TL;DR
- Clove introduces revolutionary post-death gameplay as Valorant’s first agent who can use abilities after elimination
- Strategic smoke placement and enemy debuffs make Clove a high-skill ceiling controller
- The resurrection ultimate requires precise timing and follow-up execution to succeed
- Cost-effective abilities enable aggressive playstyles with calculated risk management
- Mastering Clove’s kit demands understanding both pre-and-post death tactical opportunities
Riot Games has unveiled Clove as Valorant’s groundbreaking 25th agent, introducing an unprecedented mechanic where abilities remain active even after elimination. This Scottish controller defies conventional gameplay limitations by maintaining battlefield impact beyond death.
Clove represents a meticulously balanced controller archetype capable of returning from elimination while continuing to deploy tactical tools. Their comprehensive kit includes smoke deployments, decay-inducing grenades, resurrection capabilities, and self-sustain mechanics. Essentially, Clove empowers players to execute high-risk maneuvers with self-sufficient capability.
- Related: Who is Clove in Valorant?
Valorant Agent Clove Abilities: Strategic Analysis
Riot’s design philosophy with Clove centers on creating more frequent “post-death engagement loops” where this agent maintains viability after elimination. For players seeking comprehensive understanding, here’s an in-depth examination of Clove’s complete ability set with strategic applications.
Pick Me Up (C): Life Absorption Mechanism
Clove harnesses the residual life force from defeated opponents, providing temporary enhancements to mobility and durability.
Following enemy eliminations, Clove receives both health regeneration comparable to Reyna’s Devour and accelerated movement. This sustainability tool carries significant strategic risk—while the additional 100 temporary health enables potential multi-kill opportunities, the limited duration window demands precise execution timing.
Pick Me Up maintains exceptional economic efficiency at merely 100 credits with a single available charge per round.
Pro Tip: Activate Pick Me Up immediately after securing a pick to push aggressively while opponents are repositioning. The speed boost allows rapid repositioning to unexpected angles.
Common Mistake: Players often waste the ability by activating it too late or using it in situations where disengagement would be smarter. Remember that the temporary health doesn’t regenerate—it’s a buffer, not healing.
Meddle (Q): Essence Deterioration Field
Clove concentrates immortal energy into a projectile that, upon detonation, severely weakens the vitality of affected adversaries.
Meddle creates highlight-reel potential through its one-tap elimination capability. When deployed, Clove releases spectral butterflies that adhere to nearby enemies, inflicting substantial decay damage. Affected targets become vulnerable to single-bullet eliminations regardless of weapon type.
Meddle delivers 90 decay damage at the affordable price of 250 credits, making it one of the most cost-effective debuff abilities in Valorant’s arsenal.
Advanced Technique: Combine Meddle with team coordination—communicate when enemies are debuffed so teammates can capitalize on the vulnerability.
Positioning Insight: Throw Meddle at choke points during executes or retakes to maximize area denial and create pick opportunities.
Ruse (E): Battlefield Projection and Smoke Manifestation
Clove’s consciousness extends beyond their physical form, generating an aerial perspective of the combat zone. Through essence manipulation, they create vision-obscuring clouds that alter engagement dynamics, functioning even post-elimination.
Similar to Brimstone’s Sky Smoke interface, Clove operates a restricted personal radar for deploying holographic smoke screens. These regenerating smoke clouds provide substantial coverage for major entry points. However, Clove’s deployment range limitations differ from Omen’s teleportation or Astra’s cosmic placement.
Ruse stands as the cornerstone of their tactical arsenal, enabling smoke deployment from beyond the grave. The smoke placement interface remains constrained to the vicinity of Clove’s elimination location.
Clove’s smoke deployments cost 150 credits each round.
Strategic Application: Use post-death smokes to block crucial lines of sight during clutch situations, giving teammates the visual advantage.
Map-Specific Consideration: On larger maps like Ascent or Breeze, position yourself near key choke points before engaging to maximize post-death smoke effectiveness.
Not Dead Yet (X): Defying Mortality Mechanics
Clove challenges death itself by activating their immortal essence. To maintain corporeal stability, they must drain the life force from an opposing combatant.
Clove can activate their ultimate ability following elimination to rejoin the active combat roster. This resurrection mechanic introduces substantial risk-reward dynamics—after returning, Clove must secure an elimination within a defined timeframe or contribute sufficient assist damage to complete the revival process. Failure to meet these conditions results in permanent elimination.
Clove’s equilibrium as a tactical operator will undergo rigorous testing in competitive environments. Their official release is scheduled for March 26, 2024, as part of Episode 8 Act 2.
Execution Timing: The resurrection window is approximately 8-10 seconds—use this time to assess the situation rather than immediately challenging.
Success Strategy: Prioritize assist damage if elimination seems unlikely—damaging multiple enemies or contributing utility can sometimes secure the revival.
Mastering Clove’s Unique Playstyle
Clove demands a paradigm shift in how players approach controller gameplay. Unlike traditional agents who become inactive upon death, Clove’s persistent threat requires opponents to maintain awareness of eliminated Cloves, creating psychological pressure.
Optimal Ability Sequencing: Begin rounds with Ruse for map control, preserve Pick Me Up for post-engagement sustainability, and deploy Meddle to enable team executions. The ultimate should be saved for situations where your death would create significant tactical disadvantages for your team.
Economic Management: At only 500 credits for full utility, Clove enables aggressive early-round purchases while maintaining tactical capability.
Common Beginner Errors:
- Wasting resurrection on hopeless 1v5 situations
- Using Meddle without teammate follow-up
- Poor post-death smoke placement timing
- Overestimating temporary health durability
Understanding Clove’s controller role within team compositions is crucial for maximizing their impact across different map scenarios and against various agent combinations.
Action Checklist
- Practice post-death smoke placements in custom games focusing on common death locations
- Master Pick Me Up activation timing—use immediately after kills during aggressive pushes
- Coordinate Meddle usage with teammates through voice comms for maximum effectiveness
- Develop resurrection assessment skills—learn when to attempt revival versus saving ultimate
- Study map-specific smoke placements for common engagement zones near objectives
No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » Clove abilities: This Valorant agent encourages you to be a risk-taker Master Valorant's revolutionary controller Clove with post-death abilities and strategic gameplay insights