Fade is an excellent Initiator that fits the current Valorant meta. Fade not only looks and feels terrifying, but her abilities are frightening, to say the least.
She’s currently one of the best Valorant agents in the game. Fade rivals Sova in terms of scanning enemies, clearing corners, and setting her teammates up for easy kills. Making her an easy and popular to help you climb the Valorant ranks.
But to truly instill fear in your enemies, you’ll have to defeat them in-game. This is why we’ve created this Fade Valorant agent guide to help you.
Here are the best ways to play as, with, or against Fade and the different tips and tricks you can use.
Fade’s Abilities
Fade is the 19th agent in the game and has an Initiator role. Initiators are usually the ones who start off fights or set their teammates up for success. These agents often have flashes to help blind enemies as the team enters or utility that can clear corners and other areas. Other Initiators in the game include Sova, KAY/O, Breach, and Skye.
Here are all of Fade’s different abilities in-game.
Prowler (C)
Fade’s C ability is “Prowler.” Prowler has two charges and allows Fade to equip a Prowler that she can send forward. You can hold down the FIRE button to steer the Prowler or simply let it go in a straight line. Prowlers will chase down the first enemy it sees and nearsight them on impact. Prowlers also follow terror trails left by Fade’s other abilities.
The Prowlers are quite similar to Skye’s Trailblazer, except that they don’t give you vision. You can freely move while controlling Prowler, which makes it an excellent ability to use while entering a site.
Prowlers cost 250 each, lasts up to 3 seconds, have 100 health, and causes a 3.5s nearsight effect on impact.
Generally, you’d want to use Prowlers to check close corners, mainly because they don’t last that long. They can also easily be destroyed with a few gunshots, so sending them out in the open isn’t ideal.
Seize (Q)
Seize is an ability you can use to hold enemies in place. It’s a knot of raw fear that you can throw and drops down after a specific time. It explodes on impact creating an area of effect where nearby enemies get held down towards the middle. Enemies are deafened and decayed during this time.
Fade’s Seize ability costs 200 credits, lasts for 4.5s, and afflicts enemies with deafened and decays 75 HP that’s restored over 5 seconds.
Seize is a great way to delay rushes. It’s also a great tool to prevent plants or defuses as long as you can throw it early. You can also use Seize to set up early peeks at the start of rounds. It works best if you play Valorant with a friend and can have him peek off your utility. However, you can also peek off it yourself in certain situations.
Also, try to learn a lineup or two for each map since Seize can be used in many creative ways. Some of the best Valorant streamers have multiple lineups for each map, so you can always learn a thing or two by simply watching them.
Haunt (E)
Fade’s signature ability is Haunt. Haunt allows Fade to equip a haunting watcher and throw it within an area. The watcher drops down after a specific time has passed and latches out on impact. Haunt reveals enemies within its line of sight and leaves terror trails following them.
Since Haunt is Fade’s signature ability, you get it free every round. It lasts 2 seconds, has 1 HP, and leaves a terror trail for 12 seconds. It also recharges every 40 seconds, meaning you can use it a few times every round.
Haunt can be effective in sites with wide areas. It’s great to use on maps like Ascent, Bind, and Haven, where you can clear a ton of angles using the skill.
For the most part, you can get away without having any lineups or Haunt. However, it can easily be destroyed with one bullet, so you’ll want to change the location of where you throw your Haunt every now and then.
You can also throw Haunt on top of walls, boxes, and other items to make it harder to destroy. There are also tons of creative angles that you can use to scan wide areas.
Nightfall (X)
Finally, we’re down to Fade’s ultimate ability, Nightfall. Fade equips the power of nightmare itself and unleashes a wave of unstoppable nightmare energy. Enemies hit with the wave are afflicted with terror trails and gain a deafened and decayed status.
Nightfall requires 7 ultimate orbs to charge, leaves a 12-second trail, deafens enemies, and afflicts a 75 HP decay restored over 12 seconds. Nightfall is a very powerful ultimate when used correctly. It has a broad area of effect and can basically cover a whole site.
The deafened and decayed statuses can make your enemies feel like sitting ducks. It doesn’t matter if they have one of the best headsets for Valorant; they still won’t hear a thing when afflicted with Fade’s ultimate.
You can essentially rush a site without anyone knowing, and before the effects wear off, you’ve already planted the spike. Make sure to have someone follow the terror trails and kill off enemies while they are decayed.
You can also follow it up with Prowlers to ensure that your enemies are deafened, decayed, and nearsighted all at the same time. Just follow where the Prowler will lead you and collect your easy kills.
Best and Worst Times to Pick Fade in Valorant
Of course, you can’t pick Fade in every situation and on every map you play on. So for this section of our Valorant Fade guide, let’s talk about the best and worst times to pick Fade.
Best Times to Play Fade
- When playing on Ascent, Haven, or Bind.
- When playing on a map with a ton of close corners.
- When playing on a map with small plant sites.
- When you’re duo-ing with a Raze.
- When there’s a Yoru or Omen on your team.
Fade works best on Ascent, Haven, or Bind. This is where her abilities shine the brightest. All of these maps allow Fade to get a ton of value out of her Haunt. They also offer some close corners and small but open sites where she can effectively use her Prowlers and Nightfall ultimate.
