Valorant Retake Mode: The Complete Guide to Post-Plant 3v3 — Loadouts, Spike Timings, and Best Agents

The RETAKE mode has been running in Valorant since patch 13.00, whose patch notes were published on June 23, 2026. As of August 6, it's still the best post-plant training ground in the game, and it's also the one that most players approach the wrong way: they play it like an unrated match when the rules are deliberately different.

The concept fits in one sentence: 3 versus 3, a single site drawn at random, the spike that plants itself a few seconds after the round starts, and sides that swap every round. No economy, no buy phase, no rotations. First team to five round wins takes it.

Patch 13.02, on July 28, added Split, Corrode, and Lotus. Good news, but also a reminder: Riot classifies RETAKE among its temporary game modes, with no announced end date or promise of return. Community trackers place the end of Season 2026 Act 4 around August 19. The window is short.

The exact rules, including the ones the client doesn't show

The 13.00 patch notes are noticeably more precise than the mode selection screen. Here's what you need to know:

• One site per round, drawn at random. Each round is played on a single site randomly selected from the rotation.
• Automatic plant. The spike plants itself a few seconds after the round begins, at a location visible on the site. The position is drawn from a predefined list of points specific to each site: these locations can be learned, just like plant spots in Competitive.
• Two alternating roles. Riot calls them planters (they defend the already-planted spike) and retakers (they attack to defuse it). Sides change every round, so you consistently play both sides of the same site.
• Three round-ending conditions: full elimination of a team, defusal, or spike detonation.
• Eight sites in rotation: Ascent, Bind, Haven, Summit, and Sunset since launch, plus Split, Corrode, and Lotus since July 28.
• No ultimate orbs on the map. Ultimate charge follows unrated rules, but no one picks up orbs.

This last point changes the whole feel of matches. Over a maximum of nine rounds and with no orbs, expensive ultimates almost never come out twice. Patch 13.02 also raised Revenge, Phoenix's ultimate, from 6 to 7 ultimate points: one more agent to cross off the list of ultimates you'll often see here.

Loadouts: two cards, four options, zero credits

Each round, you choose between two cards: one for weapons and armor, one for ability charges. Each card offers two random options, and these options grow more powerful round after round. A match that goes the distance therefore ends with weaponry and utility far beyond what you had in the first round.

Three reflexes to build from the very first selection:

• Look at what your two teammates are taking before locking in. With three players, a trio that combines a rifle, a smoke, and a flash almost always beats three individually "optimal" but redundant picks. A weaker loadout for you can mean a stronger round for the team.
• As retakers, opening utility takes priority over a third rifle. You have to push through a narrow chokepoint against three players who are already set up: a flash or a smoke is worth more than a precision rifle nobody will have time to use.
• As planters, take whatever buys time. Molotov, cage, trap. Every second you shave off is one less second for the enemy's defuse, and that's literally the only thing you need to produce.

The post-plant numbers you should know by heart

RETAKE doesn't invent anything about the spike: these are the game's standard values. But here, they make up the entirety of the mode, so it's worth having them memorized.

The practical consequence is simple: a full defuse takes 7 seconds, so the site needs to be cleared at the latest by the triple beep, at 10 seconds remaining. Beyond that, you're no longer going for a clean defuse but a half-defuse: 3.5 seconds is enough to save the progress, which lets you fall back, win the duel, and then finish it off in 3.5 seconds.

This mechanic also works in reverse. As a retaker, deliberately starting an audible defuse often forces a lurking planter to show themselves or drop their molotov too early, which hands you back control of the site. As a planter, don't react to the first sound of a defuse: half the players who hear it rush the site and die 1v2 when they had no reason to.

On the planter side: buy time, not duels

You don't have to kill three opponents. You have to bring the counter down to zero. That's a distinction most players never make, and it is by far the number one cause of lost rounds on that side.

