Fade Class: Assassin Required Level: 18 Skill Tree: Shadow Disciplines Requires: Claw Mastery, Burst of Speed Active / Passive Cost: 10 Mana Partially phases the Assassin to another plane allowing her to avoid some magical attacks. Damage Type: Magic Other Stats: Mutually exclusive with Burst of Speed  |
Fade is an Assassin Skill in Diablo II.
Lore[]
An Assassin can will her physical being to shift partially into the astral planes. As her body becomes less substantial, she becomes less susceptible to the effects of elemental attacks and magical curses.
General Information[]
Synergies[]
- Gives synergy to: None
- Receives synergy from: None
This skill grants the user curse duration reduction, increased resistances to elemental attacks, and physical resistance.
The Curse duration decrease also affects Shrines. This downside can be avoided by using Burst of Speed before using a shrine, then reapplying Fade after the shrine's effects are no longer needed or run out. Fade and Burst of Speed do not stack. Casting one overrides the other.
Fade also provides Physical Resistance, with 1% physical resistance added per point in Fade. This effect stacks with items that reduce damage reduction by a percentage, such as Verdungo's Hearty Cord or Stormshield; the total physical resistance on the character is capped at 50%.
Note that the D2R description is arguably wrong in saying "Physical damage decreased by 1%" etc. - since this bonus stacks, the actual % damage reduction is always higher if the resistance is stacked with other resist sources.[1]
Fade grants a massive increase in all resistances, even at very low levels. Given its diminishing returns per point, however, it is not advisable to max out Fade, nor can it be a complete substitution for equipment with resistances. The hidden bonus to Physical resistance, though, does not suffer from diminishing returns.
Fade as seen in-game
Characters of other classes can obtain Fade from the Treachery Rune Word or the Last Wish rune word. It is extremely powerful here due to its long duration and powerful defensive benefits--the long duration means that these items can be switched with other gear for a considerable amount of time after activating Fade, while still enjoying its benefits.
Skill Progression[]
Mana Cost: 10
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curse Duration Reduction | 47% | 53% | 58% | 62% | 65% | 67% | 69% | 71% | 73% | 74% | 75% |
| Resist All + | 19% | 27% | 33% | 38% | 42% | 45% | 47% | 50% | 52% | 54% | 56% |
| Duration | 120 | 132 | 144 | 156 | 168 | 180 | 192 | 204 | 216 | 228 | 240 |
| Physical Resist | 1% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 11% |
| Level | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curse Duration Reduction | 76% | 77% | 78% | 79% | 80% | 80% | 81% | 81% | 82% | 84% |
| Resists All + | 57% | 58% | 60% | 60% | 62% | 62% | 63% | 63% | 64% | 66% |
| Duration | 252 | 264 | 276 | 288 | 300 | 312 | 324 | 336 | 348 | 408 |
| Physical Resist | 12% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 17% | 18% | 19% | 20% | 25% |
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- ↑ E.g. with 30% damage resist from other sources, Level 20 Fade gives additional 20% Physical Resist with a total of 50% resist, meaning that for 100 points of damage, you'd get 50 instead of 70, i.e. a reduction of almost 30% of the actual damage due to the added resist from this skill. This problem affects all the descriptions of physical damage resistance in D2R.