Best Agents & Maps for Ares (2026) — Valorant Weapon Guide

The Ares is Valorant's budget heavy machine gun — a 1,600-credit suppression tool with a 50-round magazine, high wall penetration, and a spin-up mechanic that increases fire rate the longer you hold the trigger. The Ares sits in a unique economic niche as the cheapest weapon with high wall penetration, costing less than every rifle and even less than the Spectre-plus-heavy-shields combination that most players default to on force-buy rounds. The Ares rewards a playstyle built around wallbanging, prefiring common positions, and sustained suppressive fire through surfaces that block rifle rounds — a fundamentally different approach from the precision-first philosophy of rifles and snipers. The Ares's 50-round magazine means you can spray through a wall for several seconds without reloading, turning surfaces that provide cover against rifles into death traps for enemies who assume they are safe. The spin-up mechanic means the first few bullets fire at a slower rate with wider spread, but sustained fire tightens the spread and increases the rate of fire, rewarding players who commit to spraying rather than tap-firing. This guide covers the best agents, maps, and strategies to maximize the Ares's value in 2026.

Ares Overview

The Ares is a heavy machine gun that costs 1,600 credits and fires from a 50-round magazine with a spin-up mechanic that increases the fire rate from 10 rounds per second to 13 rounds per second as you hold the trigger. Each bullet deals 72 damage to the head, 30 to the body, and 25 to the legs within 30 meters, with damage dropping to 67 head, 28 body, and 23 legs beyond 30 meters. The Ares kills in 3 headshots (216 damage) or 5 body shots (150 damage) through heavy shields at close range — the 5-body-shot kill takes approximately 0.4 seconds at maximum fire rate, which is competitive with rifles in time-to-kill when all shots connect. The Ares has high wall penetration, sharing the same penetration tier as the Operator, Odin, and Outlaw — this is the Ares's most valuable property and the primary reason to buy it over a Spectre or Bulldog. The Ares features a 1.25x ADS zoom that slightly improves accuracy but reduces fire rate, creating a trade-off between precision and volume of fire. The Ares imposes a heavy movement speed penalty while equipped, making the player slower than with any other weapon class except the Odin.

Key Stats

• Cost: 1,600 credits
• Magazine: 50 rounds
• Fire Rate: 10 rounds/sec, spinning up to 13 rounds/sec with sustained fire
• Damage (0-30m): Head 72 / Body 30 / Legs 25
• Damage (30-50m): Head 67 / Body 28 / Legs 23
• Wall Penetration: High
• Special: Spin-up mechanic increases fire rate and tightens spread with sustained fire; 1.25x ADS zoom available

Strengths

• High wall penetration at the lowest price of any weapon in its penetration tier makes the Ares the premier wallbanging tool on a budget — the Ares shares the Operator's high wall penetration tier, meaning bullets pass through surfaces with minimal damage reduction. Combined with the 50-round magazine, the Ares can sustain wallbang spray through thick walls for nearly four seconds straight — no other weapon at any price can match this combination of penetration, magazine size, and sustained fire. Enemies hiding behind thin walls, wooden boxes, and penetrable surfaces that stop rifle rounds are vulnerable to Ares spray. On maps with known wallbang spots — Ascent B Market wall, Haven C Long boxes, Bind B Long wall — the Ares turns common hiding positions into kill zones for 1,600 credits
• 50-round magazine enables sustained suppressive fire that no rifle can match — the Ares's magazine is double the Vandal's 25 rounds and more than triple the Guardian's 12. In post-plant situations where you need to spray through smoke or deny a defuse through a wall, the Ares can fire continuously for nearly four seconds at max fire rate without reloading. This sustained fire capability makes the Ares uniquely effective for smoke spam, wallbang spam, and area denial — roles where the weapon's lower per-bullet damage is offset by the sheer volume of bullets it delivers. A Vandal player empties their magazine in 2.5 seconds and must reload; an Ares player is still firing
• 1,600-credit price point is the most economically efficient force-buy weapon in the game — at 1,600 credits the Ares costs the same as the Spectre but offers high wall penetration that the Spectre lacks, making it the more versatile budget option on maps with wallbang opportunities. An Ares plus heavy shields costs 2,600 credits total — a full force-buy loadout that leaves credits for utility. The economic efficiency means the Ares is the weapon of choice on force-buy rounds where the team has 2,500-3,500 credits and needs a gun that can kill through walls and sustain fire through smokes. Losing an Ares hurts the economy far less than losing a Vandal or Phantom
• Spin-up mechanic rewards prefiring and committed sprays, turning prediction into kills — the spin-up mechanic means the Ares gets more accurate and fires faster the longer you hold the trigger. Players who prefire common angles — starting the spray before the enemy peeks — reach maximum fire rate and tightest spread precisely when the enemy appears. This rewards game sense and map knowledge over raw reaction time, making the Ares forgiving for players who can predict enemy timing but lack the flick aim to win rifle duels. The spin-up also means the Ares is surprisingly effective when holding angles because you can prefire the corner and be at full spin-up when the enemy swings

