Guide: Master Sage, tips, tricks and advices
Sage is one of the core agents of Valorant. She is a Sentinel who does not particularly shine in combat, but whose support capabilities make her very easily indispensable in any team composition.
Sage is the only agent capable of healing her allies, or even bringing them back to life. That's why it's best to play her in the last line.
Before anything else, we advise you to familiarise yourself with Sage's abilities.
Sage's competencies
Slow Orb
Slow Orb is a spell that costs 200 credits. You can buy two per round. As the name suggests, this orb slows down enemies. When you send it out and it hits a horizontal surface (and only horizontal, it does not go off against a wall), it bursts and spreads a puddle on the ground of a crystal-like material. Anyone walking through it will be slowed down and will make a noise that is easily identified by other players.
The puddle covers a fairly large area and disappears after 7 seconds. Be careful when using it as it also works on you and your allies. When you throw it, don't hesitate to bounce it against walls to reach areas normally inaccessible in your location.
Barrier Orb
Barrier Orb costs 400 credits and can only be bought once per round, so you'll have to be careful about using it. When you activate it, you create a wall of ice divided into four blocks. This wall cannot be crossed and it is not possible to see through it either, as it is completely opaque. You can choose its orientation with the right mouse click, and put it down with the left mouse click.
The wall can be destroyed by pulling on it, but we advise you to use a knife to get rid of it as it is much quicker and less noisy. On the other hand, if no one tries to destroy it, the wall stays in place for 40 seconds. You should also know that its life points are decreasing and that, little by little, cracks will appear. The bigger the cracks, the weaker the wall, indicating that it will soon disappear.
This wall can be used to boost you or your allies to climb over various obstacles. By using it in this way, you will lose its usefulness as cover, but gain the potential for surprise, as Jett and her Tailwind.
For example, on Bind it is possible to place the Sage wall in the Site B window insert. By doing so, you will get a line on the teleport area. When attacking B, it is very likely that you will encounter players there. Since your line is not common, your enemies will not think to look at this angle. If you are efficient, you can take some kills.
Healing Orb
Healing Orb is Sage's signature skill. Once used, it takes 45 seconds to become available again. As its uses are therefore limited, it is of course preferable to use it as late as possible. Don't heal an ally who still has more than 80 health points, it's usually not worth it. Don't wait too long either or it will be too late. Ideally, one would like to heal an ally as soon as he has less than 40 health points. He will then regain all his life.
Orb of Care is a skill that also works on you. Once activated, right click to use it on yourself and left click to use it on your allies. Make sure you always have your mates in your field of vision, so that you can heal them if necessary. You won't be able to use Orb of Care on them if you can't see them. However, you can see their life bar through the walls.
Be aware that if you or your allies take a bullet while the healing is active, it will stop and take about 2 seconds to resume.
Resurrection, Sage's ultimate
As its name suggests, Sage's Ultimate skill allows bring a dead teammate back to life during the round. This is a skill that can become decisive in a round, but it is very easy to misuse. There are two pitfalls to avoid.
The first trap is to use Resurrection as soon as one of your allies dies. The Resurrection should ideally be used to regain the numerical advantage in a round where the enemies are more numerous. If you are the last member of your team standing and none of your opponents have been killed, it is not necessary to bring one of your allies back to life. The skill is too valuable to be used in a losing round.
The second trap is to use Resurrection without knowing the opponent’s position, or worse, in front of them. There is a channel of several seconds before your ally can play again. During this channel, a crystal forms where the corpse was. If an opponent destroys the crystal before your ally returns, the ability is canceled. Protect this crystal as much as possible.
Playing Sage in Attack
Even in attack, Sage should never be played on the front line. Use her abilities to keep your allies alive. Barrier Orb is especially useful when you make a breakthrough at bomb sites. The wall is a solid cover, capable of securing any entrance. It also hides enemies from you. Finally, it forces your opponents to reveal their positions if they want to destroy it.
Playing Sage in Defense
In defense, Sage’s Barrier Orb is just as practical. It entirely blocks access to an area, whether it is an entrance or a tunnel. Attackers then have no choice but to break down the wall or to find another way. By reducing the opponent’s options, you can create an ideal defensive scenario for your teammates, especially those who put traps. You also force the opponents to change their behaviour. If opponents always go at the same places round after round, blocking them may take them out of their comfort zone.
Few things to know:
- The effects of the Orb of Slowdown cannot be combined. If you throw an orb under an enemy that has already been slowed down, it will not be affected, even if the first slowdown has worn off.
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