To get the best Call of Duty: Vanguard experience possible, you’ll need to apply the best settings. Here are the best PC settings for Vanguard, no matter your hardware.

Since crossplay has become the standard in Call of Duty, more and more players are switching over to the PC version. It offers improved visuals, higher frame rates, and much more options for you to tweak.

By applying the correct settings, you can find the perfect balance between visuals and frame rate. To get the most from Vanguard on PC, here are the settings you should run, no matter the power of your hardware.

• Vanguard system requirements
• How to update graphics drivers
• How to ise DLSS in Vanguard
• Best Vanguard graphics settings for low-end hardware
• Best Vanguard settings for high-end hardware

CoD: Vanguard system requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
OS	Windows 10 64 Bit (1909 or later)	Windows 10 64 Bit (latest Service Pack)
CPU	Intel Core i5-2500k or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	Intel Core i7-4770k or AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
RAM	8 GB	16 GB
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB / GTX 1050Ti 4GB or AMD Radeon R9 380	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB / GTX 1660 6GB or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
HDD	45GB HD Space	45GB HD Space

Here are the minimum and recommended system requirements you’ll need to run Call of Duty Vanguard. For the minimum requirements, you only need a slightly more powerful rig than if you were to play Warzone or Cold War.

• Read more: Vanguard players call for the return of individual mastery camos

You’ll need a fairly beefy PC to meet the recommended requirements, with you needing a GTX 1070 8GB to get a solid balance of frame rate and visuals.

How to update graphics drivers

Before diving into Vanguard on PC, we recommend you check that your graphics drivers are up to date to make sure your rig is reaching its optimal performance.

• Read more: Best FOV settings for CoD: Vanguard

Here’s how to update your graphics drivers.

How to update NVIDIA graphics driver

If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, the GeForce experience app will handle this for you.

1. Download GeForce experience through NVIDIA.com
2. Open GeForce experience
3. Select the ‘Drivers’ tab
4. Click ‘check for updates’ in the upper right corner
5. If an update is available, follow the steps

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How to update AMD graphics driver

If you have an AMD GPU, you can use the Radeon Settings to update your drivers.

1. Right-click on your desktop
2. Select AMD Radeon Settings
3. Click on the Home icon
4. Click ‘New Updates’ on the bottom left
5. Select ‘check for update’
6. If an update is available, follow the steps

How to use NVIDIA DLSS in Vanguard Season 1

NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) allows players with NVIDIA RTX graphics cards to get much more frames at higher resolutions. DLSS sets your game to a lower resolution, increasing performance, but gives the appearance of a high resolution.

• Read more: Best controller settings for CoD: Vanguard Season 1

Turning on DLSS in Vanguard is simple, as it’s included in the Post Processing Effects tab in the Quality Settings. From here, you can set DLSS to Ultra Performance, Performance, Balanced, or Quality.

Ultra Performance will give you the most frames but won’t be as visually appealing, and Quality will retain the impressive picture.

Best Vanguard graphics settings for low-end hardware

If you are somewhere between the minimum and recommended settings for Call of Duty Vanguard, you want to be prioritizing reaching at least a steady 60 FPS.

• Read more: Vanguard players furious with Akimbo Shotguns and Riot Shield combination

Vanguard still looks great on low settings, and you’ll have a much smoother and more enjoyable time when hitting a decent frame rate.

Here are the settings we recommend using if you’re on lower-end hardware.

Display

• Display Mode: Fullscreen
• Monitor: Your primary gaming monitor
• Refresh Rate: Your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g 144)
• Sync Every Frame (V-Sync): Off
• Framerate Limit: Custom
  • Gameplay Custom Framerate Limit: Your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g 144)
  • Menu Custom Framerate Limit: 60
  • Minimized Game Custom Framerate Limit: 15
• NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled
• Display Resolution: Your monitor’s resolution (e.g 1920×1080)
• Display Gamma: 2.2 (sRGB)
• Focused Mode: Off
• Focused Mode Opacity: 0
• Display Adapter: Your graphics card
• On-Demand Texture Streaming: Off

You want to make sure that your Framerate limit matches your monitor’s refresh rate. If you’re reaching frames well above what your monitor can display, you may see screen tearing.

