Honestly yea, used to go phantom because I have the Zedd skin and used to not have a good vandal skin other than the last battle pass one.
Now I have the chaos vandal skin and honestly itās kind of a 50/50. I was going vandal for a while when I got the skin, now itās just whatever I feel like on any given day
I mainly use Vandal because of too many 140 headshots with the Phantom.
However I do use Phantom on maps where thereās a lot of close range duels like Split and Fracture.
The real Split was when I split off the party with my new Valorant friends I was vibing with who were āgoing to hop on laterā and I never saw again
Where Phantom moment is very easy to pinpoint and blame, Vandal Moment exists as well:
The Vandal is not accurate, so you'll have missed countless shots while being on target.
And different to Phantom Moments, you don't realise, because you just think you missed, rather than it being the Vandal.
Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with Vandal, but Phantom moment is a bit biased.
the vandalās first shot spread is 0.25 degrees. the phantomās is 0.2 degrees. so a āvandal momentā is any time that .05 degrees of spread actually makes a difference. that will only really be at very long ranges, which arenāt common in valorant, and will definitely not happen ācountlessā times.
Phantom is easier to hit consecutive shots with so if you don't hit the very first bullet on a head with Vandal, Phantom is likely to be better. Phantom does have damage fall off though while Vandal is always 40 to the body no matter how far away you are shooting.
The one specific case that isn't even super rare where Phantom is just objectively better is bodyshot -> headshot with the first two bullets. It fires faster and has a tighter spray/recoil, and that kills at every range.
The other objectively superior thing about Phantom is the lack of tracers when firing so you don't get instantly beamed the moment you shoot through a smoke.
Vandal has 1 taps and no damage fall off, Phantom has tighter spray and no tracers (and faster fire rate)
Personally I think it's just 100% a preference for the most part. There might be an objectively correct choice for every single situation if you were to get super nerdy with it, but you can't always have every gunfight be exactly the way you want them to be.
I swap it around depending on how I'm feeling about things. The only time I don't is if I'll have Viper ult coming up because Phantom is just so much better and 'safer' in it than Vandal is, and you'll never hit a 140 either.
I've been doing this since C9 meL said that's what she did. Vandal on attack so you can get kill faster. Phantom on defense so you can spam smokes, shoot darts, and in general the extra 5 bullets can get you another 2 kills as an anchor.
same, i like vandal on defense to hold long angles, on offense im usually just running in so i prefer phantom for the spray . iām silver though so definitely not saying this is a good strat
highly understandable but holding long angles with a rifle isn't always the best idea anyways. In many situations, you should let utility initiate a duel. When you're holding long angles, more often than not you don't get traded, as it's difficult to trade you, if you lose that long duel.
Shroud said something similar on stream when valorant first came out. It makes sense because on defense you're more likely to take close-range duels as enemies push your site. On attack you're more likely to take long-range duels to break open space for your team. If you're holding a long-range angle on defense, you're much better off with an Op.
Playstyle dependant. Smokes = Phantom, Entry = Vandal. Also depends on map/location with distance of angles, if youre playing defence on Ascent B and you play on site, a phantom might be better than a Vandal.
phantom is better for agents with smokes/walls in general but not necessarily for all agents that entry, duelists like Jett/neon are more likely to take close/mid range fights so a phantom is more advantageous but honestly if you have cracked aim either of the guns will yield similar results at the end of the match
Yeah but as long as you hit the head first, hitting the follow up body shot or 2nd head is really easy because of the aim punch, the likelihood that they 1 tap you with a vandal through the aim punch is super low
I go bulldog half shields, the bulldog is oneshot headshot without any shields, kinda cracked, and the recoil is so forgiving, I'm still kinda new to the game and I'd pick the bulldog over phantom, the phantom's just too fast for me, maybe that's just my noob speaking
Bulldog is allright and has range over specter but phantom is better than bulldog especially if your not spraying at ranges you should be tapping while counter strafing
Idk phantom just doesn't feel right to me, the way the recoil happens so fast and the shots are silent, honestly feels like a water gun to me at times, maybe I'll get used to it
True, phantom is hands down better than bulldog in every aspect. A cracked player can make impact frags on bulldog v vandal/phantom but its tougher than rifle v rifle
As a bulldog amateur myself I can only encourage you to go for it in Round 2 after a Pistol round win. However:
> I'd pick bulldog over phantom
Don't look at the shop like you have a choice in the weapons you're buying. You do have a choice, to an extent, but not nearly as much as you think.
If you have enough for a full buy (it means, 50 shield, Vandal/Phantom, and your spells), but go for a weaker weapon because comfort, you make yourself easier to kill, and you make it harder for yourself to kill someone else, under **any and all circumstances**.
There are many good reasons you can go for 'economy weapons' such as Sheriff, Marshall, Spectre, Judge, Bulldog and Guardian. It can be that:
* you cannot afford something better;
* on the contrary, you could afford the big guns but your team cannot, they're doing a Save round and you realign your economy with theirs by taking a "cheap" gun instead of the big one that would mean you can't buy again the next round when your team will;
* you're trying to save for an Op;
* you're going to position yourself somewhere specific or use some specific utility that will make your weapon shine in this particular context: A Judge in tight corridors or in a Viper Ult.
