VALORANT’s Sunset Map Revealed

The Sunset Map’s Sites, Recommended Agents, and Impressions

With Episode 7 Act 2 Pearl and Fracture were taken out of the map rotation.

Alongside a reworked Breeze a new map is now in, Sunset. Sunset is a two site map that is medium to smaller in size.

This guide will go over initial impressions of the map, agents that will most likely be good, and general strategy that’ll be effective.

After Sunset’s release, be sure to head to our site to see all new Sunset agent lineups.

Initial Impressions

The picture below shows the mini-map and callouts of Sunset. In general, the map is fairly similar to Ascent with an open mid-courtyard area, but there is extra nuance with the sites, especially A site which has a 50-50 angle before entering two lanes that pinch onto site from opposite angles.

This map seems as if it’ll be very similar to in Ascent with is being defensive-sided as well. Taking mid gives access to Market which is at the side of B site which is a tough area to get through due to a an object in the middle of the area alongside a crossfire that can be set up in Boba and B Site. The other area that mid gives access to is Mid Top which is a 50-50 angle and very similar to pushing all the way through mid into defender spawn on Ascent which is something that is rarely done.

To take A Site the attackers must go through a 50-50 angle in A Main then go through one or two of the routes, one of which has many tight spots to clear out. And if one lane isn’t cleared out a defender can easily wrap around the attackers for a very fast flank.

B Site seems easier to take by the attackers forcing their way through B Main onto site and having a lurk from Mid Courtyard to Market or Mid top then into Boba. B Site does seem like it’ll be a site that’ll be very hard to get the spike down for a good post plant if back site is not taken.

Sunset’s A Site

A Site has very few places to play on site, but there are a lot of layers the attackers must get through to adequately control the site. The attackers must first go through a 50-50 angle in A Main. If they take this are they must take both Elbow and Link to have good control of the area. Elbow is a very hard area to properly clear, and once it is cleared attackers must face a crossfire from A Site and Alley. For the players going link they must worry about players on A Site and defenders in the deep area of A Link.

There are a few notable things to note about this site, the first of which are the windows that connect A Main and A Link. Utility can be sent through here for information and for fighting for this area. The second is how wide A Main is. The only dome shaped smoke that can fit here is Viper’s Poison Orb. The final thing to note is that A Site, Link, Elbow, and Main make a circle. This can be used to punish attackers who do not take both Elbow and Lane.

Sunset’s B Site

There is very little room for defenders to play in the front portion of this site which will make it a little easier for attackers to burst out from B Main. Getting back site will most likely be difficult with one of two options to get back site are a narrow staircase and a ledge that can only be scaled by jumping on boxes. Having control of Market will be very important for control of the site as Market connects to Boba which is the CT area of the map.

Mid

Mid is a smaller version of Ascent where both teams have two access points to the area. The main difference is that the Top Mid area doesn’t lead to a Site but rather to defender spawn. There is also a door to Market that can be closed and open by a control panel that is on the defenders side inside of market. The door can be destroyed like the ones in Ascent. The distance mid has to sites offers some very quick flank routes for defenders and good lurk opportunities for attackers.

The Best Agents to Play at Sunset

Duelists

Sunset is definitely looking like a Raze map. With the chokepoint and spaces, Raze’s explosive utility will be great for clearing out space. On top of this Raze is the only duelist with some information gathering in Boom Bot which will be good for clearing out back site B, A Elbow, and Market.

Jett will most likely be a safe bet, but between the nerfs and small mid area, Raze seems to be a better choice.

Initiators

Almost every map has become a Skye map, and Sunset does not appear to be any different in that. Trailblazer can clear so many of the tight angles and her flash can get teammates into chokes as well as information in the tight rooms with a box in the center such as Market, B Main, and A Site by throwing the flash high.

Fade is the other initiator who looks like a good choice. Aside from synergizing very well with Raze, Fade will be good for clearing the tight areas of the map out with her Prowlers and getting scan information by throwing Haunt on top of the many outdoor roofs this map has.

