Killjoy

Artwork

## Quotes

— Character selection

**Killjoy** is an Agent in *VALORANT*.

## Profile

### Biography

Hailing from Germany, Killjoy is an inventor who uses turrets and technology to fight. She has been described as someone who brings the chill Berlin nightlife while deploying killer tech for some potent defensive impact. She has a unique sense of style wearing a beanie, thick circular glasses, and a bright yellow jacket.

### Personality

— Killjoy (Barrier Down)

The epitome of German efficiency, Killjoy always shows excitement at the opportunity of being able to use the technology she builds to its fullest extent, as well as the chance to retrieve additional knowledge. Always ambitious in her work, Killjoy has shamelessly admitted that she has a history of exploiting tech-related missions in order to "weasel more money" out of the Protocol's quarterly budget.

While she describes herself as "cool as a cucumber," Killjoy grows frustration whenever she sees her teammates not participating alongside her requests such as testing new tech or reading the data reports she has written. Nevertheless, she is fully confident in her own genius, as seen when she tells her teammates (particularly the tech users) to entrust their gadgets for her to fix, and when she reminds the team to leave the overthinking to her.

### Appearance

Killjoy is a young German woman with slick dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is often seen wearing a padded yellow jacket with a blue interior, purple "X" patches on either shoulder and a green beanie-like hat. Underneath the jacket she wears a gray shirt with a rising bars graphic. She has round glasses with black outlines, a pair of silver hoop earrings in either ear, and a pair of green shoes that resemble Converse Chuck Taylor's with silver toes and loose tongues. Covering her hands are a pair of black gloves with blue straps that exposes her ring and pinkie fingers. She wears black ripped skinny jeans with a green strap on her left thigh which is also connected to a fanny pack.

## Abilities

### Basic

C – Nanoswarm
Berkas:Nanoswarm.png
EQUIP a Nanoswarm grenade. FIRE to throw the grenade. Upon landing, the Nanoswarm goes covert. ACTIVATE the Nanoswarm to deploy a damaging swarm of nanobots.

**Uses:** 2
**Cost:** 200
**Duration:**  4 s
**Damage:** Damage 45/s

Q – Alarmbot
Berkas:Alarmbot.png
EQUIP a covert Alarmbot. FIRE to deploy a bot that hunts down enemies that get in range. After reaching its target, the bot explodes and applies Vulnerable to enemies in the area. HOLD EQUIP to recall a deployed bot.

**Uses:** 1
**Cost:** 200
**Cooldown:**  20 s (Recalled)
**Debuff:** Debuff 4 s Vulnerable

### Signature

E – Turret
Berkas:Turret.png
EQUIP a Turret. FIRE to deploy a turret that automatically fires at enemies in a 180 degree cone. HOLD EQUIP to recall the deployed turret.

**Uses:** 1
**Cost:**Free
**Cooldown:**  45 s (Destroyed), 20 s (Recalled)
**Health:** Health 125
**Damage:** Damage 0-20 m: 8, 20-35 m: 6, 35+ m: 4 (3 shots per burst)

### Ultimate

X – Lockdown
Berkas:Lockdown.png
EQUIP the Lockdown device. FIRE to deploy the device. After a long windup, the device Detains all enemies caught in the radius. The device can be destroyed by enemies.

**Cost:**♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 7 points
**Windup:** Windup 13 s
**Health:** Health 150
**Debuff:** Debuff 8 s Detain

## Gameplay

### Strategies

Pay attention to positioning and what utility the enemy has available before you place a Lockdown device. Enemies can use damaging utility, such as Shock Bolts and Paint Shells, to destroy it and can achieve this even easier without caring about where the device is positioned by using ultimates such as Orbital Strike and Hunter's Fury to hit it wherever it may be. Some spots may also be vulnerable to enemies shooting the device through a wall with medium or high-penetration guns.

As with other agents, the configuration of Killjoy's abilities should be changed as enemies begin to get used to their positioning. This is more important with Killjoy however, as all of her utility can be shot or destroyed with "lethal" abilities (e.g. Shock Bolt, Hunter's Fury, Orbital Strike, Paint Shells, Blast Pack, etc).

Abilities should also be set up in pairs or trios, with the Alarmbot being the center of this configuration. The Alarmbot's ability to apply Vulnerable means a second ability, such as Turret or Nanoswarm can catch the enemy off guard and apply a lot of damage. Alarmbot is often paired with both Nanoswarm grenades over the spike in attacker rounds, or over Default Plant in defender rounds, so that the spike planter or defuser can be killed when stationary - watch out for the audio/visual cue when planting or defusing!

Nanoswarm can also be placed in interesting spots, often considered to be cheating spots. Though these spots have not been officially patched or denounced by Riot, it is entirely possible that **spots where Nanoswarm/Alarmbot can activate but not be destroyed are considered "cheat"** spots and thus can attract disciplinary action on your account (i.e. a ban).

Lineups can also be created with Nanoswarm, which can allow a Killjoy player to place grenades over the spike, place bots around the site, and activate it all without even entering. This is valuable as Killjoy is not suited for site entry/clearing site. As with all abilities, repeated use means your enemies will learn to wait for and destroy lineups, perhaps even finding your location and killing you.