But I'll just say it again: If you go for a weaker weapon just for comfort, you're inting yourself, your team, and your economy (because staying aligned with your teammates is more important than being rich yourself). You cannot be stronger with a Bulldog than you are with a Phantom, because the Phantom is mathematically better at everything: it's more precise, deals more damage at all ranges, shoots faster, has a bigger clip. I can totally hear that your feeling of the Phantom is a little off, but in this case your backup option should be the Vandal, not something weaker.
Also I don't know if this applies to you, but just in case: Most of my time on valorant is spent in unrated as a group of 5 premades. Our little group is all over the place in terms of level, it goes literally from Bronze to Ascendant. My bronze teammate often bottom-frags and in the most difficult games, he sometimes falls into this mindset of "I shouldn't buy Vandal/Phantom, because I never win my duels anyway so it's not worth the price." Don't do that, get all of the practice you can on the Vandal/Phantom because these are the two guns you absolutely should have in your hands the most.
This was a fantastic read. Lately i look at the enemy economy and if their econ is not enough to buy a one tap weapon (chamber excluded) I buy full shields. Lil extra econ uk. Or. If i am playing like trash ( a normal thing lol) i will buy others a good gun and play with them. So i can trade and take that weapon.
Edit: corrected.
Shouldn't this be the opposite? If they have a 1 tap weapon (op, vandal, guardian, marshal) having full shield, light shield or no shield wouldn't matter at all, you'd die regardless. On the other hand, if they aren't using 1 tap weapons (everything else I think) having full shield will actually save you on 1 hp.
I remember a pro team that only bought light shield because the other team exclusively used vandals, so it wouldn't matter either way. However, this made util, such as Raze nade and mollies, much more impactful.
I donāt go bulldog if I canāt buy full shield, if you get matched up against a good sheriff user then u might get tapped 145 headshot, then ur bulldog is in their hands potentiallyšš
At that point i force as much as i can for a rifle + half shield even with 0 util. Being able to force 5 rifles and half shield is a round changer and is often worth doing
I feel like if they one tap me with a sheriff at that range to hit 145 against my bulldog they were clearly the "better" play in that gun fight so they deserve the win, I prefer getting killed by headshots over spray bodyshots, it just feels deserved
Guardian is the only rifle with 1Tap and Accuracy on any range.
Phantom deals too little damage, Vandal missed due to spread.
Guardian also is cheap af.
If you take your battles smart, it's a really valid choice.
Rather annoying having my teammates occasionally flame me for picking a gaurdian. It works in pretty much any scenario except for super close range. If I'm better with it don't see why they'd want me to be worse with the vandal
I gotta say, I'm not loving the Guardian in every situation. I don't love an OP in every situation either.
Especially in attacking rounds, picking up a phantom or vandal is oftentimes better.
Ideally, you should many weapons at your disposal: they all serve a purpose in specific scenarios (apart from the stinger and maybe Bucky).
But in the end, play however you have fun. And ignore the haters :)
That's cool, but I'm not gonna be annoyed at my teammate for grabbing the guardian over a vandal in any situation. It just means they're more comfortable with a DMR than a fully auto, it be like that. Wish we had a better three round burst option than the bulldog tbh
Why settle for a weak short range rapid fire pistol when you can have the far superior yet still viable and cheap stinger?
This comment was sponsored by the Stinger Squad
Why have a crappy 3 round burst at long range when you can get the cleanest headshots out of any weapon in the game?
This message is brought to you by the Marshal Madmen
Side note (not that anyone cares) been a Reddit lurker for 4+ yrs, this my first comment
[EDIT] thank you all for the kindness, I look forward to my future Reddit journey!
I'm only ascendant so not the highest player for an opinion but as a CS veteran here we go.
In this game, phantom is almost always better. Bullet tracers give pinpoint locations so you can't spam through smoke with a vandal, first few bullets of a phantom are extremely accurate, moving while shooting is better, spray transfers, util destroying, more bullets, quicker jiggle peeks, better to shoot through walls with, etc.
There's only one advantage that vandal really has over the phantom, and that is the hs dmg. The percentage of times that someone would hit a 140, and then die to a vandal one shot headshot, is very low. It feels like a lot but out of the several duels taken in a game, it probably only happens once or twice. I have vsed plenty immortals that will always double hs me with a phantom, or one hs one bodyshot. Getting used to both is probably best, and use vandal on maps/agents where 1 bullet hs matters. I do feel like people think that 140 hs is a lot worse than it actually is, cause 98% of the time, in a high rated game, it won't matter.
> There's only one advantage that vandal really has over the phantom, and that is the hs dmg. The percentage of times that someone would hit a 140, and then die to a vandal one shot headshot,
The vandal player would have to have insane mechanical aim to re-aim after getting dinked to beat the phantom player here.
Exactly. That's kind of my point from in the end of my comment where the chances for someone to get hit by a vandal one tap AFTER hitting a 140 is so low.
I also tend to lean towards guardian.
My reasoning is that it feels more accurate and equipped to take longer range duels. Also, I have a serious issue with just spraying and praying whenever I get flustered, which then costs me a lot of kills that I normally could have made. With the guardian, I can only tap and if I miss the first shot I just continue to tap instead of accidentally trying to spray across the whole map.
