Valorant weapon tier list for May 2024

Valorant provides a wide variety of weapons for its players to choose from. These are divided into four types: Sidearm, SMG (Sub Machine Guns), Rifles, and Sniper Rifles. The armory also provides two more, which are the Armory and Abilities.

While Valorant's selection of weapons is quite similar to its competitors, it's the combination with the Agent's abilities that make them feel very unique. Many of these weapons have seen a lot of changes since the game's release.

This article will rank all the current Valorant weapons in a detailed tier list for May 2024.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions

Ranking all Valorant weapons in a tier list

Valorant all weapons tier list (Image via Tiermaker)

Currently, there are a total of 19 weapons for players to choose from in Valorant. These have been divided into five different tiers.

S-tier
A-tier
B-tier
C-tier
D-tier

S is the highest tier, and D is the lowest.

S tier

This tier contains the best weapons that feel easier to use for most situations in Valorant.

This includes the following weapons:

Classic
Vandal
Marshal

The weapon, Vandal (Image via Riot Games)

Classic is the weapon every player is handed at the start of the round. With its 0 credits price, the weapon is handy for taking down enemies effectively at both close and long ranges. Its alternate fire mode is the most broken aspect as it acts like a shotgun and can sometimes take out enemies with a single burst of bullets.

Vandal is the go-to weapon for most players in Valorant. Coming at a price of 2900 credits, it is far superior to its counterpart, Phantom. This is due to its ability to instantly kill enemies with a headshot at any range. A bonus for Vandal is it has some of the best skin collections for players to choose from.

Marshal is one of the three Sniper Rifles in the game and costs 950 credits. The gun does 101 damage to the body and instantly kills with a headshot. The movement speed is very fast while playing with this weapon, giving players the opportunity to peek quicker and retreat safely.

The Marshal is easily the best Sniper Rifle, as getting kills with it doesn't feel as difficult, and there's a lot of margin for error.

A tier

This tier contains the weapons that aren't the best but feel great to use and can be very impactful if used correctly.

The weapons in this tier are:

Phantom
Spectre
Ghost
Sherif
Operator
Judge

The weapon, Operator (Image via Riot Games)

Phantom, Spectre, and Ghost are the only three weapons in Valorant with a silencer that shoots non-traceable bullets. With these guns, players can easily spam bullets through the smoke without the fear of being killed. These weapons are also much more accurate than the rest during the "run and gun" moments.

While the Ghost and Spectre are great weapons for pistol rounds and the ones with half purchases, the Phantom can sometimes fail to fulfill its purpose for the important rounds. The worst aspect is how its damage reduces with an increase in range. This leads to many players ignoring it and choosing the Vandal instead.

The Sheriff is essentially a hand cannon that costs 800 credits. The weapon does 55 damage to the body and can instantly kill enemies with a headshot, depending on the range. While these things may all look good on paper, what drags the Sheriff down is its magazine capacity, as it only carries a total of six bullets in one chamber.

Operator is a Sniper Rifle that is the most expensive weapon in the game, with a price tag of 4700 credits. It is the only weapon in the game that can kill enemies with a single body shot despite having heavy shields. It has the ability to turn matches around but is held back due to how slow it makes the player's movement.

The Judge is one of the most controversial shotguns in the game. This gun has seen many significant changes but still remains a difficult one to deal with. Players can absolutely destroy enemies with it due to its fast fire rate and ridiculous damage. It is a deadly weapon to go against in close-ranged maps like Split or Bind and can truly turn things around for your team in a match.

B tier

This tier contains the weapons that are difficult to use and find value with.

The weapons in this tier are:

Odin
Stinger
Outlaw
Shorty
Guardian
Bulldog

The weapon, Outlaw (Image via Riot Games)

Odin and Stinger are two weapons with some of the fastest fire rates in Valorant. The former is great at spamming through walls, while the latter is very effective in close range during rounds with low purchases. However, both suffer majorly due to their low damage rates and the inability to kill enemies quickly with a headshot.

The Shorty and Outlaw are the only two weapons with two bullets in one magazine. The latter can shred enemies with its 140 damage to the body, while the former can lead to instant kills at close range.

However, their magazine size is what holds them back from being stronger, as after missing the two bullets, the player is vulnerable and can be overwhelmed very easily. The Outlaw also suffers due to its price of 2400 credits, as purchasing it can heavily affect the economy if the player cannot find value with it.

Guardian and Bulldogs are two Rifles that are heavily overlooked by many. The Guardian is best for people with incredible accuracy, whereas the Bulldog is a great substitute for a Vandal or Bulldog. Unfortunately, both weapons have comparatively slow fire rates that make them more difficult to use and, overall, less impactful.

C tier

This tier includes weapons that aren't great for usage and extremely difficult to find value with.

The weapons in this tier are:

Frenzy
Ares
Bucky

The weapon, Frenzy (Image via Riot Games)

Frenzy is the only automatic Sidearm in Valorant. On paper, the weapon looks very overpowered for pistol rounds, but that isn't the case. The Frenzy runs out of bullets very quickly, making it a lot less effective compared to most Sidearms of Valorant. However, it does offer a little bit of "run and gun" accuracy advantage to the players.

Ares is a machine gun similar to the Odin that is best when used to spam bullets through walls due to its high penetration factor. However, in the same fashion, it is also very ineffective while taking duels head-on. It is comparatively more difficult to control and puts players in vulnerable situations.

Bucky was once the go-to shotgun for many players in Valorant. The weapon that was once able to deal an enormous amount of damage at any range is now only effective in close-range battles. Its slow fire rate and a very tricky secondary fire make it very difficult to get value most of the time.

D tier

This tier contains weapons that are very situational and should rarely be used. This includes:

Melee

The weapon, Melee (Image via Riot Games)

Melee is certainly the worst weapon in the game. However, this is obviously a very deliberate choice. The Melee can deal 50 or 75 damage depending on the firing type and is an instant kill if used to stab enemies in the back. As the Melee felt a bit clunky to use, especially on the front side, the developers made some changes that made it slightly better.

For more lists and guides relating to the game, check out Sportskeeda's Valorant page.

Check out these other Valorant listicles:

Breeze Agent tier list || Ascent Agent tier list || Split Agent tier list || Sunset Duelists tier list || Controller Ultimates ranked || Initiator Ultimates ranked || Duelists Ultimates ranked || Sentinel Ultimates ranked