Breeze

Breeze is an island located in the Caribbean, and it is a radianite mining facility. The island seems to have some past heritage due to the colonial era fort and murals that can be seen around the map, and it features a teleporter and a neo classic mansion, however some of these elements are not easily visible from the playable map. The teleporter went through various stages, from changes in the sign below it to the whole state of the teleporter changing.

The map has ties to Chamber, KAY/O, and Thurston Wolf.

Map Social Media Release Material[]

On April 13th, @cynprel created a thread on a series of posters advertising Breeze. ^[1] The largest of these posters is written in French, advertising for the reader to 'Explore' and 'Visit Breeze'. The poster appears to have been carried around by someone for quite some time as it has clear crease marks, damaged edges, and streaks along the top. While unconfirmed, it is possible this is an early nod to Chamber's involvement with Breeze and the teleporter on the map. Next is another folded poster in far better condition than the first advertising "Wander" to visit Breeze. The next two posters are a smaller version of the "Wander" poster advertising to "Discover Breeze", and the final is a poster advertising "Escape" and calling Breeze "a radiant paradise". As discussed by Cynprel, this slogan may have multiple meanings, either advertising Breeze as an island made to lure in Radiants, an implication that Radiants feel a need to escape from the rest of society in some way, or simply as a reference to how bright and radiant Breeze is as a tropical location.^[2] Printed alongside the left side of each of these posters is the text "Printed in England // Kingdom Subsidiary", however, VALORANT's creative director, David Nottingham, lets on that there is something off with the posters as there is "no such subsidiary in England..."^[3]. It's possible Kingdom is not directly affiliated with Breeze, and suggests Thurston Wolf may be operating as an independent entity.

The first social media post from @PlayVALORANT on Twitter leading up to Breeze's release was posted on April 20th, 2021. The post features the caption "Welcome to Paradise" and a picture of a cabana and large lounge that appears tranquil on first glance, but upon further inspection, shows several elements pointing to a struggle and fight having happened, such as a tear in the white curtain, spilled wine, a hastily abandoned sandal, mark on the sand indicating something being dragged away by force and a gun poking out of a basket on the left.^[4] To further highlight this sense of 'trouble in paradise', some of the non-US VALORANT Twitter accounts (such as VALORANT.fr^[5]) posted a version of the picture in video format where the Breeze musical theme, and later gunshots can be heard in the background.

On April 21st, 2022, @PlayVALORANT released a series of posters for Breeze showcasing some pictures of the map advertising viewers to "Visit Breeze" with the headers "Discover", "Escape", and "Wander".^[6] Unlike the earlier posters, these are all in pristine condition and seem to relate to Breeze's trailer released on April 23rd, 2021^[7].

KNG Meridian[]

The main feature of A site is a large shipping vessel named the KNG Meridian that's crashed behind the site. The ship appears to be a hybrid between a tanker and a cargo ship with shipping containers stacked on top, and smaller boxes inside the hull that can be seen spilling out through where the ship has split into three sections. Along the side of the ship can be seen a logo spelling FLFC, or First Light Freight Company. Though the ship itself is named with the usual KNG denoting it as a product of Kingdom, the FLFC is unusual in that it is not headed by KNG like other Kingdom companies or affiliates in the VALORANT universe, such as Kingdom Coffee, or K-SEC.

The KNG Meridian also appears on Chamber's Joint Venture card as its silhouette matches the ship on the card.

The Portal and KAY/O[]

Where the KNG Meridian is crashed into A Site, its front section has been integrated into the site itself. This includes two small elevators to access its upper level, a collection of radianite boxes, servers, and monitors displaying Kingdom Corp logos, and a pipeline connecting it to the radianite mining pipe from B Site. At the top of this second level is a medium-sized portal similar in design to the ALPHA-OMEGA portal belonging to the VALORANT PROTOCOL, and the teleportals on Fracture's A Site (See main article: Fracture). Unlike those portals however, the Breeze portal is not functional. When loading into the map, Chamber comments "Be careful near the ship, that portal does not work as intended. Such a bad investment."^[8] This line and the Joint Venture player card point to Chamber's involvement with the ship and portal on Breeze, with the second person on the Joint Venture card possibly being Thurston Wolf, the owner of the mine and mansion on Breeze.

It's likely that the unintended functioning of this portal is what allowed KAY/O to arrive in the current timeline. For more on KAY/O and how his release was teased and played out on Breeze, see his main article here.

Wolf Mansion[]

Past the back of B Site lies Wolf Mansion. Unlike in the mining map in A Shop, and unlike a nearby mural of the mansion, the current state of Wolf Mansion suggests that it has been abandoned for some time. On the left side of the mansion, half the architecture is missing to instead be replaced by a large hole. What exactly caused this damage is unclear, but some of the murals on Breeze suggest it may have been caused by a radianite meteor falling into the mansion. In the water in front of the mansion there is also a small dock with a yacht sporting Kingdom logos.

A Radianite Rich Island[]

When entering A Site from Attackers' Spawn, both routes between A Lobby and A Pyramids offer an addition to the lore of Breeze. Going through A Caves is an exposed vein of radianite, suggesting that the entirety of the island is rich with element. This is further supported by going through A Shop. In this route is a Chop Shop containing a few chunks of radianite, and a picture labeled as a "Radianite Mine Map". This map labels the Teleporter, Machine Shop, Base/Armory/Vault, and Wolf Mansion. Beneath these locations is a view of a mine beneath the island that goes down to 4600 feet at its half-way point. Through this, it seems deep beneath the island is another rich source of radianite that is currently being mined by Wolf.

