Valorant post plant: positions, retake and half defuse

The short answer

The spike sets the tempo of every round ending. The plant takes 4 seconds, the explosion comes 45 seconds later and a full defuse takes 7. The checkpoint at 3.5 seconds makes the half defuse. Patch 13.08 did not change these durations.

On attack, you are not hunting kills: you are denying the defuse. Get off the spike, spread out, keep one piece of utility for the end. On defense, a retake is won as a group, by trading, not by a solo hero. And under about 4 seconds with the site full, your gun is sometimes worth more than the defuse.

The spike numbers

Here is what Riot's official wiki says.

• Plant: 4 seconds, cancellable at any time. The planter is rooted but can rotate their body.
• Defuse: 7 seconds, cancellable at any time. After a cancel, progress restarts from zero unless the checkpoint was passed.
• Half defuse: the checkpoint at 3.5 seconds is saved. After a cancel, you restart from 3.5 seconds.
• Timer: 45 seconds. Double beep at 20 seconds, triple beep at 10 seconds.
• White sphere at 7 seconds: if it is there when you start defusing, a full defuse is impossible. A half defuse already reached still counts.
• Explosion: instant death inside the radius, roughly your audio range. The circle around you on the minimap shows where to stay safe.

Every plant or defuse attempt plays an audio cue: the enemy hears you. Only attackers can pick up a dropped spike.

One simple calculation to keep in mind: a full defuse has to start before the sphere, so defenders have 38 seconds after the plant to be on site and ready.

Post plant: choosing your plant and your positions

Before planting. Clear the usual defensive positions: the planter is one less gun for the team. Then pick the plant for the situation you expect at 10 seconds left, not the one you are in now: hidden if you are outnumbered, open if you can crossfire the defuser.

After the plant. MetaBot splits the time into three phases: from 45 to 25 seconds, set your crossfires; from 25 to 8 seconds, deny the defuse; from 8 to 0 seconds, it is panic time. In practice:

1. Leave the plant spot. Staying on the spike hands you to a lineup or a wide swing.
2. Spread out: one molly should not catch two players.
3. Do not reload on the spike: a half defuse would go unpunished.
4. Stand where a teammate can trade you. Without that, no one can avenge you.

Utility. Do not spend it all early in the round. A molly on the spike at 6 seconds beats one thrown at a wall at 30 seconds.

The tap and the fake. Tapping the spike plays the same audio cue as a real defuse or plant. You can draw out a hidden enemy that way. But a patient opponent wastes your time, so check the timer before you fake. On defense, tapping early baits out the remaining utility.

Retake: regroup, trade, half defuse

First, decide to play the retake. If you are outnumbered, the site has a light buy or you have retake utility, give up on stopping the plant and regroup the team for the retake. The guide on defending a site covers when to leave the site.

Then go together. Retakes succeed when you trade. Entering separately means isolated duels. Smokes cover the spike and the defuse line. For trading, read the trading guide.

Finally, read the clock. These are MetaBot's rules of thumb, to be taken as such and not as Riot rules:

• Under about 8 seconds: play the half defuse. Bank 3.5 seconds, survive, finish.
• Under 7 seconds with an attacker alive on the spike: a solo defuse is at best a coin flip.
• Under about 4 seconds, site not clear: saving your gun is sometimes the right call.

To stop a defuse, you have to kill the defuser or force them to let go; the half defuse saves the progress at 3.5 seconds. To know what a saved gun is worth, see the economy guide.

Clutch when outnumbered: hold the spike angle

Alone against several players, do not chase kills. Hold the angle that watches the spike rather than a flashy off-angle. If a defuser starts, break their line of sight instead of over-peeking. A trade you cannot complete is worth nothing.

The other way around, on a solo retake, do not go hero. With no trade available, you die alone. The site plans for each map are in the map guides.

Common mistakes

The sources I read do not rank these mistakes by rank: they show up at every tier.

• Staying on the spike after the plant. You die to a lineup or a wide swing.
• Reloading on the spike. The half defuse goes unpunished.
• Spending everything before the plant. Nothing is left to deny the defuse.
• Going hero on a retake. A retake is won by trading.
• Holding an angle alone. If you fall, no one trades you.
• Planting without clearing the site. You hand the retake an angle.
• Over-peeking a defuser in a clutch. Break their line of sight instead.

How to train it

Open a custom game with a stopwatch. Plant, then replay your post plant: at the spike signal, note the second you left the position, where your molly is and whether a teammate can trade you. Then time some defuses: one full, then one stopped at the checkpoint and resumed, to feel what 3.5 seconds is worth.

Success criterion: five post plants in a row where you left the spike before the end of the first phase, without reloading on it and with a piece of utility kept for the end. For the mechanical side, your retake duels depend on your aim: Road2Radiant offers free tools that need no account, like the reaction time test with 5 attempts. No rank is promised: this is a method.