Valorant is known for producing new agents that add to the tactical options in the 5v5 shooter, and the full roster has grown over the last two years since release from ten to nineteen. The new act that began recently has brought Fade with it, the game’s first Turkish agent and a dangerous initiator.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting Fade’s release since her initial reveal, especially since the gameplay trailer made her abilities look devastating to use in battle. However, as with any new agent in such a tactically focused game, it can be difficult to get started with them and make their abilities work to the player's advantage. Here's how.
7 Don’t Charge In
It is simple to start with a notable few facts about the types of characters in Valorant. The agents are divided into duelists, controllers, sentinels, and initiators. Fade is an initiator; therefore, her powers specialize in extracting information for her teammates about enemy locations, and then blindsiding and pinning enemies in those locations.
With this in mind, as Fade, it is best not to charge in on attack but to sit back. Use the abilities to discover where enemies are, and give the team an advantage as they begin to move in on a site. Despite this being the best tactic, she was shown in her gameplay reveal trailer charging in on a site with the abilities.
6 Pair With A Controller On Defense
While Fade definitely shouldn’t be charging in on defense either, it is useful to note that her abilities won’t be as helpful on their own when defending a site. However, paired with the abilities of a controller that can hold down a site and often use smokes to hold back an enemy, Fade’s abilities could still easily be devastating.
Her seize ability will still help hold back and pin down enemies who are advancing onto a site, but it is much harder to predict on defense where the enemies will be situated. Thus, without being properly paired on the site’s defense, it will become a much greater struggle to get proper use out of Fade. A pair like this for defense is one of the best compositions in Valorant.
5 Take The Spike
Another note on attacking with Fade is that she can be a useful choice for holding onto the spike. While there are many characters, particularly controllers, who commonly find themselves with the spike for a variety of reasons, Fade can be a particularly useful candidate.
Her seize ability can delay enemies from reaching the spike and defusing, and her blind ability is particularly useful in the situation where she knows which direction enemies are approaching from. With her ult, Nightfall, she can make it incredibly difficult for enemies to advance on a site while time runs down on the bomb. This can be particularly useful on the newest map, Fracture.
4 Prowler Has Narrow Sight
Fade’s “C” ability is the Prowler. When activated, Fade will send out a creature of smoke that will travel in a straight line, and chase down anyone it sees within a fairly short range. Players should note that the Prowler's angle of sight while chasing down enemies is surprisingly low.
This means it is important to use the prowlers in confined spaces, narrow corridors and tunnels wherever possible. Using the Prowler in a wide-open space makes it much less likely to make contact and blind the enemy. This is one of the most important tricks to pick up and perfect as players gain more experience with Fade, like learning how to slide well with Neon.
3 Seize Has Short Range
Fade’s Q ability seize is incredibly useful in the right situation and is surprisingly cheap, at only 100 credits to buy each round. Keep in mind, though, that while it traps enemies within a short space for several seconds, the space it covers after landing is surprisingly small.
This means again that it is better not to use it in open spaces. If players are advancing on a site or know exactly where enemies are coming from, it can cover an area likely to contain enemies much easier. Learning how to use the different agents on Valorant such as Chamber is integral to playing against them as well, and this is a useful tip for playing against Fade.
2 Ability Trajectory
One of the most difficult concepts to come to grips with while playing as Fade is the trajectory of her thrown abilities. Both her Q (Seize) and E (Haunt) can be thrown into the air as orbs, but don’t then perform with the normal trajectory that most orb abilities in the game use.
Instead of falling in an arc-like trajectory, both of these orbs will plummet straight down to the ground after a certain distance. This means that players have to be careful, as throwing it across the map won’t work, and it's essential to choose the placement of throws much more carefully. Keeping to a fairly short range is best with both of these. With all the future plans Riot has for Valorant, players will surely see many more abilities using different types of trajectories like this to keep shaking up strategies.
1 Nightfall Has Limited Range
It may not feel like it, but even Fade’s ult ability Nightfall doesn’t have unlimited range. Players can easily cover a whole site if you activate it nearby, and this will usually be the best method for activation. Clearing out a site, defending a spike, or defending a site when certain enemies are coming from a certain direction is the best use of this ability.
The Nightfall ability will deafen, decay, and mark enemies on the map, and can be an incredible way to flush out an entire team in one of the situations described above. Don’t worry if it takes a few attempts to get used to these abilities, as they are quite different from anything seen before in the game, and would make for an excellent and terrifying scene on television as well.