Brimstone · Controller
Brimstone guide
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
Brimstone is a controller in Valorant. Joining from the U.S.A., Brimstone's orbital arsenal ensures his squad always has the advantage. His ability to deliver utility precisely and safely make him the unmatched boots-on-the-ground commander. Controllers are experts in slicing up dangerous territory to set their team up for success.
Strengths
- Brings vision-blocking smoke: Sky Smoke (E).
- Brings damage: Incendiary (Q) and Orbital Strike (X).
- Brings movement: Stim Beacon (C).
- Brings buffs for the team: Stim Beacon (C).
Weaknesses
- No slows in the kit, which a controller usually has: lean on your team for it.
- No ability that reveals enemies: your information comes from teammates and sound.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
- Brimstone standard buysBalancedRecommendedThe usual economy for a controller: Classic on the pistol round, Sheriff on an eco or bonus and Phantom with heavy armor on a full buy (3,900 credits before abilities). Buy Sky Smoke (E) first: it is the ability that covers what a controller needs most.
- Brimstone: smoke spamOffensiveAdvancedFor controllers who play inside their own smokes: the Ares and the Odin have high wall penetration and a huge magazine, made for spraying through vision blockers. Full buy: 4,200 credits with heavy armor.
- Brimstone force buyDefensiveSituationalWhen the team cannot afford a full buy but has to play the round: Spectre with light armor (2,000 credits) or Guardian with a regen shield (2,900 credits), and your abilities before the gun.
Builds
Brimstone standard buys
When to use it
The usual economy for a controller: Classic on the pistol round, Sheriff on an eco or bonus and Phantom with heavy armor on a full buy (3,900 credits before abilities). Buy Sky Smoke (E) first: it is the ability that covers what a controller needs most.
Pistol round
Eco / bonus round
Full buy
- 1PhantomSilenced and without tracers: you can spray through your own smokes without giving away where you are. 2,900 credits. 156 head / 39 body up to 20 m (140 / 35 beyond 20 m); 11 shots/s, 30-round magazine, medium wall penetration, silenced.
- 2Heavy Armor1,000 credits: absorbs 66% of the damage, up to 50.
Alternatives
Skill order
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
 C | · | · | C |
 Q | · | Q | · |
 E | E | · | · |
Brimstone: smoke spam
When to use it
For controllers who play inside their own smokes: the Ares and the Odin have high wall penetration and a huge magazine, made for spraying through vision blockers. Full buy: 4,200 credits with heavy armor.
Pistol round
Eco / bonus round
Full buy
- 1Odin3,200 credits. 95 head / 38 body up to 30 m (77.5 / 31 beyond 30 m); 12 shots/s, 100-round magazine, high wall penetration.
- 2Heavy Armor1,000 credits: absorbs 66% of the damage, up to 50.
Alternatives
Skill order
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | · | · | C |
| Q | · | Q | · |
| E | E | · | · |
Brimstone force buy
When to use it
When the team cannot afford a full buy but has to play the round: Spectre with light armor (2,000 credits) or Guardian with a regen shield (2,900 credits), and your abilities before the gun.
Eco / bonus round
Full buy
- 1Guardian2,250 credits. 195 head / 65 body up to 50 m; 5.25 shots/s, 12-round magazine, high wall penetration.
- 2Regen Shield650 credits: absorbs 100% of the damage, up to 50, and regenerates.
Alternatives
Skill order
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | · | · | C |
| Q | · | Q | · |
| E | E | · | · |
Abilities
- CStim BeaconINSTANTLY toss down a stim beacon. Upon landing, it creates a field that grants players a Combat Stim and a Speed Boost.Buy it third in the round. Save it to escape or to take a position the enemy does not expect.
- QIncendiaryEQUIP an incendiary grenade launcher. FIRE to launch a grenade that detonates as it comes to a rest on the floor, creating a lingering fire zone that damages players within the zone.Buy it second in the round. Clear corners and stop the plant or the defuse.
