“Escalation”, which will be activated in Valorant on February 17, 2021, is a new team mode in which two groups of five players each compete against each other.
The goal here is to first complete level 12 as a team. In order to master one of the levels, certain requirements must be met and a total of seven points must be achieved. Each kill brings one point to the account, but kills on a previous level only bring 0.5 points.
In addition, each player has a personal weapon level that must be completed. To do this, you have to get at least one kill with a weapon.
By the way, as a team you can already move up to a new level, even if you yourself are still on an older weapon level. According to the developers, the games should last between seven and nine minutes and are therefore ideal for a short game in between.
Also, there are no agent-specific skills based on your character choice, just the standard skills that all players see during the match. Furthermore, the respawn time is reduced to five seconds, so that the re-entry is much faster than is normally the case.
The new escalation mode is currently available for a limited time, so that you will not be able to play it indefinitely. How long this phase will last is not yet known. However, the developers have promised that the game mode could possibly become a permanent part of the multiplayer shooter if the fans give it positive feedback.