Valorant economy: when to buy, save or force

The short answer

Valorant's economy comes down to a few numbers. You start each half with 800 credits. A round win pays 3,000 credits and a kill 200. A loss pays 1,900, then 2,400, then 2,900 from the third in a row. Your stock caps at 9,000.

Patch 13.08 changed none of these numbers. The golden rule: buy with your team. A full buy is only played if all or nearly all teammates can afford it. Otherwise, an eco or a light buy for everyone.

Credits: what Riot gives exactly

Here is a round's income, per Riot's wiki.

• Kill: 200 credits.
• Spike plant: 300 credits, attack side only.
• Round win: 3,000 credits.
• Round loss: 1,900, then 2,400 on the second in a row, then 2,900.

These add to what you kept: income depends on credits saved earlier in the half. The defuse is not in this list.

Three special cases matter.

The survivor of a lost round. You get only 1,000 credits in two cases: you attack and you're alive without having planted the spike (or the planted spike's timer expires), or you defend and you're alive after the detonation. In exchange, you keep your loadout.

Overtime. Credits reset to 5,000 every round.

An incomplete team. If a player is missing, the team gets extra credits every round until they return.

What a full buy costs

Take a Vandal at 2,900 credits and heavy armor at 1,000. That makes 3,900 credits, before any ability. With abilities, TheSpike counts about 4,400 credits per player, ONE Esports 4,500 and more. Remember the range, not an exact figure: it depends on your agent.

The Phantom also costs 2,900 credits. The Spectre is 1,600, the Bulldog 2,050. The Operator climbs to 4,700: it only fits a comfortable economy. Armor: light at 400, Regen at 650, heavy at 1,000. All weapons are in the weapons wiki.

Eco, half buy, force buy: decide with your team

Four words, four decisions.

• Eco: you spend little. You accept losing the round to buy next one.
• Half buy: you spend some and keep enough to buy afterwards.
• Force buy: you spend everything, without being able to fully equip.
• Full buy: best weapon, full equipment, all abilities.

To choose, ask yourself three questions, in this order.

1. What will I have next round? Look at the top left corner of the buy menu: it shows the minimum credits you will have next round. That's your floor, not your balance.
2. Can the team buy together? A full buy is only played if all or nearly all can afford it, and a team usually gets there after two wins in a row or three losses in a row.
3. Can this round change everything? A force buy can save you or cost you more, depending on both teams' economies. A force buy is mostly justified in decisive rounds: a lost force buy often leads to an eco next.

Read the opponent too. At the start of the round, check the scoreboard: a team with no credits may rush with pistols or SMGs. You know what to expect before you commit to a buy.

Think of your teammates as well. Right-clicking a weapon requests it, and a richer player can buy it for you.

Three rounds, worked out

A losing streak. You lose a full buy, dead, no kills: you restart from zero. You save without buying. After the first loss: 1,900 credits. After the second: 4,300 cumulated. After the third: 7,200. The 4,300 already exceed 3,900, enough for a Vandal and heavy armor, but stay under the 4,400 of a full buy with abilities. With 7,200, the complete full buy is there. That matches ONE Esports' rule: three losses in a row usually suffice.

Pistol won, round 2. In the pistol round, you have 800 credits. A Ghost at 500 leaves you 300. A 3,000 win: you arrive with 3,300 credits, kills not included. A complete full buy is out of reach. One guide cites a Bulldog with heavy armor, or a Phantom. The Bulldog at 2,050 and the armor at 1,000 fit your budget. The opponent who spent everything restarts with only 1,900 plus their kills: enough for a pistol, a Spectre, or a Bulldog at a stretch. Expect pistols and SMGs.

A survivor who didn't plant. You attack, lose the round, and survive without planting the spike. You get 1,000 credits instead of 1,900 on the first loss of the streak (2,400 or 2,900 after), but you keep your weapon. A Vandal is worth 2,900. Saving an expensive weapon is generally worth more than the lost credits. With a starter pistol, the question looks different.

The last round of the half. In round 12, spend everything: leftover credits don't carry over to the side switch. In round 13, the pistol round restarts with 800 credits.

Common mistakes

The sources I read don't rank these mistakes by rank. They show up at every tier.

• Buying alone. You take a full buy while the team ecos: you end up alone with an expensive weapon. Check first what the others can afford.
• Forcing out of frustration. A lost force buy often leads to an eco next. You string together two weak rounds.
• Keeping credits in the last round. In round 12, what's left doesn't carry over.
• Ignoring the scoreboard. You guess the enemy economy when the board shows it.
• Forgetting next round's minimum. It's shown in the buy menu.
• Expecting a defuse bonus. Riot's wiki lists none.

To place your tier, read the ranks guide.

How to train it

This drill needs no aim trainer: it's a buying routine. At the start of each buy phase, before spending anything, answer three questions in this order. How much do I have? What is my minimum next round? How many teammates can afford a full buy?

Success criterion: ten rounds in a row without buying before you've answered. Once that's automatic, look for ten rounds where the whole team buys at the same level. After the match, note the rounds where buys weren't in sync.

For the mechanical side, Road2Radiant is free and signs in with a Google account. The glossary defines the terms, the map guides give attack and defense plans, and hardstuck Gold helps if your rank stalls. Nothing here promises a rank: it's a decision method.