Valorant
Got a phone and WiFi? That's two connections. PingAim pins Valorant to one of them while everything else (stream, browser, family WiFi) stays on the other. Riot Direct already optimizes the path to Riot's servers in supported regions — PingAim's value here is interface separation, not WAN-path optimization. Server map, ping test, and network guide included.
Does PingAim Help in Valorant?
More about Riot Vanguardhow it works · what it blocks · known conflicts
Riot Vanguard is a ring 0 (kernel-level) anti-cheat that loads at system boot via the vgk.sys driver. It consists of two components: the kernel driver (vgk.sys) that loads at boot and monitors for cheating software, and the user-mode client (vgc.exe) that activates when Valorant launches to perform deep system checks. Vanguard blocks unsigned drivers, certain DLL injections, and incompatible software components.
VPN and network optimizers
Riot does not recommend VPNs and warns they may cause connectivity issues. Using VPNs to bypass regional restrictions can result in bans. However, network-level traffic-shaping tools that do not change IP addresses or encrypt traffic are not flagged by Vanguard. The distinction is: VPNs (change IP, encrypt all traffic) = risky; per-app routing tools that only choose a local interface = allowed.
Known software conflicts
- Unsigned or outdated OEM drivers cause VAN incompatible software errors
- Some hardware monitoring tools (OpenHardwareMonitor, FanControl with certain drivers) blocked by Vanguard
- VPNs that change IP addresses may cause connection issues or account flags
- Certain RGB/fan control software using kernel drivers (WinRing0, inpoutx64.sys) blocked
- Anti-cheatVanguard
- ProtocolUDP
- Tick rate128 HZ
- ConnectionDedicated
- HostingRiot Games (own infrastructure…
- EngineUnreal Engine 5 (modified, migrate…
- NATModerate
- LauncherRiot Client
- Install size25 GB
Why ping matters in Valorant
Latency sensitivity CriticalPing decides duels — sub-50ms is competitive territory.
Valorant is a tactical FPS where gunfights are decided in milliseconds. Time-to-kill is extremely fast (one-shot headshots with most weapons), so the difference between 20ms and 80ms ping directly determines who wins a duel. Peeker's advantage is a core mechanic affected by latency: a player peeking a corner sees and can shoot the defender before the defender's client renders the peeker. At 128 ticks, each tick is 7.8ms, meaning even small ping differences shift hit registration timing. Ability usage (flashes, smokes, Jett dash) requires frame-precise timing that degrades with latency and jitter (per Henderson & Bhatti 2003 FPS QoE study, sub-100ms is the threshold where competitive FPS players reliably perceive degradation).
About Valorantbackground, studio, esports scene
Valorant is a free-to-play tactical first-person shooter developed and published by Riot Games. Released in June 2020, it combines precise gunplay with unique agent abilities in a 5v5 format. The game draws heavily from the tactical shooter tradition established by Counter-Strike, with an economy system for buying weapons and abilities each round, one-life-per-round gameplay, and an emphasis on crosshair placement and map control. Each player selects an Agent with four unique abilities that add a strategic layer on top of the core gunplay.
Valorant runs on a heavily modified Unreal Engine (migrated to UE5 in July 2025) and was designed from the ground up for competitive integrity. Riot built proprietary 128-tick servers deployed globally and created Riot Direct, their own internet backbone with points of presence in 35+ countries, to minimize latency. The game targets less than 35ms ping for 70% of its player base. Server frames are optimized to sub-2ms, running three game instances per CPU core.
The competitive scene is one of the largest in esports, organized through the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) with franchised leagues across Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China. Valorant Champions is the annual world championship. The game launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in August 2024. Console players can cross-play with each other (PS5 vs Xbox), but PC and console player pools are fully separated with no PC-to-console cross-play.
