Vantage thoughts.

So, I've been trying to play Vantage and I'm struggeling to express my feelings when playing her.

TL:DR I don't really like her.

On paper she is a scan legend with movement and an extra gun. That should be good. And occationally it can be. Getting some snipes in, or telling your team there is a solo or squad running around can be useful. Moving to height or jumping over a gap is also good... but.

The legend just feels extremely clunky to use.
Her tactical bat is more of a mechanic you fight vs. use. It needs to deploy, it needs LoS, it shows your position and it has a slow flight + mediocre functionality.
The whole bat mechanic also makes 0 sense, she uses her jetpacks to get somewhere, not the bat, so why is it there?

Moving on to her Ultimate.
The sniper rifle can be pretty good, but it caters hugely to quick scoping rather than hunting / sniping. I'm not saying it is all out bad, just counter productive.
The laser that telegraphs you're about to fire can possibly work as a deterrent and somewhat supress an enemy team, but mostly it just gives away your position, working against you landing a shot at all.

Lastly her passive.
The passive on its own isn't bad. Zooming unarmed or with a scope to see the make up of an enemy team can be useful. And as it is something else than flat out scanning, it should be applauded a little. However... Compared to the other scan legends, her skill is clearly at the bottom of the list. You're rather likely to see and shortly after know about an enemy team that you see anyway.

So what we get is one of the most clueless snipers ever. She has a huge hitbox, she has a mobility skill that puts her in danger, and her sniper is a glorified flashlight.

I will try to play more with this legend to see if I can find ways to make her useful, but imo she needs a lot of work.

discussion

13 Replies

hayhor
Hero
3 years ago
@DrWizardo Her tactical is what keeps me from using her. Your mention of fighting it rather than using it is spot on. I am unsure how to fix it but the current mechanic seems to built around the quirky bat thing.
BigMacAttack8u
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@DrWizardo I like Vantage’s abilities, but her personality / character development is a 0/10 so I only play her when I have to.
The problem with Vantage’s kit:
She can keep up with her movement teammates as are bound to be picked, but her abilities don’t help others if she doesn’t have communication.
Asmodeus566
Hero+
3 years ago
@DrWizardo
She is not all that bad. Been racking up kills pretty well with her along with a bunch of top 5's and some wins.
Her kit is actually pretty good and balanced.
Maybe git rid of the flashlight since snipers do not telegraph where they are normally.
Redmattgame
3 years ago
A few of the teammates I occasionally play with don't like playing as Vantage because she is a Sniper/Marksmen character fundamentally & they don't like playing that aspect of the game (they are more of your up close SMG merchants).I quite like playing her though every now & again for the reasons my teammates don't ie picking off enemies at range then close in etc but I find her best ability is her passive 'Spotters Lens' which when aiming with a weapon with a Level 2 scope or above it'll indicate enemies locations & shields,the bullet drop indicator/laser scope is more hindrance than help though.Vantage's tactical 'Echo Location' has been bugged for a little while where trying to launch Echo at times doesn't work with either 'not ready' or 'los' & Echo is located 400m+ away but even when it is working one would perceive that the 'Echo Location' would be ideal for those quick getaways whilst damaged in the heat of battle but it is way too slow for that where you just become easy prey to be beamed out the sky by enemies.And so I see the 'Echo Location' as more of a closing in on the enemy rather than getting away ability.Vantage's Ultimate the 'Snipers Mark' is only useful if you can make your 2nd shots count (for bonus damage) as the 1st shot is merely a scratch.B-Tier character for me.
DrWizardo
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@hayhor I'm guessing since the have Loba's bracelet which is better...but is still bad (xD), and Valkyries jetpack, the bat was "needed" to make it work differently. So they took parts from Crypto, Loba and Octane to create this monstrosity.

Lore-wise someone could just shoot the bat. That would perhaps also mature her a little? As @BigMacAttack8u mentioned her personality is pretty annoying (thankfully the echo location-line is gone).

I am usually playing with mic on, so I try to call stuff out. But yeah, I get you.
Compared to Loba, Mirage or Maggie who are the legends I use most, Vantage's skills are not very team focused.
DrWizardo
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@Asmodeus566 She isn't the god awful. I just don't like her, when on paper I want to like her. She sounds good, but she's so clunky.

I complain about Loba's bracelet too, which was initially why I tried playing Vantage. Both of their tacticals needs tuning imo.

Comparing the passive with the other legends, Octane's pad while being an ultimate is fast and easy to use. Pathfinder's grapple is quick and while requiring some skill, it can yeet you over buildings or around corners. Valkyrie's passive is super easy and widly accessible. Horizon's tactical offers a lot of use for the whole team and can also somewhat block corridors or doors. etc...

I can totally get behind that there might be a skill requirement that you kind of need to make this legend shine, and that I am a filthy casual. I do however wish she simply was easier to use.

Yup, get rid of flashlight please 🙂
DrWizardo
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@Redmattgame I played a little bit on Olympus just now and tried to use the bat to get away from the stairs in the fight night arena. I was killed though as it just took to long to aim, throw out the bat, wait for it to move, and go.
As the enemy team saw the bat they also beamed me since they knew where I was going.

As you say, getting into position is probably what it is best at. Still there are so many out of bounds places where you just cant be, the use of the skill is somewhat lessened by the clunkyness.
LaughingSharko
3 years ago
@DrWizardo The trick is that you have to change your mindset toward fights. The bat does not get sent out after you're in danger. You always send it out in a strategic direction before engaging the enemy. You can also redirect in the middle of fights, but the idea is to have the bat in place before you actually need it.

The Crypto-Loba-Octane analogy is spot on, though.
DrWizardo
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@LaughingSharko I'll try that tomorrow and see if it works out better. I guess they know I'm there anyway and can't shoot it down it might work.
reconzero
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@DrWizardo

"So what we get is one of the most clueless snipers ever. She has a huge hitbox, she has a mobility skill that puts her in danger, and her sniper is a glorified flashlight."

Sums her up perfectly. I give Respawn points for acknowledging mid-to-long-range fighting in this game with her addition. But I've said before, you don't need anything she does or has in order to be an effective sniper. Other legends have far better mobility which is, imo, what makes a sniper a sniper. I'll take pathy or valk any day. So much more versatile.