Quality

Global Quality

• Render Resolution: 100
• VRAM Usage Target: 80%

If you have your VRAM Usage Target too high, you could see stuttering and hitching. If this is happening to you, keep lowering the target until you’re seeing smooth gameplay.

Details & Textures

• Texture Resolution: Low
• Texture Filter Anisotropic: Medium
• Particle Quality Level: Medium
• Particle Resolution: Low
• Bullet Impacts & Sprays: Off
• Tesselation: Off
• Level of Detail: Low
• Level of Detail Distance Quality: Low
• Volumetric Quality Level: Low

Shadow and Lighting

• Shadow Map Resolution: Low
• Sun Shadow Cascades: Low
• Cache Spot Shadows: Off
• Spot Cache Size: Off
• Cache Sun Shadows: Off
• Spot Shadow Quality: Low
• Particle Lighting: Medium
• Ambient Occlusion: Off
• GTAO: Low
• Screen Space Reflection: Low

Post Processing Effects

• Anti-Aliasing: SMAA T2X
• Filmic Strength: 0

Normally, we’d recommend having Anti-Aliasing set to either off or the lowest setting, but Vanguard forces you to use either SMAA T2X or Filmic SMAA T2X. Filmic can make your game look blurry, so we recommend using the regular T2X.

And for Filmic Strength, you should always have this set to 0. It adds unnecessary visual noise to your game, making it look worse for no reason.

Gameplay

• Field of View: 95-105
  • ADS Field of View: Affected
• Camera Movement: Least (50%)
• World Motion Blur: Off
• Weapon Motion Blur: Off
• Depth of Field: Off

If you’re on lower-end hardware, you should have your FOV set somewhere between 95 and 105. You’ll still take advantage of seeing more of the world in front of you but won’t suffer from the performance hit.

And for the other options such as Motion Blur and Depth of Field, you always want to have them set to off.

Best Vanguard graphics settings for high-end hardware

There’s no point in forking out hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on the best hardware if you’re not going to take advantage of it. NVIDIA 20 and 30 Series GPUs will be able to easily display high-quality graphics and reach high frame rates.

• Read more: Vanguard players discover fully automatic zero recoil G-43 loadout

Here are the settings we recommend you use if you’re on high-end hardware.

Display

• Display Mode: Fullscreen
• Monitor: Your primary gaming monitor
• Refresh Rate: Your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g 165)
• Sync Every Frame (V-Sync): Off
• Framerate Limit: Custom
  • Gameplay Custom Framerate Limit: Your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g 165)
  • Menu Custom Framerate Limit: 60
  • Minimized Game Custom Framerate Limit: 15
• NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled
• Display Resolution: Your monitor’s resolution (e.g 2560×1440)
• Display Gamma: 2.2 (sRGB)
• Focused Mode: Off
• Focused Mode Opacity: 0
• Display Adapter: Your graphics card
• On-Demand Texture Streaming: Off

You want to make sure that your Framerate limit matches your monitor’s refresh rate. If you’re reaching frames well above what your monitor can display, you may see screen tearing.

Quality

Global Quality

• Render Resolution: 100
• VRAM Usage Target: 90%

High-end hardware should manage a VRAM Usage Target of 90%, but make sure to lower it if you begin experiencing stuttering or hitching.

Details & Textures

• Texture Resolution: High
• Texture Filter Anisotropic: Medium
• Particle Quality Level: Medium
• Particle Resolution: Low
• Bullet Impacts & Sprays: On
• Tesselation: Nearby Only
• Level of Detail: High
• Level of Detail Distance Quality: High
• Volumetric Quality Level: Low

Shadow and Lighting

• Shadow Map Resolution: High
• Sun Shadow Cascades: Medium
• Cache Spot Shadows: On
• Spot Cache Size: Medium
• Cache Sun Shadows: On
• Spot Shadow Quality: Low
• Particle Lighting: High
• Ambient Occlusion: Off
• GTAO: Medium
• Screen Space Reflection: Medium

Post Processing Effects

• Anti-Aliasing: SMAA T2X
• Filmic Strength: 0

Although Filmic SMAA T2X is the higher option, it will make the game appear blurry, so it should be avoided. And again, Filmic Strength should always be set to 0.