## Update History

**v3.05**
* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
	+ Bullet tagging reduced 72.5% slow >>> 29.5% slow

**v3.03**

* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
	+ Fixed Turret not being affected by stuns

**v3.0**

* Berkas:Alarmbot.png Alarmbot
	+ Cooldown after pickup increased 7 >>> 20 seconds
* Berkas:Nanoswarm.png Nanoswarm
	+ Fixed a bug where picking up Nanoswarms during thebuy phase would prevent you from purchasing a second charge
* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
	+ Cooldown after pickup increased 10 >>> 20 seconds

**v2.07**

* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
	+ Placing Killjoy’s turret next to Sage’s Berkas:Barrier Orb.png Barrier Orb will no longer break it
* Berkas:Alarmbot.png Alarmbot
	+ Disbabled Alarmbots will no longer chase far away targets that ran by them when they are re-enabled

**v2.06**

* Berkas:Nanoswarm.png Nanoswarm
	+ Killjoy can now pick up deployed Nanoswarm grenades during the buy phase to get the charge back

**v2.05**

* Fixed Killjoy not getting charges from her Berkas:Alarmbot.png Alarmbot and Berkas:Turret.png Turret back if they are recalled after she is resurrected
* Berkas:Lockdown.png Lockdown
	+ Can no longer place Lockdown off the ground by jumping and placing it on cosmetic pieces of geo on the walls

**v2.03**

* Berkas:Lockdown.png Lockdown
	+ Can no longer be placed inside Sage’s Berkas:Barrier Orb.png Barrier Orb in some instances
		- If Barrier Orb is placed on top of Lockdown, the section of the wall covering the ult will now be destroyed

**v1.14**

* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
* Fixed an issue where Killjoy’s turret could be placed underneath the ground in some maps

**v1.11**

* Berkas:Alarmbot.png Alarmbot
	+ Alarmbot now deactivates if Killjoy is more than 40m away from it. Reentering the 40m range reactivates the ability.
	+ Range at which Alarmbot can be detected decreased from 9m >>> 7m.
	+ Cooldown after pickup reduced from 20 seconds >>> 7 seconds.
* Berkas:Nanoswarm.png Nanoswarm
	+ Range at which Nanoswarm can be detected decreased from 5m >>> 3.5m
	+ Damage increased from 40/s >>> 45/s
	+ Damage now ticks smoother and faster while in Nanoswarm, instead of in chunks of 10 every 1/4 of a second.
* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
	+ Turret now deactivates if Killjoy is more than 40m away from it. Reentering the 40m range reactivates the ability.
	+ Cooldown after pickup reduced from 20 seconds >>> 10 seconds.

**v1.07**

* Berkas:Nanoswarm.png Nanoswarm
	+ Added a brief windup before damage begins.
	+ DPS reduced from 60 >>> 40.
	+ Visual effects have been added to make it easier to spot the grenade on the ground Stealth audio range has been slightly increased
* Berkas:Turret.png Turret
	+ No longer revealed by Sova’s Berkas:Recon Bolt.png Recon Bolt
	+ More effectively shoots at an enemy’s last known location

**v1.05** - **Added**

## Gallery

Killjoy (Full).pngKilljoy (Half).pngIn-game iconKilljoy w Turret.pngKilljoy with her turretTX Character FullPortrait KJ.pngAn early concept of KilljoyKilljoy concept 1.jpgConcept artKilljoy early concept.jpgConcept artKilljoy Turret concept.jpgTurret concept artVersus Raze Killjoy Card.jpgPlayer card featuring KilljoyRadi-Core.pngKilljoy handles a Radi-Core in DUALITY
## Trivia

**Development**

* Killjoy originally had an ability called "Seeker".
* Lockdown used to belong to the scrapped agent Joules.
* Killjoy was originally a male during her first development phase.
* She also was a robot in some part of development.

**Lore**

* Killjoy plays League of Legends.
* If Killjoy successfully defuses a spike, her voiceline suggests that she may have something to do with its creation.
	+ Berkas:KilljoyDefuseComplete1.mp3*"Oh, no no, you don't deserve my inventions!"*
* Other inventions/creations made by Killjoy include a sentry bot, an alarmbot, swarm grenades, a 'Lockdown' device, and Brimstone's bracer.
	+ Her sentry bot is known to be powered by a Radi-Core. Whilst unable to do so in game for gameplay/balancing reasons, the turret is able to move and run on its two legs.
* Raze stole one of Killjoy's alarm bots and modified it to create her Boom Bot.
* Killjoy was part of the VALORANT strike team that responded to an attack in Rabat a day after the rise of Venice. After analyzing the spike's properties, she was able to stop the spike from detonating by using a defuser that she made, powered by a super-heated Radi-Core. Killjoy would go on to take the defused spike back to VALORANT for analysis.
* Killjoy has been placed in charge to replicate the portals used in the Everett-Linde Research Facility. According to Cypher, Killjoy received portal blueprints from Chamber, with the German engineer managing to validate their legitimacy.

**Relations**

* She is Brimstone's protégé, and has a close bond with him. He is a guardian figure to her.
* She has one parent with Germanic ancestry.
* Killjoy and Raze have a friendly rivalry.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.esportznetwork.com/killjoy-new-valorant-agent-abilities-confirmed/
2. ↑ Reddit Narrative AMA: Existence of Riot Games within *VALORANT*
3. ↑ 3,0 3,1 3,2 3,3 Killjoy Reveal article (in German)
4. ↑ VALORANT - Duality Cinematic.
5. ↑ Viper's email telling about VALORANT's interest to replicate the Fracture portals.
6. ↑ Chamber's blueprints.
7. ↑ *VALORANT* Lore Discord Narrative AMA: Killjoy and Brimstone (Discord link)
8. ↑ *VALORANT* Lore Discord Narrative AMA: Killjoy's ethnicity