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Fade
Cosmetic Variants:

Fade
Normal Fade

Shadow fade
Shadow Fade

Kodiak fade
Kodiak Fade

Reaper fade
Reaper Fade

Abyss fade
Abyss Fade

Nocturne fade
Nocturne Fade

Toxin fade
Toxin Fade

Kharaa Kharaa
Personal Resources
Icon personal resource neutral 35 (+5 per Evolution)
Health
250 (+ 5 per Biomass)
Armor
80 (100 + 2.50 per Biomass)
Energy
Icon resources energy neutral 100
Respawns In: 10 seconds
Base Field of View: 90°
Air Speed: 15.5 (Blink) (15.7/15.9/16.1)
Ground Speed: 6.2 (7.7/9.2/10.7)
Crouch Speed: 3.1
Abilities and Upgrades
Abilities:
Alien Vision, Evolve Menu, Hive Sight, Blink, Swipe, (Advanced) Metabolize, Stab
Evolutions:
Carapace, Regeneration, Vampirism,
Adrenaline, Celerity, Crush,
Camouflage, Aura, Focus
Upgrades:
Metabolize at Biomass 3, Advanced Metabolize at Biomass 6, Stab at Biomass 7
Miscellaneous
Buy From: Evolve Menu
Purchase By: Player
Gestation Time: 25 seconds
This deadly assassin can blink into battle and assassinate targets with his claws. Can evolve metabolize to regain energy and advanced metabolize for both energy and health.

In-game description.

Introduction

The Fade is Anti-Infantry Assassin-class Alien. It is Bipedal and Humanoid-like in appearance and uses its Blink ability to teleport short distances across the map.

Background

The Fade is a tough and versatile lifeform that has the unique ability to regenerate its health and energy at an increased rate in the field, thanks to its Metabolize and Advanced Metabolize abilities. Skilled Fades can severely punish a Marine team and will win the majority of 1v1 engagements however, similar to the Lerk, a Fade can be stopped quickly by a few well placed Shotgun rounds.

Fade X-Ray
X-Ray images of Fades shows strong similarities to Human anatomy


Tactics

Moving with Blink

Fades rely on Blink to traverse the map they cannot run and are very vulnerable when not moving. The first thing a prospective Fade player must learn is how to use Blink to move effectively. Using Blink depletes energy very quickly, even with the Metabolize ability available. Rather keeping Blink activated, a Fade player should alternate between Blinking and Jumping, usually jumping twice for each short burst of Blink. Correctly timing this will result in a very high speed and maneuverability across the Map.

Additional information about movement techniques can be found in Movement techniques.

Attacking with Blink

The primary attack of the Fade is the very effective Swipe. This attack can make short work of a Marine, especially at lower Armor levels. A Fade can blink in any direction, even up toward the ceiling, this makes you a far more difficult target than if you were to stay at ground level. When attacking as a Fade, a player should know 3 things. When to fight, when not to fight and when to run. As a general rule, You should fight when your enemy is a lone marine, you should not fight when outnumbered or not at full health and you should run as soon as your armor is depleted, if you are uncertain that your enemy is one swipe away from death. When striking a Marine with Swipe, try not to stand still. Constant movement will make you a hard target to hit.

Attacking structures

The primary attack of the fade does a limited amount of damages to armored buildings. After Stab has been researched the Fade can deal more structure damage an can start harassing Extractors and Phase Gates alone.

Tactical Summary - Fade

  • Master moving early on, alternate a short burst of blink with jumping.
  • Know when to fight, when not to fight and when to run.
  • Don't stay still in combat, constantly blink around and change direction often. Use the ceiling space to make Marines shoot up at you, while other lifeforms attack from the ground.


Controls

Main article: Key Bindings
Fade Player Controls
Fade view
Movement Abilities Contextual
W
Forward
Mouse 1
Attack
E
Use
A
Left
Mouse 2
Blink
F
Alien Vision
S
Backward
1
Swipe
B
Evolve Menu
D
Right
2
Metabolize
C
Map
Space
Jump
3
Stab
X
Voice Overs Menu
Shift
Metabolize
V
Last Weapon
Ctrl
Crouch

Movement

Main article: Fade Movement
Fade Movement
Counter-Strafe Mechanics Video
  • The speed you gain by using blink will almost instantly be lost if you change direction in the air without using Counter-Strafing.
With the use of these techniques you can use Celerity without draining your energy pool to quickly.
Aircontrol_(NS2_Movement)

Aircontrol (NS2 Movement)

Tapping blink
  • If you tap Blink your speed will increase quite a bit.
In order to maintain this speed without wasting energy you can queue your Jump by holding
Space
after you blink.
Holding blink (not recommended!!)
  • While holding the blink button your speed will constantly increase slightly. This is generally very rarely useful.
Only when there is no room to evade anyway or to prevent Mines from detonating.
This method is not recommended due to it's high energy consumption.
Metabolize
  • Using Metabolize (
    Shift
    ) might put you in danger because during the cooldown phase you cannot Swipe and it stops your current Blink.
Try to use Metabolize carefully during battle and use a blink instantly after using Metabolize
Fade-_Metabolize_and_Blink_(NS2_Movement)

Fade- Metabolize and Blink (NS2 Movement)

