Hello folks! Recently me and my friends have been discussing the state of smokes in Valorant. Not so much how they're seen in competitive play, but more so the uniqueness of the smoke/controller characters, and their smoke abilities. This mainly was about how smokes particularly acted and their immediate unique effects.

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We noted that beyond just Viper and Brimstone, whos smokes both obscure vision inside(and in vipers case, decay HP), Omen and Astra are sort of- bland. While a clear smoke would be unique, having it on two characters with similar deployment methods feels a bit lackluster and boring. While Brimstone and Viper share obscure smokes(albeit with the decay difference), their deployment methods are widely different, with viper getting her wall and a locally deployable orb(lineups are a different story) and Brimstone gets his more universal tablet. But then there's Astra and Omen who both share the similar "spectral" world/view with a universal range deployment method and clear smokes of similar size. Both also get two smokes(that both last 15 seconds) to use at any one time. Both also cost 150 credits. And have almost identical cooldowns, with Astras being 5 seconds faster than Omens 30 second cooldown.

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So we began to wonder, what could be done to change this lack of uniqueness? What could be added to these characters' smokes that allowed them to stand apart from each other? We discussed ideas like deafening people inside of Omens smokes, stealing not only the ability to see but also hear what's happening on the other side. We felt like this fits his character well and compliments the visibility on the inside of his smokes.

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However, when we contemplated Astra we began to struggle. That is until we began wondering about the shapes of smokes. While the current spherical nature of smokes makes sense, as they're simple, easy to use, and good on the go for an effective dynamic cover, it isn't the only shape that can be implemented. Viper has a smoke in the shape of a wall to partner with her regular sphericle smoke. But none of the other controllers have anything of the such- with the exception of Astras ultimate. So, we began to wonder why not give Astra's regular smokes the option to be walls as well. This could alleviate the issues where certain Controllers are unusable on certain maps, such as icebox and breeze. In both maps, Viper is almost universally picked. This is due to other smokes being far too small and short to cover the myriad of strange off angles. With their sheer volume and great difference in height making normal smokes near useless. We're not sure how these walls would be implemented, perhaps they could function like cypher tripwires? Perhaps they could float and have dynamic placements, functioning as floating screens? Who knows. That's kind of why we're here.

We would like to hear your opinions and learn how the community feels about these characters and these ideas. Or, alternatively, we would also like to hear your own ideas regarding these agents' smokes.