Omen’s Shrouded Step ability can be used to fake defuse in VALORANT

Baiting a defuse in VALORANT is an excellent strategy to draw out an enemy player.

Players recently showed how Jett’s dash can be used to fake a defuse. And now, VALORANT players have confirmed that Omen’s Shrouded Step ability can pull off the same strategy. 

To perform the fake defuse, players must stand within the spike defuse radius with the Shrouded Step ability equipped. If they hold the defuse button during the teleport animation, the defuse audio queue will activate and they’ll start defusing. 

But after a few seconds, the player will teleport to a new location and the enemy will expect them to still be on the spike. Once the player checks the spike, players can engage them from the new position. 

Players can also fake the teleport and stay on the spike and the defuse progress won’t disappear. This is a perfect follow-up to the initial fake defuse strategy since enemies will expect Omen to be in a new position. 

This is an effective strategy by itself but it’s even better when combined with Omen’s smoke ability. Dropping a smoke on the spike prevents players from seeing if Omen is on it, which means they’ll have to move much closer to secure the spike. Teleporting or fake teleporting in the smoke will further confuse the enemy and buy the defusing player a few more seconds. 

Every Omen player should know this strategy in case they’re the final person alive on their team. It’s unclear if this an intended mechanic, but it does seem slightly more balanced than fake defusing with Jett’s dash.