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Valorant Clove Abilities Explained: Ruse, Meddle, Pick-Me-Up, and Not Dead Yet

Clove combines Controller smokes with fight-driven abilities and a conditional resurrection. Here’s what each skill does and how Riot’s balance changes affect the kit.
Length5 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Clove is a Controller built to take calculated fights, not just place utility from the back of the team. Their kit combines vision-blocking smokes with a decay effect, a fight-triggered self-buff, and an ultimate that can bring Clove back after death. Clove can also use Ruse while dead—but only within a restricted area, with less dead-cast utility after later balance changes.

What Clove’s abilities do

Clove’s abilities are Ruse (E), Meddle (Q), Pick-Me-Up (C), and Not Dead Yet (X). The official Clove agent page provides a compact overview; Riot’s developer explanation of Clove’s design adds context for how the abilities are intended to work together.

Ability Practical effect Key condition or limit
Ruse (E) Place vision-blocking smoke clouds using a battlefield view. Can be cast after death, but dead Clove has restricted range and, since Patch 11.10, only one charge.
Meddle (Q) Throw a fragment that erupts and temporarily decays targets in its area. It is designed for nearby staging and fights, not cross-map lineup or post-plant use.
Pick-Me-Up (C) Gain haste and temporary health by absorbing an enemy’s life force. Clove must have damaged or killed an enemy to activate it; the overheal was reduced in Patch 11.10.
Not Dead Yet (X) After dying, revive and return to the round. Clove must get a kill or damaging assist within the revival window to remain alive.

How each ability works

Ruse (E): place smokes, including after death

Ruse opens a battlefield view where Clove chooses locations for vision-blocking clouds and confirms their placement. It is Clove’s Controller utility for obscuring sightlines and helping the team take or hold space.

Clove can still cast Ruse after dying. That does not mean Clove can smoke anywhere on the map: Riot’s developer explanation says the available range is restricted near the death location, so where Clove falls affects which sightlines can still be covered. Patch 11.10 limited dead Clove to one Ruse charge. Patch 12.05 then reduced the duration of smokes cast while dead from 14 seconds to 6 seconds. Those duration figures apply to dead-cast smokes, not to ordinary Ruse casts.

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Meddle (Q): delayed area decay

Clove throws a fragment that erupts after a delay and temporarily decays targets caught in its area. It can help contest a nearby position or pressure opponents as Clove and teammates engage.

Riot designer Dan “penguin” Hardison explained that the delay is not intended for long-range lineups or cross-map post-plant setups: “Since Meddle detonates after a set time, it’s not meant for lineups or cross-map post plant—other Controllers in VALORANT have those strengths covered.” In Patch 10.04, Riot changed the detonation so the projectile explodes after contacting the ground and then waiting 0.75 seconds. Patch 12.05 reduced Meddle’s area from 6 meters to 4 meters.

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Pick-Me-Up (C): a reward for taking a fight

After Clove damages or kills an enemy, Pick-Me-Up can absorb that enemy’s life force to grant haste and temporary health. The condition makes it a tool for taking a fight or following up on damage, rather than a pre-fight buff. Hardison described the intended incentive this way: “You get nothing out of the ability if you don’t fight someone within a window, so it sends a pretty clear message to players that they should go fight someone.”

Its numbers have changed since launch. Patch 8.11 increased its cost from 100 to 200 credits and reduced its duration from 10 to 8 seconds. Patch 10.04 adjusted the health-buff duration from 8 to 10 seconds and the movement duration from 8 to 3 seconds. Patch 11.10 reduced its overheal from 100 HP to 50 HP. These are dated changes, not a complete current stat sheet; check the in-client tooltip for the live values before relying on an exact loadout number.

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Not Dead Yet (X): revive, then earn the right to stay

After dying, Clove can activate Not Dead Yet to resurrect. The revival is conditional: Clove must get a kill or damaging assist before the timer runs out to remain alive. Riot’s Patch 9.10 notes set that window at 10 seconds, down from 12 seconds.

The ultimate is not necessarily wasted if Clove cannot guarantee the follow-up. In Riot’s design discussion, Hardison describes the revival as situational: attempting it may still be worthwhile if it gives the team a chance to win an important round. Patch 8.11 increased the ultimate’s cost from 7 to 8 points.

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How Clove’s kit fits a Controller role

Riot’s design framing is a Controller who takes calculated risks and stays close enough to the action to benefit from the kit’s fighting tools. Meddle can pressure a contested area, and Pick-Me-Up rewards Clove for damaging or finishing an opponent. Ruse supplies smoke utility, including a limited opportunity to help the team after Clove dies; Not Dead Yet can create another chance to affect the round.

This is design intent, not a rule that Clove should always entry or take an isolated duel. The practical distinction is that Clove’s personal buffs depend on fighting, while the value of post-death Ruse depends partly on where Clove died and what remains in range.

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Balance changes that make older Clove guides stale

Riot’s dated patch notes document several changes to Clove’s economy, timers, and dead-state utility. Consult the patch linked for each change rather than treating a launch-era guide’s values as current.

Patch Documented change What it affects
8.11 (June 2024) Pick-Me-Up cost rose from 100 to 200 credits and duration fell from 10 to 8 seconds; Not Dead Yet cost rose from 7 to 8 ultimate points. Ability economy and early Pick-Me-Up duration.
9.10 (November 2024) Not Dead Yet’s kill window changed from 12 to 10 seconds. Time to get the kill or damaging assist needed to stay alive.
10.04 (March 2025) Meddle’s detonation behavior changed; Ruse cooldown rose from 30 to 40 seconds; Pick-Me-Up health-buff duration rose from 8 to 10 seconds while movement duration fell from 8 to 3 seconds. Detonation timing, smoke availability, and the separate health and movement portions of Pick-Me-Up.
11.10 (October 2025) Dead Clove became limited to one Ruse charge; Pick-Me-Up overheal fell from 100 HP to 50 HP. Post-death smoke charges and the size of Pick-Me-Up’s overheal.
12.05 (March 2026) Dead-cast Ruse duration fell from 14 to 6 seconds; Meddle’s area fell from 6 meters to 4 meters. Smoke utility after death and Meddle’s coverage.

These notes establish the listed changes through Patch 12.05, released in March 2026; they do not establish whether Riot changed Clove later. For exact live values or any post-12.05 adjustments, check the newest Riot patch notes or the ability tooltips in the game client.

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