Sage Valorant Guide

An in-depth guide of how to play with Sage that will explain everything you need to know about the Agent and the best way to play with it.

Sage is one of the ten Agents that players have access to when they start playing the game, she is the perfect choice for a player that is used to playing more of a support role, she is one of the most simple Agents to play with, what makes her a great choice for beginner players, and probably the best Agent for you to understand the fundamentals of the game.

Sage role

The role Sage plays is Sentinel, being one of the best and also easier Sentinels to get used to. Sentinels have the mission of providing support and defense to their teams in a variety of ways, Sage main way to provide support to her teammates is by healing them with her "healing orb", she can also protect her teammates by using her Wall blocking the fire from the enemy or just blocking one of the entries in the map, she can also slow enemies by using her "slow orb" which can be used to delay the enemy entry in a specific part of the map.

Her ultimate is also one of the most game changer abilities in the entire game, with her ultimate the Agent hailing from China can resurrect a fallen teammate and switch the odd's of the round in her teams favor, she is also the only Agent in the game which has an ability capable of bringing one of the teammates from the graveyard.

Sage is a strong Agent in almost all the maps in the game right now, but she is exceptionally strong in maps that are more defensive side focused like Split and Ascent there is where the Agent really shines.

She is still considered a meta pick right now much because of her healing since only Sage and Skye have an ability that permits them to heal their teammates, as well as the great defensive presence she has together with good and easy to use utility that can be used to slow down or prevent the entry of enemies.

An in-depth look at her abilities

None of Sages' abilities deal damage to the enemy, they are more focused on providing support to the team and controlling the pace of the round by slowing it.

Slow Orb

• Cost: 200 Credits

• Command Key: Q

• Function: Crowd Control

• Charges: 2

• Duration: 7 seconds

With Slow Orb Sage equips a slowing orb that explodes/detonates when it enters contact with the ground, spreading on the surface of the floor this will slow everyone that walks over it by 50%, this means the abilities affects both your teammates and enemies as well as yourself (Sage).

This ability is great to use when you want to slow the pace of the round or just stop a rush, lets say you are playing on the A bombsite on Bind and you hear a lot of footsteps, by deploying this ability in the ground it will slow your enemies and maybe even make them give up on the idea to rush the site, but it also gives you time to communicate the info to your teammates so they can respond/rotate faster in order to help you.

Barrier Orb

• Cost: 400 Credits

• Command Key: C

• Function: Vision Blocker/Wall that allows Sage to block an entrance to a bomb site or other specific part of the map

• Charges: 1

• Duration: 40 seconds

When using Barrier Orb Sage equips a large Wall/Barrier that blocks the enemy vision and bullets, when placed the Wall has 400 Hp, and when fully fortified it is 800 hp, which means that the best time for the enemies to destroy the Wall, is when she is just placed so be careful about that, yes the wall can be destroyed by shooting at it or with your melee weapon.

This ability is great to close one entrance to the Bombsite and force enemies to either destroy the wall, which will cost them some time and will give information o the enemy team, or just take a different path.

You can also use to Wall to protect you or your teammates when planting the spike, by placing the wall in front of them or tho their side ( in general a side that is exposed to the enemy team or if you are not sure the location of the map its "clean", this makes it's so that it's easier and safer for your teammate to plant the spike since he is not planting opened to enemy fire.

There are also other ways in which you can use Sage's Wall, you can use it to create a boost either for your or your teammates, this allows your teammates to pick angles that otherwise they wouldn't be able to pick, and it may catch some enemies off guard.

You have many boosts but the most famous and easier to execute are, the boost on the B tunnel in Ascent and another outside of the B tunnel, the first one allows you to see to the site and market while the other allows you to pick to the short position at A without exposing yourself.

Healing Orb

• Cost: Free

• Command Key: E

• Function: Healing

• Charges: 1

• Cooldown: 45 seconds

The Healing Orb is Sage signature ability, which means that once the ability is used it will recharge and in 45 seconds you can use it again.

Just like the name indicates the healing orb serves to either heal yourself or your allies, when used on your allies it will heal them for 60 hp over five seconds, when you use it on yourself it will also heal you for 60 hp but it will take 10 seconds to receive the full heal.

