Fade Valorant: Mark And Hunt Your Enemies
Welcome back to our series, where, each week, we cover the different aspects of an agent in Valorant and give you all the information needed to start playing them in an instant. Today’s blog will focus on Fade, the terrifying initiator with high popularity in the game's meta. Fade in Valorant has a phenomenal kit, to help you gather crucial information that takes advantage of foes. Now that we’ve introduced her, let's break down her kit!
Fade Valorant Abilities
Fade has abilities that track enemies, help clear corners, and take sites. However, her place in the team primarily focuses on finding foes at all stages of a match. With great power comes great responsibility, and as Fade's kit is so beneficial to her teammates, it’s essential you’re ready to step up to the plate and take on the challenge. With a clear line of communication, this agent can become your own unstoppable force, and a highly valued member of any team.
Passive - Terror Trail
Fade’s passive applies a Terror Trail Mark to enemies, revealing their position and movement by tracking them with a Dark Mist. You can combine it with Prowlers, which can follow the trails. This mark lasts 12 seconds and creates a black trail on the ground between the initial point and the affected agent; all allies can see this mark and follow the trail.
Prowler (C)
Activating this ability will equip a Prowler to Fade in Valorant. Using the Fire button will send the Prowler forward from your position, and if you Hold Fire, it will steer the Prowler toward your crosshair. This ability will chase down the first enemy targeted, or the Terror Trail it sees. Once impacted, Prowler will apply Nearsight to the enemy.This ability has two charges per round and costs 250 credits. The search duration is 2.5 seconds, and it will have a windup time of 0.6 seconds.
Seize (Q)
Once activated, it will equip a knot of raw fear you can throw using the Fire button. This knot will drop down after a set time, but you can hit Re-Use to drop it early. This Valorant Fade ability will break on impact and hold the nearby enemies in the exact place they got caught. While the enemies are held, Seize will apply Deafened and Decayed. You will only have one charge of this ability, and it costs 200 credits. The zone duration created by Seize will last 4.5 seconds and cover a radius of 6.58 meters. The Decay applied to enemies is for 75 HP and will be restored over 5 seconds.
Signature - Haunt (E)
When Fade activates this ability, it will equip you with a haunting watcher that you can activate with the Fire Button. This watcher will drop down after a short period, and Re-Use will drop it early. This haunting watcher will lash out on impact, revealing the enemy's position in a line of sight and inflicting Terror Trails upon them. However, the enemies can destroy the watcher before you’re able to activate it, as the watcher only has 1 HP. Haunt only has one charge per round, with a 40 second recharge time. The radius cover is 30 meters, a windup time of 0.825 seconds, and the eye duration is 2 seconds
Ultimate - Nightfall (X)
This ultimate will equip you with the Power of Nightmare, which you can unleash using the Fire button. This will create a wave of unstoppable Nightmare Energy, and all the enemies caught in it will be marked by Terror Trails, Deafened and Decay. Using Fade’s Ult in Valorant, it will cost you 8 ultimate points and will grant 12 seconds of Terror Trails, Deafen and 75 HP Decay that will be restored when the ability ends.
How To Play Fade In Valorant
Playing with a new agent can be challenging and, in this case, requires understanding how Fade works before mastering her. Fade has a unique learning curve, but everything will flow in the right direction when you gain a better understanding of how her kit works. Fortunately for our readers, we're here to talk you through all the necessary steps to grow your understanding. We'll also provide some valuable tips and tricks to ensure your first matches run as smoothly as possible. So, let's dive into the methods!
Starting with Prowler, this ability is a type of drone in-game that gathers information and shows your team the enemy’s location. Although the primary function is to determine the enemy’s position, it can also deal damage and apply the Nearsight effect if you make a successful throw. Still, this ability is not bulletproof since your enemies can destroy the Prowler easily, so it’s wise to only use this ability when you are 100% sure it will give you the foe’s location.
Fade in Valorant can throw the Prowler and move forward by not releasing the right mouse button. You can additionally control this ability by rotating the camera; with the ability being able to apply Nearsight if it reaches a target and bites them. However, since we know that enemies can quite easily spot and destroy the drone, it’s wise to consider using it in a fake-out situation. The only downside to this approach is you must be close to the enemy when doing so, remain cautious at all times. If you’re too far afield to make it work, you can always use the swing and trade with your teammates to get closer. Most of the time, you will get an easy kill, leading to amazing outplays in clutch situations.
