On Google, Reddit and everywhere else the term "Radiant" frequently pops up in connection with Riot Games' Valorant. At the same time, though, the term "Radianite" keeps popping up as well and it turns out that most people seem to be confusing the two. So, what exactly is the difference? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Spoiler: Radianite is a currency in the in-game shop, while Radiants are people within the Valorant lore; individuals with special abilities.
But let’s get started with the Radianite Points.
When the money’s tight, use Radianite
Watching streams or playing the beta, you probably came across some agents with seriously blinged-out weaponry. That, or Michael Bay-esque special effects on kills or uber-cool reload animations.
Like many games, Valorant features skins. However, for the sake of competitive integrity, it will not feature character skins and we will have to make do with weapon skins only. These come in the form of reloading animations, and kill and sound effects.
Most weapon skin sets are locked behind a paywall. To get to these weapon skins, you need to shell out of some the so-called Valorant Points (VP) in the in-game store. VP can be purchased with real money:
- 500 VP – $5,49
- 1150 VP – $11,99
- 2150 VP – $21,90
- 4400 VP – $43,99
- 5500 VP – $53.99
- 10500 VP – $99,99
Alternatively, there are agent-specific sidearm skins you can unlock for free by grinding the agents’ challenges:
Each agent has a set of challenges, or contracts, that are completed by playing the game and earning XP to level up the agent. Completing these contracts unlocks different rewards, with the agent-specific sidearm skins being a tier-9 reward.
Whether you buy the skin-sets or unlock the agent-specific skins, they are all upgraded with Radianite Points (RP).
Radianite Points are earned by playing the game and completing contracts, but you can also just buy them by trading in your Valorant Points at the in-game store:
- 20 RP – 1600 VP
- 40 RP – 2800 VP
- 80 RP – 4800 VP
Ten Radianite Points are enough to upgrade any weapon to level 4 – the maximum level which includes all cosmetic features.
In case you’re wondering about what happens to your VP once the beta is over, no worries:
If you purchase VP during the closed beta, you’ll get them back in the full game, with a 20% bonus on top. So, if you have 1000 VP at the end of the beta, you’ll have 1200 on your Valorant account when the full game goes live.
READ MORE:
- Team Liquid holds Grudge Match – CS:GO vs Valorant
- Valorant beta key drops now available in all streams
Radiants are basically superheroes
Radiants are an essential part of the Valorant lore: They are individuals that, after the mysterious so-called First Light event, exhibited unique and special powers. Thus, many of the playable Agents are Radiants. Resident edge-lord Omen, for example, is a Radiant, while Sova is a human using Radiant Technology.
Valorant takes place in the near future on a fictionalized version of planet Earth that’s been a bit chaotic ever since the First Light event took place.
If you want to learn more about the Valorant lore, stick around for our upcoming summary what we know so far about the game's story.
In the meantime, here's everything you need to know about Valorant.