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Call Of Duty: Vanguard Perks: the best Perks to use in each slot in Vanguard

Here are the strongest Perks to use in each slot

The character Lucas in Call Of Duty: Vanguard.

Trying to figure out the very best Perks to use in Call Of Duty: Vanguard? Perks may not seem like a terribly important decision at first, but the benefits your Perks can bestow in Call Of Duty: Vanguard can turn you into a far deadlier force on the battlefield. As with previous Call Of Duty titles, you can only use three Perks at once in a loadout, and you can only put specific Perks in each of your Perk slots, which means you have to be careful when deciding which Perks you'll forego in favour of others.

If you're looking for advice on which Perks to use in your custom class setup, or if you're not really sure how the Perk system works in general, you've come to the right place. Below we'll walk you through the very best Perks to use, and how each Perk benefits you so that you can make the most informed decision possible.

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Perks are just one aspect of the best Call Of Duty: Vanguard loadouts, and so you might think that your choice of Perks depends on the guns you're using and the general playstyle you want to use. That's true, to an extent, but there's also no denying that certain Perks are just so much more useful than others in the current state of Call Of Duty: Vanguard.

Perks in Vanguard are split across three categories, and you can only pick one Perk per category. Below we'll walk you through each set of Perks and the best Perks to choose for each category for almost any class setup.

The best Perks in Call Of Duty: Vanguard

The character Polina hides behind cover in Call Of Duty: Vanguard.

Perk 1:

  • Ghost
  • Ninja
  • Cold Blooded
  • Fortified
  • Dauntless
  • Survival Training

Staying off of the enemy's radar is incredibly important in Call Of Duty: Vanguard, which is why our top Perk choice for slot 1 is Ghost - a Perk which renders you invisible to Spy Planes and all other forms of minimap detection while you're moving.

After this, it's a real judgement call between Ninja and Cold Blooded. the main benefit of Ninja is the ability to quieten your footsteps, allowing you to quickly approach enemies without alerting them - a great Perk to use when combined with a responsive SMG like the MP40 or the Type 100. Cold Blooded, by contrast, gives you another way to avoid detection by rendering you immune to High Alert and invisible to enemy killstreaks. Both are very useful, and I'd use them both a lot more if it weren't for Ghost.

Three soldiers cross a jungle river in Call Of Duty: Vanguard.

Perk 2:

  • Radar
  • Piercing Vision
  • Forward Intel
  • High Alert
  • Tracker
  • Engineer

Radar is by far the best Perk to use in your second slot, and again the reason ties directly with the information offered by your minimap. With Radar enabled, enemies that fire an unsilenced weapon will appear briefly on your minimap, giving you a good idea of their location.

Coming up in second place is a newcomer to Call Of Duty perks: Piercing Vision. This interesting Perk allows you to see suppressed enemies through walls for a short time, essentially giving you a very limited and time-constrained wallhack. Very useful for chaotic close-range maps like Das Haus when going around with a Combat Shotgun, so you can perfectly time your next shot just as the enemy peeks around the corner!

Two enemy players shoot at one another outdoors in Call Of Duty: Vanguard.

Perk 3:

  • Overkill
  • Lightweight
  • Double Time
  • Demolition
  • Scavenger
  • Tactician

No surprises here: the best Perk to use in slot three is Overkill, probably the most game-changing Perk in Call Of Duty Vanguard. The ability to carry two primary weapons is just too powerful to ignore no matter what game mode you're playing.

It's a shame really, because Lightweight is also a great Perk to use, giving you a passive increase to your movement speed. That's a very useful thing to have in fast-paced Vanguard matches. But it's a toss-up whether you should pick Lightweight or the similar Double Time Perk, which increases specifically your crouched movement speed, and doubles the duration of your Tactical Sprint, allowing you to remain at top speed for longer.

But it doesn't matter, because we both know you're already going to pick Overkill for 99% of your custom classes.


Call Of Duty: Vanguard Perks list

Below is a handy table containing the exact descriptions of each Perk in Call Of Duty: Vanguard. You can use this table as a reference if needed while you're pondering the above Perk tier lists.

PerkSlotDescription
Fortified1Reduces damage from explosives by 15 percent. Damage reduction doubled while mounted, crouched, or prone. Reduces health regen delay from explosives.
Survival Training1Maximized resistance to stun effects. Immune to gas.
Ninja1Move silently. Take reduced damage when falling. Reduces the effectiveness of enemy Tracker perks.
Dauntless1Immune to movement reducing effects.
Ghost1Undetectable while moving by Spy Planes, enemy intel, and Field Mics.
Cold Blooded1AI-controlled killstreaks will not target you, and player-controlled killstreaks will not highlight you. You do not trigger High Alert. Reduces the range at which awareness markers appear for enemies.
Tracker2Enemies leave behind a footprint trail. See markers at enemy death locations and hide the death markers of enemies you kill.
Radar2Enemies appear on your minimap when they fire an unsilenced weapon.
High Alert2Your vision pulses when enemies outside of your view see you.
Engineer2Detect enemy equipment, field upgrades, and killstreaks through walls. Mark them for your team by aiming down sights. Hack enemy equipment and field upgrades.
Forward Intel2See indicators for enemy reinforcements on your minimap. Minimap shows a larger area.
Piercing Vision2Sufficiently suppressed targets will be highlighted for a short time, rendering them visible through walls and obscuring effects.
Double Time3Double the duration of Tactical Sprint. Increase crouch movement speed by 30 percent.
Demolition3Extra lethal on spawn. Thrown lethals display an indicator showing the path of the lethal.
Lightweight3Increases movement speed.
Overkill3Carry two primary weapons.
Tactician3Restock your tactical equipment every 30 seconds.
Scavenger3Replenish ammo from dead players.

That wraps up this quick primer on the very best Perks to use in Call Of Duty: Vanguard. Why not supplement this knowledge by consulting our guide to the best Call Of Duty: Vanguard guns? Alternatively you can check out our more specialised walkthroughs on the best Assault Rifles and best SMGs in Vanguard.

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Ollie Toms avatar
Ollie Toms: Ollie is sheriff of Guidestown at RPS, and since joining the team in 2018, he's written over 1,000 guides for the site. He loves playing dangerously competitive games and factory sims, injuring himself playing badminton, and burying his face in the warm fur of his two cats.
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Call of Duty: Vanguard

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