Gekko and Breach may have their own niche fit into this map. there are few safe spots to plant, which makes Wingman have more inherent value. Dizzy will also be good due to how many layers of scaling the map requires on offense and there being many connections between areas with windows such as the one shows near A Main. Breach can be a good option due to the overlapping walls as well Aftershock being able to be used in post plant from a safe location with B Site being a circle and A Site having halls that surround the site.

Controllers

Some of the lanes in this map are slightly wider, making Viper a great pick as her Poison Cloud is able to occupy the larger width of these lanes. Her Toxic Screen can help isolate fights in mid on offense and defense as well as can be used to divide B site in half on offense to get better access to back site or on defense to prevent attackers from accessing back site.

Harbor is always an option when paired with Viper. Being able to curve his High Tide gives flexibility in the unique geometry this map has and Cove will be a great tool to get the spike down in these sites that may be difficult to get the spike down in a good spot for post plant.

Omen will most likely be the best of the dome smokers. Paranoia will get a lot of value on this map with the overlapping walls.

Sentinels

The information gathering Sentinels are the ones that will do better on this map. Cypher and Killjoy are the more traditional agents in this subsection of Sentinels, and it is no surprise that Killjoy will be a solid choice on this map as she is almost everywhere. Cypher is typically a niche pick, but this map has a few very good camera spots and will most likely be very lurk heavy which Cypher is good at doing and countering.

Chamber also falls under this and can be a good pick due to there being good Rendezvous locations with the overlapping walls of the map such as playing mid with a Rendezvous behind the door in Market or playing A Main with Rendezvous on A Site.

Strategy

Mid Control

In general getting control of mid gives the attackers a lot of lurk options as well has good access to B Site. Mid should at least be held by a lurker on attack because of mid control giving accessibility to quick flanks. It also gives an attacking lurker access to Top Mid which can be held to pick off rotators or pushed through to either site. Mid also gives access Market which can lead into Boba for a backstab on B site.

Defenders gaining control of mid forces attackers to deal with the sites of this map which will be difficult to perform a dedicated hit on. If a defender controls mid and pushes through Mid Tiles or Mid Bottom they can flank the attackers very quickly or set up a contain which will let the rest of the defenders stack on a site.

B Site

Getting through the choke point of B Site will be the easier of the two sites to take as a team through a single lane. No matter how a B Site hit is performed Market control should be prioritized and taken from players going through B Main and/or from Mid. Having access to this area is imperative as it has a direct link to Boba which gives much more control of the area around the Site. This will make it easier for attackers to hold during a post plant as they won’t be pushed back into B Main and the spike can be seen from Market if it is planted front site. If attackers are unable to take Market, they should at least try to gain control of back site and potentially push into Boba.

Defenders will want to hold Market and back site the best they can to limit post plant positions for attackers. The site can be viewed in two halves as shown by the red line in the picture below. If defenders keep control of the area behind that line it will set up for an easy retake or a flood once rotations are set to prevent a spike plant. This can be accomplished with a Viper Toxic Screen along this line or Killjoy Nanoswarms at the top of the stairs and jump up box along the red line.

A Site

This is a very interesting site which has one lane that divides into two which meet once again on opposite sides of the site. These two lanes are Elbow and Link. When attacking A Site gaining control of both of these lanes is very important. If attackers do not have control of both of these lanes they will have limited post plant options and a defender playing one of these lanes can loop through A Main for a very fast backstab.

When defending A Site defenders will want to initially play A Main aggressively to hold a crossfire this area promotes. If this area is held attackers will have to fight through a 50-50 angle and will most likely only be able to push through one of the two lanes. From here holding on to Link or Alley is a great spot for defenders to be in as they are able to quickly flank back through A Main. The picture below shows Killjoy who was able to hold Alley being able to wrap around attackers who will be pushing onto site.

Having a lurk Top Mid is something very nice to have for attackers as this player can prevent a quick flank from Mid Tiles as well as pick off rotators from B Site rotating through Mid Top from Boba and/or get a backstab by pushing through Mid Top to Alley or Link.

Closing Thoughts

All in all Sunset will offer a new type of approach to the game with its unique map design. It definitely is similar to previous maps, but has aspects that make it unique in its own right. Be sure to check back in for agent specific advice as well as recommended team compositions once the map is in rotation longer.