Weaknesses

• Low per-bullet body damage means the Ares loses to rifles in equal-skill duels at medium range — at 30 body damage per bullet, the Ares needs 5 body shots to kill through heavy shields while the Vandal needs 4 at 40 damage per shot. The Vandal's faster time-to-kill on body shots, combined with its one-tap headshot at 160 damage versus the Ares's 72-damage headshot that requires three hits, means a Vandal player who hits their shots will kill the Ares player first in a straight-up duel. The Ares compensates with volume and wallbanging, but in a clean head-to-head gunfight with no cover involved, the rifle wins
• Spin-up mechanic makes the first few shots inaccurate and slow, punishing reactive peeks — because the Ares starts at 10 rounds per second with wider spread and only reaches 13 rounds per second with tighter spread after sustained fire, the first 3-4 bullets are the least accurate and slowest. If an enemy swings and you start firing reactively, the spin-up delay puts you behind a rifle player whose first bullet is already at maximum accuracy. The Ares is a terrible weapon for quick-peeking, jiggle-peeking, or any playstyle that relies on winning the first-bullet duel. You must be pre-aimed and prefiring to maximize the weapon
• Heavy movement speed penalty makes rotation and repositioning slow and dangerous — the Ares imposes the heaviest movement speed penalty in the game alongside the Odin, making the equipped player noticeably slower than rifle carriers. Rotating between sites, falling back after a lost fight, and repositioning mid-round are all slower and more punishing with the Ares. Enemies can hear the slower, heavier footsteps and know a heavy weapon player is approaching. The movement penalty also makes wide swings and aggressive peeks less viable because you traverse the open space more slowly, giving enemies more time to react
• ADS reduces fire rate, creating an awkward trade-off that rifles do not have — the Ares's 1.25x ADS zoom improves accuracy but slows the fire rate, meaning you choose between better accuracy at lower damage output or worse accuracy at higher damage output. Rifles have no such trade-off — ADS on a Vandal or Phantom does not reduce fire rate. The Ares player must decide in real-time whether to ADS for accuracy or hip-fire for speed, and choosing wrong is punishing. ADS also slows movement further, compounding the already heavy movement penalty

Best Agents for the Ares

Based on data from over 50,000 ranked matches using the Ares tracked on dodge.gg, here are the highest winrate agent pairings.

