This guide is made for the smarter buyers not those who throw their money at any skin.
Tip #1: Buy skins for your most used guns
There is no point in owning a ares or stinger skin if you buy the gun like once every 3 games. instead of building your full inventory you should use that money to buy multiple rifle skins or skins for any other gun that you use alot.
For me I only own vandal, phantom and sheriff skins since in game I always base my economy around these guns. some people might use the marshal or the spectre more so you could get those skins aswell if you use it.
Tip #2: Pistol skins are a scam
In an average valorant game you will see around 12-24 rounds of gameplay. there are only 2 pistol rounds and 2 save rounds if you lose both pistols.
This adds up to a total of 4 rounds where you will be using a pistol out of 24. thats why I would suggest against buying a classic or ghost skin
Tip #3: Dont buy bundles
Yes it usually comes at a discounted price in total but as I said rather than filling up your inventory with skins for all the guns you would rather buy multiple skins for the same gun that you use alot.
Tip #4: Battlepass arent a good investment
battlepasses are the biggest way riot can trick you into spending your money like a madman. At 15 AUD the battlepass can seem very inticing but trust me when I say never ever buy a battlepass for its gun skins. only ever buy a battlepass if you want it for the knife since all battlepass skins feel boring after 2-3 games.
Tip #5: buy multiple rifle skins
You should have atleast 2 vandal and phantom skins before you think about buying skins for other guns since a skin can feel very boring if you keep using for a long time. this cause you to usually start hating the skin and think that its making you whiff. (I litterally unequiped my prime vandal for the default cuz of how sick i got of it). thats why you should always have 2 skins preferably that are different colour schemes aswell.
Tip#5: dont buy same animation knife skins
If you already have the prime axe I can gurantee you that you dont want the soverign sword. The appeal is almost always in the animation and if its the same it feels bland much quicker. This is why if you already have the recon butterfly knife for example i would be against you buying the rgx one. you would be better off buying the katana or a karambit with a different animation.
These are all the tips I have for someone who is looking to spend his money wisely on skins
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