March 13, 2023
If you’re looking to get comfortable with an initiator’s ability to offer your team intel, but practicing line-ups with Sova seems tedious, then I would suggest putting some time into unlocking Kay/O. His suppression knife is great for revealing enemy players and forcing them to either push without abilities or delay themselves. His flashes can be used to create great pick opportunities, and his grenade can be used to force opponents out of hiding. His ultimate ability can also help keep enemies from using their utilities as he moves. Kay/O is definitely an initiator worth figuring out, and this article will help guide you through his abilities and some tips and tricks to start making the most of this agent.
Flash/Drive (Q Ability)
Equip a flash grenade. Fire to throw. The flash grenade explodes after a short fuse, blinding anyone in the line of sight.
You can lob or throw flash drives to varying effects. Lobbing the ability over smaller covers, like crates, before turning to clear the area is a good strategy to create easy picks for you and your team. Once you throw the flash, quickly look away so you don’t also blind yourself. The short fuse and ability to bounce the ability of objects give Kay/O a huge advantage.
This ability can be used while pushing, countering a push, or simply to clear confined spaces like the trailer on Bind, so we recommend stocking up on this ability as often as you can.
Once you’re comfortable with flashing, there is a trick you can try to throw your opponents off. If you right-click, you can throw your pop-flash behind you while trying to peek at an opening or angle. If you can pull this off correctly, you will avoid flashing yourself, but the other team should have less time to react.
Zero/Point (E Ability)
Equip a suppression blade. Fire to throw. The blade sticks to the first surface it hits. Winds up and suppresses anyone in the radius of the explosion.
This is probably one of Kay/O’s most important abilities. Zero/Point causes an AOE effect, temporarily denying anyone caught in it from using their abilities. It can be thrown almost anywhere, depending on how you toss it. You can cut off choke points or chuck it across the map to surprise anyone caught in spawn. You don’t have to stick to your target. Just catch them in the abilities radius. The ability also notifies you how many and which agents are caught in your trap, which makes for very valuable intel. There will always be opportunities to use this ability, so there is never really a bad time to release it.
It’s important to remember that this ability is more than just a means to discovering where your enemies are hiding. Using the knife simply to locate enemies can lead it to be easily destroyed without gathering enough intel. Use this ability on walls that enemies may be hiding behind. This will make it hard for the enemy to destroy it and easy for you to locate them. Since the knife’s area is like a circular dome, it will still be discovered.
Another strategy would be to locate opponents with essential abilities like Viper, who can obstruct a view with her walls, or Killjoy, who can hold down a site alone with her turret. Get creative with how you use the knife. If you only use it for location, it will limit its usefulness.
Frag/Ment (C Ability)
Equip an explosive fragment. Fire to throw. The fragment sticks to the floor and explodes multiple times. Dealing near lethal damage at the center with each explosion.
While your opponents have time to escape the damage, catching an unsuspecting player can give them an unhealthy dose of electricity and cut their round short.
This ability has a large area of effect and can punish players for planting or defusing the same way Viper and Killjoy can with their area denial abilities. This ability can be lobbed from a safe distance to catch your enemies off guard, and if you’re wanting to see some nice lineups for post-plant or anti-Killjoy Ults, this video by Val player and Youtuber JapaneseCurrymay be a good start:
Null/cmd (X Ability / Ultimate)
Instantly overload with polarized radiant energy that empowers Kaay/O and causes large energy pulses to emit from his location. Enemies hit with these pulses are suppressed for a short duration.
This ability sends out a suppression blast that will temporarily disable the abilities of any enemy caught in it. It will pulse about four times over the course of the ultimate, and it has a pretty substantial radius.
Kay/O’s ultimate is a great entry tool! It can suppress an enemy on defense and leave them vulnerable while your team pushes onto the site. Kay/O also gets a fire rate buff while in this state which makes it even better for aggressive players. If Kay/O is killed while ulting, Kay/O will still technically be alive. If killed while ulting, Kay/O will shut down and be completely immobilized. However, a teammate can revive him. With hit points still being buffed in this state, it is possible for your team to come to the rescue, and may lead to an easy pick if your opponents decide to stick around.
Tips and Tricks
- When using Flash/Drive, be sure not to blind yourself. Practice throwing the flash behind you to catch the opponent off guard when you peek.
- Use Zero/Point for more than just a way to locate the enemy team. This can give you a heads-up on an attack and also nullify incoming opponent abilities.
- Freg/Ment can be used to deny a point, so practice your throws and try to catch the enemy unaware.
- Null/cmd is best used to enter the site to nullify opponents’ abilities
Kay/O is a great initiator and one that may rival Sova. As you get comfortable with him, you will learn different lineups, but he is not as dependent on lineups as Sova’s darts, so Kay/O may be a better choice for beginning Valorant players.