Riot reveals Jett, Valorant's knife-wielding speedster

(Image credit: Riot Games)

Valorant's series of weekly character teasers continued today with Jett, a fast-moving fighter who relies on speed and agility to flank enemies and take them out with precision attacks before they have a chance to react.

Jett's gameplay teaser showcases three of her four special abilities, all of them focused on getting her where she needs to be in a hurry:

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  • Cloudburst: Throw out a cloud of fog that obscures vision on impact
  • Updraft: After a brief windup, propel yourself upwards
  • Tailwind: Immediately dash a short distance in the direction you're moving

The one ability we don't get to see is Jett's ultimate, Blade Storm, which equips her with several throwing daggers that inflict instant kills on headshots. Daggers can be thrown individually or in a short-ranged burst, and scoring a kill restores all daggers—so if your aim is good, you can do a lot of damage.

(Blade Storm also reminds me of Bonestorm, which is a fun bonus.)

Valorant, Riot's 5v5 competitive FPS, is set to begin closed beta testing next week. Getting in on the test involves more than just submitting an email address. You'll need a Riot account linked to a Twitch account, and once that's taken care of, you have to watch Valorant streams on Twitch once the beta begins for a shot at access. It's a bit much for the privilege of giving the shooter a go early, though Riot probably sees it as a way to ensure that everyone who gets in is genuinely interested in the game.

We got some hands-on time with Valorant in March that you can read about here. We've also got a rundown of all the characters revealed so far, and for technology fans, an interview with Valorant's netcode guy. Valorant is expected to be out sometime this summer.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.