You need Radianite Points (RP) in Valorant for skin upgrades – that is, to enhance your skins. What Radianite exactly is, how you get it and what these skin upgrades have to do with the value of your skins is explained here simply.
Upgrading a skin costs 10–15 Radianite Points per level or variant – a full premium skin (all levels + colours) needs about 60–75 RP. You earn RP for free via the Battle Pass – the best of all sources – or top it up with Valorant Points.
You need Radianite Points (RP) in Valorant for skin upgrades – that is, to upgrade your skins. What Radianite exactly is, how you get it and what these skin upgrades have to do with the value of your skins is explained simply here.
Radianite Points are a separate currency with which you can upgrade skins you already own. Many higher-tier skins have several levels: only through Radianite do you unlock additional variants (colours), effects, sounds and finishers.
Radianite Points
Valorant Points
Skin upgradePer upgrade level of a skin you need a certain amount of Radianite depending on the edition – higher-tier skins cost more RP for the full upgrade.
A fully upgraded skin contains not only its original VP price but additionally invested Radianite. That's why fully unlocked skins are worth more than the same skin without upgrades. If you want to know how much your entire collection including high-end skins is worth, Valorant-Spind calculator helps you.
The rule of thumb: each upgrade level or variant costs 10–15 Radianite Points. A typical Premium skin (e.g. Prime or Reaver Vandal) has 3 extra levels plus 3 colour variants – that adds up to roughly 60–75 RP for the complete upgrade. Higher editions with more levels and effects sit at the upper end. Via the Battle Pass you accumulate Radianite for free over the course of a season – you can additionally top it up specifically with Valorant Points.
Both are currencies in Valorant, but they serve different purposes. With Valorant Points you buy the skin in the first place – in the shop, the Night Market or as part of a bundle. Radianite Points only come into play afterwards: they unlock the further upgrade levels of a skin you already own. In short: VP gets you the skin, Radianite makes more of it. The two currencies can't be freely converted into each other – so you consciously decide whether to invest in new skins or in upgrading existing ones.
That's a matter of taste. For whoever wants to play a favourite skin fully with all colour variants, effects and its own finisher, topping up is worth it – especially when not enough Radianite is left over from the Battle Pass. Purely functionally, though, an upgrade brings no gameplay advantage: your accuracy doesn't change, it's all about looks, sound and collecting joy. A good middle ground is to use the free Radianite from the Battle Pass specifically for the skins you play most often.
The base value of a skin comes from its VP price and thus from its tier. Fully upgraded skins additionally contain invested Radianite and therefore feel "more valuable" – but no official trading value arises from this, because skins can't be sold. If you want to know how much your entire collection is worth in euros as a guide, Valorant-Spind calculator reads your locker locally and adds everything up automatically.
Radianite Points, RP for short, are the second fixed currency in the game alongside Valorant Points. While you buy actual skins with VP, Radianite is something like the tool in the workshop: it changes nothing about your account and can't be exchanged back into cash, but always sits in a specific skin you already own. The name alludes to the glowing material from the game world that stands there for energy and special powers – in the menu you recognise it by the small orange crystal symbol next to your VP counter.
The difference in the role of both currencies is important. VP is your entry ticket: without it no new skin comes into your locker. Radianite, on the other hand, is pure refinement. It turns a purchased skin into the best version of itself by unlocking additional levels, colours and effects. You can play a skin entirely without Radianite – it then looks like in the cheapest preview. Only the invested Radianite brings out the animations, sounds and finishers that many lines are known for in the first place.
This is exactly why many new players confuse the two currencies. A typical disappointment: you buy an expensive set, equip the weapon and are surprised that the spectacular muzzle flash from the trailer is missing. The reason is almost always that the skin is still on the base level and the Radianite for the higher levels hasn't been invested yet. Whoever has understood this separation plans their purchases much more relaxed.
There are essentially two ways to get Radianite: the patient one and the fast one. Both reach the goal but differ significantly in what they cost you.
