I'm so sick of being hardstuck Bronze

Hi, so just for context Valorant is my first ever video game that requires mouse and keyboard. Before September of 2024, I've never played any video game let alone an FPS. My rank right now is Bronze 3 and I've been stuck b3 for all of 2025 basically, its been impossible to get out of no matter how hard I try. I used to have a duo to constantly queue with but they've ranked up to Gold now and I'm unable to queue with them anymore. Solo queue in Bronze is actually impossible, especially in EU ranked. Most of the time there are no comms, or players that don't even put down util. I usually main controller, and I've been told that KD is essential to ranking up and controller is not the best role to boost KD, but I'm just stuck in a position where if I don't play smokes, either no one plays smokes or they don't know how to smoke properly! What's more frustrating is that even when I do play smokes, its difficult to coordinate when people are no comms.

Another problem is that because this is my first fps, people try to tell me a lot how to play/what I'm doing wrong. As helpful as this is, it often comes off like I can't do anything right! I get told "you've smoked too early, we're not even on site yet" and "you've smoked too late you should be smoking before we're on site", all in the same game! Its become incredibly frustrating, and also de-motivating at the same time.

I set a goal to hit Gold this year and now that its April it feels more and more hopeless that I'll achieve this. I don't have great aim, its decent and I'm trying to work on that, I've also been told my peeking needs work, and I am trying to work on that, but it all feels really hopeless. I used to be able to queue ranked over and over and over but now I just stop playing for the day if I lose one.

I've also tried CS as a desperate attempt to try another fps that I might enjoy, but CS just wasn't fun for me at all and I enjoy the util element of Valorant anyway.
I know tips and tricks to improve, I'm just feeling depressed about all of this, and being bad at Valorant just feels like another thing in my life that I'm not any good at.
Can anyone offer their experiences? Anyone who's felt and experienced the same and managed to get out? Thank you!

Yeah I have the same issue, although im not stuck in bronze 3, im stuck in asc1.

allat to be hardstuck? LMAO

i had the same issue dw it happens,d ont focus on your rank too much. i was hardstuck bronze for a year and a half

dont fill smokes, who cares its ranked.

play the character that you love the most and stick to them
practice ur mechs. (range + dms/tdms)
you will get there.

You call that hardstuck?

https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/Snakyy%231046/performance?platform=pc&playlist=competitive&season=16118998-4705-5813-86dd-0292a2439d90

Change from smokes to Senti , you would have an easier time and atleast frag more and if you overperform maybe win a game yourself. Also Your aim would be calmer etc. For this you can watch a guide or two if you already don't know how to.
Learn cypher setups and kj setups for maps . You're set.

dont fill
work on ur mechaniocs... no spraying, strafe, tap burst and improve ur crosshair placement, no w or s when peeking
dont expect comms
f the pressure
u can win with no smokes up until gold
go into each round with an idea of what u want to do, simple ideas
if u dont feel like playing ranked, play swift or unrated and focus on just one thing to pracc each time
u can build the vibe up by hyping after the round, like some1 makes a mistake just say forget it n move on small stuff like that

also maybe spending sometime in aimlabs since its ur first kbm game to build mouse comfort, doesn't have to be a super strict playlist (at least its what i do)

i started playing mid Jan on kbm hit gold tonight so it deffo works

u got this

edit: play tejo... easiest agent to play, drone once, stun once, rockets to take space and even stall/win postplant or play duellist an op, there's 0 coordination just be wary of flash util agents and iso

Do not pressure yourself to get a specific rank, as long as you get comfortable you will find success

Just work on refining your mechanics in lower ranks, and honestly, don't play smokes unless you're playing clove, which allows you to frag out and carry your team. Also, try not to worry about your rank, work on your mental so you don't feel discouraged, and you'll get to gold in no time.

If you are bronze I highly reccomend playing reyna and just aim with some coms but dont igl. Trust me the people in bronze can be out aimed with focus, a not shit PC, and some deathmatch.

in these lower ranks mechanics are probably what will get you to at least diamond, so having to learn these intricacies of characters or specific lineups or anything like that you can put on backburner and just solely focus on shooting back

Ignore most of these replies. If you're stuck in bronze you gotta focus on your mechs. No way around it. Once you can win the majority of your gunfights you will rank up like crazy.

Show your tracker

to rank up from bronze all you need to do is just click heads

Who cares about roles agent and what not, face the reality, if you want to rank up quick you need to outaim everyone. Sit in dm (not tdm), running people down while looking at spawnpoints on minimap(important in ranked cuz no one comms), farm dms, you're gonna match up against ascendants and immos. If there's a sound whore, just shit on him. I guarantee this will refine every mechanic, it's not very fun but it's the price for improvement. Also don't listen to music, you need to lock in

The system isn't designed for you to move up. People on this site don't understand what a bell curve is. If you place outside and towards the bottom end of the curve, the system has a lot to throw at you and will make it extremely hard to move up.

As far as what you need to fix? Everything. Being in Bronze, at the bottom end of the bell curve, means you likely do all things incorrect. Probably the most honest advice you'll get when you read this.

