During the first weekend of the online Call of Duty League qualifiers, one thing was apparent to both players and viewers alike: the time-to-kill (TTK) in Vanguard is far too fast. From a viewing perspective, it seems like players on the screen are dying in one to two bullets. While in reality, it takes three to four, the TTK in Vanguard is still faster than most Call of Duty titles. To try and combat this, CDL pros have begun tossing around the idea of increasing the base health in Vanguard.
This is easily done in the private match settings. Players can increase the base health to values starting at 130, with the base value starting at 100. At the very least, the idea sparked some interesting discussions on social media, with most fans willing to give the idea a try. However, pros have some concerns with the bump to base health.
CDL pros discussing increasing health in Vanguard
The conversation got started when Atlanta FaZe player Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris tweeted about the idea. The star SMG player said: “The extra bullet TTK adds a wider skill gap IMO. I also feel like it’d make the viewing experience better.”
While fans agreed that this would help Vanguard play better, other professionals had differing opinions. Apparently, the idea was already discussed and tested by some teams. Boston Breach player Anthony “Methodz” Zinni responded to aBeZy, saying that the increase to health can’t be done because the grenades would then be rendered useless.
“Chris must not be updating you. Nades are the reason we can’t do it,” Methodz said.
Chris must not be updating you. Nades are the reason we can’t do it
— OpTic Methodz (@Methodz) February 7, 2022
Seattle Surge AR Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi explained further, saying: “You eat three grenades with Flak and 130 [health].” According to the players, while running the Fortified perk and having 130 health enabled, it takes three Frag grenades to kill. Some fans suggested that the pros should just ban Fortified and run Survival Training, a perk that reduces the effects of Stun Grenades.
Accuracy had a response to this as well, saying: “Stuns are useless then.” Fans and aBeZy fired back, however, with the FaZe player telling Accuracy that Stun Grenades aren’t that good anyway. Also, even with Survival Training equipped, players would still feel the effect of a Stun Grenade regardless.
One additional problem with this, though, is that with 130 health, players still can survive a grenade with Survival Training equipped. LA Thieves player Dylan “Envoy” Hannon pointed this out to aBeZy, who said he “still would rather play that” than the current health system.
It seems the pros are at a crossroads with this issue. One side wants to at least try out 130 health, despite the detriment it might cause to utility, while the other side feels it isn’t worth it. For now, it appears things are staying as is in Vanguard. Perhaps with more testing and discussion, the change could come to fruition in the 2022 CDL.
