How to play Sage in Valorant: Abilities, tips & tricks

Andy Williams
How to play as Sage: Valorant’s supportive Sentinel Agent

The resident healer of Valorant, Sage, can be an integral part of any team comp if played correctly, so here’s a rundown of how to use her abilities to topple Future Earth’s enemies.

Sage is Valorant’s archetypal support, who can both keep her allies topped up with lifesaving heals and even resurrect them from icy clutches of death. This kind-hearted Sentinel is perfectly suited for those looking to adopt a more defensive role in the game.

Given how influential Sage can be, let’s take a look at how you can use her game-changing abilities to swing even the fiercest of firefights in your favor. Here’s everything you need to know about her abilities, as well as how to play her in Valorant.


Contents


Sage’s abilities

Valorant's Sage.
Sage’s heals can help her team clutch many a victory.

Sage’s mantra is safety. In a battlefield where second chances are few and far between, Sage provides the ultimate safety net for her comrades in their moment of need.

Her signature Healing Orb can keep injured allies going, while her barrier can block off key choke points. However, it’s Sage’s ability to resurrect friendly Agents that makes her such a powerful pick. All of Sage’s four abilities can be found below:

  • Ability 1 — Barrier Orb (400 Creds): EQUIP a barrier orb. FIRE places a solid wall. ALT FIRE rotates the targeter.
  • Ability 2 — Slow Orb (200 Creds): EQUIP a Slowing Orb. FIRE to launch the Orb, which expands upon hitting the ground, creating a zone that slows players who walk on it.
  • Signature Ability — Healing Orb (Free; 45s cooldown): EQUIP a healing orb. FIRE with your crosshairs over a damaged ally to activate a heal-over-time on them. ALT FIRE while Sage is damaged to activate a self heal-over-time.
  • Ultimate Ability — Resurrection (8 Points): EQUIP a resurrection ability. FIRE with your crosshairs placed over a dead ally to begin resurrecting them. After a brief channel, the ally will be brought back to life with full health.

Healing is Sage’s biggest trump card — and this is what essentially sets her apart from some of the others in her class. The Sentinel Agent’s Healing Orb is a handy tool to utilize during a round, bringing you or your teammate back from the brink of death.

Her huge game-changing ability is her Ultimate, which resurrects an ally from the dead. Aptly entitled Resurrection, it only takes a couple of seconds for your ally to be back in the game. This is especially useful considering that the revived teammate will have had the opportunity to spectate for a period of time, and therefore will have gained some precious intel that could change the course of a round.

Sage’s Resurrection can change the tide of an apparently lost round.

How to play as Sage

With Sage there’s no running into the fray and one tapping all of the enemy team. It’s all about playing defensively and helping out your allies. She has her heals and her resurrect, but also her Barrier Orb and Slow Orb can be useful tools.

Let’s talk about that Barrier Orb. While it’s seen a few changes over Valorant’s lifetime, the icy wall can still create chaos on the battlefield. Use it to wall off one of the main Bomb Site entries that you don’t want enemies flocking to, like Haven’s C site. A well-placed wall next to the Attacker Side spawn can cut off access to that site.

Sure you can just shoot the wall enough times until it shatters, but then you’ve revealed your location to Sage’s team, who no doubt be collapsing on that point to respond.

While Sage’s Slow Orb looks great on paper, it’s a tricky tool to master. One misplaced throw can have your whole team slowed because they’re walking on thin ice. To really master it, learn the map’s popular choke points so that a well-timed orb can slow the entire enemy team and you can spray them from there.

Looking at Sage on paper, she seems like a must-have on every Valorant team, but the reality isn’t quite as straightforward. While her kit is great on Defense, it offers very little on attack, especially when you’re playing with allies who wish to rush onto the point.


So that’s how to master Sage in Valorant. Looking to dominate on each member of Future Earth’s fighting force? Check out our other Agent guides:

Astra | Breach | Brimstone | Chamber | Cypher | Jett | KAY/O | Killjoy | Neon | Omen | Phoenix | Raze | Reyna | Sage | Skye | Sova | Viper | Yoru

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About The Author

Andy is a former Dexerto games writer, with a passion for competitive shooter titles like CS:GO and Valorant.