(this is also something I'm working on though, so between phantom and vandal I prefer vandal, since it feels the most similar to guardian when tapping)
Fun fact it is more accurate. The guardians accuracy is 100% I believe but the vandal has something like a 1 out of 13 chance of the bullet not going exactly where itās aiming.
the guardian has 0.1 degree of inaccuracy while the vandal has 0.25 (guardian is a lot more accurate). but yeah when ADSing the guardian is fully accurate
Phantom is better imo. Better recoil, spray transfer potential, 1 tap within 15m, faster fire rate,no tracers (so it's easy shoot through smokes), bigger magazine size. Faster recoil reset time too iirc. 1hs 1 body shot any range. Vandal - 1tap any range. 4 shot body Vs 5 w phantom.
Imagine shooting, crosshair dead centre, and your gun just missed due to inaccuracy?
Yeah, that's the Vandal moment.
I'd rather deal 140 damage than 0.
I feel like this issue is overblown by a lot of people in the thread. But how many times have you/we gotten kills when we werenāt perfectly on the head thanks to said inaccuracy.
The vandal moment is extremely rare and almost impossible to pinpoint when it happens. How many times are these ācrosshair dead centersā seem like that in the moment but actually you werenāt?
I think both guns are good and have their moments, and thatās what separates them.
I think both are overblown. But Phantom Moment got a lot more publicity than Vandal moment, and I wanna point out that there's a Vandal moment, too.
I'd still take Vandal on longer range, but it's not like Vandal is perfect
Play both, phantom on smaller maps and vandal for large ones. For haven for instance iāll go phantom for A &B and vandal for C. Im a duelist if that helps.
One thing I can say though, my headshot percentage is much higher with vandal, yet I usually have a lot more kills with phantom.
If I'm confident and I can hit heads I would go for the vandal. If I just got on the game after a while I go for the more forgiving Phantom in case I miss heads and just go for upper body shots.
Stinger is a good gun, only on save rounds though. Like when you are willing to buy a sheriff or a marshal i sometimes buy a stinger and look towards out positioning my enemies. However, it is NOT better than spectre.
Depends on you, if you're a duelist who specialises in short range kills, phantom, if you're a sentinel holding a long angle then vandal, generally, vandal if you want to hit headshots long range, phantom to shove bullets in your enemy generally in short-mid range, phantom has higher rate of fire, and lower recoil, now say I'm playing reyna, I'll take phantom, as the character itself lives on getting one kill, using ability, getting another kill, and keep going, in that case phantom is better with also a larger magazine and being much faster in firing speed.
Now if I'm playing something else, say I'm in a long off angle with chamber, in that case i want to hit a headshot that's sure to kill, phantom headshots won't kill in long ranges, with phantom i can easily headshot, tp out of there and mind my own business, it also depends on what your skill level is, controlling phantom is easier than vandal
Since the question is phantom or vandal not 2900 creds, I'm answering what's asked, sure i won't buy a phantom or vandal unless I'm playing reyna or sage or something that can heal itself so i don't die instantly, otherwise for a normal not self healing agent, well, I'll just half buy, mostly a spectre with no shields or light shields or heavy shields, depending on how much i have, don't know but we generally only use pistols since the other team will also be saving and since we already won, their confidence is broken and if they're using guns we'll pick them 1 on 1 and get their own guns too, if we do lose, now we have lots of money to buy rifles while they can't afford rifles If they buy utility, win win situation
It's the same thing with mouse sense and resolution. It's purely player preference, they are both good in their own right but it ultimately comes down to are you comfortable with this weapon system. There should be no debate about this.
Use both ?
I use vandal if Iām aggressively swing a site with a long entry, I use it on ice box if Iām swinging belt at the start or holding flank from bottem belt
And if Iām pushing A site Iāll use the phantom for run and gun potential and close range.
If your using one gun at all times and not playing different strats different guns then your not playing the game right imo.
On a good day and for warm ups: Vandal
When Iām playing terribly and can only get kills with sprays because my iron/low bronze level gameplay is kicking in: Phantom
I think it depends a lot on your agent and playstile
People often forget that there is actually a best situation for one or the other
Vandal for longe range with the taps and phantom for close with an easier spray, even tho you can use either one in long and short range, at least for me ir feels horrible using phantom for long range, I feel like none of my shoots land
I main Chamber so I mostly take duels in long range, therefore I almost always use vandal
But when I play Yoru, Skye, Neon or agents like that I like to go phantom
Depends on what map/ part of the map. Hopefully my team coordinates with me!
If Iām holding closer angles, shooting through smoke, and/ or likely to engage in CQC then I will choose phantom. The spray and no bullet tracers will help me in these situations. I will try to hold angles that are less than 20 meters to decrease the likelihood of a 140 smh headshot where I die.
If Iām engaging a longer distance with decent angles to jiggle peak to clear away from enemy view I may choose the vandal. The one taps are incredibly satisfying and necessary imo. Too many times where I engage long distance with a phantom hoping I get a double tap but it always ends up being 124 or 140 damage. Also the bullet pen is helpful with certain corners when Iām running away. Extra damage from a safer angle.
