Agent Overview

Astra is the queen of complete map control. When played properly, Astra’s stars have the potential to be extremely versatile. She can block vision from her opponents, daze them with a Nova Pulse, and even interrupt their movement with her Gravity Well. One unique aspect of Astra that makes her so strong is that she can place her smokes anywhere on the map, no matter where she is. Keep in mind if you’re going to pick up Astra, you’ll want to spend time getting comfortable with her play style and kit because of how foreign it may feel compared to other controller agents.

Strengths

• Astra can pick how to use her stars. This means she can adapt to dynamic situations and use her stars for their various purposes.
• Astra has the ability to split an entire area of the map with an impenetrable wall, forcing enemies to either wait for it to go down, or push through it blindly.
• Astra is the safest controller agent because of how far she can stay out of the action while deploying her utility.

Weaknesses

• When placing Astra’s utility, you have to be in a very safe position. This means she can’t do reactive smokes, similar to other agents in her class.
• Enemies can see Astra’s stars on the ground before they’re activated, meaning they pre-emptively understand where your utility will be utilized.
• Playing Astra requires supreme comfort with the agent for anyone piloting her to find success. This means the skill floor to play Astra is relatively high compared to other controller agents.

Skill Breakdown

Ability 1 (C) – Gravity Well

Place Stars in Astral Form (X) Activate a Star to form a Gravity Well. Players in the area are pulled toward the center before it explodes, crowd-controlling anyone still caught in its radius.

Ability 2 (Q) – Nova Pulse

Place Stars in Astral Form (X) Activate a Star to detonate a Nova Pulse. The Nova Pulse charges briefly and then strikes, concussing all players in its area.

Signature Ability (E) – Nebula

Place Stars in Astral Form (X) Activate a Star to transform it into a Nebula smoke. Use (F) on a Star to call it back, returning the star to be utilized by Astra. Dissipate briefly forms a fake Nebula at the Star’s location before returning.

Ultimate Ability (X) – Astral Form / Cosmic Divide

Activate (X) to enter Astral Form, where you can place Stars with Primary Fire. Stars can be reactivated later, transforming them into a Nova Pulse, Nebula, or Gravity Well. When Cosmic Divide is charged, use Secondary Fire in Astral Form to begin aiming it, then Primary Fire to select two locations. A large impenetrable wall will form when you connect its two points. Cosmic Divide blocks bullets and heavily dampens audio.

Tips and Tricks

Tip #1 – Seeing Stars

Astra’s stars are filled with unlimited potential. One great use of her stars is in post-plant situations. Once you plant a bomb, you can place a star nearby to use your Gravity Well to pull enemies off it. The trick to this tip is ensuring that your star isn’t directly on top of the spike but rather offset so the edges encompass the bomb’s defuse radius.

Tip #2 – Cosmic Divide… the Site

Astra’s ultimate Cosmic Divide can be used to split an area of the map completely. The most powerful part of this wall is that it completely shuts down your opponents because they cannot see or hear anything that’s taking place on the other side of the wall. If you spend enough time understanding how to place this ability, you can force enemies to take unfavorable peeks to come through the wall.

Tip #3 – The Proper Smoke

When using Astra’s Nebula to smoke an area, you should think about the depth at which you place it. In the first example in the video, our player places a “shallow” smoke that covers Market on Ascent’s B Site. This smoke is counter-intuitive because it offers your opponents a small bit of cover that your teammates will most likely be caught off-guard by. Rather than placing smokes like this, you should place them as shown in the second example. “Deep” smokes limit your opponent’s options by showing their weapon and character model sooner and offering your team a clear line of sight to hold.