Apex Legends: The Ultimate Vantage Guide

It’s not all the time that a character in Apex Legends improves the way weapons work, especially since some of them either unleash deadly attacks, deploy quirky gadgets, and even have niche skills. Thankfully, players who want a more weapon-oriented gameplay can enjoy tinkering with Vantage, especially since her toolkit incentivizes players who want the game to return to its FPS roots.

With Vantage, players get the capability of enhancing the nature of ADS aiming, giving more information about visible opponents more than what the game provides other teams. When used properly, Vantage can transform her squad into Apex Predators, capable of approaching combat situations in Apex Legends with better foresight and awareness - a quality that can transform any team into deadly juggernauts upon proper utilization.

Vantage: Proving Everyone Wrong

Youngster Xiomara “Mara” Contreras found herself curious about wildlife at an early age, and even a more expert marksman by the time she grew older to hold a sniper rifle. When she discovered the wreckage of G.D.S. During one of her trips, she realized a horrible truth: Mara and her mother hadn’t “lived” in the wild ice planet of Pagos, but rather crash-landed there, with the Vantage carrying them as prisoners. Unfortunately for them, when an accident with the ship had Mara severely injured, her mother had no other choice but to signal the ship’s SOS - leading to their reacquisition.

By the time of her healing, Mara discovered her mother had been imprisoned once more. While she pleaded for Mara to just leave her be and have a life of her own, Mara couldn’t just bear this in her conscience. Seeing the Apex Games as an opportunity for the world to hear her mother’s case, Mara is accompanied by her pet bat Echo to become Vantage, the sniper extraordinaire among the Apex Legends.

Why Play Vantage: Perfect For Scouts

An intense battle royale like Apex Legends can make it quite difficulty to master its aiming mechanics, and this is precisely where Vantage shines. Thanks to her toolkit, players have access to a wealth of information whenever she enters ADS with most Apex Legends weapons, which can become a helpful way for players to get more used to the battle royale’s intense combat. Players who are thinking about using Vantage should consider her for the following reasons:

Live the role of a scout: When players imagine the scout role, they usually think getting to the frontlines in order to gather information. This isn't always the case, as Vantage as a scout means gathering advanced data even from afar. She does this with Spotter’s Lens (Passive), allowing players to gather information about an enemy team’s armor capacity and how many members are still alive in their squad. Players who like having this information in advance might want to use Vantage.
Make quick location transfers: Thanks to Vantage’s relationship with her creature Echo, she can accomplish Echo Relocation (Tactical). Not only does this allow Vantage to control Echo to a certain point, she can also jump to its location at any given point. This is a great way to give Vantage a quick exit to a more advantageous spot or to retreat.
Become the ultimate sniper: With Vantage’s Sniper’s Mark (Ultimate), not only does she get a sniper rifle with some bullets, hitting enemies with its shots will give the squad a damage boost against that target. This incentivizes players who want to get good with the game’s sniping mechanics, especially with Apex Legends gameplay being extremely fast-paced.

The Basics Of Vantage: Proving Snipers Can Get Deadlier

Imagine adding a form of aim assist in gameplay, but there’s no way of getting banned because it’s a character’s playstyle in Apex Legends map. This is precisely what Vantage offers, as her toolkit not only allows her to scout areas for opponents, Vantage gets various bonuses when using her scopes. Fans curious about the extent of her skillset might want to get a quick glimpse of her toolkit below:

Spotter’s Lens (Passive): When using her ADS, Vantage can reveal special information about enemies present in her field of vision, such as Shield strength.
Echo Relocation (Tactical): Vantage can deploy her pet Echo to a particular location and immediately jump to its direction.
Sniper’s Mark (Ultimate): Vantage uses a special sniper rifle to attack opponents, marking them for additional subsequent damage from Vantage and her team.

