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The pros will spend thousands of hours of game time in Call of Duty: Vanguard to hone their craft. The casual gamer cannot make this commitment, but, thankfully, the pros are often willing to share what they have learned so that other players can bump their game to the next level without quitting their day jobs.
Updated on April 21st, 2022 by Hodey Johns: As the game sheds its casual fans and drifts into a state where only the most hardcore players keep going, Call of Duty: Vanguard is going to improve in most areas. The quality of games will flourish without interference from trolls or sloppy play. Teams prioritize communication, even in pickup matches, because nobody playing this long is alright with losing consistently. The biggest downside to this is that new players are at a substantial disadvantage. Anybody who isn’t improving is going to be getting worse on the charts, even if they play consistently. This list has been updated with some new tips that experts swear by.
13 Shoot Through Walls
Is the best shot a headshot? Is it a body shot? Neither. The best shot is the safest shot. Getting a kill against a player that can’t hit or target the shooter is not just satisfying, it’s a regular tactic among gamers who push the upper echelons of the kill-to-death ratio.
There are many destructible environments to shoot through. And many walls aren’t thick enough to stop bullets, especially if the gun has been modified to penetrate walls. Think of all the times an enemy shows up on the map but is “protected” by a wall. Don’t shrug off those kills, take advantage!
12 Move After Each Kill
The best players don’t have one favorite shooting spot on each map, they have ten. This is partly due to spawn locations being so varied, but those on killstreaks will still be moving all over the map. When move when one location is working so well?
Because these pro players understand that weaker gamers don’t just allow themselves to be killed over and over. The game is complex enough that no player can protect themselves from every element at once. That means the only consistent element is the element of surprise. After scoring a few kills, move before the opponent comes back in force.
11 Max Out The Field Of View
The standard field of view in Call of Duty: Vanguard cuts off all peripheral vision. How many times do players die from assailants that are in from of them but not directly in front of them? In open areas, it’s not an exaggeration to say that increasing the field of view more than doubles the area that can be seen.
There are plenty of other settings that can help here, too. Some players find that an increased field of view makes their aiming harder to control. If that’s the case, turn down the sensitivity. There is no substitute for seeing more of the battlefield.
10 Play Zombies First
Taking a fresh weapon into multiplayer sounds exciting, but without the edge the attachments give, players are just signing themselves up to die over and over. Grabbing a great loadout for the SVT-40 will help, but when players are missing half of what they need, it makes for many long and inefficient games.
Instead, queue up a few games of Zombies. On a double experience weekend, one solo game played up to wave twelve will easily get a weapon from nothing up to level twenty-one, enough to have at least one attachment in each spot.
9 Have Multiple Loadouts
After learning to do well against zombies, it’s time to unleash on the multiplayer maps. But it’s not enough to have one gun ready to go. Given the variety of maps and modes, some weapons will be great in one instance and then miserable in the next.
Have a few loadouts complete and ready to roll. On maps with lots of close quarters and debris, think about bringing an SMG or shotgun. For hallways and buildings, an assault rifle is just the ticket. When confronted with wide fields and tall buildings, marksman and sniper rifles are a player’s best friend.
8 Deal With Enemy Killstreaks
There is an undeniable roar of action on the ground in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Players are expected to keep their eyes left, right, in front, and behind all at once. It’s an overwhelming amount of ground that needs to be covered but don’t forget to check the skies as well.
Even the best DP27 loadout isn’t a substitute for an M1 Bazooka. Enemies gain big advantages based on what they can put in the air. Always have either a way to deal with these aircraft or a teammate who can take care of this task.
7 Select Attainable Killstreak Rewards
It’s always tempting to choose killstreak rewards that have high kill requirements. These rewards are mostly stronger than the introductory killstreaks and can change the course of a game. But they’re often not worth the price despite their power.
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Remember that an average elimination-to-death ratio is 1:1. Getting three kills in a row is a high goal. Getting higher than that is an absurd goal to try and accomplish with any amount of regularity. Many of the game’s great maps see their tides turn better with several smaller killstreak rewards instead of only a few big ones.
6 Retreat Until Full On Health
There is a difference between confidence and recklessness. Having the best Type 100 loadout in the game can give players a false sense of invulnerability. But starting a new fight partially wounded is a bad proposition regardless of how much the player’s gun is tricked out.
There is no shame in retreating and healing when hurt. Constantly pushing forward might seem exciting, but more often than not is a short-lived thrill. By starting each fight fresh, players can promise themselves equal footing or better against any opponent that shows their face.
5 Use Chat To Locate Opponents
Spending time dead is one of the sad but simple facts that any game of Call of Duty: Vanguard features. Instead of lamenting the way the last life ended, help teammates on the screen by pointing out opponents that they might not be able to see.
The third-person perspective is an underutilized opportunity. The expanded view can direct a living teammate to a kill. It might not register as an official assist, but that won’t matter when staring at a victory screen after a match has ended.
4 Show Details
When first looking over the guns in the game, a few select attributes will be provided to the player. As much as it appears to be helpful to see things like ammo, speed, firepower, and accuracy, these totals mean very little. Smaller stats like “+1 Recoil” don’t tell the complete story either.
When making a loadout, always choose to show details for the full breakdown. Some recoils reduce horizontal while others reduce vertical. So ammo boosts increase reload speed while others change the supply in the magazine. These smaller details are overwhelming at first, but learning to read them is critical to success.
3 Keep Range In Mind
Every gun has a sweet spot that they excel at shooting from. Some are close while others are far. Guns in a single category, like SMGs and assault rifles, can be great anywhere from point-blank to across the map.
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When engaging in a fight or choosing a spot to shoot from, this effective range should be the first thing in a player’s mind. It’s enticing to fight where everybody else is fighting. Resisting this urge means fighting on the terms best for the particular loadout, which leads to more kills.
2 Stick Together
There is a reason that the game suggests players who spend the most team near allies for the MVP award at the end of each match. It doesn’t seem like an important statistic, but it is a huge indicator of which team wins the match.
Players who attack together find themselves ganging up against single opponents, greatly increasing the odds of success. Don’t bunch up tight enough for a grenade, of course, but stay close. Even if a player dies, they can quickly be avenged, ensuring that losses are immediately made up for.
1 Be Patient
Games start and end at a brisk pace, making players feel forced to push the action. But a player that kills five and dies once contributes just more to a win than a player who kills thirty and dies twenty-nine times. There is a lesson to be learned here.
When in an ideal spot, don’t be compelled to move. Combat moves from location to location fast enough that it will only be a matter of time before the action returns to a player’s preferred location. It takes patience, but it pays off.
Call of Duty: Vanguard was released on November 5th, 2021, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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