Riot Games has today revealed Clove, a brand new Controller joining the agent roster. They’re billed as a ‘Scottish troublemaker’ and Valorant’s first non-binary agent.
Clove makes mischief for enemies in both the heat of combat and the cold of death. The young immortal keeps foes guessing, even from beyond the grave, their return to the living only ever a moment away.
Dan Hardison, Agent Gameplay Designer, said of Clove’s gender identity: “When creating an agent, we strive to authentically represent a cast of diverse characters that reflect our global player base. This extends beyond just location and culture – Clove’s gender identity, along with their personality and unique gameplay style, is an equally important facet that has helped shape who they are as a Valorant agent.”
On Clove’s Scottish background, Dan added: “Authenticity remains one of our foremost pillars when it comes to agent development. We champion that effort even before we’ve decided on the agent’s country of origin, and it’s a rallying cry across all members of the team.
“With Clove, that effort looked like a lot of different things. Narrative did preliminary research into Scotland and Scottish culture to find the touchpoints that matched our overall creative goals for the character and kit. Finding resonant music, art, literature – it’s all part of the process.
“Then we bring in professional consultants, because no matter how much research we do, we’ll never acquire the level of lived-in expertise that a consultant can share. For Clove, we were extensive. We collaborated with an academic consultant, a linguistic consultant (specifically for fine tuning accent and regional authenticity), and more.
“We cast and recorded in-person out of Edinburgh, which enabled the narrative team to get additional first-hand experience with the city and its culture.”
“Clove’s gender identity, along with their personality and unique gameplay style, is an equally important facet that has helped shape who they are as a Valorant agent.”
Dan Hardison, Riot Games, on new agnet Clove
“And of course, we always welcome the opportunity for our performers to channel their own unique perspectives into the character.”
On how Clove may change the current meta in Valorant, Dan commented: “The current Valorant meta is very retake heavy, and controller players are often forced to use utility to just stall and leave the site to wait for their teammates to showup. We think Clove will encourage a lot more risky solo plays around sites, as they don’t loseas much value as other agents would if they died before casting their Ruse.
“It’s probably more likely that this type of agent will have a larger impact on ranked than professional play, but hopefully they can make a splash on pro play as well.”
Clove abilities – Valorant’s first non-binary agent
Ruse (E)
Equip to view the battlefield. Fire to set the locations where Clove’s clouds will settle. Alt fire to confirm, launching clouds that block vision in the chosen areas. Clove can use this ability after death.
Meddle (Q)
Equip a fragment of immortality essence. Fire to throw the fragment, which erupts after a shortdelay and temporarily decays all targets caught inside.
Pick-Me-Up (C)
Instantly absorb the life force of a fallen enemy that Clove damaged or killed, gaining haste andtemporary health.
Not Dead Yet (X / ULT)
After dying, activate to resurrect. Once resurrected, Clove must earn a kill or a damaging assist within a set time or they will die.
Elsewhere, Episode 8 Act II kicked off on March 5th, which brought players the Primordium Collection, a skinline inspired ‘by ancient beings of lava and bedlam’.
Weapons included in the Primordium Collection are the Vandal, Phantom, Spectre, Shorty and new dual swords – the Blades of Primordia. An all new Battle Pass also went live, featuring items such as the Retrowave Sheriff, Shellspire Sword and Sending LoveSpray.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
