When starting up Riot Games' Valorant for the first time, many players will have an agent that they want to play in mind. This could be down to the player's general liking of that agent's design or even a desire to chase the metagame.
These players might be surprised to be greeted with that agent and others unavailable at the beginning, putting the breaks on their plans. This is because Valorant requires users to unlock agents before they can play with them in matches, with a handful of different methods available to do so.
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So, let's take a look at all the ways to unlock new agents in Valorant.
Valorant XP
The first method for unlocking new agents is the easiest as it's simply just playing Valorant. As you continue to level yourself up by playing more matches, you will gain access to two tokens. At levels five and 10, you will be gifted the ability to unlock one agent of your choosing.
When you get a token, back out to the main menu of the game and head to the Collection tab. Click "Agents" then select the locked agent you wish to have, using your token to complete the purchase.
Agent contracts
After you've spent both of your free tokens gotten from levelling up, you'll still find yourself with plenty of characters left to unlock. To do this, you can complete that character's contract. This is the main way to unlock characters in Valorant.
To select a contract, head back to the agents section then find the agent you want. Click on the agent and then click the "activate" button which will initiate their contract. Contracts can be completed in any game mode and upon completion will unlock the agent permanently.
Before starting a new contract, you must first get your current contract up to level five, only then will the option to unlock a new agent become available.
Valorant Points
The final option for unlocking agents is one that's become a familiar part of modern-day gaming. Microtransactions and premium currency. Valorant has a purchasable premium currency by the name of Valorant Points (VP) and this VP is what's used to unlock more agents.
Each agent costs 1000 VP and purchasing them completely skips over the need to activate their contract, saving a large amount of time for players who just want to jump right in.
Kingdom Credits
With the release of Episode 7 Act 1, a new currency was introduced into Valorant. That currency is called Kingdom Credits, and it allows players to buy Agents.
To earn Kingdom Credits, players simply need to play games, no matter the game mode. By winning rounds, players earn bonus Kingdom Credits. Kingdom Credits cap at 10K, so make sure to use them once you reach that number.
It's also worth noting that, every Valorant agent costs 8K Kingdom Credits to unlock.