VALORANT, one of Riot Games’ finest live-service products, is constantly evolving, with balance patches and new maps and agents released numerous times a year. The array of weaponry at your disposal, on the other hand, has stayed pretty constant—until now.According to the ValorLeaks Twitter/X account, VALORANT’s purchase mode may finally be getting a major update after three and a half years, with the game’s first new weapon arriving with the release of Episode Eight in January 2024.
The Outlaw is a sniper rifle that appears to be a bridge between VALORANT’s two existing snipers, the Marshal and the Operator.
Official information about the weapon’s mechanics have yet to be disclosed, but based on leaked photographs, we know it has a two-barreled silhouette that differs significantly from the Marshal’s sleek single barrel. However, the weapon lacks the Operator’s heft. The ValorantUpdates Twitter/X account claims that the Outlaw will fire two bullets at once, explaining the double barrels.The Outlaw, at a mid-range price of 2,400 credits, is the ideal compromise between the Marshal’s 950-credit price tag and the Operator’s 4,700-credit investment.
Players that prefer sniper duels have frequently been pushed aside in favor of a meta that favors the use of all-around automatic rifles, including VALORANT’s two flagship weapons, the Phantom and Vandal. These two guns are the best value in almost every situation, and a fully loaded out kit consists of any agent purchasing all of their usefulness, full shields, and either a Phantom or Vandal.Sniping remains a rather specialized talent in the game, reserved exclusively for a few players who manage their credits well. Unlike Apex Legends, where anyone may loot a sniper rifle and use it as their weapon of choice, the economy of VALORANT does not support players that like to play from a distance with these weapons on a regular basis.
In rare situations, players will save up for an Operator, which is the only weapon in the game capable of killing a fully armored adversary with a single body shot. According to reports, the Outlaw will be able to one-shot adversaries with 50% armor. Because of the Operator’s high cost, it is usually kept for instances where the squad has a plenty of credits and hopes that a teammate playing as Jett or Chamber may profit on sniping their enemies.
With the advent of the Outlaw, players that prefer a sniping playstyle should have a viable alternative that doesn’t put them under the burden of investing so many credits in an Operator.