- Studio
- Riot Games
- Released
- 2020
- Platforms
- Windows, PlayStation, Xbox
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5 (modified, migrated from UE4 in patch 11.02, July 2025)
- Esports
- Tier 1 — global circuit
Explore the Valorant Guide
PingAim detects Valorant automatically
No manual config. PingAim identifies Valorant by process name and routes it through your fastest connection using a kernel-level WFP driver.
When does PingAim help — and when doesn't it?
PingAim helps when...
- You have a phone with 5G/LTE — tether via USB and dedicate it to Valorant while WiFi handles everything else
- You have both WiFi and Ethernet — pin Valorant to the wired interface and keep wireless for streams and downloads
- You stream while gaming — separate game and OBS traffic across different connections so an upload spike does not affect game packets
- Your WiFi is congested with family or roommates — use phone tethering for the game and let WiFi stay congested for them
- You have two ISPs or a dual-WAN router and want explicit control over which one carries the game
- Windows picks the wrong interface for Valorant and you want to override that choice
Won't help when...
- You only have one network connection and no phone or second ISP to add a second
- Your only connection is already fast and stable (under 20ms to your Riot region, no jitter)
- Riot Direct (Riot's own backbone with peering in Tier-1 markets) typically delivers near-optimal routing to Riot servers in EU/NA/KR/SEA/BR — PingAim won't shorten the WAN path in those regions. Its value there is using a second connection for stream / Discord / upload separation.
- The lag is server-side — Riot Direct backbone or matchmaker issues that no client tool can route around
- FPS drops or game crashes (not network related)
- Vanguard driver conflicts (anti-cheat issue, not network — Vanguard is kernel-level; PingAim's signed WFP driver runs in the network filter stack and has not been flagged, but if you enable an experimental DLL-injection mode, Vanguard will block it)
Related Games
Other games sharing technical traits with Valorant — anti-cheat, hosting, engine, or genre.
Recent Updates
Community & Official Resources
Where players talk and where the publisher posts updates.
Glossary16 terms used on this page
- 128-tick
- The server updates game state 128 times per second (every 7.8125ms). Higher tick rate means more precise hit detection and smoother gameplay compared to 64-tick servers
- Cold-potato routing
- Routing strategy where traffic stays on the provider's backbone as long as possible, only handing off to the destination ISP at the last mile. Opposite of hot-potato routing. Used by Riot Direct.
- Hz
- Hertz — updates per second. 128 Hz = server processes game state 128 times per second
- ISP
- Internet Service Provider — the company providing your internet connection
- Jitter
- Variation in ping over time. Stable 50ms is better than ping jumping between 20ms and 80ms. High jitter causes inconsistent hit registration.
- ms
- Milliseconds — 1/1000 of a second. Lower = better for gaming
- NAT
- Network Address Translation — how your router maps internal IPs to your public IP. Strict NAT can block or delay game packets
- Peeker's Advantage
- The time delay between when a player peeking a corner sees the defender and when the defender sees the peeker. Caused by network latency (both players' ping + server processing). Averages 40-70ms in Valorant.
- PoP
- Point of Presence — a datacenter location where Riot Direct has routing equipment to peer with local ISPs
- QoS
- Quality of Service — router feature that prioritizes certain traffic (like game packets) over others (like downloads)
- Riot Direct
- Riot Games' proprietary internet backbone — a network of routers and fiber deployed in 35+ countries with direct peering agreements with ISPs, used to route all Valorant and League of Legends traffic
- RTT
- Round Trip Time — how long a packet takes to travel to the server and back (your ping)
- UDP
- User Datagram Protocol — fast network protocol used by games for real-time data (no retransmission of lost packets)
- Vanguard
- Riot Vanguard — Riot's kernel-level anti-cheat system that loads at boot. Consists of vgk.sys (kernel driver) and vgc.exe (user-mode client)
- VCT
- Valorant Champions Tour — Riot's official competitive tournament circuit with franchised leagues across Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China
- WFP
- Windows Filtering Platform — Microsoft's official API for network packet filtering at the kernel level. Used by PingAim's driver for routing optimization