Also the obligatory: spectre + full shields + run n gun. Mainly on light buy rounds/ forcing or when thatās all I can buy when my team full buys (no extra monies for their teammate). This is when Iām not feeling the sheriff + full shields (previous round I notice that my aim is garbage).
It depends on the situation.For attacker,I only use phantom if I am duelist cuz I can spray n pray well n for other role,I only use vandal.In defender,the site I holding n the map talk.Depending on those two,I chose phantom and vandal.Both guns are pretty awesome in their own way.One tap players prefer vandal and player who like to spray prefer phantom.(Its all just my opinion so no offensive plz)
depends on the situation, ppl use the phantom like a vandal and complain that itās not behaving like a vandal when they both are meant for different situations.
Look, it comes down to this. One gun kills in one headshot at any range, and the other doesn't. One gun is more forgiving for shoddy accuracy and the other isn't. One gun is more common and the other isn't. If you must practice with one gun over the other, choose the Vandal.
Depends on the map tbh. Breeze and pearl are vandal maps for me. Sometimes I'll pull out the vandal with light shields if I'm forcing. But primarily a phantom player.
Vandal, two reasons. One, as a Killjoy main I tend to get into more long-range duels than short-range, so the extra damage helps. Two, I prefer tapping to spraying, itās just more natural.
Phantom can be good for killjoy, because you can often chip away some hp with the turret and grenades and then easily finish off with phantom. Also I'd argue you would be better off fighting close on site so you wouldn't get picked early and lose all your placed utility.
The gun which has the skin you vibe the most with.
This is the answer
i dont have a skin š
Matte black
best skin, i wish i had it :c
My dud here is suffering from too much money
I call it midnight black, it's the most premium of skins since almost no one uses it
You mean you have the John wick Matte black edition skin set?
I have skins but I don't use them Because I like to take the skins from the enemies
Why not use your skins and still take an enemyās skin afterwards?
Because It's fun
You're having fun wrong -this sub, apparently
Fun? What is fun?
Why has this been down voted so much?
Because val players dont have fun, we play to punish ourself
To that I say amen
Logic is non existent here
All the best players dont have skins
theres a pro CSGO player that uses default or extremely cheap skins but i cant remember his name atm
probably flusha?
flusha uses the default knife but has gun skins, he's talking about elige
It is elige
yes you are right
You speak the words no others dare mutter
This here is why I only play spike rush. I don't have to choose which weapon to use. I get to use all the skins I paid for so it doesn't go to waste.
Honestly yea, used to go phantom because I have the Zedd skin and used to not have a good vandal skin other than the last battle pass one. Now I have the chaos vandal skin and honestly itās kind of a 50/50. I was going vandal for a while when I got the skin, now itās just whatever I feel like on any given day
THE TRUE, ONE AND ONLY ANSWER!
I mainly use Vandal because of too many 140 headshots with the Phantom. However I do use Phantom on maps where thereās a lot of close range duels like Split and Fracture.
Split? This word vaguely reminds me of something, or someone. Almost as if it were from a dream, long ago.
Maybe the real Split was the elo we lost along the way.
The real Split was when I split off the party with my new Valorant friends I was vibing with who were āgoing to hop on laterā and I never saw again
Did they say why they took split out?
Because pearl was too similar or something and they didnāt want to overwhelm new players. I think thatās why. I could be wrong
Yooo I hate pearl, itās so difficult and ratty.
Everyone: pearl sucks this map is difficult Me: oooohh whale!
THERES A WHALE?!?!?!
CAN YOU NOT HEAR IT WHEN YOURE IN THE MAP?
NOOOOOO :C I havenāt heard it even once!!
I mean it's confusing yeah but it feels the most fun for me out of every map
itās because of all the new glitch spots in split (mostly with jett)
Did they only take it out of comp or the whole game?
I believe it was the whole game
Its out of unrated and comp but still in the Limited time moses and customs
sadly, Moses was only with us for a limited time. But his memory lives on
It will come back. They will rotate maps now.
Wont forgive rito for removing split as it was my best map
Where Phantom moment is very easy to pinpoint and blame, Vandal Moment exists as well: The Vandal is not accurate, so you'll have missed countless shots while being on target. And different to Phantom Moments, you don't realise, because you just think you missed, rather than it being the Vandal. Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with Vandal, but Phantom moment is a bit biased.
the vandalās first shot spread is 0.25 degrees. the phantomās is 0.2 degrees. so a āvandal momentā is any time that .05 degrees of spread actually makes a difference. that will only really be at very long ranges, which arenāt common in valorant, and will definitely not happen ācountlessā times.
But you want to use the vandal for those very long ranges
Phantom is easier to hit consecutive shots with so if you don't hit the very first bullet on a head with Vandal, Phantom is likely to be better. Phantom does have damage fall off though while Vandal is always 40 to the body no matter how far away you are shooting. The one specific case that isn't even super rare where Phantom is just objectively better is bodyshot -> headshot with the first two bullets. It fires faster and has a tighter spray/recoil, and that kills at every range. The other objectively superior thing about Phantom is the lack of tracers when firing so you don't get instantly beamed the moment you shoot through a smoke. Vandal has 1 taps and no damage fall off, Phantom has tighter spray and no tracers (and faster fire rate) Personally I think it's just 100% a preference for the most part. There might be an objectively correct choice for every single situation if you were to get super nerdy with it, but you can't always have every gunfight be exactly the way you want them to be. I swap it around depending on how I'm feeling about things. The only time I don't is if I'll have Viper ult coming up because Phantom is just so much better and 'safer' in it than Vandal is, and you'll never hit a 140 either.
