Sentinel agents & their abilities are mainly focused on defensive playstyles. Players who prefer less action and more strategy should pick Sentinel agents, but the problem is, there are four of them to choose from.
Built around defense in mind, Riot made sure Sentinels agents are not going to offer offensive abilities. Sentinel agents in VALORANT often play as the anchor of the team to hold particular areas of a map. Some agents might have their niche applications, but generally, Cypher, Killjoy, Chamber & Sage are easily the backbones of any team.
With the release of Neon & patch 4.0, Riot facelifted VALORANT to fresh start the 2022 season. After Acend crowing as the inaugural VCT Champion, developers quickly went to rework some aspects of the game. Even after performing some minor tweaks, VALORANT is still all about adaptability. Players who are able to adapt faster will benefit more. Sentinel players have to dig a little deeper this time to fight their newest threat, Neon.
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Best Sentinel Agents Tier List
Tier | Agents |
S-Tier (Best) | Killjoy, Cypher |
A-Tier (Good) | Sage |
B-Tier (Average) | Chamber |
S-Tier
Killjoy
The German VALORANT agent is packed with effective abilities to stall any team from gaining easy site access. Killjoy’s controversial release made things hard for the developers initially, but a couple of retouches later, Killjoy is a perfect pick for most of the maps in VALORANT.
Her Nanoswarms & Alarmbots are still a lethal combo in 2023. Additionally, Killjoy’s Turret can be a serious pain for the Attackers since it’s hard to bypass. Killjoy’s Turret becomes absolutely indestructible in Pistol and in eco-rounds. In maps like Bind, Ascent, Split, or Fracture, Killjoy is a lethal agent to deal with. Based on your playstyle, Killjoy can be a blessing or a curse since misplaced abilities will act as a dual-edged sword for your team.
Cypher
Cypher’s Tripwire & Cyber Cage are heavily effective against most of the Duelists. Previously, the Agent was inferior in most cases. However, due to the huge buff in the 5.10 patch, Cypher has once again become really powerful.
Now, with Cypher’s kits, one can easily shut down any Attackers’ pushes and watch out for flanks pretty clearly. Not to mention, Cypher’s Ultimate can come in pretty handy in clutch situations.
A-Tier
Sage
Sage is an excellent support agent, but her worth as a Sentinel is highly questionable after the recent changes. Chamber and Killjoy are able to cause massive damage to the attackers, while Sage’s abilities are strongly defensive. So much so that she is often considered as the “Secondary” Sentinel behind Killjoy or Cypher in some cases.
Sage’s healing ability is, beyond any doubt, the best in VALORANT right now & her Barrier Orb is quite effective, but her overall ability to defend sites is no longer something to count on. If you are sure about your team composition, then picking Sage could be a good option considering that her Ultimate and Healing abilities can still make a huge impact.
B-Tier
Chamber
Chamber is the latest Sentinel agent in VALORANT. Released during the last quarter of 2021, the French-based agent brought some interesting new abilities to the table. VALORANT’s Sentinel saga so has been all about forcing the Duelists to take a step back, but with Chamber, the scenario has changed drastically.
However, due to the heavy Chamber nerf, the Agent has become quite inferior compared to other Agents in the game.
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Riot’s ambition with the Sentinel agents is still unclear, as they have just released Neon. It’s also pretty unlikely that the next agent will be a Sentinel since Chamber was released only 3 months ago. So the most viable solution would be to tweak Cypher’s abilities and give some strength back to Sage.
Picking any Sentinel agent is fine; it all comes down to your skills and preparation. However, playing Chamber, Cypher, or Killjoy could be tricky since you have to learn where to place your abilities to maximize damage on the enemy team. In contrast, Sage is the easiest Sentinel agent to play.