Haven Map Guide: Compositions and Strategies

Haven is another map in the pool that was playable when Valorant initially launched. Since the early days, Haven remains one of the most popular and least dodged maps in the game.

Riot Games' approach to designing Valorant maps is slightly different from a traditional tactical FPS point of view. Almost all maps in Valorant have a unique gimmick that unlocks new and interesting mechanics.

For example, Bind has two one-way teleports, Ascent's got closable doors on site entries, while Haven simply has thee bomb sites.

Map Overview

Unlike Bind, which has no mid area at all, Haven not only has one, yet it's also got a plant site there. Adding a third site to the map indicates that attackers have a sizable advantage over defenders. Although it's somewhat true, as Haven is statistically one of the more attacking-oriented maps in the pool, Defenders have a lot of tools available for a proper defense.

Haven is a fairly large map but not very spacious. It is full of tight corners and boxes you can climb on, so many angles need to be cleared. However, there are also multiple map parts with long sight lines that make Snipers a very attractive purchase.

Sites A and C have traditional Long and Short entry points, while B has one main entrance with two extra entrances that connect it to A and C. Since the map is pretty large, rotations through spawns take a while and B bombsite acts as a shortcut.

Ultimate orbs are positioned so that the one outside A is much easier to take as a Defender, while B long Orb is much easier to control as an Attacker. Make sure to use utility though, as you could be an easy target for an opponent with an Operator in hand.

Attacking on Haven

When attacking on Haven, you want to take advantage of the fact there are three bomb sites and five entries to them. It means that Defenders have to be more split up to cover all sites. It gives you opportunities to overwhelm them with multiple people, although you might want to think twice before simply rushing a site.

What high-elo and pro players usually do is take their time when attacking. The most important part of the map is Mid, and controlling Courtyard opens up more pathways to sites either through Garage or B site.

Haven also enables a lot of mind games for Attackers to "play". Having control of Garage or A short might trick opponents into rotating to one site, which opens a free site for your teammates to take on the other side. Keeping the Defenders guessing is in your best interest, as it gives your team more options.

B site is the easiest to retake, so planting B is not always optimal, even if you have full control of it. Utilize your control to push A or C from multiple sides, where post-plants are much easier for Attackers to handle.

Lurking is a very important part of Haven since it is easier to catch enemies rotating, unlike some other maps. Sneaky kills when enemies don't expect it will give you a huge advantage in winning your rounds.

Defending on Haven

If you do a default setup as Defenders on Haven, you will quickly realize that you are all on your own because there are five entries you need to worry about. It puts you in a situation where you could be easily overrun by Attackers, leaving them a free entrance to the site.

What you want to do as Defenders is gather as much valid info on where Attackers want to hit. It allows your team to properly rotate and contest the push in the best possible way.

You can do that by using recon abilities or by making coordinated plays with your teammates to contest a certain area of the map. You can take aggressive positions (especially with an Operator), which can give you the necessary info to adjust your defensive strategy.

Communication and coordination are very important since there are three sites you need to worry about. ‌

You could also leave a part of the map uncontested on purpose and use more players to gain control of other areas. It is a legitimate strategy to leave one site(usually B) undefended with perhaps only some Sentinel utility to spot enemies. It allows you to have solid defense on the other two sites and play for full retake on the third site.

Agents and Team Compositions

Since we have our golden boy Chamber featured in all team compositions here at Gamercraft, let's start with the Sentinel role. Chamber is just so good in today's meta, and Haven's long angles are a playground for him.

Killjoy and Sage can still be useful to the team, however, they fell out of favor nowadays.

When it comes to Controllers, Omen is a clear-cut favorite in most drafts. His kit is perfect for Haven since there are three bomb sites you can teleport to. Astra and Brimstone can be decent options, but if you look for a versatile smoker, look no further than Omen.

The initiator role got shaken up a little bit with the release of Fade and nerfs to Sova. To be fair, all initiators in the current meta can work on Haven, and it is up to your personal preference to pick and choose.

Running double Initiator can be worth on Haven as their info gathering ability is vital for a map with five site entries. Breach and Sova are usually the go-to pair, but Skye, KAY/O, and Fade work really well too.

Finally, the Duelist role on Haven has been dominated by Jett since the map contains many places you can jump on and hold off-angles from elevated spots. She is also a premiere operator user, and recent nerfs didn't do enough to make her fall out of favor.

Reyna and Raze are the best alternatives or good additions to your squad in double duelist team comps. Neon is recently getting picked up more on by some pro teams, so maybe try her out yourself.

Stay tuned for more Valorant content and future guides on Gamercraft.