Crouching
  • It is often helpful that you press the crouch button
    CTRL
    :
  1. You do not get stuck in the air or ceiling - especially while queue jumping (B327 helps with this one)
  2. You are smaller than a Marine if you land in front of him making it harder to track
  3. You can more easily Swipe a Marines while flying over him or jumping off his head
Fade-_Crouching_(NS2_wiki_-_Movement_Techniques)

Fade- Crouching (NS2 wiki - Movement Techniques)

Abilities

Player Abilities

Alien Player Abilities

Alien Vision

Alien Vision
Aura icon
Toggle Alien Vision mode to highlight all units and structures in white, and the terrain in orange.
  • Brightness is affected by lighting in the room.
  • Red emergency lighting and complete darkness are considered as the same brightness level.
Hotkey
F
Targets Players, Units, Structures, Terrain
All Kharaa lifeforms possess hypersensitive retinas that allow Alien Vision (or Dark Vision), which changes the lifeform's perspective in order to distinguish between organisms, structures, and the terrain.

Evolve Menu

Evolve Menu
Evolve menu icon
Opens the Evolve Menu to purchase different Kharaa lifeforms and available Traits using Personal Resources.
Hotkey
B
Targets Lifeforms
Requires Valid ground to spawn player Egg
The Evolve Menu allows Kharaa players to select different lifeforms and unlocked Traits to evolve using Personal Resources. It contains information about each lifeform, such as name, cost, Health, Armor, abilities, effects of each Trait, and more.

Hive Sight

Hive Sight
Hive sight icon
Hive Sight highlights all players and structures in an orange glow. When nearby, Kharaa players can see each other through walls.
  • Parasited targets are visible through walls and glow more brightly.
Range 30
Targets Players, Units, Structures

Hive Sight is an innate passive ability for all Kharaa lifeforms. All nearby visible players, units and structures will be highlighted in an orange glow at all times. Friendly players will also be visible through walls, allowing players to coordinate and position themselves against incoming Frontiersmen forces.

Swipe

Swipe
Icon swipe
Hotkey
1
(Slot),
Mouse 1
(Attack)
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 7
Damage (75 vs Players) 37.5 vs Structures
Type Puncture
Range Melee
Fire Rate 0.65 seconds
Targets Marines, Robots, Structures
Slashes a target with razor-sharp blades that deal extra damage to players.

Blink

Blink
Blink slot
  • Appears as a shadowy mist.
    • Collision does not change.
    • Continues to receive damage.
    • Mines don't detonate by a blinking Fade
  • Accelerates the Fade's move speed.
    • Hold to increase move speed continuously.
    • Tap to increase move speed temporarily.
  • Player perspective gradually changes to violet color scheme.
Hotkey
Mouse2
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 14 (start), 32 (channel)
Speed Base speed + 9.6
Cooldown 0.4 seconds
Enters hyperspace to travel forward quickly.
Blink Jump
Fade blink jump
How to Blink Jump:
  • Tap Blink once, then release button.
  • Continue to jump after touching the ground to retain momentum. (Hold jump button before touching the ground)
Hotkey
Mouse 2
(Blink) +
Space
(Jump)
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 14
Speed Base speed + 9.6
Additional information about movement techniques can be found in Movement.

Metabolize

(Advanced) Metabolize
Icon metabolize
  • Stimulates adrenal glands in the Fade's armpits to recover some energy.
  • Advance Metabolize replaces Metabolize when researched.
  • Advance Metabolize recovers some health as well as energy.
Hotkey
Shift
TRes Icon team resource neutral 20
(Adv.M.) Icon team resource neutral 20
Research Time 40 seconds
(Adv.M.) 45 seconds
Energy Icon resources energy neutral -10 +20
Healing 15 (Adv.M.)
Cooldown 2 seconds
Targets Self
Requires Biomass level 3, Research Metabolize then Biomass level 5, Research Advance Metabolize


The Fade recovers some energy. When Advance Metabolize is researched, the Fade also recovers some health.
Check green Tip: You can instantly Blink after Metabolizing, but there is a delay before you can Swipe.

Stab

Stab
Icon stab
Hotkey
3
(Slot),
Mouse 1
(Attack)
TRes Icon team resource neutral 25 to research
Research Time 60 seconds
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 30
Damage 120
Type Structural
Range Melee (0.3m longer than Swipe)
Delay 2 seconds
Targets Marines, Robots, Structures
Requires Biomass level 7, Research Stab
After a short delay, the Fade uses both scythes to stab a target for high damage.
Check green Tip: Stab is useful to kill structures, however a Fade is not intended to be an anti-structure class, so leave it to another Lifeform if possible.

Variants

The following images show all the variations of Fade camouflage (skins) that you may see in the game.

Info Info:  • Not all variants are available for purchase.

          • Skins are purely cosmetic and offer no augmented or additional stats in-game.

Camouflage variants & availability
Variant Description Acquisition Notes
Normal Default camouflage. Provided with game. N/A
Shadow Red eyes, dark blue/purple skin, extrusions on exo-skeletal features. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Originally part of the Reinforcement Program for Shadow Tier & above, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Kodiak Green eyes, jungle effect skin. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Released with the Kodiak update, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Reaper Red eyes, white skin, black exo-skeletal features. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Released with the Reaper update, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Abyss Blue eyes, blue skin. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Was added with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Nocturne Purple eyes and tails. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Release with the Nocturne DLC as part of the NS2 5 year anniversary update (Build 319).
Toxin Green glowing eyes, green patches of skin and green belly. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Released with the Catalyst update (Build 324).


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