Controller

Astra: abilities and tips

Astra is a Ghanaian Controller who places stars across the whole map from her Astral Form, then turns them into smokes, stuns or Gravity Wells.

Origin: Ghana
Release: March 2, 2021, patch 2.04

Playstyle

Astra is one of the most demanding Controllers. You enter Astral Form to place up to five stars anywhere, then decide in game whether each one becomes a Nebula, a Nova Pulse or a Gravity Well. You prepare your plan before the round and adjust it based on what the enemy does. Placement is done out of gunfire range, but you are immobile while doing it: your team covers you. On attack, you smoke with Nebulas and stun the defenders before the entry. On defense, you cover both sites in advance. You shine with a team that communicates, but you must read the game live.

Abilities

Key CBasic

Gravity Well

1 charge · Cooldown: 60 s

You turn a star into a Gravity Well. After a short delay, it pulls players toward its center then bursts and makes them vulnerable: they take more damage from all sources. It is used to pull an enemy out of an angle.

Key numbers

Windup: 1.25 s
Pull: 2 s, then Vulnerable 2.5 s
Radius: 4.75 m

Use it on a player behind a Sage wall or a turret to pull them out.
Combine it with a Nova Pulse to start an execute: one pulls, the other slows.
Trigger it when your allies can exploit the vulnerability, otherwise the effect is wasted.

Key QBasic

Nova Pulse

1 charge · Cooldown: 60 s

You turn a star into a Nova Pulse. After a short delay, it concusses every player in the zone: they move slowly and aim poorly. Perfect for taking control of an angle or finishing a duel.

Key numbers

Windup: 1 s
Concuss: 2.5 s
Radius: 4.75 m

Trigger it right before your team enters the site, to disrupt those holding the angle.
Place the star out of the enemy's field of view: a visible star can be shot or anticipated before it triggers.
Use it to interrupt a defuse or to secure the plant.

Key EBasic

Nebula / Dissipate

2 charges · Cooldown: 35 s

You turn a star into a Nebula, a smoke that blocks vision. With Dissipate, you recall the star and leave a very brief fake smoke to fool the enemy. It is useful to smoke several spots in one execute.

Key numbers

Nebula: 14.25 s
Dissipate: 1 s of fake Nebula before the star returns

Place it on the defensive angles before pushing, then dissipate the ones that are no longer useful so you can reuse them.
Think of Dissipate to fake a smoke while taking the star back.
Keep one Nebula in reserve to cover the Spike plant.

Key XUltimate

Astral Form / Cosmic Divide

7 ultimate points

Once charged, you aim at two points from Astral Form and create a wall that blocks bullets and muffles sound. It does no damage, players can walk through it, and it cuts off one side of the site.

Key numbers

Total duration: 21 s
Wall with no damage that blocks bullets and sound

Place it to cut off an angle before an execute: your team goes down one side while the enemy shoots at the wall.
Plan its position: it is placed with two points, and the line between them blocks everything.
Avoid wasting it on an empty site: it lasts 21 s in total, so it is better used in an execute.

Passive

Astral Form

You enter Astral Form with the ultimate key. There you place up to five stars that you activate later as a Gravity Well, Nova Pulse or Nebula. You cannot shoot or move while you stay in it.

Key numbers

Stars: 5 to place
Return of a dissipated star: 25 s

Enter Astral Form in a safe position, never near a flank or an open entrance.
Place your stars before the round and change their effect at the last moment.

Strengths

Stars are placed from Astral Form, without exposing yourself: you set up smokes, stuns and pulls before contact even happens.
Each star can become a smoke, a stun or a Gravity Well: you choose live depending on the situation, so your strategy stays flexible.
Gravity Well pulls enemies toward its center and makes them vulnerable, which pulls them out from behind a Sage wall or a Killjoy turret.
Cosmic Divide links two points with an infinite wall that blocks bullets and muffles sound, to cut off one side of the site during an execute.
Her abilities recharge over time (60 s, 60 s and 35 s), so Astra stays useful even when credits are short.

Weaknesses

You are immobile and unarmed in Astral Form: an enemy who flanks or a fast rush finds you defenseless, hence the importance of a placement set back.
Stars that are not activated are visible to enemies, who can shoot them or anticipate them if you always place the same ones.
Her skill ceiling is high: without lineups or game reading, her stars lose their value, and a simpler Controller like Brimstone is more consistent.
Gravity Well and Nova Pulse have a 60 s cooldown: a failed use leaves you without the effect for a minute.
Cosmic Divide deals nothing and enemies can walk through it: it is a cover tool, not a weapon.

Tips

Place your stars before the round, on the angles to cover, then decide at the last moment what they do based on what the team reveals.
Stay behind your team in Astral Form: you cannot shoot or move and you are vulnerable to a flank.
Split the stars between the two sites on defense (2 or 3 on yours, 1 or 2 on the other) to keep flexibility on the rotation.
Chain the effects: smoke on the entry, Nova Pulse on those who push, Gravity Well on the others.
For aim, rebuild your precise aim when you leave Astral Form: work on fast flicks and counter-strafe.
Save Cosmic Divide for key rounds: it cuts the map, but costs 7 ultimate points.

The aim to train

The Road2Radiant benchmark subcategories that matter most here.

Static
Clicking on static targets
You come back from Astral Form without getting into a firing position: precise flicks on a stationary target help win the duel on exit.
Drills to improve
Strafe Click
Clicking while strafing
Gravity Well and Nova Pulse create short duels in motion: precise clicking while strafing lets you finish the ones you slowed.
Drills to improve