By far the most economical source is the Battle Pass. Over the course of an act you unlock various rewards level by level, and a fixed share of them is Radianite. Whoever plays the pass through normally over the weeks accumulates enough Radianite on the side to upgrade several skins – without spending an extra cent, provided you play anyway. This partly applies even to the free track of the pass, but the stronger Radianite rewards lie in the premium variant.
The Battle Pass is therefore the base supply for most players. A good rhythm is to put the Radianite collected over an act specifically into the one or two skins you play most at the end. That way you have a visible result at the end of each season instead of distributing the points aimlessly.
If the collected Radianite isn't enough, you can top it up directly with Valorant Points. Riot offers tiered packs for this: smaller amounts cost proportionally a bit more, larger packs are a touch cheaper per point. For rough orientation the simple rule of thumb 1,000 VP = €10 still applies, so you can easily convert the VP price of a Radianite pack into euros.
Mathematically, though, topping up is the more expensive variant. A single upgrade level quickly costs – converted from VP – a few euros, and for a fully built skin that adds up. The purchase is worth it above all when you're only one level or one colour variant short of a favourite skin and don't want to wait until the next Battle Pass. As a permanent solution, the Battle Pass is almost always the smarter choice.
The central question before every upgrade is: how much Radianite does a skin devour until it's complete? The exact number depends on the line, but there are reliable reference values. A single upgrade level usually costs around 10 to 15 Radianite. Most premium skins have about four such levels, plus the colour variants, each of which again requires its own portion of Radianite.
On balance you should count on roughly 40 to 80 Radianite for a fully built premium skin including all colour variants. Cheaper lines with fewer levels are below that, elaborate Deluxe or premium collections with many variants at the upper end. The following overview helps you sort it out:
All figures are orientation values. Riot may set the exact costs differently per collection.
In practice this means: the Battle Pass stock collected over an act is often just enough for one high-end skin plus leftovers. Whoever wants to fully upgrade several skins at the same time can hardly avoid topping up with VP – or some patience over several seasons.
A widespread misconception is that every skin can be upgraded. That's not true. Whether a skin accepts Radianite at all depends on its tier – and the cheapest skins come away empty-handed here. How the individual tiers are structured is explained in detail in our overview of the Valorant skin tiers.
Roughly: skins of the lowest entry tier usually come only with colour variants or no upgrades at all – they are built the way they are, and Radianite changes nothing about that. Only from the middle and the premium tier does Radianite unfold its full effect, because these skins possess several levels with animations, sounds and finishers. The absolute top class, the Ultra and exclusive lines, is the most elaborately designed and rewards invested Radianite with the most spectacular effects.
For your buying decision, a simple maxim follows: not every cheap skin is a good basis for upgrading. If you're specifically looking for a weapon you'll later make shine with Radianite, pay attention to the tier already when buying. A plain entry-level skin stays plain, no matter how much Radianite you had – while a premium skin only shows what's in it with Radianite.
Radianite doesn't simply unlock a higher number but concrete content. It's worth knowing what exactly is in the levels of a high-end skin so you can judge whether the investment is worth it for you.
The upgrade levels are the centrepiece. With each level the visual effects, VFX for short, get stronger: the muzzle flash becomes more striking, the inspect menu animates, additional movements and lights appear when reloading. At the highest level the skin often gets a completely distinct appearance that has little in common with the base level.
Finishers and sounds
Many premium and Ultra lines unlock their own finisher on the upper levels – a small staging that plays when you eliminate the last opponent of the round. On top come custom sound effects for firing, reloading and equipping. This acoustic layer in particular is often underestimated but makes up a large part of a line's recognisability.
Chroma colour variants
In addition to the effect levels, many skins come with several colour variants, often called Chroma. That's the same skin in a different colouring – for example red, blue or gold instead of the standard colour. These variants usually each cost their own portion of Radianite and are purely visual. Whoever wants a particular colour to match their setup best factors in this Radianite.
Is upgrading really worth it?
Whether Radianite is worth it is ultimately a question of perspective. In terms of gameplay an upgrade brings exactly zero advantage – your hits, your damage and your range stay identical. It's all about looks, sound and the good feeling of playing a weapon in its most beautiful form. Whoever only asks about the benefit in the match can ignore Radianite entirely.