Radianite Mining and Storage[]

The majority of the B side of Breeze is taken up by a large, colonial-era fort equipped with old canons and slowly crumbling gray stone that suggests the location as having been built a long time ago. Inside this fort, however, a radianite mine has been set up. From the heart of B Site rises a large tower with a pump extracting radianite from the ground. While some radianite is stored in crates just beneath the floor surrounding the pump tower, the majority of the radianite being mined is sent along a pipe in a liquid or sludge-type form across Defenders' Side Spawn, and into the ship on A Site.

Breeze Murals[]

Scattered around the B side of Breeze are eight murals. Some of the murals were made by the native people of the island, while others were made by those who came along with Thurston Wolf and his development of the area. This difference explains why some murals are very abstract while some are far more concrete. Though which set is which is still unknown.

In Defenders' Side Arches is a circular mural of what may be some kind of light or impact in a similar green-teal color to radianite. On the wall where B Back meets B Main is a depiction of Wolf Mansion being struck by something, possibly what caused the current damage to the structure. Along B Main is a large mural of three huts adjacent to a fleet of white sailboats. At the end of Mid Cannon is a mural of a woman holding a small stringed instrument. At the corner of Mid Top and B Tunnel is a picture of six stylized human figures interacting with what appears to be a glowing rock and a small star shape. In Mid Stack is a mural of a chunk of radianite in front of a decorated window arch. Finally, there is a large abstract mural in the metal building at Defenders' Side Spawn that shows a pyramid with the same pattern as radianite crates surrounded by radiating circles and mountain-like shapes.

Map Layout and Design[]

The entire 'gimmick' of Breeze is that it is a large map with exceptionally long sight lines that make it a haven for those who excel with long-ranged weapons. As for the theme of the map, it's based around a tropical island getaway with its official coordinates placing it as a fictional location near Bermuda. Consistent with this theme is the trailer for Breeze, that plays like an advertisement noting visitors can "experience history" and "find [their] resting place".^[7] Included in this theming as well is a general sense of 'trouble in paradise' as this supposed vacation spot is overshadowed by the crashed KNG Meridian, and the firefight taking place on the island.

A Site[]

This site features relatively little cover, with only a large orange shipping crate, and two radianite pyramids to hide behind. When entering into the site, however, players have the option to either come through main into the direct line of enemy sights, braving mid, or taking a chance going through a long tunnel-like hall that stretches along the mid-side of the site.

At the center of this site, and where players are able to plant the spike are two large pyramids. Unlike the usual radianite boxes, these pyramids do not have a clear screen of radianite, though they do feature the element's signature green-teal glow. Because these pyramids are surrounded by water and appear to feature rods coming from their inside, it's possible both are reactors or generators for the power that connects to the portal up above A Site.

Mid[]

Going down mid on the A side features several shops and businesses. Down by Attackers' Spawn is a shack dispensing water, and a record shop, radio station, and DJ station called Rudy's Record Shack. Farther down by A Top is a restaurant named Roti Boatie that has a lower level with more of a bar setting while the upper section is a proper restaurant. Much of the infrastructure these shops are built in appears to be made from other crashed ships, demonstrating the the construction inside the crashed KNG Meridian is not unique, but rather, a general architectural style to Breeze. These shops as well serve to hide the portal project on A site from what is likely the main stretch tourists are likely to visit.

Based on the mining map in the Chop Shop near A, it appears these tourists constructions are built on top of and around a machine shop that is noted on said map.

B Site[]

Unlike A site, which eases players into long sight lines through its main, B site starts immediately with a sight line stretching nearly the entire distance of the map from back of B site to B Window. Unique to B, this layout allows for a choke point down this long sight with options to flank both attackers and defenders from a path through mid.

The radianite for B site is kept in two locations. The first is a cache of it beneath the mining tower at the center of B Site, while the other is in a room that can be seen in B Tunnel that houses even more radianite boxes. These boxes combined with the mine itself make Breeze's B site the largest single source of mined and refined radianite present in one place in the game.

Development History[]

Breeze was planned to be a island map from the beginning. Alongside this strong island theming, it's clear in the visual development and concept art for Breeze that A site was intended to incorporate a crashed ship, while B was focused inside a historic fort.^[9] Mid as well was meant to be more of an urban center. While Wolf Mansion appears in much of the concept art as well, it is not seen in a broken state except for in the released version of the map.

The early concept arts show the map having traces of urban area including broken air conditioners, overgrown trees from buildings, sewerage pipes etc. The Hall of A site had an open section looking towards the mid area. This was probably replaced with the Vent in Hall as it is absent in the art.^[10]

A connector was present from Mid to back of A site. The Mid Nest area was much higher. There are also several other noticeable changes such as a lack of a drop that makes Mid Chute, a lack of direct access from Defenders' Spawn to mid, and a much more open area for B Site.

Another possible concept for Breeze shown in one image is the map as a seaside city with a glowing radianite core and several tall towers.^[11]

For Rudy's Record Shack, the original design featured its garage door down by Attackers' Spawn was closed, but switched to a version of the garage door with a window. Inside the room was then finished to include a broadcasting room filled with an audio table, a chair, and records. This was changed with the release of the Spectrum skin collection that was created in collaboration with Zedd. (For more on this skin bundle, visit the VALORANT Wiki here.)

References[]