Passive: Spotter’s Lens

Passive - Vantage activating her Passive skill

While most sniper rifles in the game already have Optics to rely on to give players a much easier time spotting enemies, Vantage and her Spotter’s Lens (Passive) make it exceptionally easier for her to not just aim at enemies but to know precisely if they’re worth pursuing with her chosen Apex Legends weapon combo. This Passive provides her with more enhanced visual capabilities, as well as information-gathering potential. Here are some things to consider:

Properties: Vantage can give herself up to 3x zoom when activating this effect while unarmed, and from the perspective of weapon with an equipped Optic that gives at least 2x zoom. An enemy within range of Spotter’s Lens will provide a bullet drop indicator as well as additional information such as the Legend’s name, their distance, as well as all of their Evo Shield levels.
Capitalize on bypassing capabilities: Compared to other stalking abilities, Spotter’s Lens is a neat way of identifying through otherwise-tricky visual distractions from other Legends. For instance, Spotter’s Lens can see through Smoke Launcher (Bangalore) and even identify Mirage’s Decoys.
Take note of zooming limitations: Spotter’s Lens does have limitations depending on the kind of Optic used. Maximum distance starts from 175 m for 2x zoom and adjusts to 200 m for 3x, 250 m for 4x, and up to 450 m for 8x. Not only that, using the 2x HCOG Bruiser only provides enemy information without bullet drop statistics. Lastly, only the first enemy closest to Vantage’s reticle is prioritized.

Tactical: Echo Relocation

Unlike other Legends, Vantage has a “live” companion with her in the form of Echo. While unkillable and doesn’t do any real scouting, his positioning is integral to Vantage’s kit, especially with Echo Relocation (Tactical). Thanks to this Apex Legends skill, Vantage is able to launch herself towards Echo’s position - something she can constantly control throughout the match to maximize her mobility. Here are things to consider:

Properties: Tapping and holding the Tactical button lets Vantage deploy and reposition Echo, meaning Vantage has free hands to do other actions such as healing, shooting, and moving except for reviving. Repositioning isn’t difficult, as Echo follows Vantage’s reticle. When launching, the animation takes one second but fails when Echo isn’t at Vantage’s line of sight.
Check movement specifics to capitalize on mobility: Echo Relocation doesn’t just propel Vantage towards Echo, it can also be tinkered with to achieve certain effects. For instance, Vantage stops her boosters when crouching during the launch, and in turn giving players more control over her trajectory. Likewise, reaching Echo allows Vantage to double jump towards any direction, helpful for sudden turns.
Consider inherent weaknesses: Despite the usefulness of Echo Relocation as a mobility skill, it does have glaring weaknesses. For instance, Echo is visible to enemies since he gets an orange highlight, similar to Crypto’s Surveillance Drone. If not in fights, Echo should be hidden or even kept hidden. Ideally, Echo should be manually deployed instead of constantly out there, as it still takes time for Echo to get to Vantage’s point if he needs to reposition.

Ultimate: Sniper’s Mark

A sniper like Vantage has her preferred sniper rifle, and this takes the form of Sniper’s Mark (Ultimate). This Ultimate allows her to take out her personal rifle and enter the fight for a much deadlier precision-aiming experience, particularly the ability to increase damage done to enemies hit by this weapon and following up with something like an Apex Legends pistol. Being an Ultimate ability, Sniper’s Mark has perks that players might want to take note of:

Properties: This ability has a 3.33-minute cooldown, coming in with at most five (5) rounds. Each round is gained for every 20-percent charge of the Ultimate. It also comes with a 3x-8x Optic option, which players can toggle via the “Run” button. When hitting enemies, it deals 50 base damage with 1.5x headshot multiplier and gives them a Mark. When Marked, opponents get a 15-percent vulnerability debuff from all sources, and is stackable with abilities such as Amped Cover (Rampart) except for itself. It’s possible for Vantage to mark up to five (5) opponents at a time.
Only useful in the early game: Similar to other sniper rifles in the game, Sniper’s Mark quickly loses relevance as a match reaches its concluding rounds. For instance, the last few stages of the Ring will have sniper rifles lose their ranged advantage. Meaning, maximizing Sniper’s Mark is only ever useful in the early game when Vantage can still capitalize on surprising foes from afar.
Check specific special interactions: While Sniper’s Mark can become an extremely deadly weapon, it does have glaring weaknesses and certain intricacies. For instance, marking the right Mirage will have the Mark stay with the original even if he deploys his clones. Likewise, aiming Sniper’s Mark releases a laser sight that is visible for everyone in the vicinity, giving away Vantage’s position. At the hands of an inexperienced sniper, Sniper’s Mark won’t do much to improve Vantage’s toolkit.