Gameplay

• Field of View: 105-120
  • ADS Field of View: Affected
• Camera Movement: Least (50%)
• World Motion Blur: Off
• Weapon Motion Blur: Off
• Depth of Field: Off

If you’re on higher-end hardware, you can likely crank your FOV all the way up to 120 without suffering from a significant performance hit. But, some players dislike how it distorts and shrinks the screen, so may want it slightly lower.

And for the other option such as Motion Blur and Depth of Field, you always want to have them set to off.

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And that’s the best PC settings for Call of Duty: Vanguard! You can also check out the best PC settings for Warzone and Black Ops Cold War!

Image Credit: Activision / Sledgehammer Games

The Combat Shotgun is one of Vanguard’s most broken weapons, here’s how to make the best Combat Shotgun loadout complete with Perks and attachments to devastate the competition. 

Shotguns have always been a polarizing topic within the Call of Duty community. Players either love them or hate them. Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, Vanguard’s Combat Shotgun is an extremely powerful weapon that you should test in some capacity. 

With frequent Double XP events, players are leveling up their Shotguns with ease. What with 10 attachment slots to occupy, deciding on a Combat Shotgun loadout isn’t that simple. Here’s the most destructive Combat Shotgun loadout in Vanguard. 

Best Combat Shotgun loadout

Vanguard Combat Shotgun Gunsmith loadout attachments

• Muzzle: M97 Full Choke
• Barrel: Sawed-off
• Optic: None
• Stock: CGC 3M Wire
• Underbarrel: SMLE Pistol Grip
• Magazine: 16 Gauge 10 Round Drum Magazine
• Ammo Type: Buck and Slug
• Rear Grip: Fabric Grip
• Proficiency: Vital
• Kit: Quick

For the best Vanguard Combat Shotgun loadout, the goal is to maximize speed and firepower at the cost of accuracy. With a weapon that excels in tight spaces, accuracy is far from a deal-breaker. In fact, you’ll be using hip fire to get the majority of your kills. 

• Read more: Vanguard players call for the return of individual weapon mastery camos

For starters, the Sawed-off barrel is going to reduce some range. On the flip side, you’ll gain a wider pellet spread, allowing you to hit more victims with one shot. The M97 Full Choke muzzle compensates for the Sawed-off barrel by balancing the weapon with a tighter pellet spread.

The CGC 3M Wire stock aids in making the shotgun incredibly mobile. It also increases hip-fire accuracy which is vital for this weapon. The Fabric Grip and the SMLE Pistol Grip also contribute to movement speed by increasing sprint to fire time and hip fire recovery. 

• Read more: Best Double Barrel Shotgun loadout for CoD: Vanguard

You’re definitely going to want to use slug rounds. The Buck and Slug ammo type certainly pack a punch. In terms of Proficiency and Kit attachments, you have some freedom to experiment. Frenzy and Vital are the top two choices for Proficiency attachment while the Quick Kit will further increase your speed.  

Best Perks to run with Combat Shotgun in Vanguard 

• Perk 1: Ninja
• Perk 2: High Alert
• Perk 3: Lightweight

Perk 1 is a tricky slot to decipher. Ninja is incredibly useful for this Combat Shotgun class because it’ll allow you to get as close to enemies as possible. You should constantly be moving with the Combat Shotgun. For the same reason, Ghost can also be useful. 

• Read more: Vanguard players furious with Akimbo Shotguns

High Alert is the choice for Perk 2 seeing as the one pump kill nature of the Combat Shotgun has incredible “turn on” potential. If an enemy is at your back, High Alert will enable a quick flick and shoot response. 

In the Perk 3 slot, Lightweight makes the most sense. Double Time could also do the trick however Lightweight increases overall movement speed. This class relies on speed to outmaneuver enemies. 

How to unlock the Combat Shotgun in Vanguard

Luckily for players, one of the most broken weapons in the game is made available early at Level 14. The Combat Shotgun is the second of four Shotguns in Vanguard. Considering you can get your hands on it at level 14, it shouldn’t take you too long to unlock. 

Once you do unlock it, you might want to check if any small map playlists are live. Sledgehammer will be offering Das Haus 24/7 from time to time. 

