Harbor, a.k.a. Varun Batra, was recently introduced by Riot Games as VALORANT’s first ever Indian agent. Harbor will be playable starting on 18 October, which is also the start date for episode five act four.
Hailing from India’s coast, Harbor storms the field wielding ancient technology with dominion over water. He unleashes frothing rapids and crushing waves to shield his allies and pummel those that oppose him.
Speaking about the real life representation, narrative writer Joel Killeen expressed about how they designed Harbor, “The team works towards authentic representation from a bunch of simultaneous angles. We contracted with multiple external consultants from India to aggregate for us a ton of research on the country’s: regions, cities, languages, traditions, values, pastimes, food and drink, media, and on and on – for the internal team to immerse themselves in – and be inspired by – and incorporate into their work. Then the iterative feedback cycle would begin, passing our work-in-progress back and forth with them to ensure our interpretations hit the mark. Our writers worked hand in hand with Indian Rioters both in Riot’s APAC office and the Los Angeles office to help shape Harbor’s voice and demeanor and use of Hindi language.”
ABILITIES
High Tide
EQUIP a wall of water. FIRE to send the water forward along the ground. HOLD FIRE to guide the water in the direction of your crosshair, passing through the world, spawning a wall along the water’s path. ALT FIRE while bending to stop the water early. Players hit are SLOWED
Cove
EQUIP a sphere of shielding water. FIRE to throw. ALT FIRE to underhand throw. Upon impacting the ground, spawn a water shield that blocks bullets.
Cascade
EQUIP a wave of water. FIRE to send the wave rolling forward and through walls. RE-USE to stop the wave. Players hit are SLOWED.
Reckoning
EQUIP the full power of your Artifact. FIRE to summon a geyser pool on the ground. Enemy players in the area are targeted by successive geyser strikes. Players caught within a strike are CONCUSSED.
Designer Alexander Mistakidis expressed that, they set out to develop a Controller that could put their vision block without having to travel to another world or consult a map. Additionally, they sought to develop an Agent that could compete Viper on the maps where she is nearly often used. Kevin Meier focused on Harbor as an Agent who may creatively shape their vision block on the battlefield after he had finished his initial research.
Lastly the Valorant team expressed to press that, “It takes a massive team effort to create an agent, everyone on the VALORANT team working together to create something bigger than any individual can bring to life. From all of us here, thank you for playing VALORANT. Enjoy some games with Harbor, and have fun.”
The song that was featured in Raja’s promos caused a stir online because so many gamers were curious about it. Raja, which translates to “king” in Hindi, is mentioned in the song together with the lotus, India’s national flower, and Varuna, the Hindu god of the seas. Many Indian players are pleased with the representation, and the song is well-liked, according to comments on the YouTube video.
The song titled Raja combines rap with traditional Indian elements and includes Hindi verses. The song was composed and produced by ARB4, with executive producers and supervisors Johnny Altepeter and Riot Games Music. Raja has vocals and lyrics provided by Tienas. Along with playing the bansuri and adding additional vocals, Mangal Subarnan also accompanied Paulson KJ on the sitar.