Duelists

• Raze — Raze's Blast Pack damage softens enemies for the Ares's 30-damage body shots. An enemy who takes 30+ damage from a Blast Pack dies to 4 body shots instead of 5, shaving nearly 0.1 seconds off the time-to-kill. Paint Shells grenades clear corners and force enemies into the Ares's spray line. Boom Bot flushes enemies from cover into the open where the Ares's sustained spray is most effective — an enemy running from Boom Bot is easy to track with the Ares's continuous fire because you can hold the trigger and let the spin-up do the work while they are forced to move predictably. Showstopper ultimate forces enemies to scatter, and the Ares's 50-round magazine can spray multiple angles where scattered enemies land.
• Phoenix — Blaze wall blocks sightlines and forces enemies to push through fire, taking damage that softens them below the Ares's 5-body-shot kill threshold. Hot Hands molotov controls space and chips enemies. Curveball flash creates blinded targets for Ares sprays — the Ares is particularly effective against flashed enemies because you can start spraying before the flash pops and be at full spin-up when they are blinded. Run It Back ultimate lets Phoenix take an aggressive Ares position with no economic risk — if Phoenix dies during the ultimate, the Ares is not lost.
• Neon — High Gear sprint and slide mitigate the Ares's movement speed penalty by letting Neon reposition between spray positions at full speed before pulling out the Ares. Fast Lane walls channel enemies into narrow corridors where the Ares's sustained spray is devastating. Relay Bolt stuns enemies in place for easy Ares kills — a stunned enemy cannot dodge the spray. Neon's sprint compensates for the Ares's biggest weakness (movement speed) while her utility creates the confined, predictable enemy movement patterns where the Ares excels.

Initiators

• Sova — Recon Bolt reveals enemy positions for pre-aimed Ares wallbangs — this is the single most powerful synergy the Ares has with any agent. When Sova's dart tags an enemy behind a wall, the Ares's high wall penetration and 50-round magazine let you spray through the wall at a known position for up to four seconds. The wallbang damage from the Ares through penetrable surfaces is enough to kill in 6-7 body shots through most walls, and with a revealed position you can track and spray the enemy through cover that would protect them from any rifle. Owl Drone scouts positions for wallbang setups. Shock Bolt chip damage softens enemies for faster Ares kills. Sova plus Ares is the premier budget wallbang combination in Valorant.
• Fade — Haunt reveals and marks enemies for Ares wallbangs through surfaces. Nightfall ultimate decays enemies, reducing their HP below the Ares's 5-body-shot threshold — a decayed enemy with 100 HP dies to 4 body shots, and the Ares's sustained fire ensures all 4 connect quickly. Prowler nearsights enemies, and a nearsighted enemy cannot see the Ares tracers to dodge the spray. Seize tethers enemies in place, creating stationary targets that the Ares's spray-down capability destroys. Fade's debuffs reduce enemy HP and mobility, both of which directly amplify the Ares's sustained damage output.
• Breach — Fault Line stuns enemies for free Ares spray kills — a stunned, stationary target is the ideal scenario for the Ares because you can prefire the stun location and be at full spin-up when the stun lands. Flashpoint blinds enemies through walls, and combining a wallbang Ares spray with a Breach flash through the same wall creates a situation where the enemy cannot see the tracers to dodge while taking high-penetration damage. Aftershock forces enemies out of corners into the Ares's line of fire. Rolling Thunder ultimate knocks up and displaces enemies, creating chaotic positioning that the Ares's 50-round spray exploits better than precision weapons.

Controllers

• Brimstone — Sky Smoke creates one-way setups where the Ares sprays through smoke at predictable push paths. Incendiary molly chips enemies pushing through chokes, softening them below the 150 HP threshold for faster Ares kills. Stim Beacon increases the Ares's already high fire rate even further — the Stim Beacon's fire rate boost on a fully spun-up Ares creates the highest sustained damage output of any non-ultimate weapon in the game. Orbital Strike forces enemies into the open where the Ares spray controls the space. Brimstone's Stim Beacon synergy with the Ares is unique and powerful.
• Viper — Toxic Screen forces enemies through the wall one at a time into the Ares's crosshair. Poison Cloud decay reduces enemy HP, meaning the Ares needs fewer body shots to kill decayed targets pushing through Viper utility. Snake Bite vulnerability amplifies all damage including the Ares's 30-damage body shots, potentially reducing the kill requirement from 5 to 3-4 body shots on a vulnerable target. Viper's Pit creates a zone where Viper sees enemies first, and the Ares inside the pit can spray continuously at enemies who push in with reduced HP from decay.
• Omen — Dark Cover smokes create one-way setups for Ares spray through smoke. Paranoia nearsights enemies, preventing them from seeing Ares tracers and adjusting their movement to dodge the spray. Shrouded Step repositions to unexpected angles for new spray positions. From The Shadows teleports to positions behind enemy lines where the Ares's 50-round magazine can spray down multiple enemies from behind before they react. Omen's deceptive positioning combined with the Ares's sustained fire creates ambush spray-downs.