The advice you'll get is to go watch YouTube videos, woohjin or whoever the flavor of the moment is and they will say all you need to do is watch. Watch pros... blah blah blah. Here's the problem with that advice for you, if everyone is doing it, then you're sort of screwed. The world does not freeze when you are learning new things. Everyone will be trying just as hard as you to move up.

The only way to differentiate yourself from those people who are trying just as hard as you is identifying the things in YOU that YOU are not willing to do in order to get better. Then you do them, even if they feel crazy. You know why? There's a really good chance that those people who in a similar position will also not do those things for the same reasons as you. And that's how you find your way passed the crowd.

At Bronze, you can throw a stone in any direction and hit something that will put you ahead of your peers. You just have to be willing to find out what those things are and convince yourself they are worth doing.

dm till u can reach top 6 all the time + spam clove

Valorant ain't for you try a different game

my suggestion would be

1. Play the game for 24h everyday trust me at some point you'll be better
2. watch some pro/streamers on how they play the game/situation try to learn from it and apply it

or just play with your friend and have fun even if you don't win a lot at least you're having fun

When I was trying to rank up I used to just do a bit of aim labs and then the range, tracking and flicking on aim labs honestly helps a ton. Play a couple dms or tdms before u go into a comp game and if u feel tilted after a game at all just take a break off because it’ll make things worse. One last thing, as shitty as it is if u have really bad teammates that just run it down bait them because at the end of the day you’ll clean up kills after them

u ahve 100H playtime on this game and u talk about hardstuck.
i have like 3k hours on this game and like 5k matches. and my playstyle its betwen d2 to asc1. and im not even say im hardstuck.
https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/Xploid%236789/overview?platform=pc&playlist=competitive

Same I was stuck in diamond for a year then I aim trained void reviewed got to immo and then stuck there since forever atp I quit. Not everyone has talents for example I started playing FIFA at the same time as Valorant. Now I am good enough to actually go Pro in FC25

just continue playing the game

the more you play the better you will get. it's how it works. just play consistently if you really want to get out

As a wise banana once said, if youre below gold, just lock who you wanna play and outaim everyone. If you keep practicing your aim, you'll slide out of bronze. Bonus points if you have decent gamesense and can outtrick the opponents.

insta lock reyna and see how fast you rank up

please just play a gamemode with instant respawns (dm, tdm, even escalation) and work on your mechanics
this will get you all the way to gold/plat

krunker.io was my first fps and mouse/keyboard game, and every gamemode has instant respawns so it forces you to improve quickly. when i tried val i spammed faster modes like spike rush until mechanics were all comfortable. you can't be thinking about roles and utility in competitive if you're not confident in your mechanics to even think about being duelist occasionally

watch woohoojin, took me from hardstuck silver to plat in 3 months

was hardstuck iron for a good year, just became a mentality shift from these lobbies r so hard/stupid/etc. to how can i get better even if im losing. ended up peaking g3 before i fell of a cliff tbh

like most people say here, work on mechanics first, also work on different things, idk how this translates to lower ranks but if i stay on the same "warmup routine" i stagnate and start playing worse.

astra is one of these agents that i loved to play before but sadly she is most effective when u have people that can communicate when they need stun/pull/smokes cross map.

this is the reason i just dont play her anymore, ive been bouncing around A1->immo2 for a couple years depending on how much i play.
Playing the game regularly will eventually make u rank up. being good at shooting bots in range wont necessarily transfer to ingame either.

same goes for aimlabs and aim trainers, it helps u get comfy with mouse and will improve aim but it doesnt necessarily automaticly transfer over to valorant.

EDIT: To end, rank can be a good way to see your improvement over time but if its the sole focus, your gonna end up being frustrated and eventually it just kills your joy of playing the game.
i.e, everytime you boot the game up u play to improve your gameplay, not necessarily your rank, u cant always control the outcome of a match unless ur smurfing.

When I started playing I got Iron, it was also my first FPS game on pc. So I kinda know where ur coming from.

It all just comes down to if you're having fun and it's not burning you out or anything, then you will improve automatically. But I always played a ton of deathmatches, even unrateds. If you play lower stakes gamemodes, I think it's easier to focus on certain things you want to improve on.

Also playing one role that you're set on and you have fun with is very important too. Just play one role consistently more than other roles. But again, this is just coming from my experience.

Now I'm Immortal and you can definitely get there too. Trust me :D

In my experience (in terms of seeing improvement):

1. Sometimes less is more. 2 games with good vibes is worth more than 5 games that are draining.
2. Treat your teammates the same as you would yourself. You as a bronze shouldn't worry about other bronze players nitpicking your plays. Just learn from those better and learn AT YOUR OWN PACE.
3. Better to hard focus on one specific thing instead of multiple. If your aim isn't the best, break it down and focus on one aspect (i.e peeking, crosshair placement, etc.)

Really the main thing is making sure you have some fun. Even if it's ranked, at the end of the day it's just a game, if you aren't having fun then there's no point playing. Having motivation will always be a big factor in improvement. Gl dude.