Using Seize in the early stages of the match is recommended, as you can reactivate it later in another round and make use of it again. It will form an AoE in which when enemies land, they will be unable to leave the radius of the attack. During this, their health will be reduced to 75HP; however, shortly after the effect has ended their health will be restored. This is a great mechanic if you’re going for the unpredictable approach, as many tend to forget the ability can be reactivated; meaning foes can find themselves in forgotten traps.
Something to consider is that this ability will emit sound, alerting the enemies around, but you can overcome their attempt to destroy Seize by pressing the Activation button. Seize is the perfect ability to combine with other agents' abilities to deal maximum damage. You can expect to slow down your enemies significantly with the effects of this ability.
An alternative use for Seize is to slow down any possible rushes, giving you and your teammates time to regroup and think of a better strategy. Moreover, Fade in Valorant can use this ability to block a path to force enemies to change their minds and go other ways. Still, it has a fantastic ability to delay defenders’ retake attempts and can be a perfect option to obstruct a rush during the defending rounds, giving you some extra time to defuse or plant a Spike.
Haunt is crucial to Fade, working as a centerpiece to glue together all of her kit. Although it’s her signature, it is still an essential ability for you and your teammates to gather information. It has a mechanic similar to Seize, but the primary function is applying the Terror Trails to your enemies. When an enemy has visual contact with Haunt, it will mark them and leave a trail that leads to them.
Like Fade’s other abilities, enemies can shoot at Haunt and destroy it easily. So, the best option to preserve your ability is to place it in high locations, like roofs. This will increase the viewing range and target more enemies with less risk of Haunt being destroyed.
Haunt has a 40-second cooldown, giving you many chances to mark your enemies and hunt them down by following the black trails they leave behind. Fade in Valorant won’t have the ability to spam Haunt; but you can use it somewhat frequently thanks to its recharge time. Haunt can spot enemies quicker than Sova’s Dart, giving you a slight advantage before they have a chance to destroy it. You can place Haunt when your enemies or your team smokes an area to cover your ability and grant the mark to track down the enemy agents.
Last but not least, Nightfall, Fade’s ult in Valorant, will apply two effects to enemies: Decayed and Deafened. Moreover, it will apply the mark of Terror Trails to them, converting enemy agents into easy targets to kill after being hit by this ultimate. Nightfall has a similar AoE as Breach’s Rolling Thunder, creating a larger rectangle you can see on the mini-map.
The Deafened debuff gives you and your teammates an advantage over the affected enemies. They won’t hear your footsteps, creating a scenario where you can play aggressively to obtain more kills. However, it’s not the only use for this ultimate because it’s a great option to keep foes away during planting or defending the Spike. It’s a great option to make your enemies fear you and flee the area where you have placed the ultimate. Another option to use this, is to reposition without being heard. This ultimate can be extremely beneficial to Fade in Valorant, as it allows for a high impact round when used at the right time.
Fade Valorant Agent FAQ
Fade isn't the most straightforward agent to master in Valorant, so it's not at all strange to have some unanswered questions, or general wondering. This agent comes with some complex abilities, so to help you wrap your head around it, take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions:
Is Fade better in attacking or defending rounds?
It’s a tricky question because Fade’s abilities work in any situation. So, it will depend on you and your play style. If you are more aggressive, the attacking phase will have more exciting moments to use abilities like Seize or Nightfall. During the defending phase, you delay the enemies and track them down to avoid them planting the Spike or defuse it if that’s the case.
Are there recent buffs for Fade?
Fade didn’t receive a buff in recent updates; the last time Riot provided an update for Fade, was to enhance the art for Seize and Nightfall; this had no impact on her abilities, and was purely a cosmetic update. It was simply an aesthetic touch to align her with the current art language of Valorant.
Valorant Fade Summary
Fade in Valorant is one of the most beloved agents in the game. Players love her for the utility she brings to the battlefield and how well she can mark enemies to hunt them during rounds. Her unique kit elevates what it means to be an initiator, focusing on cleaning corners and uncovering hidden enemies. If you want to master more agents like Fade, don’t forget to check our blog section. Moreover, if you're about to start your journey in Valorant and want some unique and rare items and accessories, you can check our page to buy Valorant accounts. That’s all for now. See you in our next blog.