Sentinels

• Cypher — Trapwire detects and slows enemies for pre-aimed Ares spray kills. A slowed enemy walking through Trapwire is easy to spray down with sustained Ares fire. Spycam reveals enemy positions for wallbang sprays — Cypher's camera tag combined with Ares wallbanging is the sentinel equivalent of the Sova-Ares wallbang combo. Neural Theft reveals all enemies for five seconds, and five seconds of wallhack combined with the Ares's high wall penetration and 50-round magazine means you can wallbang every revealed enemy through any penetrable surface on the map. Cypher's information web maximizes the Ares's wallbang potential.
• Killjoy — Turret tags enemies and provides directional information for Ares spray positioning. Alarmbot vulnerability debuff amplifies the Ares's body damage — a vulnerable enemy takes increased damage per bullet, potentially reducing the body-shot kill requirement from 5 shots to 3-4 shots. This vulnerability synergy is one of the strongest Ares pairings because it directly addresses the weapon's low per-bullet damage weakness. Nanoswarm forces enemies out of cover into the Ares's spray line. Lockdown forces enemies to either flee into the Ares spray or stay and be detained.
• Sage — Barrier Orb wall forces enemies to break the wall or go around it, and while they focus on the wall the Ares can spray through the wall itself using high wall penetration to deal damage to enemies standing behind the barrier. Slow Orb slows enemies, making them easier to track with sustained Ares fire. Healing Orb sustains the Ares player through chip damage between spray fights. Resurrection brings back a teammate who can cover the Ares player during the slow reload. Sage's slowing and walling utility creates the stationary, predictable enemy movement patterns where the Ares's sustained spray excels.

Best Maps for the Ares

Based on data from over 50,000 ranked matches using the Ares tracked on dodge.gg, here are the maps where the Ares performs best relative to rifles and other weapons.

Top Tier Maps

• Ascent — Ascent has some of the most exploitable wallbang positions in Valorant. B Market wall, mid pizza angle through the wall, and A Main boxes are all penetrable surfaces where the Ares's high wall penetration and 50-round magazine create kill opportunities that rifles cannot replicate. Mid doors is a narrow gap where pre-spinning the Ares before the enemy peeks means you reach max fire rate at the moment of contact. Ascent's mid-range sightlines are within the Ares's optimal 15-25 meter engagement distance where the spray is accurate enough to connect consistently. The combination of wallbang spots and medium-range angles makes Ascent the best Ares map.
• Haven — Haven's three sites create frequent rotations and retakes where the Ares's 50-round magazine sustains spray through an entire site take. C Long boxes, A Long wooden cover, and Garage ceiling are wallbangable with the Ares's high penetration. The three-site layout means more force-buy rounds because economy is stretched thinner, and force-buy rounds are where the Ares's 1,600-credit price shines. Haven also features multiple narrow corridors — Garage, A Short, C Long — where the Ares's suppressive spray denies pushes more effectively than rifles that run out of bullets mid-spray.
• Bind — Bind's tight corridors, teleporter exits, and close-range fights suit the Ares's spray-and-pray strengths. Hookah is a tight choke where the Ares can prefire and be at full spin-up when enemies push through. B Long wall is penetrable with high-penetration weapons, creating wallbang opportunities. The teleporter exits create predictable positions where enemies appear — prefiring the teleporter exit with the Ares rewards prediction with spray-down kills. Bind's compact layout compresses fights into the Ares's effective range where the sustained spray overwhelms.