Raze, Omen, and Yoru are some of the best agents to play with Fade. They can play off her skills well and utilize her initiating skills. Raze’s Paint Shells can give you a deadly combo with Fade’s Seize. While Omen and Yoru can capitalize on Fade’s deafening and nearsighting abilities.
Worst Times to Play Fade
- When there’s already a Sova on your team.
- When your team needs a Duelist.
- When playing on Breeze or Icebox.
Fade was primarily made as an alternative to Sova, meaning they have similar skill sets. More often than not, you’re better off playing a different Initiator or role instead.
As we’ve mentioned above, Fade is great at setting up her team for kills. If you don’t have a Duelist to capitalize on your utility, then Fade isn’t as effective as she can be. At this point, you’re better off using a Duelist and maybe trying to pad your KDA and make them look pretty on Valorant stat trackers.
Finally, Breeze is often regarded as the worst map to play Fade. Enemies can easily dodge your utility because of the very large open areas and sites. On the other hand, Icebox is often regarded as a Sova map, so it might be a good idea to use Sova instead.
Fade Guide – Tips and Tricks
The next part of our Fade Valorant agent guide focuses on various tips and tricks that you can use when you have a Fade in your game. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing against a Fade or you have one on your team. We’ll have tips for all types of Fade that you can encounter.
Tips and Tricks for Playing as Fade
- Use your Prowlers or Haunt as bait.
- You can drop Seize and Haunt early.
- Learn multiple lineups.
- Throw your Haunt ability in unique places.
The first instinct for most players is to shoot Prowlers or Haunts that can affect them. This is why they are great abilities to use as bait. Swing your enemies before they can destroy your utility to get the upper hand.
Another great trick is dropping Seize and Haunt early. This can help you reach unique places or catch your enemies off guard for a quick scan or suck.
Lineups are a great way to consistently make your abilities land in the same places. This can be used as a way to delay rushes, plants, or defuses. Lineups are also a great way to place your Haunt on top of various structures or items, allowing you to easily scan larger areas.
Tips and Tricks for Playing With a Fade
- Wait for your Fade to use their abilities before entering a site.
- Always follow up when they cast Nightfall.
- Be ready to swing when they cast Haunt or Seize.
At this point, we already know how great Fade is at setting her team up. So the best thing you can do is let her do her thing and capitalize on the information she gives.
It’s annoying for a Fade player to use her ultimate and have no one follow it up. Ensure that you’re always ready to push with Fade’s ultimate and increase your combat score through those kills or assists.
The same thing can be said for Haunt or Seize. You always want to prepare to swing when you see that your Fade is readying a lineup for Haunt or Seize. There’s no point if she scans or hits the entire team if you don’t swing after.
Tips and Tricks for Playing Against a Fade
- Follow the trajectory of Fade’s abilities.
- Always destroy Haunt and Prowler.
- Listen for audio cues.
Playing against an excellent Fade player can be very annoying. One of the best things you can do to counter Fade is to follow the trajectory of her abilities and try to avoid or shoot it depending on the arc.
In relation to following Fade’s abilities, make sure to always destroy Haunt and Prowler. These are Fade’s intel-gathering abilities. Countering her by breaking these abilities allows you to play angles better since she doesn’t know exactly where you are.
Finally, listening to audio cues is very important when playing against Fade. Because most of her abilities require some travel time, you’ll get a good sense of how much time you have before they land by simply listening to audio cues. From there, you can easily decide the next steps to take.
Best Maps for Fade in Valorant
For the most part, Fade fits most team comps because of her intel-gathering abilities. However, there are some maps where you’re better off playing another Initiator than Fade. Here are some of the best maps for Fade.
Excellent Maps – Ascent, Bind, Haven, Lotus
Fade excels on these maps because of their small site sizes. This allows Fade to effectively use her Haunt and Nightfall abilities since they cover most, if not the entire sites. Her Haunt can also land on top of various walls, structures, and boxes, resulting in creative angles.
Fade’s prowlers are also great on this map because of the short entrances and many close angles to clear. Finally, Seize can also be great on various locations around the map, unlike on some of the other Valorant maps.
Good Maps – Pearl, Fracture, and Split
Pearl and Fracture offer wider spaces and larger sites. This means that Fade can have trouble covering some of them. However, she can still be useable on both maps if you know the right lineups and can get close to a site.
Fade is a bit better on Split since she can work with the small spaces on both sites. She would actually be an amazing pick if it wasn’t for the heaven and mid-control priority on the map. But overall, she’s definitely still great and playable on Split.
Generally, it’s better to play Fade on Pearl and Fracture if there’s another Initiator on your team that can help you out. Even without an extra Initiator, Fade can still do wonders and be effective when played correctly.
Bad Maps – Icebox and Breeze
Icebox and Breeze are some of the worst maps to play Fade. As we’ve mentioned before, Icebox has been more of a Sova map since it was released. He’s great on that map and can do everything from clearing corners, scanning using lineups, and post-plant play.
Breeze is one of the largest maps in Valorant. This means that Fade can have trouble covering sites and angles using her utility. It also has very wide areas that can make it easy for enemies to dodge Fade’s skills.
Conclusion
And just like that, you’ve reached the end of our Fade Valorant agent guide. Hopefully, you learned a few things about Fade that you can use to level up your game. When in the right hands, Fade is a terrifying agent, gameplay-wise and looks-wise.
Do you know a different Fade trick that wasn’t included in our Fade guide? Let us know in the comments.
