Summary
Valorant’s eighth duelist, Waylay, was officially released on March 5 alongside the start of Season 2025 Act 2. As the first new agent to be released this year, the expectations for Waylay and her gameplay are high. Many are also anticipating her gameplay since she is the first new duelist since Iso’s release in October 2023.
While some have already dubbed her a replacement for Jett, there is more to Waylay than her similarities to the Korean agent. Her playstyle is both fun and unique; she could possibly change the meta of Valorant as we know it. Though players have yet to learn all about her, she will undoubtedly cause a storm once more people play her. With that, it’s worth learning more about this duelist agent.
8Waylay Is Valorant’s First Thai Agent
It has become a trend for Valorant to release an agent from the same country VCT Masters is held. This year, VCT was held in Bangkok, Thailand, where Waylay is from. She is Valorant’s first Thai agent and the seventh agent to hail from Asia.
Other agents from Asia include Jett (South Korea), Iso, Sage (China), Harbor (India), Neon (The Philippines), and Yoru (Japan). Of these agents, only Neon and Waylay are from Southeast Asia.
7Waylay Is A Space-Taking Duelist
Waylay is Valorant’s 28th agent and eighth duelist. She isn’t just any kind of duelist, however; she is a space-taking duelist meant to help their team secure the site and take down enemies. She is the first new space-taking Duelist since the game’s launch with Jett and Raze.
Waylay’s design lead, June ‘Riot Junebird’ Cuervo, explained why they felt the need to add a new space-taking duelist.Speaking to Microsoft and Riot, they said, “We saw an opportunity in this space since it’s been so long since we’ve created a Duelist like this. We wanted to add some more variety to this role since we see one on basically every team, especially in Pro play.”
6One Of Her Abilities Seriously Nerfs Enemies
Waylay’s first basic ability is Saturate. Similar to Neon’s Relay Bolt, Saturate nerfs the movement speed and fire rate of your enemies, making it difficult for them to aim and kill her. Saturate does one single bounce, allowing it to hit more than one enemy.
The introduction of Waylay also introduced a new debuff called Hinder. When you Hinder an enemy, it refers to severely slowing their movement speed and reducing their fire rate, recoil recovery, equip speed, and reload speed. Currently, Waylay is the only Valorant agent capable of Hindering, but there will likely be more in the future.
5Light Speed Allows Her To Take A Site Swiftly
Her second basic ability is Light Speed, which has drawn similarities to Jett’s dash. When you left-click, Waylay will dash forward twice, while right-clicking will make her dash forward once. The dash only allows Waylay to move forward, so it isn’t useful for trying to get away from combat. Instead, it is best used to make space and get onto the site faster.
Waylay’s first dash forward can send her upward, while the second sends her straight forward. You can use her upward dash to get into heaven in Pearl or to the back site of Haven quickly, making her versatile in battle.
4Waylay’s Signature Ability Is Reminiscent Of Phoenix’s Ultimate
Phoenix’s Ultimate, Run It Back, places a marker at Phoenix’s location and allows him to walk onto the site and kill people. If he dies or the timer of his Ultimate runs out, he is teleported back to his marker with full health. Waylay’s signature ability, Refract, is similar.
After placing a marker on the ground, Waylay is able to move to any location on the map. If in danger, you will be able to activate the ability and speed back to the marker. You will be invulnerable while traveling, but you will not be able to see anyone or the mini-map. This makes you vulnerable to enemies camping your marker. Currently, Refract has no range limit, meaning you may travel to the opposite side of the map and still use the ability.
3Confuse Enemies With Waylay’s Ultimate
Waylay’s Ultimate is called Convergent Paths. When activated, you will focus on your prismatic power and fire an afterimage of Waylay that projects a beam of light. After, Waylay will gain a speed boost and the beam will expand, hidering enemies by nerfing their movement and fire rate.
Some might claim her Ultimate is similar to Fade, Breach, and Reyna. It is similar to Fade’s due to the range of the Ultimate, being able to almost take a whole site. It is similar to Breach since it blinds and stuns enemies in a similar way. Lastly, it is similar to Reyna’s since after activating Waylay’s Ultimate, enemies will be highlighted and the lighting of the site will darken.
2Her Voice Lines Embrace Her Thai Identity
Several of Waylay’s voice lines incorporate Thai or are spoken entirely in Thai. One of her match start lines references a fortune-teller, also known as Mor Doo or ‘a doctor who sees’ in Thai. Fortune-tellers are commonly found in Bangkok and utilize tarot cards and astrological charts to make predictions. Thailand places a lot of trust in these fortune-tellers, and many visit them for guidance and advice.
While Waylay does translate some of the words she uses, she often doesn’t. If you want to know what she’s saying, search for her voice lines and translate them to get a deeper understanding of Waylay’s identity.
While her interactions with other agents include some Thai lines, her language truly comes out when faced with another Waylay from the enemy team. When she kills the enemy Waylay, she speaks to her in all Thai, showing off her cultural identity.
1The Meaning Of Waylay’s Name
Did you know Waylay is actually a verb that was commonly used in the 1850s? Waylay means to lie in wait and attack someone in an ambush. It could also mean causing someone trouble by hindering their movement or progress.
The meaning of Waylay perfectly coincides with how Waylay’s abilities work. Since she disrupts the enemy by nerfing their movements speed and ability to shoot, she is definitely waylaying them.