Mid Tier Maps

• Split — Split's tight mid corridor and A/B Heaven positions provide good Ares spray-down angles. Mid is narrow enough that the Ares's spray controls the entire width. Heaven positions at A and B provide elevated angles where the Ares can prefire attackers pushing up ramps. However, Split's verticality creates angles where enemies can jiggle-peek from above, exploiting the Ares's spin-up weakness against fast peeks. The Ares on Split is effective when holding angles but struggles when you need to take space aggressively.
• Sunset — Sunset's compact sightlines and close-range fights keep engagements within the Ares's effective distance. The narrow corridors make the Ares's spray hard to dodge, and enemies pushing through chokes walk into sustained fire. However, the close quarters also mean enemies close the distance quickly, and the Ares's movement speed penalty makes disengaging from a bad fight difficult on Sunset's tight map.
• Lotus — Lotus's rotating doors create ambush opportunities where you can prefire through the door with the Ares and be at full spin-up when the door opens. The tight site interiors suit the Ares's spray-down playstyle. However, the rotating doors can also create surprise close-range encounters where the spin-up delay is punishing, and Lotus's multiple angles on each site make it hard to control all threats with a single spray line.

Avoid

• Breeze — Breeze's 30-50 meter sightlines exceed the Ares's effective accuracy range. At 30+ meters the Ares's damage drops to 28 body, requiring 6 body shots to kill through heavy shields, and the spray spread at that distance means many shots miss entirely. Breeze's open spaces give enemies room to strafe and dodge the Ares's tracers. Rifles and snipers dominate Breeze's long-range fights, and the Ares's wallbang advantages are less relevant on a map with fewer penetrable surfaces at common engagement distances.
• Icebox — Icebox's long mid sightline and elevated A site angles demand precision that the Ares cannot provide. The 30+ meter engagements at mid reduce the Ares to a noisy damage-reduced spray that alerts enemies to your position without killing them. The elevation changes on A site create angles where the Ares's spray misses above or below the target. Icebox rewards scoped weapons and precise rifles, not sustained machine gun fire.
• Pearl — Pearl's long corridors create 25-35 meter engagement distances at the edge of the Ares's effective range. While the corridors are narrow enough that spray can connect, the distance reduces damage and the straight sightlines give enemies clear sight of the Ares tracers to dodge laterally. Pearl's structured sightlines favor precise weapons that kill in fewer shots at range. The Ares on Pearl can work for wallbang spam at specific positions but is generally outperformed by rifles and snipers.

When to Buy the Ares

Force-Buy Rounds (2,500-3,500 Credits)

The Ares's ideal economic niche is force-buy rounds where the team has 2,500-3,500 credits — enough for the Ares (1,600) plus heavy shields (1,000) and some utility, but not enough for a rifle with full utility. At 2,600 credits total for Ares plus heavy shields, you get a weapon with high wall penetration, a 50-round magazine, and competitive time-to-kill against rifled opponents. The Ares force-buy is the most cost-efficient full-armor weapon loadout in Valorant.

When Your Team Needs Wallbang Pressure

If the enemy team has established positions behind penetrable surfaces — B Market on Ascent, C Long boxes on Haven, Hookah walls on Bind — the Ares is the cheapest way to threaten those positions through walls. A single Ares player can deny an entire position behind a thin wall by spraying it continuously, forcing enemies to reposition or die to wallbang damage. This wallbang denial capability is worth the 1,600-credit investment even on full-buy rounds where the rest of the team has rifles.

Anti-Eco and Bonus Rounds

On rounds following a win where the enemy team is likely on an eco or half-buy, the Ares's 50-round magazine is devastating against lightly armored enemies who die in 3-4 body shots. The economic risk of losing the Ares (1,600 credits) on a bonus round is minimal, and the spray-down capability against multiple rushing enemies with SMGs and pistols is superior to a rifle's 25-round magazine. The Ares turns eco-rush rounds from risky for the winning team into heavily favorable.

