Highlights
- In a new blog post, the developers shared their insights on Phantom & Vandal.
- Vandal is used more in the competitive queue & pro play than the Phantom.
- Both rifles are most practical for any scenario if the players know how to play with their strength.
VALORANT, as we know, is a first-person tactical shooter video game developed & produced by Riot Games.
Now, there are different kinds of weapons in the game to cater to specific playstyles or metals, and weapons are divided into two categories – Sidearms & Primary weapons. The sidearms include pistols, whereas primary weapons include – SMGs, rifles, shotguns & more.
One of the most popular primary weapons is the Phantom and Vandal rifles. Players have always been very vocal about one being better than the other and have tirelessly defended their favorite rifle.
The Vandal fans love it for the instant kill headshot damage & long-range viability, and the Phantom fans love its recoil & spray stability.
Now to settle this everlasting debate, the developer Riot Games posted a new blog wherein Editor writer Kenny Cameron, alongside Analyst Chris Huang and Researcher Carson Dowah, shared their important insights on the two rifles, i.e., Phantom & Vandal.
Now, Vandal is way more popular than the Phantom in both the pro play & competitive queue. Although in the blog, there are nuances that show that Phantom might not be too different from Vandal in certain situations.
As per the data shared by Riot Games, Phantom kills happen within 15 meters, whereas the Vandal kills have a more consistent arch over every range, making it an all-around weapon. when fighting somebody within 15 meters or less, Phantom is a stronger option.
Read: VALORANT to Get a New Spray Wheel Feature
In the close-range spray situations, Phantom came first in the multi-kill scenarios within the 15-meters, which validates the Phantom spraying control supremacy, as the spray seems to be only effective in short range.
When it comes to the usage rate of Vandal & Phantom, over 70% of the pro players and competitive queue players prefer Vandal over the Phantom. At the same time, Vandal is still at the top charts in pro play. However, pro players usually adopt Phantom more than the players in the competitive queue.
Now as for the Vandal, the number of times the headshot does not kill its target, the health of the target remains at Zero percentage.
That is because the headshot from Vandal does 160 damage at any range without making it througH. Though for Phantom, the percentage of headshots that do not kill the target increase greatly at range.
Well, Phantom does almost equally as well as Vandal when against lightly armored players though fails against heavily armored opponents more than those who have Vandal.
The team researcher from the developer revealed that “It really does boil down to your playstyle and how confident you are as a player.
When in the heat of the moment using the Phantom, the average VALORANT player doesn’t think to themselves, ‘As long as they are less than X meters away. I have a slight advantage statically’. If they do, then they’ve clearly watched their Woohoojin VOD reviews”.
With that being said, the developers have not provided any clear conclusion. However, analysis reveals that Phantom & Vandal are practical in most scenarios as long as the players understand how to play with the strength of both rifles. They will perform well.