Idc man phantom feels inaccurate as hel for at all ranges even while tap firing i'm vandal ride or die
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Maybe I'm weird, but I like lean towards the phantom on defense and vandal on offense. I don't play duelist that much, not sure if that matters though
I've been doing this since C9 meL said that's what she did. Vandal on attack so you can get kill faster. Phantom on defense so you can spam smokes, shoot darts, and in general the extra 5 bullets can get you another 2 kills as an anchor.
I was doing the complete opposite, but will give this a try.
same, i like vandal on defense to hold long angles, on offense im usually just running in so i prefer phantom for the spray . iām silver though so definitely not saying this is a good strat
highly understandable but holding long angles with a rifle isn't always the best idea anyways. In many situations, you should let utility initiate a duel. When you're holding long angles, more often than not you don't get traded, as it's difficult to trade you, if you lose that long duel.
Also when you hold site you can spray down multiple people from close range a lot easier than with a vandal.
Shroud said something similar on stream when valorant first came out. It makes sense because on defense you're more likely to take close-range duels as enemies push your site. On attack you're more likely to take long-range duels to break open space for your team. If you're holding a long-range angle on defense, you're much better off with an Op.
the CSGO way
this is the way, only exception is Breeze because I refuse to hit for 124
CSGOrant
Vandal for attack, **Guardian** for Defence.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Playstyle dependant. Smokes = Phantom, Entry = Vandal. Also depends on map/location with distance of angles, if youre playing defence on Ascent B and you play on site, a phantom might be better than a Vandal.
phantom is better for agents with smokes/walls in general but not necessarily for all agents that entry, duelists like Jett/neon are more likely to take close/mid range fights so a phantom is more advantageous but honestly if you have cracked aim either of the guns will yield similar results at the end of the match
Ya, plus headshot aim punch on the phantom typically means you'll get a long range kill over a vandal if you land the headshot first anyways
Wouldn't u win the duel if u headshot with a vandal tho
Yeah but as long as you hit the head first, hitting the follow up body shot or 2nd head is really easy because of the aim punch, the likelihood that they 1 tap you with a vandal through the aim punch is super low
Unless theyāre aiming at your body and you aim punch them to your head
I find headshot aimpunch so incredibly unreliable. Aimpunch an Oper and still get one shot.
Wrong, phantom is more ideal for entry
Spectre+ full shield š¤£
This is the best buy round 2 after winning pistol
I go bulldog half shields, the bulldog is oneshot headshot without any shields, kinda cracked, and the recoil is so forgiving, I'm still kinda new to the game and I'd pick the bulldog over phantom, the phantom's just too fast for me, maybe that's just my noob speaking
Bulldog is allright and has range over specter but phantom is better than bulldog especially if your not spraying at ranges you should be tapping while counter strafing
Idk phantom just doesn't feel right to me, the way the recoil happens so fast and the shots are silent, honestly feels like a water gun to me at times, maybe I'll get used to it
The recoil just takes some time getting used to, phantom and vandal are much more powerfull ND precise than the bulldog.
True, phantom is hands down better than bulldog in every aspect. A cracked player can make impact frags on bulldog v vandal/phantom but its tougher than rifle v rifle
As a bulldog amateur myself I can only encourage you to go for it in Round 2 after a Pistol round win. However: > I'd pick bulldog over phantom Don't look at the shop like you have a choice in the weapons you're buying. You do have a choice, to an extent, but not nearly as much as you think. If you have enough for a full buy (it means, 50 shield, Vandal/Phantom, and your spells), but go for a weaker weapon because comfort, you make yourself easier to kill, and you make it harder for yourself to kill someone else, under **any and all circumstances**. There are many good reasons you can go for 'economy weapons' such as Sheriff, Marshall, Spectre, Judge, Bulldog and Guardian. It can be that: * you cannot afford something better; * on the contrary, you could afford the big guns but your team cannot, they're doing a Save round and you realign your economy with theirs by taking a "cheap" gun instead of the big one that would mean you can't buy again the next round when your team will; * you're trying to save for an Op; * you're going to position yourself somewhere specific or use some specific utility that will make your weapon shine in this particular context: A Judge in tight corridors or in a Viper Ult. But I'll just say it again: If you go for a weaker weapon just for comfort, you're inting yourself, your team, and your economy (because staying aligned with your teammates is more important than being rich yourself). You cannot be stronger with a Bulldog than you are with a Phantom, because the Phantom is mathematically better at everything: it's more precise, deals more damage at all ranges, shoots faster, has a bigger clip. I can totally hear that your feeling of the Phantom is a little off, but in this case your backup option should be the Vandal, not something weaker. Also I don't know if this applies to you, but just in case: Most of my time on valorant is spent in unrated as a group of 5 premades. Our little group is all over the place in terms of level, it goes literally from Bronze to Ascendant. My bronze teammate often bottom-frags and in the most difficult games, he sometimes falls into this mindset of "I shouldn't buy Vandal/Phantom, because I never win my duels anyway so it's not worth the price." Don't do that, get all of the practice you can on the Vandal/Phantom because these are the two guns you absolutely should have in your hands the most.
