Call of Duty Vanguard Gunsmith Guide

The Call of Duty games are some of the most popular and most influential FPSs in gaming. Over the years though, they have developed considerably. One of the biggest new developments to come with the more recent Call of Duty games has been Gunsmith. This new system makes attachments for your weapons considerably more complicated, but also a lot more exact and scientific. You can use Gunsmith to make serious changes to how a weapon functions, improving it or even changing key aspects of how it works. This guide covers the Call of Duty Vanguard Gunsmith system, how it works, what’s new, and how to make the most out of it.

The Vanguard gunsmith system is familiar to what we’ve seen in Call of Duty Warzone, along with Cold War and Modern Warfare. However, there are some new innovations here. New additions to what you’re getting to customize gives Gunsmith more options and they open up the possibilities to change guns around even more. When you’re looking at the best Vanguard loadouts, the gunsmith section is probably the most important.

This time around Gunsmith is more complicated, so you’re going to need to know how these new loadouts work and how to make the most out of them.

Gunsmith – How Does it Work?

Most shooter games these days give players the option to add attachments to their guns. Sometimes this can be basic like adding a sight or laser. However, sometimes you can add attachments that change around the base stats of the weapon and how it actually plays. In Call of Duty Vanguard, the weapon that you select is just the starting point. This is a base gun, but it can be changed quite a bit depending on what you attach to it.

Through the Gunsmith loadout system, you can change the speed, recoil, and other stats of a weapon. That’s alongside changing the drum, ammo, and everything associated with it to change around the way the weapons function entirely. This can naturally be confusing since no two Gunsmith setups for a weapon is going to produce the same kind of effect on how it handles in-game. That’s the basics of how it works, but there are some extras here even if you’re already accustomed to the complex Warzone loadouts system.

Gun Elements – What Can you Add and Change?

These are all of the categories of attachment in the vanguard Gunsmith system:

Muzzle – This attachment fits over the barrel of your weapon. Here you have silencers, compensators, and other attachments to adjust the recoil.
Underbarrel – This attachment goes just underneath the barrel. You can use things like Bayonets for a melee attack, or grips which give stat bonuses and changes to your gun.
Barrel – This is the weapon’s barrel, a pretty clear section. It can change the ADS, the range your weapon is effective at, and recoil.
Magazine – The magazine is the clip of ammo that you’re using with your weapon. This has an obvious change to your gun in how many shots you get before reloading. However, it can also affect your speed, damage, penetration, and other elements.
Ammo Type – The Vanguard Gunsmith system can be changed around so you can use a different type of ammo in some guns.
Optic – The optic is a more self-explanatory kind of attachment here! It is an optic, sight, a scope, but it can also affect the ADS and speed of your weapon by adding more weight.
Rear Grip – This goes onto your weapon’s handle. It changes up your recoil control and the ADS speed.
Stock – This is the very back of the weapon. You can improve your accuracy, control, or your movement speed if you pick the right one.
Proficiency – This one is new. It’s essentially a weapon perk. Since this one is something different for Vanguard we’ve covered it in more detail below.
Kit – This is the second of the new weapon perks.

Vanguard Weapons Perks and Proficiencies

The Vanguard Gunsmith system is largely going to be familiar for players of Warzone. However, the new proficiency system is something else entirely. These are two weapon perks that you can use to expand your options with your gun, which really make the Gunsmith system more complete. These are the options for the Proficiencies:

Fast Melee – Speeds up your melee.
Reach – Increases your melee distance.
Surplus – You get more XP for kills, great for grinding out levels to unlock more of the Vanguard Gunsmith system for a gun.
Deep Breath – Longer breath-holding and steadier movement long-range shots.
Fully Loaded – You start each life with full ammo.
Defender – Improved mount movement and use.
Heavy Hitter – Greater stuns when you hit a target with a melee.
Tight Grip – Increased accuracy.
Steady – Reduced movement penalty when firing.
Disable – Suppression from each shot is increased.
Panic – Improved accuracy after switching weapons.
Gungo- Ho – Firing while sprinting.
Sleight of Hand – Faster reloading.
Acrobatic – Reduced aim penalty when proning.
Perfectionist – Recoil reduction

Those are the options that go in the new area for the Call of Duty Vanguard Gunsmith system. However, not all of these are going to be applicable to each weapon, they depend on what makes sense for the gun. So you’re going to have to double-check with each weapon to see what selection works with that gun.

How Do You Unlock Vanguard Gunsmith Options?

That’s all of the options for Vanguard’s Gunsmith system. However, it isn’t all unlocked from the start. In the full Vanguard game, you’ll need to gradually unlock Gunsmith options for each weapon. Weapons have a level just like the user does. You have to increase your level with a gun in order to get access to all of the add-ons.

To unlock more Gunsmith options on Call of Duty Vanguard, then you need to jump in and rack up some time playing the game with that specific weapon. The more experience you get with it, the more options you have to customize your gun and change things around.

What Vanguard Gunsmith Picks to Use?

The Call of Duty vanguard Gunsmith section is pretty big and it can be difficult to decide what gunsmith attachments are going to pair best for your playstyle. If you’re having trouble deciding which options to go for, then these are some things to keep in mind:

Attachments have downsides as much as upsides. Each could have a potential negative effect on top of the positive effect that you’re attaching it, be wary of this and ensure everything is in-balance
Test it out first. It is best if you can take some time to try out the different combinations of Gunsmith attachments. Going for one that actually plays well is always better than one that’s good in concept.
Try new options when you unlock them. Since Gunsmith options get unlocked slowly, you’re going to need to try out new things once they’re available to you. Check-in as much as you can and mix things up.
In the muzzle category, you have a special concern outside of stats like recoil. The silencers you can use could make a big difference for your weapon and gameplay show up on the minimap. While it isn’t essential to remove yourself from the radar, it is an important factor that players need to be aware of.

How to Make the Best Gunsmith Loadouts

These are some tips for picking the right elements in the Vanguard Gunsmith loadouts. However, there are easy ways to make sure your weapon is optimized. Other players can do the hard work for you! Our guides to the best Gunsmith loadouts for Vanguard can really cut down on the guesswork involved in constructing the best possible loadouts. These are some of the top loadouts to look at in Call of Duty Vanguard:

The Best M1928 Loadouts in Vanguard – The tommy gun is one of the most fun in the game, this is what you can use with this weapon.
Best DP27 Loadouts in Vanguard – This is an early choice for the best LMG, and what Vanguard Gunsmith choices to use with it.
The Best STG44 Loadouts – The STG44 is already one of the standout Assault Rifles, this is a loadout you can use for it.

We’ll keep this updated over time with more of the best loadouts, so make sure you’re checking things and keeping your gun loadouts suited to the current meta of the game! Our other guides to the game can help you improve other areas of your gameplay: