How to Play Valorant With A Controller

Valorant is a skill-based FPS game meant to be played with a mouse and keyboard, but what if your preferred input is a controller? This guide will detail how to play Valorant with a controller and the pros and cons, so you can understand the risks before playing with the sticks.

Does Valorant offer support for controllers?

Valorant is a PC-exclusive game that does not provide support for controllers or gamepads. Riot Games intends for Valorant to be played with a mouse and keyboard, so you can’t just plug a controller into your PC and start playing.

Luckily, there are still ways to play Valorant on a controller if you’re dead set on playing with sticks instead of a mouse and keyboard. Players can install third-party applications that make it possible to play with a controller, but the costs will outweigh the benefits for most.

What are the pros and cons of using a controller for Valorant?

Let’s look at some pros and cons before you decide to play Valorant with a controller:

Pros

Controller is a familiar input for many players. Novice players may have an easier time acclimating to Valorant’s control scheme on a controller if they have no mouse and keyboard experience.

A controller facilitates a more relaxed gaming style. Players using a controller can lie back on the couch and play without a desk or mousepad needed for mouse and keyboard gaming.

Using a controller puts the game in hard mode. Some players may just enjoy the challenge of playing Valorant with a controller.

Cons

Valorant’s control scheme was not made with controllers in mind. Some actions must be left unbound or bound to sub-optimal buttons for a controller to work with Valorant.

Players receive no aim assist when playing Valorant with a controller. Aim assist helps keep your Valorant crosshairs on the target, so the lack of aim assist in Valorant will make it extremely difficult to aim precisely.

Controller aim is slower than mouse and keyboard. The mouse input allows players to quickly turn and move the crosshair, something that’s impossible to achieve even with a high Valorant sensitivity on a controller.

Using third-party software can put your account at risk. Playing Valorant with a controller requires third-party software, which can be a bannable offense if the Vanguard anti-cheat detects it. While some third-party software is ok to use with Valorant, we can’t vouch for each software individually, so you’ll have to use them at your discretion.

How to play Valorant with a controller

If you’ve read the risks and disadvantages of playing Valorant with a controller and still want to try, here are the steps to play Valorant with a controller on PC:

1.) Download and install a third-party controller mapping software like reWASD.

Multiple controller mapping applications exist, but we’ve heard that reWASD provides the best functionality with the lowest likelihood of bans.

ReWASD offers a free trial, so you can test it before buying. The re-mapping software also has many features for customizing and tweaking your controller; just be sure to avoid using any macros or double binds because you will be detected by Riot Vanguard and banned.

2.) Connect your controller to the PC and launch reWASD.

Once you’ve connected your controller and launched reWASD, you can configure your controller and customize your binds. Take your time here; binding each button to suit Valorant’s control scheme is vital. Visit the reWASD website for detailed instructions on how to navigate their software.

ReWASD supports all the major gamepad types, including Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, Gamecube, Steam, and more. This broad support means you can play Valorant no matter which controller you own.

3.) Launch Valorant and configure your settings.

Once your controller is linked and ready, launching Valorant and checking your in-game settings is the next step. You must adjust in-game settings like sensitivity and keybinds to ensure your controller performs all the necessary functions.

Head to The Range to practice with the controller and ensure all the inputs work correctly. You can use the Shooting Test in the range to practice hitting targets on the controller without aim assist.

The only thing left to do is test your controller skills against other Valorant players. Just don’t expect to excel off the bat; even players with years of controller experience will find it challenging to win against mouse and keyboard players!