The Turkish bounty hunter, Fade, is the newest Initiator in the VALORANT lore. Her utility kit and abilities have been really powerful since the time she was launched, even having a bigger pick than Sova and KAY/O in certain maps. To know about Fade and her abilities, our guide will help you learn her every move.
Who is Fade – Abilities and Kit
Fade plays the Initiator role and has a kit that has similar traits to other Agents. Her Prowler (C) and Seize (Q) are considered one of the best utilities in the game, while her Haunt (E) and her Ultimate Nightfall (X) are the strongest reconnaissance abilities among Initiators. Let’s look at these abilities one by one.
- Prowler (C) lets Fade summon a nightmare-ish entity that seeks enemies and nearsights them on contact. This is similar to Omen’s Paranoia but with the main difference that Prowler gives out enemy information. This ability has been nerfed in Patch 5.10 with extensive changes, including effect duration decrease and the duration of the Prowler itself, decreased as well. And another nerf came this Patch 5.12 when its HP was reduced to 60 from 100. This can be guided by the player, similar to Skye’s Guiding Light.
- Seize (Q) is a unique throwable ability that captures enemies and stays them in place while deafening (reduced sound cues) and decaying (huge HP debuff) for a couple of seconds. This has been used in conjunction with Raze’s Paint Shells for the “Fade-Raze” combo. In addition to this combo is the “Fade-Astra-Raze” combo, where Astra can use her Nebula or Nova Pulse to trap enemies during Fade’s Seize. At the same time, Raze throws her Paint Shells dealing massive damage to anyone caught in the utility trap. This ability has a similar trait to Viper (decay), while deafen is Fade’s unique debuff.
- Haunt (E) is Fade’s reconnaissance ability that marks enemies, like Sova’s Recon Dart, but with the difference that it creates a trail that marks enemies’ position(s) even after repositioning. This is her rechargeable ability and can be destroyed by enemies.
- Nightfall (X) is Fade’s Ultimate ability. She summons a power of nightmare energy that deafens, decays, and marks enemies upon contact. One of the most powerful Ultimates in the game. Very useful for retake situations where enemies are repositioned to defend the planted Spike.
VALORANT’s latest Initiator has given us a meta shift once she was introduced in pro play and, throughout the year, has seen a lot of picks among all Initiators. However, in one of the recent updates (Patch 5.10 and Patch 5.12), she was adjusted heavily, making her Prowler a little weaker than before. However, her kit overall is one of the strongest in the game, so we won’t see a drastic shift in the meta until significant nerfs are implemented to her other abilities.
The “Fade-Raze” combo is a very potent team shell* for maps like Haven, Bind, and Ascent. She is also a choice in a two or three Initiator shell along with Sova and KAY/O in big maps like Breeze and Fracture, giving a lot of information for the team with this shell. However, as a solo Initiator, she is the strongest among them, relegating Sova and KAY/O to second and third best, respectively.
Have you used Fade in your matches? What do you think of her? I think she’s still one of the best Agents in VALORANT, but with the new VALORANT Champions Tour season coming in February 2023, we will see if she will still be the top pick among pro players.
[* A team shell is a subset of a team composition (a full 5-man team in VALORANT, for example, is a team composition). Any composition below the maximum number of members in a team composition but higher than one, with team coordination between them, is a shell. So a 2-man shell, 3-man shell, and a 4-man shell can be used in a 5-man team composition. The “Fade-Raze” shell is the first instance in VALORANT that a shell exists in the game.]
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