VALORANT adds robotic initiator KAY/O with Episode 3

VALORANT has introduced a new robotic agent named KAY/O, who’s reminiscent of traditional first-person shooters.

KAY/O will be the next agent coming to the VALORANT universe when Episode 3 Act 1 launches on Tuesday, June 22. The robotic menace will have familiar mechanics for people used to traditional FPS titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

“I think all of the designers here tend to have quite the imagination for mechanics, so being able to add a bit of VALORANT spice to the “basics”, felt great to be able to achieve on KAY/O with the addition of Suppression,” said Ryan Cousat who helped design KAY/O. “An aspiration we have for KAY/O is that FPS players could take some of the common mastery they have acquired from other games, like throwing grenades, and apply them in an intuitive way to access the outputs of KAY/O’s kit.”

We have not seen an Initiator enter the VALORANT universe since Skye, who was debuted in November of 2020. KAY/O  joins an ever-growing list of Initiators that continues to adapt to various playstyles.

KAY/O’s abilities and what they do in VALORANT

• (E) ZERO/point
  • KAY/O’s E ability is a suppression knife that he equips before throwing it at a target. The blade sticks to the first surface it hits winds up and suppresses anyone in the radius of the explosion.
• (Q) FLASH/drive
  • KAY/O’s Q ability is a flash grenade seen in many first-person shooter titles. Players will throw the flash grenade which will explode after a short fuse. Anyone within the radius of the explosion will be blinded by the flash.
• (C) FRAG/ment
  • KAY/O’s C ability is an explosive (frag) grenade which is also common in other titles. The fragment sticks to the floor and explodes multiple times, dealing near-lethal damage at the center with each explosion.
• (X) NULL/cmd
  • INSTANTLY overload with polarized radianite energy that empowers KAY/O and causes large energy pulses to emit from his location. Enemies hit with these pulses are suppressed for a short duration.

• • While Overloaded, KAY/O gains a Combat Stim
  • If KAY/O is killed while overloaded, he is downed and enters a destabilized state, allowing allies to stabilize his core and revive him.