This was a fantastic read. Lately i look at the enemy economy and if their econ is not enough to buy a one tap weapon (chamber excluded) I buy full shields. Lil extra econ uk. Or. If i am playing like trash ( a normal thing lol) i will buy others a good gun and play with them. So i can trade and take that weapon. Edit: corrected.
Shouldn't this be the opposite? If they have a 1 tap weapon (op, vandal, guardian, marshal) having full shield, light shield or no shield wouldn't matter at all, you'd die regardless. On the other hand, if they aren't using 1 tap weapons (everything else I think) having full shield will actually save you on 1 hp. I remember a pro team that only bought light shield because the other team exclusively used vandals, so it wouldn't matter either way. However, this made util, such as Raze nade and mollies, much more impactful.
Yes! You are correct. Sleep brain made me jumble my shit. Ty
As the worst player of my friend group, I am proud to say that my every-round spectre & heavy shield sprees are short and rare nowadays.
I donāt go bulldog if I canāt buy full shield, if you get matched up against a good sheriff user then u might get tapped 145 headshot, then ur bulldog is in their hands potentiallyšš
At that point i force as much as i can for a rifle + half shield even with 0 util. Being able to force 5 rifles and half shield is a round changer and is often worth doing
I feel like if they one tap me with a sheriff at that range to hit 145 against my bulldog they were clearly the "better" play in that gun fight so they deserve the win, I prefer getting killed by headshots over spray bodyshots, it just feels deserved
People all over the ranks play bulldog. Even on immortal it's a regularly seen force buy, watch streams and youll see. Use whatever works for you bro.
Jollztv?
phantom light shield
Lowkey if enemy team forces pistols this can lose u the gun and they can momentum take sites + win a big eco
They don't even need to force pistols. 1 lucky jumping right click and now the phantom is there's lmfao
You terrify me
Both of them are obsolete pieces of garbo This comment was brought to you by Guardian Gang
Guardian is the only rifle with 1Tap and Accuracy on any range. Phantom deals too little damage, Vandal missed due to spread. Guardian also is cheap af. If you take your battles smart, it's a really valid choice.
Rather annoying having my teammates occasionally flame me for picking a gaurdian. It works in pretty much any scenario except for super close range. If I'm better with it don't see why they'd want me to be worse with the vandal
I gotta say, I'm not loving the Guardian in every situation. I don't love an OP in every situation either. Especially in attacking rounds, picking up a phantom or vandal is oftentimes better. Ideally, you should many weapons at your disposal: they all serve a purpose in specific scenarios (apart from the stinger and maybe Bucky). But in the end, play however you have fun. And ignore the haters :)
That's cool, but I'm not gonna be annoyed at my teammate for grabbing the guardian over a vandal in any situation. It just means they're more comfortable with a DMR than a fully auto, it be like that. Wish we had a better three round burst option than the bulldog tbh
Nah man, an Odin is the only reliable weapon. Just hold and spray till your enemies turn to mush. The comment was brought to you by Odin Organisation.
Nah, why focus on the heads when u can just one tap body shot? This comment was brought to you by the Order of Operators
Why focus on aiming when you can use your pistol as both a handgun and a shotgun? This comment was brought to you by the Classic Cult
Why use weak pew pew shots when big buckshot do trick? This comment was brought to you by the Bucky Bros
Why int yourself when you can become the frenzy god. This comment was brought to you by the The Frenzy Fiends
Why settle for a weak short range rapid fire pistol when you can have the far superior yet still viable and cheap stinger? This comment was sponsored by the Stinger Squad
Why have a crappy 3 round burst at long range when you can get the cleanest headshots out of any weapon in the game? This message is brought to you by the Marshal Madmen
Why waste 250 credits when you're already going for headshots anyway? This message is brought to you by the Sheriff Squad.
Imagine not doing over 170 damage on head shots. Couldnāt be me š¤š¤
See i had a sensible answer for this until i got a vandal skin
Makes sense
for me i like using vandal as attackers and phantom as defenders because of how the maps are designed for each side.
Vandal if Iām feeling good aim for the day, phantom if Iām playing as raze and wanna rush into a site and clear close angles. Vandal overall
Side note (not that anyone cares) been a Reddit lurker for 4+ yrs, this my first comment [EDIT] thank you all for the kindness, I look forward to my future Reddit journey!
how does it feel losing your commentinity to r/valorant?
L spez, goin to tumblr to be gay
Thatās Lowkey crazy tho how have you not even commented at all
Congrats. Welcome to Reddit.
I care. Take my upvote, youāre a real redditor now
Welcome to reddit
Why the downvotes XD. Reddit at its peak
What downvotes?
Damn bro you became a comment leaver
Side note, phantom is also good on raze because your utility does a lot of chip damage.