When Your Team Has Reveal Utility

The Ares's value increases dramatically when teammates have abilities that reveal enemy positions through walls. Sova Recon Bolt, Cypher Neural Theft, Fade Haunt, and Skye Trailblazer all provide positional information that converts the Ares's high wall penetration into wallbang kills. If your team composition includes consistent reveal abilities, buying the Ares specifically for wallbang spray is a legitimate strategy even on full-buy rounds.

When NOT to Buy

• On full-buy rounds when you can afford a Vandal or Phantom — if you have 4,000+ credits and the map demands medium-to-long range precision, the Vandal or Phantom is strictly superior in gunfights. The rifle's one-tap headshot, better first-shot accuracy, and superior movement speed outclass the Ares in every dimension except wallbanging and magazine size. Save the Ares for rounds when rifles are too expensive
• On maps with long sightlines where the Ares's damage falls off — on Breeze, Icebox, and Pearl the 30+ meter engagements reduce the Ares's body damage to 28, requiring 6 shots to kill through heavy shields. At those distances the spray spread means most shots miss, and the tracers reveal your position to enemy snipers who will kill you with one shot. Buy a Marshal or save for a rifle instead
• When the enemy team has Operator players holding long angles — the Ares cannot challenge an Operator at range. The Ares's tracers announce your position, the spray takes time to reach the target at distance, and the Operator kills in one shot. If the enemy team has a dedicated Operator player, spending 1,600 credits on a weapon that cannot contest their angle is a waste — buy utility to smoke or flash the Operator instead
• On eco rounds when every credit matters — at 1,600 credits the Ares is expensive for an eco round. A Ghost (500) or Sheriff (800) preserves more credits for the next round's full buy while still providing kill potential through headshots. The Ares on an eco round burns credits that could fund heavy shields and utility on the next round

Ares vs Other Weapons

Ares vs Odin (3,200 credits)

The Odin costs double the Ares, fires at a higher base rate, has a 100-round magazine versus the Ares's 50, and deals slightly higher damage per bullet. The Odin's 100-round magazine and faster spin-up make it the superior wallbanging and suppression weapon in absolute terms. The Ares's advantage is purely economic — at 1,600 credits versus 3,200 the Ares provides roughly 70% of the Odin's capability at 50% of the cost. On force-buy rounds the Ares is the correct heavy machine gun choice. On full-buy rounds when economy permits and the strategy calls for sustained wallbang pressure, the Odin is worth the premium.

Ares vs Spectre (1,600 credits)

The Spectre costs the same 1,600 credits and offers better movement speed, better first-shot accuracy, faster ADS, and a silenced barrel with no tracers. The Spectre is the superior run-and-gun weapon and excels at close-range aggressive peeks. The Ares's advantages over the Spectre are high wall penetration (the Spectre has low penetration), double the magazine size (50 vs 27), and higher sustained damage output over time. On maps with wallbang opportunities and corridor spam, the Ares outvalues the Spectre. On maps requiring mobility and aggressive peeking, the Spectre wins. At the same price point, the choice between Ares and Spectre defines whether you want to hold angles and wallbang or push aggressively and run-and-gun.

Ares vs Vandal (2,900 credits)

The Vandal costs 1,300 more, one-taps headshots at 160 damage at all ranges, has better first-shot accuracy, carries 25 rounds, and imposes less movement speed penalty. The Vandal wins rifle duels through superior per-shot damage and precision. The Ares's advantages are magazine size (50 vs 25), high wall penetration for wallbangs, and lower cost. In straight gunfights the Vandal is strictly superior. In wallbang scenarios, smoke spam, and suppressive fire, the Ares provides capability the Vandal cannot match. Most players should buy the Vandal when they can afford it and the Ares when they cannot.

Ares vs Bulldog (2,050 credits)

The Bulldog costs 450 more, has a 1.25x ADS with a three-round burst mode, and deals 35 body damage. The Bulldog is a budget rifle that tries to replicate Vandal behavior at a lower price. The Ares's advantages over the Bulldog are high wall penetration, more than double the magazine size, and lower cost. The Bulldog's advantages are better first-shot accuracy, a burst mode for precision, and lighter movement speed. On maps and positions where wallbanging matters, the Ares is worth the 450-credit savings. On maps where rifle precision matters, the Bulldog's burst mode provides more value.

