Valorant: Sage Agent Guide


Agent Sage in Valorant.

Valorant has multiple colourful characters, known as Agents, for players to choose from. Sage is unquestionably one of the best Valorant Agents to begin your journey in Riot Game's highly competitive FPS. In the right hands, Sage can become more than just a healer. Her abilities allow her to stop incoming enemy rushes easily.

Here's our comprehensive guide to playing as and mastering Sage.

Read More: Valorant: How Agent Contracts Work

Is Sage Good in Valorant?

Sage belongs to the Sentinel class in-game, and her abilities revolve around the controlling of specific areas of the map, while also protecting her teammates.

Sage is also a proficient Agent who can stop an incoming rush by closing off lanes and choke points. She has a high pick rate throughout every rank in Valorant, and it is primarily because she can defend and heal her teammates.

In terms of Valorant's story, Sage is a part of the VALORANT Protocol team, and is second-in-command to Brimstone. There are specific voice lines in game that refer to Sage as a future leader. In the mirror Earth, it is predicted by KAY/O that Sage becomes more than a healer. In fact, he says, "Sage, where I am from, you are not a healer, just a weapon."

Is Sage Good for Beginners?

Sage is one of the few Agents that are automatically unlocked in Valorant. Mastering her can be tricky, but she is fairly easier to master than other Sentinels, and is great for beginners.

Sage’s arsenal ensures that key teammates are able to heal after taking an early fight. When entering sites, it's best to play as a supportive Agent initially rather than focusing on kills. Make sure to heal your Duelists and Initiators have enough health, and fire, while entering sites.

Similarly, Sage becomes a key instrument in blocking the enemy during defensive rounds. Sage's wall is fundamental to closing off areas at a Spike Site. Combined with her Slow Orbs, Sage can waste the enemy team's valuable time and help her team position themselves for a strong attack.

Overall, Sage is one of the easiest Agents to master, and she is definitely the most useful Agent in the Sentinel class. Given her supporting abilities, it may be worth playing a slower-paced style, trying to plant the Spike, and dictating the game rather than brawling it out with others. However, Sage is an Agent who can turn the tide of a match single-handedly if needs be.

How To Play As Sage — Abilities & Skills

BARRIER ORB (C) — Sage equips a barrier orb. Click Fire to places a solid wall. Alternate fire rotates the wall. The wall "fortifies" after a 3-second delay, increasing its health. Shortly before expiring, the wall rapidly loses health.

SLOW ORB (Q) — Sage equips a Slowing Orb. Fire to launch the Orb, which expands upon hitting the ground, creating a zone that slows players who walk on it.

HEALING ORB (E) — Sage equips a healing orb. Fire with your crosshairs over a damaged ally to activate a heal-over-time on them. Alternate fire while Sage is damaged to activate a self heal-over-time. The healing will stop upon taking damage.

Ultimate ⁠- RESURRECTION (X) — Sage equips a resurrection ability. Fire with your crosshairs placed over an ally's corpse to begin resurrecting them. After a brief channel, the ally will be brought back to life with full health.

Sage's Best Weapons

The best weapons to select for any Agent in Valorant will depend on their role and the player's play style.

So if you're aggressively pushing sites with Sage for entry, then these weapons will be the best choice.

  • Ghost
  • Stinger
  • Spectre
  • Phantom
  • Frenzy
  • Sheriff
  • Bulldog

In case you are hanging back and adopting a passive play style with Sage, then work your way around with the following weapons:

  • Marshall
  • Guardian
  • Vandal
  • Odin
  • Operator

Tips for Playing as Sage in Valorant

Players need to understand that Sage's role in Valorant is not that of an entry fragger. She is a support Agent with healing and resurrection abilities. Thus, it is best to adopt a passive play style with Sage if you are a beginner in Valorant. Create opportunities for teammates with precise Slow Orbs and Wall placement, and use your heals and Ultimate on your top fraggers.

Sage's signature ability is her healing, so players need to incorporate decision-making to use them properly. She can heal herself or choose to heal a teammate. Thus, using her abilities will always be discretionary depending on the situation, and who's nearby.

She is not the only healer in Valorant, as there is Skye who can heal the entire team. However, Sage is the only Agent who can revive teammates in Valorant. This makes her unique as an Agent, but it has its disadvantages, as reviving a teammate involves risk for both the revived and Sage herself.

Always make sure to have a calm mind while playing Sage, as teammates will sometimes pester you for heals. Ignore this, and make sure to maximize your healing ability by using it at what you deem to be the right moment. Sage has a 45-second countdown on her healing ability, too, which means timing is of the essence.

Sage's Slow Orb is perhaps the most underused ability in Valorant. On the surface, a Slow Orb slows down opponent rushes, but enemies tend to push through it regardless, since it does no damage. Camping at angles can be a useful technique to use with Slow Orbs. This effectively forces the opponent to change their crosshair placement while they are slowed and makes it easier for Sage to kill them.

Combining Sage's Slow Orb with Barrier Orb allows players to close off specific angles and entry points. This method is highly efficient as it allows your team to rotate quickly before the opponents take site control. Additionally, hiding behind Sage's walls is a great trick during defensive rounds. This trick will always guarantee a free kill, but players should not do this every round as it will make them predictable.

Finally, Sage's ultimate ability allows her to revive any of her fallen teammates. This is her greatest strength, and it can be used in a number of ways. For instance, players can bait a revive on a teammate to get some easy kills on camping opponents. Similarly, they can wall off the area in front of a fallen enemy to revive them safely.

Overall, playing Sage will require a lot of patience and foresight. Players need to realize that her job is to keep everyone alive on the team. Thus, engaging in pointless duels and 1v1s isn't the best option with Sage.

Sage's Weaknesses

There are several weaknesses for a Sentinel agent like Sage, especially with a set of abilities that has no damage inflicting utility. However, players can overcome those easily once they get used to her.

The fundamental problem with Sage's Barrier Orb and ultimate ability is that opponents can fire at them. For instance, it is easy for opponents to break a Sage wall, and easier still to kill someone when Sage is resurrecting them.

Experts claim that Sage's only usefulness in the game is her revive feature. She has fallen off the meta after Skye was introduced in Valorant, and has struggled to get back to her S-Tier status since then.

As for Sage's on the enemy team, they will always try to get creative with their Wall boosts and Slow Orbs. Make sure to always check areas where you wouldn't normally expect a Sage. The best way to counter an opponent Sage is to cut her off from her teammates. This effectively forces Sage to play on her own and waste her abilities. Players can perfect this form of trap gameplay by aggressively pushing sites which is defended by Sage.

To find who is best for you to play as in Valorant, check out our tier list of all agents here.

This article was updated on 16th November 2021 by Kelsey Raynor.

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