Spike Rush is a fast-paced game mode in Valorant where all attackers get a Spike, and kills are worth double ult points. It’s one of the main game modes available to players and is extremely popular for a multitude of reasons, which we’ll be going over in this article.
If you’ve not yet had a chance to try out Spike Rush for yourself or if you’re just keen to know more about this game mode, be sure to stick around as we’re going to go over all the details, closing out with some frequently asked questions at the end.
There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s get straight into it.
Round structure
In the Valorant Spike Rush game mode, two teams of 5 take turns attacking and defending a bombsite, switching sides after the 3rd round. If you’re attacking, you’ll need to plant and defend the spike successfully, and if you’re defending, you’ll need to fight back against the attackers and defuse the spike within the time limit if it gets planted. You only get one life each round, so make it count.
Only 4 rounds are needed to win, which is notably different from the 13 needed to win a standard Unrated or Ranked game. This means Spike Rush games are often incredibly short, lasting only around 10 minutes each, making them perfect for anyone that’s tight on time or just isn’t keen on committing to a standard 45-minute game.
Guns & abilities
There’s no economy in Spike Rush, meaning you don’t have to worry about saving up credits to buy weapons and abilities like in Unrated/Ranked. Instead, everyone is given the same gun each round, and abilities are all automatically bought. This is great because it means that the gunfights you get into will typically be quite balanced, and you get the chance to try out a bunch of different weapons you maybe wouldn’t usually buy in a standard Valorant game.
Power-ups
Aside from using your agent abilities effectively, there’s one other way you can get an advantage against your opponents in the Valorant Spike Rush game mode, and that’s by collecting power-up orbs. These orbs spawn in specific locations at the start of each round, and if you manage to get there first, you’ll gain some kind of power-up and a point towards your ultimate ability. The various power-up types are listed below:
- Weapon Upgrade: Grants you a slightly more powerful weapon than the one given to everyone at the start of the round.
- Health Regen: Your entire team will have their health regenerated at 10HP per second for 20 seconds.
- Crippling Decay: Players on the opposing team will each take 50 temporary damage for 8 seconds. When the time is up, players will regain their lost health.
- Tracer Rounds: All allied gunshots gain increased penetration and briefly reveal enemy locations on contact.
- Twin Hunters: Two hunting wolves spawn that track down enemy players, inflicting slowness and near-sightedness on contact. This power-up is very similar to Skye’s ultimate ability.
- Combat Stim: Nearby players gain a buff to fire rate and movement speed for a short period of time. This power-up is similar to Brimstone’s Stim Beacon ability.
- Damage Amp: Increases the damage a player does by 30% for the entire round. This effect does not extend to allies.
- Paranoia: For 10 seconds, paranoia is inflicted upon all enemies. They’re given tunnel vision and will hear fake gunshots and footsteps. This power-up is notably different from Omen’s Paranoia ability, which deafens enemies and inflicts near-sightedness.
- Ultimate Ability: Fully charges a player’s ultimate ability.
- Golden Gun: Grants the player a golden gun that is fully accurate on the move and kills enemies in one shot. Every kill awards the player with an extra bullet.
One last quick thing to note is that the types of orbs that spawn for any given round will remain hidden until a few seconds before the barrier drops. This means if you’re planning on positioning yourself near an orb in the pre-game phase, it’ll be a bit of a gamble as to what’s going to appear.
Earning experience points
The Valorant Spike Rush game mode is one of the best ones to play if you want to earn experience points towards your battle pass and agent contracts. There are two big reasons for this.
Firstly, for every game of Spike Rush you play, you earn a guaranteed 1000xp regardless of whether you win or lose. With games only lasting around 10 minutes, you could potentially earn up to 6000xp per hour, which is pretty good compared to what you’d get from Unrated/Ranked.
Secondly, all of those daily and weekly challenges that grant large amounts of XP are generally less difficult to complete in Spike Rush than in Unrated/Ranked. Weekly challenges especially will often require you to use your ultimate ability many times or deal lots of damage to enemies, which are both relatively easy things to do in Spike Rush.
Spike Rush game mode FAQs
Let’s go over some frequently asked questions about the Valorant Spike Rush game mode to make sure we’ve covered everything.
Do Spike Rush games count towards unlocking Ranked?
No, unfortunately not. You’ll need to play Unrated games if you want to unlock the ability to play Ranked.
Does Spike Rush have an Elo system?
No, there is no Elo system in Spike Rush, and you do not gain ranks for playing this game mode.
Are the guns in Spike Rush random?
Yes, but guns are chosen from different pools in each round per half. Sidearms are used in round 1, primary weapons under 2700 credits are used in round 2, and primary weapons over 2700 credits are used in round 3.
Can I collect multiple power-up orbs in one round?
Yes, there is no limit on how many power-up orbs you can collect in any given round.
Conclusion
That concludes our overview of the Valorant Spike Rush game mode! We hope you’ve learned something new and are eager to now jump into a game of your own. Thanks for reading, and good luck out there.