Alright, so I was messing around with Valorant the other day, right? I’ve always been more of a console gamer, and I really wanted to see if I could get my trusty controller working with this PC shooter.
So, first things first, I dug around online to see if it was even possible. Turns out, yeah, it is! Seems like since Update 2.0, you can actually use a controller in Valorant. But the real question is, how well does it work?
I started by adding Valorant to my Steam library. Since it’s not a Steam game, you gotta add it as a “non-Steam game.” This is where the magic happens, because once it’s in Steam, you can use their whole Steam Input thing, which lets you map controller buttons to keyboard and mouse actions. Cool, right?
Getting it set up wasn’t too bad. I plugged in my controller, opened up Steam’s settings, and started tinkering. Basically, you gotta tell Steam which button on your controller corresponds to which key or mouse click in the game. I spent a good chunk of time just tweaking and adjusting, trying to find a setup that felt somewhat natural.
- Add Valorant as a non-Steam game in your Steam library.
- Plug in your controller and open Steam’s controller settings.
- Map your controller buttons to keyboard and mouse inputs using Steam Input.
- Test and adjust your settings in-game until you find a comfortable configuration.
Once I had it all figured out, I jumped into a game. Honestly, it was a bit weird at first. Aiming with the joystick definitely felt different from using a mouse, especially in a fast-paced game like Valorant. But I was surprised that it was actually playable. I wasn’t topping the leaderboards or anything, but I wasn’t completely useless either.
Now, I did run into a few hiccups. For one, it’s not perfect. There were a few times when the controls felt a bit janky, or a button wouldn’t register quite right. And it’s definitely a disadvantage against players using a mouse. But hey, I was just messing around, and it was fun to try something different.
Is it worth it?
So, is using a controller in Valorant worth it? Well, if you’re super competitive and want to climb the ranks, probably not. But if you’re like me, and just wanna chill and play with a controller, it’s definitely doable. Just don’t expect to become a Valorant pro overnight, and be prepared to spend some time setting things up.
I also made sure to check out Riot Games’ rules. Using a controller is fine, but they don’t like it when you use other third-party software. So, I made sure to just use the stuff available on Steam.
It was a fun little experiment, and who knows, maybe I’ll even get good with it eventually. Or maybe I’ll just stick to my mouse. We’ll see!
