Our Valorant Weapon Guide series kicked off with the Vandal, but now it's time to talk about its main rival - the Phantom.
A lot has changed over the course of a year since the Valorant closed beta kicked off, but one thing that has remained the same, is the number of weapons. We've already discussed everything about the Vandal, a weapon favored by anyone going for one-taps. Who's the Phantom for then? We'll try to answer that today.
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Phantom Weapon Guide
The Phantom is a fully automatic weapon much like the Vandal, but it also has a bigger magazine and a higher rate of fire. Two things the weapons have in common are the reload time of 2.5 seconds and the medium wall penetration.
- Fire rate: 11 rounds/sec (9.75 - Vandal)
- Magazine capacity: 30 rounds (25 rounds - Vandal)
- Wall Penetration: Medium
- Reload Speed: 2.5 seconds
Another big difference with the Phantom is that it comes with a silencer and that is one major benefit – you can shoot through smokes without revealing your location. Let's get to the big one though, the one-taps.
Phantom Damage
The Phantom's damage has some damage drop-off, but it's one of the lowest in the game. Here's how much pain it can cause at various distances:
- 0m-15m: Body 39/Head 156/Leg 33
- 15m-30m: Body 35/Head 140/Leg 29
- 30m-50m: Body 31/Head 124/ Leg 26
Two bullets to the head are always a guaranteed kill. If an enemy is at close range even a single one will do the trick. Even at the furthest range with the Phantom's fire rate, you'll be able to melt enemies without a head-shot.
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Phantom Alt-Fire
The Phantom's alt-fire is almost identical to that of the Vandal. Here are the benefits you get when zooming in:
- 1.25x zoom
- Slight spread reduction
- Fire rate: 9.9 rounds/sec
That's some extra zoom, slower fire rate, and more accuracy when shooting for a prolonged period. Since you can't one-tap enemies at longer distances, your best bet would be firing in short bursts.
Phantom Price
The Phantom costs 2900 credits, which is the same price as the Vandal. Both weapons are a bit pricey, but offer some of the best stats in the game at almost any range. Just don't buy it when your team does an eco round, and you'll be fine.
Phantom Recoil
Another major benefit of using the Phantom over the Vandal is the recoil. You'll generally be more accurate with it and the best part is the spray patterns of the two weapons aren't that different. In fact, the Phantom has an easier one and that's one more reason to pick it.
If you've played CS:GO before you'll notice that the Vandal resembles the AK-47 while the Phantom is a lot like the M4. The two clones of the best weapons in Valve's shooter are available to both sides at any time for everyone in Valorant (since there's no distinction between the weapons of attackers and defenders).
Phantom or Vandal?
It's a debate that has been ongoing for over a year. Even Riot Games had some trouble deciding. We'll see if anything changes in 2021!
We're wrapping up 2020 with a look back at game stats. We can finally settle the Phantom vs. Vandal debate! The Vandal beat out Phantom and Spectre as this year's deadliest weapon. The longest game of 2020 lasted a whopping 58 rounds. pic.twitter.com/OUY9ZngnqZ
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) December 28, 2020
The Vandal's one big advantage is the one-tap kills. The Phantom practically wins in every other department:
- bigger magazine
- higher fire rate
- silencer
- less recoil and easier spread pattern
Conclusion
So which of the two weapons should you pick? The answer is simple, whichever feels better. If you value killing everyone with a single shot then go for the Vandal, in any other case the Phantom is probably the better choice.
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