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Astra Valorant Guide: PRO Tactics and Best Star Placements

Astra, Valorant’s fourth controller, stands as one of the most challenging agents due to her unique skill set and tactical depth. As a controller, she plays a pivotal role in site control, employing her smokes to secure advantageous positions for her team during both attack and defense. Astra’s Valorant toolkit allows her to adapt to various combat scenarios, making her an asset to those who understand her intricacies.

Astra’s Unique Valorant Abilities and Resource Pool

Like Reyna, Astra has a shared resource pool. However, she doesn’t heal or dismiss; instead, she wields four stars to activate her abilities. Astra’s Valorant C ability, Gravity Well, or commonly referred to as her “suck,” draws opponents to the center of the star. Her Q ability triggers a stun effect, and her E ability deploys a hollow smoke, resembling Omen’s but distinct in its functionality. Additionally, Astra can retrieve her stars using F, causing a temporary smoke effect without consuming a charge, perfect for crossing tight angles or creating decoy smokes to surprise opponents.

Effective Uses of Gravity Well

Astra’s Gravity Well is particularly versatile, especially for disrupting enemy angles during site attacks. It displaces opponents and can render them vulnerable, making it a valuable tool when defending against a defuse or positioning it strategically in front of defensive smokes to create an additional challenge for advancing enemies. One common defensive strategy with Astra involves placing stars at a main entrance, for example, A Main on Ascent. This approach allows Astra to control and hinder enemy advances effectively.

Cooldowns and Limitations

Astra’s long cooldowns are essential to consider. Due to her strength as a once-dominant controller, her abilities now come with significant delays to maintain balance. Each star costs 150 credits, with only one star available for free per round. Both her Gravity Well and stun abilities have a 45-second cooldown, while her smoke’s cooldown is set at 25 seconds with two charges. Proper star usage requires mindful planning, especially in post-plant situations.

Nova Pulse: Astra’s Stun Ability

Astra’s Nova Pulse, her stun ability, provides a situational advantage in battle. Activated through any star, it generates a 1.25-second animation that stuns players within its range for 4 seconds. While universally helpful, Nova Pulse shines when used strategically, such as targeting common enemy positions when pushing sites. Well-timed usage allows the team to push with fewer angles to worry about, simplifying engagements and improving overall site control.

Utilizing Astra’s Smokes

Astra’s hollow smokes function similarly to other controllers but last only 14.5 seconds. While shorter than Brimstone’s, her smoke can be deployed from anywhere on the map, a massive advantage over Brimstone’s limited map range. This flexibility allows Astra to quickly support teammates regardless of her location, ensuring continuous control over strategic points.

Dissipate: A Creative Tool for Deception

Astra’s F ability, Dissipate, allows her to retrieve a placed star, creating a temporary one-second smoke without using a charge. Though primarily for adjusting star placement, Dissipate also offers tactical options for crossing dangerous areas, such as using it to counter long-range weapons like the Operator. On Pearl’s B long to ramp, for example, Astra players can place a temporary smoke, allowing a safer cross and potential bait for defenders.

Cosmic Divide: Astra’s Valorant Ultimate Ability

Astra’s ultimate ability, Cosmic Divide, activates with seven ultimate points, creating an indestructible, bulletproof wall. Unlike Viper’s wall, Cosmic Divide offers a sound-dampening effect. Though abilities pass through, bullets do not, allowing Astra to execute unique strategies unavailable to other agents. On Pearl, for example, Astra’s wall can enable a safe plant that Viper’s wall wouldn’t permit, providing solid site control and protection from enemy fire.

 

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