Valorant: Best Sentinel Tier List (+Tips and Tricks)

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Agents serve four different roles in Valorant: Initiator, Controller, Sentinel, and Duelist. Each has their own specific job, and Riot Games tailored each with abilities suited to that job.

Sentinels may not be the flashiest characters in the game, but they’re one of the most important. It’s the Sentinel’s job to guard the team’s flank against enemies while on offense, and solo-defend entire sites while on defense.

We’ve put together a guide on how to best play Sentinel in Valorant, including a tier list ranking the three agents in the Sentinel category from worst to best.

Let’s get to it!

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Sentinels Tier List

We’ll start with our Valorant Sentinels tier list. Keep reading to see each agent ranked along with tips and tricks for how to use them.

Sentinels Ranked Worst to Best

In our rankings below, we go into a bit more detail about each Sentinel and share our top tips and tricks for each.

3/3

Cypher

Cypher is the least viable Sentinel, but that doesn’t make him a bad agent. His information gathering abilities are second to none in the right hands, but he has a high skill threshold. Other agents are both easier to use and have more utility in different situations.

Tips and Tricks

• Practice one-way Cages. This involves placing Cypher’s Cage ability on walls and entry ways in such a way that you can see the enemies’ feet, but they can’t see you. There are several guides with information on the best locations for these on each map.
• Don’t use the same setups every round. Place Cypher’s trip wires and camera in different places so that the enemy team doesn’t start to spot a pattern in your placement. Otherwise, they can simply shoot them, rendering them useless.
• Play off your trip wires. It’s good to get in the habit of camping right around the corner from one of your trips. That way you can either round the corner or shoot through the wall and get a quick kill.
• Place Cypher’s camera as high as possible. This helps keep it hidden and gives it a wider field of view.

2/3

Sage

Sage’s healing abilities make her a unique Sentinel. She is the only Agent in the game who serves as both a defender and a healer. Her Wall and Slow Orb abilities make her a great choice for holding a site. The only area she’s really lacking is damage output.

Tips and Tricks

• Use your wall right away if most of the enemy team is attacking at once. This will stall their push, which gives your team time to rotate.
• Use Sage’s Slow Orb in doorways or as soon as enemies break through your wall. This will make them easier to pick off and help to stall them until your reinforcements arrive.
• Heal allies as soon as they’re hurt. There’s no point in holding onto Sage’s Healing Orb since you’ll get it back in 45s. Keeping allies alive is more important than conserving abilities.
• Prioritize your top frag if you have to. Resurrection is another ability Sage should use as soon as she can, but you should prioritize bringing back your top frag if you have multiple dead allies. That way you’ll stand a better chance of wiping the enemy team and winning the round.

1/3

Killjoy

Killjoy is not only the best Sentinel, but one of the best agents in the game. The most impressive thing about the genius of Germany is the way her abilities synchronize with each other, increasing her damage output exponentially with each one she uses in conjunction. If you’re going to defend a site against a whole squad of enemies by yourself, Killjoy is the agent you want.

Tips and Tricks

• Use Killjoy’s abilities together. Place an alarm Bot and both Nanoswarms side by side in a hall or doorway and you’ll all but guarantee a kill.
• Place Nanoswarm mollies on spike after planting. That way you can activate them as soon as you hear the enemy tap the spike and have one less defuser to worry about.
• Create crossfire with your turret. Place the turret at an opposite angle from an entry-point than the one you have sights on. This will draw enemy’s attention, deal damage and slow them down while you pick them off from behind.
• Save your Lockdown for when you need to retake a site, rather than to defend a site you’re already holding. This will keep them trapped in place instead of allowing them to escape and wait out the ability.

Top 3 Things to Do as a Sentinel

1. Hold sites on defense. Sentinels all have a number of abilities that make them ideal for holding sites by themselves. You can either single-handedly hold down one side in case the enemy rotates back, or else buy time until your teammates can arrive on your side.
2. Hold flanks on offense. Let the Duelists take the front. It’s the Sentinels’ job to guard the flanks, using their abilities to set traps and alarms that let your team know when enemies try and sneak around behind them.
3. Support your team. Sentinels come with a variety of support-based abilities, whether its Cypher’s information gathering or Sage’s healing. Keep an eye on your teammate’s needs and support them to the best of your ability.

Top 3 Things to Avoid Doing as a Sentinel

1. Don’t push in first. Sentinels aren’t best equipped for site entry. Their abilities are more suited to holding an already cleared site and supporting allies from the rear. Sentinels who push in first die first.
2. Don’t play mid. It’s the Sentinel’s job to hold and to cover, not to attack or flank. Taking the middle route is more for flanking on attacks or rotating to a site that needs defenders. A sentinel is much better off setting up on one site and holding.
3. Wait to rotate. It’s generally a good idea to leave one person holding a site, even for a moment after an enemy has begun pushing the opposite side. This is to ensure the attack isn’t feint or decoy and that the enemy isn’t going to rotate back to the undefended side.

Join the High Ground

Thank you for reading our Valorant Sentinel guide. We hope it helps you climb the ranks and make sure no one gets the drop on your team. Be sure to follow High Ground Gaming for guides, reviews and more lists like this one.

Happy gaming!