The Best Guns in Valorant: Tier List

A tier list of Valorant’s guns, rated from the best to the worst.

Updated on Oct 20, 2023
Fact checked by Dean Nastevski |
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The Best Guns in Valorant: Tier List

Riot Games’ tactical shooter Valorant came in hot when it came to the guns and weapons. Every weapon presents a different kind of gameplay, though some players seem to stick to the meta with their best Vandals.

And of course, some weapons will be better than others which promise higher chances of you winning rounds. So here we’ll take a look at the best guns Valorant alongside a Valorant weapons tier list! This Valorant weapon tier list is rated based on the weapons’ usefulness, damage output, and how easy/hard are they to master in all gameplay situations.


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S-Tier Valorant Guns

The S-tier weapons are the best guns ever in Valorant. They can find themselves either useful in all situations or will dominate one specific gameplay style, unlike any other weapon. So here are the S-tier guns in Valorant:

Vandal

The Vandal costs 2900 credits and it has a medium fire rate. The best thing about the Vandal assault rifle though is that it does an instant kill on headshot at any distance, with body shots being 40 damage and leg shots being 34. All of this plus the high wall penetration makes the Vandal the best gun in Valorant, competing against the Phantom

Phantom

The Phantom costs 2900 credits and it has a high fire rate. Unlike the Vandal, the Phantom doesn’t do instant headshots on faraway distances. But it does instant headshot kills on close distances. Combining that with its high fire rate, the Phantom works best with short bursts at point-blank range. That’s why the Phantom alongside the best Phantom skins is considered an S-tier weapon in Valorant

Operator

The Operator costs 4700 credits and it has a low fire rate. This is the only sniper rifle that does an instant kill with a shot anywhere on the body from any distance, except for the legs dealing 120 damage. On far to medium-range distances, especially on defense, makes the Operator one of the greatest guns in Valorant, especially on Pearl’s long site


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A-Tier Valorant Guns

A-tier guns in Valorant are the weapons that can find themselves great in tons of situations, but fall short of being the best in this Valorant gun tier list. Without further ado, here are the A-tier weapons in Valorant:

Bulldog

The Bulldog costs 2050 credits and it has a medium fire rate. The Bulldog assault rifle falls short on power, but aside from that, you’re getting a gun that performs excellently on short to high and medium range. And all of that for 2050 credits. On right-click aim the Bulldog also has an alternate fire mode: the burst fire. So if you’re consistent with headshot aim you’ll find this weapon with the best Bulldog skins really useful if you’re low on credits to get the Vandal

Ghost

The Ghost is a pistol that costs 500 credits. This gun belongs to A-tier because of its power in a pistol round. Eco-pistol rounds are really important in building your economy from the beginning of the game, so having a fully automatic pistol that does 105 damage on headshots at close to the medium range can be useful. Since players don’t usually buy armor in those rounds, that'll be an instant kill. This makes the Ghost the best weapon for pistol rounds in Valorant


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B-Tier Valorant Guns

B-tier guns on this weapon tier list represent weapons that are really good for specific situations and bad for others, or the skill cap for mastering them is too high. So let’s see the B-tier weapons in Valorant:

Sheriff

The Sheriff is a pistol that costs 800 credits. This gun is B-tier not because it’s bad, but because the skill cap is too high for players to pick up. Having a pistol that does instant headshot kills for 800 credits is far too good, but hitting those headshots with the best Sheriff skins may prove hard for most players

Spectre

The Spectre costs 1600 credits and it has a high fire rate. The Spectre literally dominates when it comes to short-range combat, even being able to kill multiple enemies at times. But for any enemies that are farther, the Spectre is just too bad

Odin

The Odin costs 3200 and it has a high fire rate. This machine gun is a beast for standing still, crouching, and waiting to burst the enemies into flames. And its high wall penetration makes for sneaky wall-bang Sova kills too. Aside from that, any movement and the Odin instantly loses its worth, especially for its costly 3200 credits

Guardian

The Guardian costs 2250 credits and it has a low fire rate. The Guardian is the only semi-automatic rifle that will instantly kill per headshot at any distance. So if your aim is pinpointing perfect, you can hold long angles like a charm. But because players with bad aim and the Guardian’s bad performance on short angles make this semi-automatic rifle B-tier on this Valorant weapon tier list


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C-Tier Valorant Guns

C-tier weapons on this Valorant guns tier list are weapons that won’t do you any good most of the time. But in really specific scenarios you might find them great. Don’t let these scenarios fool you as we check out the C-tier guns in Valorant:

Classic

The Classic is free for all players in the game. It’s the worst out of all the pistols, but its free price can prove for a good eco round. It also has burst fire, so if you manage to pull off sneaky tactics in an eco round, you’ll get a whole round's worth of credits for free

Marshal

The Marshal costs 900 credits and it’s the worst sniper rifle in Valorant. The Marshal is best used for long-range combat. But unlike the Operator, the only instant kill you’ll get is through a headshot. It’s not necessarily a bad gun, it’s just that only players who’ve practiced the Marshal for hours will find it good with their crouch skills

Judge

The Judge costs 1850 credits and it has a medium to high fire rate. The issue why the Judge falls at C-tier is due to the big nerfs Riot Games gave it. From an increased price to making kills hard even at short-range, the Judge simply isn’t a worthy weapon anymore

Stinger

The Stinger costs 950 credits and it has a high fire rate. Its only useful application is in close-range combat. Even then the Stinger has a tricky-to-control spray pattern, but the burst fire while aiming somewhat accounts for that

Ares

The Ares costs 1600 credits and it has a high fire rate. It’s a machine gun like the Odin, but even worse. Standing still and waiting won’t do you any good, especially in higher ranks. And the Ares with its best skins doesn’t even do that much damage alongside its bad spray pattern control. For 1600 credits you’re just better off buying a Spectre and aiming for short corridors and angles

Frenzy

The Frenzy costs 450 credits and it has a medium fire rate. It’s a B-tier weapon on pistol rounds at best, but only viable in close-range combat. Paying 50 credits more to buy the Ghost will do you better by having much better control for long-range combat and not having to worry about off-the-roof spray control in combination with the best Frenzy skins


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D-Tier Valorant Guns

The D-tier weapons on this Valorant guns tier list are the worst weapons Valorant has given us. From nerfs to downright failing to be useful even for their respected scenarios, here are the D-tier guns in Valorant:

Bucky

The Bucky costs 850 credits and it's a shotgun with a medium fire rate. The bucky is a semi-automatic shotgun with a right-click that does good damage to enemies far away. That was nerfed to the ground though, basically making it meaningless. Now the only good use for the bucky is camping and playing sneaky to kill enemies from really short-range combat. The only good thing the Bucky is for is to combine it with the best gun buddies for aesthetics

Shorty

The Shorty costs 150 credits and it’s a shotgun with a medium to high fire rate. The Shorty’s only good for camping and getting kills literally inches away from the enemy on short-range combat while crouching. And even then it can fail the task not getting a full kill. With only 2 bullets per round, you can’t expect to reload before the enemy kills you


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That’s it for the best guns tier list in Valorant. Now you’ll know which weapons to stick to, and which ones to avoid! If you want to learn that and much more about Valorant, you should definitely visit our Youtube channel!

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