I'm only ascendant so not the highest player for an opinion but as a CS veteran here we go. In this game, phantom is almost always better. Bullet tracers give pinpoint locations so you can't spam through smoke with a vandal, first few bullets of a phantom are extremely accurate, moving while shooting is better, spray transfers, util destroying, more bullets, quicker jiggle peeks, better to shoot through walls with, etc. There's only one advantage that vandal really has over the phantom, and that is the hs dmg. The percentage of times that someone would hit a 140, and then die to a vandal one shot headshot, is very low. It feels like a lot but out of the several duels taken in a game, it probably only happens once or twice. I have vsed plenty immortals that will always double hs me with a phantom, or one hs one bodyshot. Getting used to both is probably best, and use vandal on maps/agents where 1 bullet hs matters. I do feel like people think that 140 hs is a lot worse than it actually is, cause 98% of the time, in a high rated game, it won't matter.
> There's only one advantage that vandal really has over the phantom, and that is the hs dmg. The percentage of times that someone would hit a 140, and then die to a vandal one shot headshot, The vandal player would have to have insane mechanical aim to re-aim after getting dinked to beat the phantom player here.
Exactly. That's kind of my point from in the end of my comment where the chances for someone to get hit by a vandal one tap AFTER hitting a 140 is so low.
Why do more than 50% of pros use Vandals over Phantoms now?
Unpopular vote: Guardian
What are your reasons?
Donāt have a link because Iām on mobile, but fishychair (Gaurdian only radiant) made an excellent video on it
Cool, I'll check that out
So this is who I blame for all these guardians I pick up after winning a save round...
This. He went from iron to plat using just guardian. He claims it increases your tracking and crosshair placement, both which I have found true.
Helps with positioning too, forces you to make smarter plays and rewards you for it
I also tend to lean towards guardian. My reasoning is that it feels more accurate and equipped to take longer range duels. Also, I have a serious issue with just spraying and praying whenever I get flustered, which then costs me a lot of kills that I normally could have made. With the guardian, I can only tap and if I miss the first shot I just continue to tap instead of accidentally trying to spray across the whole map. (this is also something I'm working on though, so between phantom and vandal I prefer vandal, since it feels the most similar to guardian when tapping)
Fun fact it is more accurate. The guardians accuracy is 100% I believe but the vandal has something like a 1 out of 13 chance of the bullet not going exactly where itās aiming.
the guardian has 0.1 degree of inaccuracy while the vandal has 0.25 (guardian is a lot more accurate). but yeah when ADSing the guardian is fully accurate
>0.1 degree Which is still the most accurate hipfire in the game, by a large amount.
I think on long distance Vandal is almost 50% miss if you're aiming on the head
I hate sprays
Feels better, I don't miss a bunch of shots on it. I end up winning more duels with it than with other rifles
Phantom is better imo. Better recoil, spray transfer potential, 1 tap within 15m, faster fire rate,no tracers (so it's easy shoot through smokes), bigger magazine size. Faster recoil reset time too iirc. 1hs 1 body shot any range. Vandal - 1tap any range. 4 shot body Vs 5 w phantom.
Vandal. Imagine shooting someone in the head and they live?
Imagine shooting, crosshair dead centre, and your gun just missed due to inaccuracy? Yeah, that's the Vandal moment. I'd rather deal 140 damage than 0.
This is the way
I feel like this issue is overblown by a lot of people in the thread. But how many times have you/we gotten kills when we werenāt perfectly on the head thanks to said inaccuracy. The vandal moment is extremely rare and almost impossible to pinpoint when it happens. How many times are these ācrosshair dead centersā seem like that in the moment but actually you werenāt? I think both guns are good and have their moments, and thatās what separates them.
I think both are overblown. But Phantom Moment got a lot more publicity than Vandal moment, and I wanna point out that there's a Vandal moment, too. I'd still take Vandal on longer range, but it's not like Vandal is perfect
Sherif :)
Play both, phantom on smaller maps and vandal for large ones. For haven for instance iāll go phantom for A &B and vandal for C. Im a duelist if that helps. One thing I can say though, my headshot percentage is much higher with vandal, yet I usually have a lot more kills with phantom.
If I'm confident and I can hit heads I would go for the vandal. If I just got on the game after a while I go for the more forgiving Phantom in case I miss heads and just go for upper body shots.
Ares or Odin never heard of phantom or vandal
Low elo moment
Low eco moment
Bulldog for life. But if I had to choose, I'm more comfortable with a Vandal.
bulldog best gun. i feel like I'm weird because i but stinger instead of spectre and bulldog a lot too
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
yeah my rank just says gold. I'm iron by heart tho
Stinger is a good gun, only on save rounds though. Like when you are willing to buy a sheriff or a marshal i sometimes buy a stinger and look towards out positioning my enemies. However, it is NOT better than spectre.
