Hello everyone! Today I’ll talk to you about how to use Vandal in Valorant correctly. Why is phantom more dangerous but also more rewarding than Valorant, and what exactly does that mean? We’ve already done the objective guide for Valorant, but now I’ll focus on the most popular weapon: the Vandal.
I’m a professional Booster for Valorant in the Best Gaming Tips crew. I created dozens of accounts for Radiant and Vandal 99 percent of the time, since it gives me an advantage over a typical Phantom player, and you’ll learn why.
Let’s get started without further ado.
1. Vandal’s Pros and Cons
To compare Vandal to Phantom, we must first examine the fundamentals. Let’s look at some statistics and see how it compares to Phantom.
| VANDAL | PHANTOM | |
| 9.75 rds/sec | FIRE RATE | 11 rds/sec |
| 0-50 m | RANGE | 0-15 / 15-30 / 30-45 |
| 160 | HEADSHOT | 156 / 140 / 124 |
| 40 | BODY | 39 / 35 / 31 |
| 34 | LEG | 33 / 29 / 26 |
Vandal has no damage dropoff with distance, unlike Phantom, so you deal the same amount of damage in all ranges. For that reason, it has a slightly lower fire rate. The damage amount is determined by a system of percentages, with each body part being assigned its own number. You’ll also notice a slew of figures that show you the weapon’s strength depending on which body part it impacts, however this varies for the head, body, and legs. Phantom has a range loss as well.
This is why we need to use a term known as “TTK,” which stands for “Time To Kill.” It’s a very common number in all shooter games, and it informs you how much time you’ll have to kill an adversary if you land all of your shots. So here are the calculations for both Vandal and Phantom.
| VANDAL | PHANTOM | |
| ANY RANGE | RANGE | 0-15 / 15-30 / 30-50 |
| 0 sec | HEADSHOT | 0 / 0.09 / 0.09 sec |
| 0.31 sec | BODY | 0.27 / 0.36 / 0.36 sec |
We can see from the chart above that Phantom outperforms Vandal at close range (15 meters), one-shotting the head and taking 0.27 seconds to the body. While Vandal will prevail on any range greater than 15 meters.
This also indicates that when playing Vandal, you should be striving to establish angles from which you are 15 meters or more away from the opposing players at first sight, giving you an edge in the early conflict. You can also purchase Valorant Accounts with Prime Vandal Skins.
2. Recoil of Vandals
Overall, the numbers are on Vandal’s side. There are several more variables, however, such as recoil. Vandal loses this fight due to a greater recoil pattern; however, if you learn it and play around it, you can reduce the recoil.
The Vandal, on the other hand, shoots the first three shots almost in the same place, albeit just a bit higher than the previous. You can, of course, try pulling it down slightly to get all three bullets in the same location.
It starts kicking up more and going left and right erratically from bullet 3 to 9. Because it’s random, you can’t learn the left or right sides; however, you may keep pulling down to ensure that your bullets stay in the same level.
It’s practically a shitfest after the 9th bullet, and you should never shoot past it without resetting your recoil. In 99 percent of situations, you’ll be doing three-shot bursts or single-taps. In the case of close combat, you may simply spray for the sake of your life in rare circumstances.
3. Playstyle
Okay, so the Vandal and Phantom playstyles are very different. You almost want to spray with Phantom, but not too many bullets; you’re aiming for 3 or more bullets per individual for sure. The situation is reversed with Vandal; you need to finish the task within the first three rounds.
Imagine you’re playing Sheriff or Operator. You have one opportunity, maybe a few, to complete the task before you are killed. When you play those two, you don’t run around like a duck and expose yourself unnecessarily; instead, you stay at right angles and pop up with 1-3 bullets before hiding once again.
You may move more quickly and less precisely in Phantom, squat and spray when you see an adversary, whereas Vandal allows you to be more aggressive and less precise. It’s somewhat softer, which is why I suggested Vandal is both more enjoyable but also trickier to play.
4. Counter-strafing method
This is the same as before, only you’re doing it from a standing position. Assume you’ll be standing and need to shoot that one or three burst shots after the tip above. When you fire A, the left is open, and when you reach that point where you want to shoot, press D as soon as hiccup in between. Your agent’s motion from left to right is only apparent in a fraction of a second. He’s really stopped in that brief instant between when your agent changes from moving to standing still. This means that the precision of your bullets approaches that of if you were standing.
This technique takes a lot of practice to perfect, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll be blown away. Everything is done in time and at the correct moment. This is known as Jiggle peeking. When you’re caught in the open, use this technique to avoid enemy fire while shooting accurately. Firing 1-3 shots during the transition from left to right, then again right to left as your recoil resets between.
5. Positioning
You should be aiming to play the positions that are back in the site and as far away from your opponent as feasible, much like the Operator. Because you don’t want enemies who aren’t playing Vandal or Operator to have falloff damage reduction.
On Haven, for example, you want to stay in the back of the C site, which is a very long location. You don’t want to sit inside your garage since it’s an unfavorable position for Phantoms when they enter the garage and push you. You must take control of the A site on the long lane while avoiding playing the sewers since when they push, you are essentially facing each other. You’ll get it. Always seek for regular locations that put you in a position to fire at your opponent from the longest distance possible.
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6. Aiming down sights
This is a question I frequently get from Valorant players, especially if they’re just starting out. What should I aim at? Should I ADS at all?
ADS does the following::
- 1. It lowers your fire rate.
- 2. Reactionary recoil patterns
- 3. Slows down your movement speed
In most situations, you should not be ADSing. You should only use ADS at a distance of 40 meters or more, because you can’t see the enemy at that range. If your eyesight is poor and you can’t even see a shorter distance. Otherwise, never. The disadvantages are just too severe.
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Spraying is not an option when you do ADS. Only one tap attempt or nothing, spraying is out of the question. If you can’t decide what’s 40 meters away, pretend you’re playing an Operator again and think about what locations you’d keep. That’s where we are.
7. Allow time for your recoil to reset.
It is important to note that the high-capacity Valorant reloads in a split second. As previously stated, you should shoot in up to three bullet bursts. After the recoil has dissipated, you may fire three bullet bursts with near-perfect accuracy once again. How long does it take? Many Valorant gamers make this error.
There’s a nifty little trick. Go to the practice range and start firing up to 9 projectiles without ADS to try it out. Once you cease firing, your crosshair will gradually return to its original position. Your gun’s recoil has been reset once it returns to its original position. The longer you shoot, the slower it resets, and you’ll notice how fast it reinstates after just three shots.
You can find this out with practice, but it’s difficult to pay attention to during real fights. You will, with enough time and repetition, develop muscle memory for this.
8. Never spray through a cloud of smoke.
Many times, this appears to be your only option, but it is not a good idea. Because the Phantom has a suppressor on it, opponents are unable to detect where the bullets are coming from. Vandal, on the other hand, can see where shots are coming from and can just shoot in that direction to kill you. Don’t just spray smoke against other players who aren’t aware of this.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and good luck with your new Vandal abilities!