• Don't stand on the spike. The plant spot is visible and known to both teams: it's the first place the opponent throws their utility. Position yourselves in a crossfire on two distinct angles, with at least one player off-site for the flank.
• Spread your utility out over time. Three damage zones thrown together at 40 seconds are worth nothing. One at 20 seconds, another at 8, and defusing becomes arithmetically impossible.
• Sentinels were buffed in patch 13.00, and this mode showcases them particularly well. Cypher's Trapwire now activates in 0.7 seconds instead of 0.9. Killjoy's Turret fires 50% faster, her Nanoswarm lasts 5 seconds instead of 4, and her Alarmbot moves 50% faster. Deadlock's GravNet recharge went from 60 to 50 seconds. And Sage's Healing Orb now restores 100 health over time instead of 50, which matters enormously in a mode where nobody buys back armor.
• Vyse also has what it takes to hold a site alone since 13.00: Razorvine recharges in 20 seconds instead of 30, and her Shear covers 30 meters instead of 24, with the activation time after planting reduced from 1.5 to 0.75 seconds.
• Viper's Snake Bite remains one of the best defuse-denial tools in the game, because it applies Vulnerable in addition to damage: an opponent crossing the zone to finish a half-defuse dies to one less bullet.

On the attackers' side: a single tempo for three players

Retaking a site with three players leaves no room for improvisation. You have about 30 useful seconds between the moment the spike is planted and the triple beep: that's time for one plan, not two.

• Go in together or don't go in at all. A player who takes an isolated angle mechanically turns the round into a 2 vs 3. An immediate trade is worth more than a duel won solo.
• One angle at a time. With three players, opening two entries simultaneously doesn't split the defense, it isolates you. Choose the shortest path to the plant spot and saturate it.
• Initiators gained tempo in patch 13.00: the signature ability of Sova, Fade, Skye, Breach, and KAY/O now recharges in 50 seconds instead of 60, and Gekko regains his companions in 15 seconds instead of 20. Over such short rounds, this often amounts to an extra use.
• Ultimates that unlock a retake: Breach's Rolling Thunder and Sova's Hunter's Fury hit through walls on an already occupied site, without exposing anyone. Raze's Showstopper settles a narrow site. KAY/O's NULL/cmd suppresses enemy utility at the exact moment of entry, which instantly neutralizes most of the sentinel setup described above.
• Cover the defuser, don't defuse three at a time. Two players hold the flanks, only one touches the spike. It's obvious on paper, and it's botched one round out of two in actual play.

Which agents gain value in 3v3

The rule is mechanical: anything that produces value on a single site goes up, anything that produces value across the whole map goes down.

Rising: sentinels capable of denying a defuse (Killjoy, Cypher, Deadlock, Vyse), controllers with persistent damage zones (Viper, Brimstone), and initiators with immediate impact (Breach, Sova, KAY/O, Fade). Sage also gains interest, thanks to her wall that cuts off an entry and her doubled self-heal.

What falls away: everything that relies on reading the full map, covering two sites at once, or long setups. On a single randomly drawn site, a large part of that work simply no longer exists.

What RETAKE improves, and what it will never do

Used correctly, this mode is one of the best warm-ups available before a Competitive session. In three or four matches, you go through more post-plant situations than in an entire evening of ranked games: managing the spike timer, placing delayed utility, trading duels with reduced numbers, and above all memorizing the plant spots on each site.

On the other hand, it replaces nothing that actually wins a ranked game over the long run. No economy, so no work on group buys or eco rounds. No macro, no rotations, no midfield control. And a three-versus-three format that rewards coordinated aggression where a five-versus-five game often rewards patience.

The right way to use it, then, is to treat it as a targeted drill: three matches before queuing for Competitive, setting one goal per match (hold the spike timer as the planter, never enter alone as the retaker, always play the half-defuse). And to do it quickly: the AROS: Replication mode announced for patch 13.02 has been delayed, so RETAKE remains the only recent temporary mode live, with a likely end date at the close of Act 4.