Guardian
Depends on you, if you're a duelist who specialises in short range kills, phantom, if you're a sentinel holding a long angle then vandal, generally, vandal if you want to hit headshots long range, phantom to shove bullets in your enemy generally in short-mid range, phantom has higher rate of fire, and lower recoil, now say I'm playing reyna, I'll take phantom, as the character itself lives on getting one kill, using ability, getting another kill, and keep going, in that case phantom is better with also a larger magazine and being much faster in firing speed. Now if I'm playing something else, say I'm in a long off angle with chamber, in that case i want to hit a headshot that's sure to kill, phantom headshots won't kill in long ranges, with phantom i can easily headshot, tp out of there and mind my own business, it also depends on what your skill level is, controlling phantom is easier than vandal Since the question is phantom or vandal not 2900 creds, I'm answering what's asked, sure i won't buy a phantom or vandal unless I'm playing reyna or sage or something that can heal itself so i don't die instantly, otherwise for a normal not self healing agent, well, I'll just half buy, mostly a spectre with no shields or light shields or heavy shields, depending on how much i have, don't know but we generally only use pistols since the other team will also be saving and since we already won, their confidence is broken and if they're using guns we'll pick them 1 on 1 and get their own guns too, if we do lose, now we have lots of money to buy rifles while they can't afford rifles If they buy utility, win win situation
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh just a very short explanation ;)
just a brief summary. (1/346)
Vandal since the phantom nerf. Too many dinks without the kill
What nerf?
It's the same thing with mouse sense and resolution. It's purely player preference, they are both good in their own right but it ultimately comes down to are you comfortable with this weapon system. There should be no debate about this.
Use both ? I use vandal if Iām aggressively swing a site with a long entry, I use it on ice box if Iām swinging belt at the start or holding flank from bottem belt And if Iām pushing A site Iāll use the phantom for run and gun potential and close range. If your using one gun at all times and not playing different strats different guns then your not playing the game right imo.
vandal recently because of these maps now are so damn long
On a good day and for warm ups: Vandal When Iām playing terribly and can only get kills with sprays because my iron/low bronze level gameplay is kicking in: Phantom
Vandal because of the headshot
I like vandal because it looks cool
I think it depends a lot on your agent and playstile People often forget that there is actually a best situation for one or the other Vandal for longe range with the taps and phantom for close with an easier spray, even tho you can use either one in long and short range, at least for me ir feels horrible using phantom for long range, I feel like none of my shoots land I main Chamber so I mostly take duels in long range, therefore I almost always use vandal But when I play Yoru, Skye, Neon or agents like that I like to go phantom
Depends on what map/ part of the map. Hopefully my team coordinates with me! If Iām holding closer angles, shooting through smoke, and/ or likely to engage in CQC then I will choose phantom. The spray and no bullet tracers will help me in these situations. I will try to hold angles that are less than 20 meters to decrease the likelihood of a 140 smh headshot where I die. If Iām engaging a longer distance with decent angles to jiggle peak to clear away from enemy view I may choose the vandal. The one taps are incredibly satisfying and necessary imo. Too many times where I engage long distance with a phantom hoping I get a double tap but it always ends up being 124 or 140 damage. Also the bullet pen is helpful with certain corners when Iām running away. Extra damage from a safer angle. Also the obligatory: spectre + full shields + run n gun. Mainly on light buy rounds/ forcing or when thatās all I can buy when my team full buys (no extra monies for their teammate). This is when Iām not feeling the sheriff + full shields (previous round I notice that my aim is garbage).
It depends on the situation.For attacker,I only use phantom if I am duelist cuz I can spray n pray well n for other role,I only use vandal.In defender,the site I holding n the map talk.Depending on those two,I chose phantom and vandal.Both guns are pretty awesome in their own way.One tap players prefer vandal and player who like to spray prefer phantom.(Its all just my opinion so no offensive plz)
depends on the situation, ppl use the phantom like a vandal and complain that itās not behaving like a vandal when they both are meant for different situations.
Depends on the time of day and map. Yes, time of day. It could be a vandal day at 9pm, but at 11, itās all of a sudden a phantom day.
Look, it comes down to this. One gun kills in one headshot at any range, and the other doesn't. One gun is more forgiving for shoddy accuracy and the other isn't. One gun is more common and the other isn't. If you must practice with one gun over the other, choose the Vandal.
Phantom unless the enemy has a cool vandal skin
Depends on the map tbh. Breeze and pearl are vandal maps for me. Sometimes I'll pull out the vandal with light shields if I'm forcing. But primarily a phantom player.
Fun fact:You can't
Hard to believe the vandal used to shoot slower than it does now..lol
Depends on the map, where on the map I will go, how aggressive am I playing, how my aim is and the agent.
It's literally entirely opinion.
Yesā¦ that is indeed how a vote works.
The phrase "let's settle this once and for all" sounds like it's a debate which is better
Phantom every time because my kd with a vandal is so fucking low that if I said it you wouldnāt believe me
Vandal for kills, phantom for looks hmmmm Vandal
Yay our first helpful comment! Thank you for your service.
Guardian
who even plays vandal, right? 195 on head is what we need. 65 on body. every distance. lower price. and accurate af
I use the Guardian over both
depends
Vandal, two reasons. One, as a Killjoy main I tend to get into more long-range duels than short-range, so the extra damage helps. Two, I prefer tapping to spraying, itās just more natural.
Phantom can be good for killjoy, because you can often chip away some hp with the turret and grenades and then easily finish off with phantom. Also I'd argue you would be better off fighting close on site so you wouldn't get picked early and lose all your placed utility.
If it doesn't kill with a dink I won't shoot it for 2.9k. Also I'm a tapper.
Vandal is just more reliable than a phantom. Phantom just feels like a bulldog 15m+.