- ESky SmokeEQUIP a tactical map. FIRE to set locations where Brimstone's smoke clouds will land. ALT FIRE to confirm, launching long-lasting smoke clouds that block vision in the selected area.Buy it first in the round. Cut the line of sight the enemy is holding right when your team moves.
XOrbital StrikeUltimateEQUIP a tactical map. FIRE to launch a lingering orbital strike laser at the selected location, dealing high damage-over-time to players caught in the selected area.Ultimate (X): charged with ultimate points, not bought. Clear corners and stop the plant or the defuse.
Strategy
1Your job
As a controller, your job is to cut the enemy's lines of sight with smokes and utility so the team can cross, take or retake a site safely.
2Abilities
Brimstone's kit, key by key, and what the game says each ability does:
- C — Stim Beacon: movement and buffs for the team.
- Q — Incendiary: damage.
- E — Sky Smoke: vision-blocking smoke.
- X — Orbital Strike (ultimate): damage.
3On attack
- Sky Smoke (E) cuts the defenders' line of sight while the team crosses.
- Stim Beacon (C) gets you to a deep position the defence does not expect.
- Smoke the angles the defenders use to hold the entry, at the moment your team moves in, not before.
- After the plant, smoke again for the post-plant: the defenders have to cross your smoke to defuse.
- Play from a safe spot: a dead controller cannot smoke the next push.
4On defense
- Sky Smoke (E) delays the push on the main entry.
- Smoke the attackers' main entry early to delay them, and keep one smoke for the retake.
- Your smokes can isolate duels: cut one entry so your teammates only face one angle.
5Economy
What to buy depending on the credits the team has:
- Pistol round: Classic + Light Armor.
- Eco or bonus: Sheriff — a single headshot kills at close range, and it leaves credits for your smokes.
- Full buy: Phantom — silenced and without tracers: you can spray through your own smokes without giving away where you are.
- Abilities in this order: E > Q > C; Orbital Strike (X) is charged, not bought.
6Maps
On three-site maps the rotations are long: your smokes buy the time the defence needs to arrive, or deny it to them on attack. Three-site maps in the pool: Haven and Lotus.
- Abyss: sites A, B · 23 callouts.
- Ascent: sites A, B · 22 callouts.
- Bind: sites A, B · 24 callouts.
- Breeze: sites A, B · 23 callouts.
- Corrode: sites A, B · 21 callouts.
- Fracture: sites A, B · 22 callouts.
- Haven: sites A, B, C · 21 callouts.
- Icebox: sites A, B · 25 callouts.
- Lotus: sites A, B, C · 28 callouts.
- Pearl: sites A, B · 26 callouts.
- Split: sites A, B · 24 callouts.
- Summit: sites A, B · 24 callouts.
- Sunset: sites A, B · 17 callouts.
7Common mistakes
- Smoking too early: the smoke fades just as your team arrives.
- Peeking first with your controller and dying before the smokes are down.
Tips
- Know how long your smokes last and when they end: that is when the enemy will push.
- A good smoke sits exactly on the enemy's line of sight, not in the middle of the corridor.
- Ask your team where they want the smokes before the round starts.
Matchups
Weak against
Undercut (Q) suppresses: while it lasts, Brimstone cannot use Stim Beacon (C) to escape.
ZERO/point (E) suppresses: while it lasts, Brimstone cannot use Stim Beacon (C) to escape.
Stealth Drone (C) suppresses: while it lasts, Brimstone cannot use Stim Beacon (C) to escape.
Works well with
Brings blind with Flashpoint (Q), which Brimstone's kit does not have.
Brings information (reveals enemies) with Trapwire (C), which Brimstone's kit does not have.
Brings traps and set-ups with Trademark (C), which Brimstone's kit does not have.
Brings healing with Blaze (C), which Brimstone's kit does not have.
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 13.06.
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