If you’re a Valorant player, you should be no stranger to rounds won or lost by mere milliseconds—whether your team successfully defuses the Spike or fails just before time runs out.
Valorant is an objective-based game, where killing off your enemy team means nothing if you don’t have enough time to defuse the Spike. For the same reason, it’s crucial for every player to know how long it takes to defuse the Spike in Valorant.
Learning the Spike defuse time in Valorant can not only help you better calculate your retakes but also clutch 1vX rounds as an Attacker by stalling just long enough for the Spike to detonate.
So, exactly how long does it take to defuse the Spike in Valorant? Let’s find out.
Valorant Spike Defuse Timer: How Long Does It Really Take?
As mentioned earlier, understanding the Spike defuse timer in Valoraont can often be the difference between a win and a loss. Whether you plan on pulling off a last-second defuse or delaying the Defenders as an Attacker, knowing the timings is crucial.
After a Spike has been planted by the Attackers, the time it takes to defuse it from scratch is 7 seconds. However, the process isn’t always that straightforward, thanks to a key mechanic known as half defusing.
Half Defusing in Valorant Explained
When defusing, Defenders can hold it for 3.5 seconds to reach the halfway mark. If they stop at this point, they can resume later from the halfway mark instead of starting over.
If the Spike has been halved, players only need to hold the defuse for another 3.5 seconds to complete it.
Note that Attackers can hear distinct audio cues when a player starts defusing, allowing them to react accordingly. Additionally, there are different sound cues for the initial defuse and defusing after a Spike has already been halved.
Now that you have a deeper understanding of Spike defuse timers in Valorant, you can use this knowledge to improve your retakes, clutch more rounds, and make smarter plays overall whether you’re on the Attacking or Defending side. By outplaying your enemies in post-plants, you should be able to win a lot more rounds, and consequently find yourself climbing the ranked ladder in no time.
