Like every Call of Duty for over a decade, Vanguard launched with Lethal and Tactical Equipment categories in multiplayer. These categories have six choices each and almost all of the options are usable in some shape or form. Players can choose the ones that fit their playstyle the best but there’s also a recommended setup they can use.
Equipment has played an interesting role in Call of Duty’s history. There have been games with underwhelming equipment and others with choices that have broken the game. Sledgehammer Games has found a nice balance in Vanguard and offers players some interesting choices for their loadout. Players can experiment with the options but they can also choose to go with the recommended equipment setup currently available in Vanguard.
Lethal Equipment in Vanguard
In the Lethal Equipment category, there are only two serviceable choices for players. While something like the Throwing Knife or Demolition Charge are fun niche pieces of Equipment, the Frag Grenade and Thermite are the best options.
The Frag Grenade is the most classic piece of equipment. It can cook in the player’s hands and then explodes after a certain amount of time. The grenade has decent damage in Vanguard, making it a viable option.
The other choice is the Thermite, which is the recommended choice so far. It detonates on impact into a fiery explosion and burns players if they step into it. Though it isn’t as lethal as the Frag, it lasts much longer and explodes wherever the player throws it.
As a side note, some players might be tempted to run the Gannon Bomb, as it also explodes on impact. However, it has an extremely low damage output and will get players more hitmarkers than anything.
Tactical Equipment in Vanguard
For Tactical Equipment in Vanguard, there are more viable options. Each option has some use in multiplayer but, there are better pieces than others.
There are two traditional choices that players can use to great effect in Vanguard. The Stun and Smoke Grenade are both fantastic options that can make enemies rage in multiplayer. The Stun Grenade is perhaps the more useful option, seeing as not many players are running the Survival Training perk to counter it. The Smoke Grenade has more use in objective-based game modes and can help win matches.
However, those pieces of equipment aren’t what players should run most of the time. That honor goes to the Stim. This needle allows players to regain their health and Tac Sprint with a simple button push. Players get two Stims at the start of every life, which means they can regenerate their health almost instantly twice in the same life.
No matter the game mode players are enjoying, Stim has the most use out of any of the options in the Tactical Equipment category of Vanguard.
