Astra — How to Play VALORANT's Global Controller

• CGravity Welltrap

  Place Stars in Astral Form (Ultimate Key). ACTIVATE a Star to form a Gravity Well. Players in the area are pulled toward the center before it explodes, making all players still trapped inside Vulnerable.

• QNova Pulsedamage

  Place Stars in Astral Form (Ultimate Key). ACTIVATE a Star to detonate a Nova Pulse. The Nova Pulse charges briefly then strikes, Concussing all players in its area.

• ENebula / Dissipatesmoke

  Place Stars in Astral Form (Ultimate Key). ACTIVATE a Star to transform it into a Nebula (smoke). USE a Star to Dissipate it, returning the Star to be placed in a new location after a delay. Dissipate briefly forms a fake Nebula at the Star's location before returning.

• XAstral Form / Cosmic Dividewall

  ACTIVATE to enter Astral Form where you can place Stars with FIRE. Stars can be reactivated later, transforming them into a Nova Pulse, Nebula, or Gravity Well. When Cosmic Divide is charged, use ALT FIRE in Astral Form to begin aiming it, then FIRE to select two locations. An infinite Cosmic Divide connects the two points you select. Cosmic Divide blocks bullets and sound.

Riot's notes from patch 1.01 to 13.06 change Astra in 8 patches. The latest is patch 11.08, published 2025-10-14.

1. Patch 11.082025-10-14

   Nova Pulse

   • Concuss duration decreased to 2.5s

   Gravity Well

   • Fragile duration decreased from5s→to2.5s
   • Cooldown increased from45s→to60s

   Nova Pulse

   • Concuss duration decreased from3.5s→to2.5s
   • Cooldown increased from45s→to60s

   Nebula

   • Cooldown increased25s→to35s
   Why, in Riot's words

   We're also aiming to create more consistency across the game's various debuffs, making it easier to build muscle memory when playing with or against effects like Nearsight, Concuss, and Stims.

   Controllers were largely in a healthy state and required few changes, though some abilities have been adjusted to align with recent roster-wide updates.

2. Patch 10.082025-04-29

   • Nova Pulse stun duration4s→to3.5s
   Why, in Riot's words

   This is part of our ongoing efforts to reduce ability power creep. Most non-ultimate concusses are 3.5 seconds, so we’re changing Astra’s Nova Pulse to match the typical duration.

3. Patch 9.052024-09-10

   • StarsIncreased from 4→to5
   • After rebalancing some of Astra's power away from her Gravity Well and into her Nova Pulse and Cosmic Divide in Patch 7.04, Astra has struggled to be competitive with other Controllers. Given Astra has to choose between fulfilling her core duties as a Controller and using her other abilities, this change gives Astra more freedom to use her other pieces of utility without sacrificing her ability to smoke throughout the round.
   Why, in Riot's words

   Chamber could use a light nudge to fight for more space on maps safely around his Rendezvous. More space around his Rendezvous beacon allows for more setups and allows Chamber to push out more aggressively and take unexpected angles.

4. Patch 7.052023-09-06

   XAstral Form

   • Astra will now be able to hear everything happening around her physical body while in Astral form.
   Why, in Riot's words

   Going in and out of Astral form is a complex mechanical task that leaves Astra vulnerable to attackers by denying her information about her surroundings. The change we’ve made to her Astral Form (X) gives Astra back some agency and information, allowing you to react to enemy footsteps and utility you may have missed while in Astral Form.

5. Patch 7.042023-08-29

   CGravity Well

   • Startup time increased .6→to1.25
   • Gravity time duration decreased2.75→to2.0

   QNova Pulse

   • Startup time decreased from1.25→to1.0

   XCosmic Divide

   • Audio now is blocked completely by the wall rather than muffled
   Why, in Riot's words

   We're updating Cosmic Divide to help clarify the overall game state by eliminating uncertainty around whether you or your enemies are close enough to the wall to be heard. We also think this gives Astra’s wall a clearer power profile for her and her allies to play around.

6. Patch 4.042022-03-01

   Stars

   • Max Stars reduced5→to4
   • Cooldown on retrieving a Star increased14→to25
   • Astra can now pick up placed Stars during the Buy Phase to refund their charge immediately.
   • Max distance of Star Placement increased10000→to30000 to allow her to place Stars across the furthest corners of maps

   Gravity Well

   • Cooldown Increased25→to45
   • Gravity Well Size Decreased525→to475
   • Gravity Well no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Gravity Well.

   Nova Pulse

   • Cooldown Increased25→to45
   • Nova Pulse no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Nova Pulse.

   Nebula

   • Cooldown Increased14→to25
   • Nebula cooldowns are now sequential instead of simultaneous
   • Nebula size increased410→to475

   Astral Form

   • While in Astral form, pings are no longer blocked by level geometry that Astra cannot see
   • Astra’s targeting ring no longer randomly disappears when aiming across some map locations
   Why, in Riot's words

   With the mastery of Astra’s play patterns over time, she’s become an overwhelming force in both coordinated and high MMR play. She’s crowded out Brimstone and Omen by replicating their strengths and they simply couldn’t keep up with the map-wide impact of her utility. We’re taking steps to create clearer relative weaknesses in an attempt to carve more space for our other Controllers. This starts by reducing her overall utility output and increasing her ability cooldown , in the hopes that this will increase the importance of each move she makes. Paired with this, we’re taking the opportunity to provide some quality-of-life updates and bug fixes that we feel are long overdue.

   Astra’s targeting ring in Astral form is reduced to one ring that reflects the now unified size of all her utility

7. Patch 2.072021-04-13

   Gravity Well

   • Now pulls Agents that are defusing the Spike
   • If they are pulled out of defuse range, the defuse will be interrupted
   Why, in Riot's words

   Astra gets a quick boost this patch focused on removing a counterintuitive rule where her Gravity Well doesn’t affect those defusing the Spike. We want to try and keep our ability interactions as consistent and easy to learn as possible and allow you to explore ways to leverage Agent abilities without running into unexpected walls. We think this update can create some interesting interactions post plant where enemies try to bait out the Gravity Well and play around its cooldown. As always, we’ll keep an eye on her new post-plant impact overall.

8. Patch 2.052021-03-16

   • Added unique keybinds to the option menu for flying up and down in Astral Form

What role is Astra?

Controller. Riot describes the role: “Controllers are experts in slicing up dangerous territory to set their team up for success.”

What are Astra’s abilities?

C — Gravity Well, Q — Nova Pulse, E — Nebula / Dissipate and X — Astral Form / Cosmic Divide, the last being the ultimate.

What does Astra’s ultimate do?

Astral Form / Cosmic Divide, in Riot’s words: “ACTIVATE to enter Astral Form where you can place Stars with FIRE. Stars can be reactivated later, transforming them into a Nova Pulse, Nebula, or Gravity Well. When Cosmic Divide is charged, use ALT FIRE in Astral Form to begin aiming it, then FIRE to select two locations. An infinite Cosmic Divide connects the two points you select. Cosmic Divide blocks bullets and sound.”

When did Riot last change Astra?

Patch 11.08, published 2025-10-14 — the latest of 8 patches that change Astra in Riot’s notes from 1.01 to 13.06.

Is Astra changed in patch 13.06?

No. Nothing in Riot’s patch 13.06 notes names Astra.

Which other Controllers are there?

6 more in Riot’s current roster: Brimstone, Clove, Harbor, Miks, Omen and Viper.