Riot Games has officially unveiled Waylay, the newest Agent in Valorant, and she has brought with her a new debuff that’s certain to shake up the meta of the competitive shooter.

Waylay—also known as Agent 28—is the eighth Duelist to join the Valorant roster and the first one since Iso, who was introduced in October 2023.

Hailing from Thailand, Wayla will be able to make swift plays across the battlefield by transforming herself into light, while also slowing her opponents and rendering them unable to fight back.

While Waylay’s abilities are certain to bring a fresh dynamic to the game, what’s even more intriguing is her ability to ‘Hinder’ opponents—the newest status effect in Valorant.

Click Here To Read All Abilities

What is Hindering in Valorant?

As mentioned earlier, Hindering is the newest debuff in Valorant that slows an opponent’s actions, making them much more vulnerable and an overall easier target when in combat.

Waylay has two abilities to Hinder her enemies, with one of them being her ultimate. Using her Hinder will be the key to not only securing important choke points, but also bringing enemy rushes to a halt.

A Hindered enemy will suffer from the following negative effects:

• Reduced Fire Rate
• Slower Recoil Recovery
• Increased Equip Time
• Slower Reload Speed
• Reduced Movement Speed
• Decreased Jump Speed

At the time of writing, Walay is the only Agent who can apply the ‘Hindered’ status to enemies. However, future updates or new Agents may introduce additional ways to inflict this debuff.

Riot Games has officially unveiled the abilities of Waylay, the newest Valorant Agent, just ahead of her grand reveal at the Masters Bangkok Showmatch.

For the uninitiated, Waylay is set to be the 28th Valorant Agent and the first Duelist to be added to the game’s roster after Iso.

The prismatic radiant from Thailand will be able to transform into light and maneuver throughout the battlefield, hindering her opponents and escaping dire situations in the blink of an eye.

Without further ado, let’s check out the detailed abilities of Waylay in Valorant.

Valorant Waylay Abilities Explained

Waylay is a highly mobile Duelist who can dash in or out of gunfights and take control of crucial choke points at ease with her flexible kit. She also introduces a new status effect to the game—Hindering enemies by slowing their movement and weapon actions.

“We haven’t had a ‘space taking duelist’ since Valorant’s launch,” June Cuervo, Valorant Game Designer, said in a statement. “This subclass of duelist that only Jett and Raze occupy has been an essential part of team compositions at all levels of play, and we wanted to add something fresh to this gameplay space.”

Here are all the abilities of Waylay in Valorant, as revealed by the devs:

• REFRACT: INSTANTLY create a beacon of light on the floor. REACTIVATE to speed back to your beacon as a mote of pure light. You are invulnerable as you travel.

• LIGHT SPEED: EQUIP to prepare for a burst of speed. FIRE to dash forward twice. ALT FIRE to dash once. Only your first dash can send you upward.

• SATURATE: INSTANTLY throw a cluster of light that explodes upon contact with the ground, HINDERING nearby players with a powerful movement and weapon slow.

• CONVERGENT PATHS (Ultimate): EQUIP to focus your prismatic power. FIRE to create an afterimage of yourself that projects a beam of light. After a brief delay, you gain a powerful speed boost and the beam expands, HINDERING other players in the area.

Hindering is a new debuff that Waylay brings to the game. Upon Hindering an enemy, they will have their movement speed reduced as well as their jump speed, fire rate, recoil recovery, equip time, and reload speed.

“She (Waylay) is flexible and creative with a lot of options for how she approaches taking the site,” Cuervo said when describing her play style. “Since you have a lot of options for how you use your dash, grenade, and ultimate, you can combine these things to attack from unique angles and vantage points to always keep enemies guessing.”

Valorant Waylay Release Date

While Waylay will officially be unveiled today during the Valorant Masters Bangkok showmatch, we’re still a few days away from her official addition to the game’s roster.

Waylay will make her way to Valorant with the game’s Episode 10 Act 2 update, which is scheduled to hit the live servers on March 5, 2025. This date can vary based on your game region.