Best alternatives to Combat Shotgun 

Shotgun enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that the Combat Shotgun is not the only dominant member of its weapon class. The Gracey Auto is yet another Shotgun that is attracting interest. This weapon can be unlocked at Level 31.

• Read more: Vanguard players discover fully automatic zero recoil G-43 loadout

If Shotguns don’t suit your play style, you may want to check out Vanguard’s most prominent Assault Rifle. The STG 44 is an immensely powerful weapon liked by many. 

Image Credits: Activision / Sledgehammer Games

The Double Barrel Shotgun is one of Vanguard’s most powerful weapons, here’s how to make the best Double Barrel loadout complete with Perks and attachments to destroy your enemies. 

Shotguns dominated Vanguard’s early cycle and after disappearing following a massive nerf it now seems like they are back. Thanks to small map playlists, Shotguns have been running rampant. Admittedly, Shotguns produce a lot of fun, while also being quite overpowered.

Whether you love shotguns or hate them, the Double Barrel is one of the best of its kind. You shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the possibilities of ten attachment slots.

Ready to wreak havoc? Here is our best Vanguard Double Barrel Shotgun loadout.

Best Double Barrel Gunsmith loadout attachments

• Muzzle: M97 Full Choke
• Barrel: LJ-18 Defender
• Optic: G16 2.5x
• Stock: Removed Stock
• Underbarrel: N/A *Blocked by Akimbo*
• Magazine: None
• Ammo Type: Incendiary
• Rear Grip: Pine Tar Grip
• Proficiency: Akimbo
• Kit: Quick

The M97 Full Choke muzzle and LJ-18 Defender barrel work in tandem to maximize range and power. You’ll be able to target faraway enemies with a longer barrel. Meanwhile, the G16 2.5x optic will increase accuracy and recoil control.

The Removed Stock will enhance your sprint to fire speed and movement speed. This will allow you to play at a rapid pace with the Double Barrel. The Pine Tar Grip is preferred over the Fabric Grip due to the added recoil control and hip fire accuracy.

• Read more: Vanguard players call for the return of weapon mastery camos

For this loadout to perform well at a distance you’re going to want to leave the magazine attachment slot empty seeing as both options have weapon-ruining cons. Incendiary ammo is the way to go to maximize damage.

Lastly, this loadout revolves around the dual-wield attribute that comes with the Akimbo Proficiency. While the Quick kit will add to your sprint speed. 

Best Perks to use with Vanguard Double Barrel

• Perk 1: Ghost
• Perk 2: Forward Intel
• Perk 3: Lightweight

Players have the option to choose between Ghost and Ninja in the first perk slot. Ninja will let you get nice and close to your opponents which is always great when running a shotgun. Although, with the Double Barrel’s added range, players can comfortably opt for Ghost.  

• Read more: Vanguard players discover fully automatic zero recoil G-43 loadout

In the second slot, Forward Intel will give you the information you need to stay one step ahead of the opponent. This loadout maximizes speed and Forward Intel also contributes to this by allowing you to reach your enemy’s spawn destination as quickly as possible. 

Finally, in the third slot, Lightweight is the way to go. This will ensure incredibly quick movement speed. If you’re not looking to run a Shotgun as your lone Primary Weapon, Overkill can also work.

How to unlock Double Barrel in Vanguard

Unfortunately for Vanguard players, the Double Barrel Shotgun is the least accessible Shotgun. As the fourth Shotgun of four, players get their hands on the Double Barrel at Level 49. 

Hoping into small map playlists is a great way to level up your Shotgun. Shotguns are utterly dominant on small maps like Dome, Das Haus, and Shipment.

Best alternatives to the Double Barrel in Vanguard

If the two bullet limit of the Double Barrel is something you cannot accept, perhaps the Combat Shotgun will better suit your play style. It is the clear-cut top Shotgun at the moment. 

• Read more: Vanguard player finds perfect spot to farm easy longshots for camo challenges

The Combat Shotgun is available at Level 14, which gives you a ton of time to level up the weapon before unlocking the Double Barrel. 

Of course, if Shotguns aren’t your thing and you’re worried about Sledgehammer’s upcoming Shotgun nerf, you may want to check out the Type 100.

Image Credits: Sledgehammer Games / Activision