On the other side is the calculation of time versus joy. You hold your main weapon hundreds of times over a season. If a strong animation and a satisfying sound give you a little bit more fun every round, that's worth the manageable Radianite outlay for many players – especially when the Radianite comes from the Battle Pass anyway and costs nothing extra. It only gets critical when you start topping up expensive Radianite for weapons you barely play.
An honest rule of thumb: upgrade the one or two weapons you buy most often and leave the rest on the base level. That way you get the greatest noticeable effect for your Radianite without scattering it broadly. The expensive building-out of a rarely used secondary weapon, on the other hand, is almost always wasted Radianite.
Radianite and the total value of your collection
Radianite also has an interesting side when it comes to the value of your locker. A fully upgraded skin contains not only its VP purchase price but additionally the invested Radianite – and this Radianite, whether from the Battle Pass or bought with VP, also has a value. In a sense a fully built premium skin is therefore worth more than the same skin sitting only on the base level.
No official trading value arises from this, because skins can be neither sold nor traded in Valorant. Still, it's appealing to see how much value has accumulated in your locker over the years – the sum of purchased skins and the Radianite invested in them. This is exactly where Valorant-Spind comes in: the free Windows tool reads your locker locally on your PC and converts the value of your collection into euros automatically, without login and without data leaving the device.
That way you get a realistic figure for your entire inventory and see which lines make up the largest share. This helps not only curiosity but also the conscious handling of future purchases and upgrades: whoever sees in black and white how much is already in the locker perhaps thinks a moment longer before the next top-up of Radianite.
An example calculation over a whole season
To make the numbers more tangible, a worked example helps. Imagine you play regularly for an act and unlock the premium Battle Pass. Over the weeks a solid stock of Radianite accumulates – enough to fully build one high-end skin and still have a few points left for a second. You decide to upgrade your favourite Vandal from a premium line.
The four upgrade levels together cost you roughly 40 to 60 Radianite. After that a red colour variant appeals to you, which requires another portion. In total you end up at maybe 60 to 70 Radianite for this one fully built Vandal – points that in this case cost you not a single extra cent because they come from the pass. That's exactly how the system is intended: whoever plays anyway refines their favourite weapon practically on the side.
The calculation looks different if you lack patience mid-season and want to fully build a second skin immediately. Then you lack the Radianite from the pass and would have to top it up with Valorant Points. Converted via 1,000 VP = €10, that quickly adds up to a double-digit euro amount for a single weapon. In most cases it's more worthwhile to wait until the next act and use the fresh Battle Pass Radianite instead of topping up expensively.
Common misconceptions about Radianite
A few misconceptions persist around Radianite that lead to bad purchases. The first: that Radianite and VP are the same thing. They're not – VP buys the skin, Radianite refines it, and the two can't be converted into each other. The second misconception is that an expensive bundle automatically comes with all effects. The purchase price covers only the base level; you unlock the spectacular levels only with Radianite.
A third, expensive misconception is the assumption that every skin can be upgraded. The cheapest entry-level skins in particular often accept no Radianite at all or offer only colours without real effect levels. And finally some believe an upgrade brings an advantage in the match – that's never the case. Radianite is one hundred percent cosmetic. Whoever keeps these four points in mind makes much better decisions around upgrading.
Tips for the sensible use of Radianite
Finally, a few practical rules with which you use your Radianite as well as possible and avoid expensive missteps:
If you heed these points, you get the greatest possible effect out of every single Radianite point – and end up at the end of a season with one or two really nicely built favourite skins instead of many half-finished ones.
See the value of your upgraded skins
Valorant-Spind adds up your skins automatically and shows the total value of your locker.
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With Radianite Points you upgrade skins you already own and unlock additional variants, effects, sounds and finishers.
You get Radianite via the Battle Pass (free and premium) or you buy it directly with Valorant Points.
In a sense yes: in a fully upgraded skin, Radianite is invested in addition to the VP price, which is why it holds more value than the same skin without upgrades.
For upgrading your skins to higher variant levels. Only skins from the premium tier onward can be upgraded with Radianite.
