clouds will settle. ALT FIRE to confirm, launching clouds that block vision in the chosen areas. Clove can use this ability after death.
Q – Meddle
EQUIP a fragment of immortality essence. FIRE to throw the fragment, which erupts after a short delay and temporarily decays all targets caught inside.
C – Pick-me-up
INSTANTLY absorb the life force of a fallen enemy that Clove damaged or killed, gaining haste and temporary health.
X/Ult – Not Dead Yet
After dying, ACTIVATE to resurrect. Once resurrected, Clove must earn a kill or a damaging assist within a set time or they will die.
Rioters on Clove's Kit – Beautiful Death
Their ultimate is easily the most remarkable part of Clove's kit, apart from the fact that they can place down smokes while dead.
To this, VALORANT game designer Dan “penguin” Hardison says that the design team has been “waiting for the right Agent” to add a reactive revive – and Clove was a perfect fit. “Sometimes it’s correct to ultimate even if you don’t think you’ll be able to get a kill and stay within the round if it’s an important enough round for the state of the game or economy that your team wins,” explains penguin.
There is a short grace period from pressing the Ultimate button and being a tangible entity that enemies can hit. During this grace period, Clove can move to place themselves behind cover (or post themselves up at a more aggressive angle) while in a state similar to Reyna's Dismiss.
The next notable ability on Clove's kit is E – Ruse, which can be cast after death. This may sound a little troublesome, but they are limited to placing the smokes in a certain range around where they died. penguin said “Early iterations of the ability were global and it just turned into hyper-reliable smokes that you’d place in the same spot as every other Controller character. As soon as we limited the smoke range a bit, then suddenly Clove players were more likely to try to do something different to help out post-death, which helped improve the variety of throwing smokes.”
Both Q – Meddle and C – Pick-me-up are combat abilities – something a Controller like Clove wouldn't normally have access to. The Decay that Q – Meddle provides “fit the within the beautiful death thematic” that Clove had, according to penguin. “We wanted something that would clearly message to players that they wouldn't get anything out of the buff if they didn't capitalize on it.”
Designing Clove – Inspired By League of Legends, Led by Authentic Representation
penguin said that the one goal behind Clove was to make an aggressive Controller Agent. Before them, if players wanted to play aggressively on a Controller, the fallback choice would be Omen. As for inspiration, penguin pointed out a couple of champions from League of Legends who “taught specific lessons to players through their gameplay. “Annie teaches League players not to bunch up and Twisted Fate teaches players the importance of their position around the map,” says penguin. “We wanted Clove to teach VALORANT players how to assess the value of their life within any given round.”
Agents Lead John Goscicki also shared a few words regarding Clove's gender identity.”When creating an Agent, we strive to authentically represent a cast of diverse characters that reflect our global player base,” said Goscicki. “This extends beyond just location and culture – Clove’s gender identity, along with their personality and unique gameplay style, is an equally important facet that has helped shape who they are as a VALORANT Agent.”
Senior Narrative Writer Ryan Clements and Narrative Writer Antoinette Chable chipped in with their own words about the representation of Clove's heritage:
“Authenticity remains one of our foremost pillars when it comes to Agent development. We champion that effort even before we’ve decided on the Agent’s country of origin, and it’s a rallying cry across all members of the team.
With Clove, that effort looked like a lot of different things. [The narrative team] did preliminary research into Scotland and Scottish culture to find the touchpoints that matched our overall creative goals for the character and kit. Finding resonant music, art, literature-it’s all part of the process.
Then we bring in professional consultants, because no matter how much research we do, we’ll never acquire the level of lived-in expertise that a consultant can share. For Clove, we were extensive. We collaborated with an academic consultant, a linguistic consultant (specifically for fine tuning accent and regional authenticity), and more.
We also cast and recorded in person out of Edinburgh, which enabled the Narrative team to get additional firsthand experience with the city and its culture. And of course, we always welcome the opportunity for our performers to channel their own unique perspectives into the character.”
Clove goes live in VALORANT Episode 8 Act 2, expected on either March 26 or 27, 2024.
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