This ability is perfect to use on a teammate that is low, and if you can use it as soon as possible so she can recharge, and you can use it later in the round if necessary.

For example, if your duelist gets an entry kill and stays at 70 health without shield use it on him, some people may think "but he is not that low he still has 70hp left" however, that 20 hp can be the difference between winning or losing the next 1v1, that way your ally as 100 hp and you will be able to use the ability at least one more time in the round ( if you don't die until it recharges of course).

Resurrection

• Cost: 8 Ultimate Points

• Command Key: X

• Function: Reviving an ally

When using Resurrection Sage can revive a fallen ally during a round, you just need to equip the ability and left-click over the body of your ally, while reviving your ally can take damage from the enemies so be careful when and how you revive your teammates.

Sage ultimate is one of the strongest in the game, like mentioned previously its the only ultimate that can revive a dead teammate, this ability has the potential to turn around in the favor of your team if you are on a three versus three for example, and you are able to revive on of your allies this not only gives you the man advantage but it also increases your chances of winning the round.

In some cases when you are in a 1v1 situation and have to defuse the bomb but you don't know where the enemy player might be this ultimate can single handle win you the round, you revive an ally and the opponent only has two options either show himself and you can kill him while he tries to kill your teammate( you use the revive like bait to lure your enemy out so you can know is position) in the revive animation or he will have to play in a 2v1 situation, either way, you have the advantage in that situation if you play it correctly.

How you should play with Sage

Sage is a sentinel and a defensive agent, with her main goal being providing support and healing to her team, you cant play Sage the same way you play with an initiator like Skye, or duelists like Reyna or Jett, you must have a much more defensive playstyle, focusing on healing your teammates, trading them when they die, but don try to be an entry killer, it is not your job, let that to the duelist in your team, if you are playing Sage and are trying to entry kill and end up being the first one of your team to always die you aren't playing the Agent the correct way.

If you are always the first one dying you obviously won't be able to heal your teammates, and since Sage main strength is healing her teammates or reviving them when you have the ultimate if you are always dead you won't be able to do that, and in a way will become useless to your team especially since in compositions where Sage is played she is normally the only healer in the team.

So especially on offense play a supportive role, don't be the first one to enter the site let the duelist/initiators do that and make sure you are alive so you can heal them if necessary, also don't lurk with Sage once again you are there to heal your teammates if you are on the opposite part of the map well you won't be able to do that and you will be playing against the strengths of your agent.

Let agents like Cypher and others do the lurking, always try to stay close with at least one player of your team, let's say you are attacking in Bind and the call is to do a split B two go long, two go hookah, and one stays watching the rotations from A, you should never be the one staying back always go with one of your teammates if possible go long since if you are able to get control of the zone you can catch the ultimate orb and get closer go have your ultimate, by going with your ally you can either trade him if he dies or heals him if he gets low.

However, sometimes you will be put in the situation where you will have to be the entry killer if you are on a 5v3 and you're duelist/initiators are dead or you are just in a better position to entry kill then you will have to go for it but normally those situations don't happen that much.

When playing Sage you might also notice that maybe your average ACS is lower than the rest of your team, even if you have a good score lets say 12-7-8, in some ways, this is normal if you are playing passive with the Agent ( like you should) focusing on healing your allies and slowing the enemies or denied them the entry on the bombsite with your wall, and don't take unnecessary duels.

Some ways you can counter Sage

Sage, especially when defending, wants to slow the pace of the game therefore agents like Jett, Raze are some of the best at accelerating the pace of the game with their dashes and jumps and can catch Sage of guard, if you place a wall most Agents will have to destroy them in order to pass and then will have to go through the slow, however, with Jett, for example, she can just jump over the wall dash into the site and kill you, either with her ultimate of with a normal gun.

Another way is to play to the opposite side from where Sage is playing, yes the wall is great to block an entrance to the bomb site, but coordinated teams can just play to the other side of the map, with Sage not being an agent with a lot of mobility and one that cant gather as much information as other sentinels like Cypher and Killjoy, you can use this to your advantage and take control of the map areas where Sage isn't there.

I hope this guide helped you understand how you should utilize Sage and her strengths and weakness.

If you want to learnabout more agents check our Beginners Guides Section.

Leave a comment below if you enjoyed the article and if you would like more guides like this.