Ares vs Guardian (2,250 credits)

The Guardian costs 650 more, fires semi-automatically with one-tap headshot kills at 195 damage, has high wall penetration matching the Ares, and carries 12 rounds. The Guardian and Ares share high wall penetration, but their playstyles are opposite — the Guardian rewards tap-shooting precision while the Ares rewards sustained spray. The Guardian kills in fewer shots (2 body shots at 65 damage) but fires much slower and has only 12 rounds per magazine. On wallbang angles where you know the enemy position, the Guardian's higher per-shot damage through walls is more efficient. On wallbang angles where you need to spray a general area, the Ares's 50-round magazine and sustained fire are superior.

Playstyle Tips

Prefire Everything — The Spin-Up Rewards Prediction

The Ares's spin-up mechanic means you should start firing before the enemy appears. On every angle you hold, begin the spray 0.2-0.3 seconds before you expect the enemy to peek. By the time they swing into your crosshair, the Ares is at maximum fire rate with tightened spread. Prefiring eliminates the Ares's biggest weakness — the slow, inaccurate first shots — and turns it into a strength because your sustained spray is already at peak performance when the fight begins. If you are reacting to peeks instead of predicting them, the Ares will lose to rifles every time.

Wallbang Every Penetrable Surface You Know

Learn the wallbang spots on every map you play with the Ares. The high wall penetration means surfaces that stop rifle rounds still let Ares bullets through with lethal damage. When you hear enemies behind a penetrable surface — footsteps behind B Market on Ascent, utility sounds behind C Long boxes on Haven — spray through the wall immediately. The 50-round magazine means you can sustain the wallbang spray long enough to kill an enemy who does not reposition immediately. Even if you do not get the kill, the wallbang damage and suppression force the enemy to move, giving your team information about their new position.

Use ADS at 20+ Meters, Hip-Fire Under 20 Meters

The Ares's 1.25x ADS zoom improves accuracy at the cost of fire rate. At distances beyond 20 meters, the accuracy improvement is worth the fire rate reduction because the spray spread at that distance causes too many misses without ADS. Under 20 meters, hip-fire at full fire rate is more effective because the spread is tight enough to connect consistently and the higher fire rate kills faster. Switching between ADS and hip-fire based on distance is a skill that separates good Ares players from great ones.

Hold Angles, Do Not Peek

The Ares is a defensive weapon. Its spin-up mechanic rewards holding angles and punishes aggressive peeking. Never wide-swing an angle with the Ares — the movement speed penalty makes you slow through the open space, and the spin-up delay means your first shots are inaccurate while the enemy's first Vandal shot is a potential one-tap headshot. Instead, hold a pre-aimed angle, prefire when you hear or see the enemy approach, and let the spin-up work for you. If you need to take space aggressively, switch to your sidearm for the peek and pull out the Ares once you are in position.

Spray Through Smokes — The Magazine Supports It

When enemies smoke an entrance and push through, the Ares is the best weapon for spraying the smoke. The 50-round magazine means you can spray a smoked entrance for 3-4 seconds at full fire rate without reloading — long enough to cover the entire duration of a fast push through smoke. The high penetration ensures bullets that pass through the smoke and hit the wall behind still deal meaningful damage. Spray at common push heights (chest level) in a slow horizontal sweep, and the volume of fire will catch enemies pushing through the smoke who assume they are safe.

Track Your Ares Stats

Want to see how your Ares spray accuracy, wallbang kills, kills per round, body-shot percentage, damage per round, and economy efficiency compare across maps and agents? Dodge.gg tracks all your Valorant matches automatically and shows weapon-specific stats including kills per round, headshot percentage, first-shot hit rate, damage per round, and economy efficiency per weapon.