Vantage Gameplay: Master The Art Of Sniping

Players at first glance might dismiss Vantage’s gameplay as simply aim-assist, but there’s much more behind her sights than meets the eye. When used properly, Vantage and her skills can provide a lot of conveniences for an Apex Legends team who loves experimenting with the game’s firearms, leaving them with more room to tinker with how to maximize their weapons instead of panicking about what to get in the thick of combat. Players who want to capitalize on the advanced data Vantage can provide with her toolkit should consider the following tips:

Get good with sniping: Given how Vantage’s Spotter’s Lens (Passive) allows her to get information on an enemy team’s armor types, number of living members, and even bullet drop at 3X zoom, players may as well get proficient with sniper rifles. This especially allows them to land more accurate shots, especially with bullet drop giving players advanced insights as to how properly-aimed they become at any given moment.
Reposition, Recall, Redeploy Echo: One of the worst ways of using Echo is to leave it behind after the repositioning, as Echo leaves an orange mark that reveals the presence of the player’s Vantage nearby. Instead, players should immediately recall Echo upon arriving in its destination, only to redeploy it whenever needed. This removes the risk of being exposed, as well as capitalizing on the fact that Echo’s redeployment is much faster than just waiting for it to fly to its next target location.
Master headshot sniping: Remember, Vantage’s Sniper’s Mark (Ultimate) not only gives her a sniper rifle, it also boosts damage to enemies whenever she hits her with her specialized bullets. However, theoretically speaking, Vantage can kill enemies wearing Blue Shields and below with simply two (2) hits, provided the second hit from her Ultimate is a headshot.

Recon Class: Sniper Target Acquisition

As the resident sniper in Apex Legends gameplay, Vantage specializes in identifying targets from afar and eliminating them before they even spot her. Now that she got reclassified as a Recon Class in Season 16, Vantage has more opportunities to jump the gun on them as she gets access to another innate tracking ability. Here’s the perk Vantage can tap as a member of the Recon Class:

Identify enemies via Modified Survey Beacons: The classic Survey Beacon gets a rework in Season 16, now becoming the Modified Survey Beacon. This special gadget that only Recon Class Legends can access will now view all enemy positions on both the Map and Mini-Map for a whopping 30-seconds. With this ability, Vantage is now capable of identifying whether certain areas they plan on investigating are worth traveling to, and whether enemies are closing in on them. Vantage does become more aggressive-leaning here, as enemies nearby who got scanned also receive a notification that a Recon Class (in this case, Vantage) accessed a nearby Beacon.

Loadout Recommendations

Vantage being the resident long-ranged specialist in the game means players aren’t immediately able to dish out decent kills with short-ranged weapons such as Apex Legends pistols. In that regard, Vantage players might want to consider using the most ideal long-ranged weapons that can help them adapt to the game’s fast-paced combat situations. Here are certain weapons Vantage might wish to use in encounters:

R-301 Carbine (Assault Rifle, Light Ammo): With Vantage already having a sniper in her kit, it helps to equip her with another weapon that can assist her in all other ranges. Thanks to the R-301 Carbine, she gets the most beginner-friendly assault rifle in the game, alongside the distinction of being able to use it reliably in almost any range.
EVA-8 Auto (Shotgun): It’s not all the time that Vantage gets away with shooting from afar, and more often than not some enemies will inevitably jump the gun on her location to try and kill her. In this case, a close-ranged weapon like the EVA-8 Auto with its auto-fire function that allows Vantage to protect herself even during panicky situations.
Triple Take (Marksman Rifle, Energy Ammo): While Vantage does have a convenient sniper option in the form of her Ultimate, this doesn’t mean she has to forgo the option of using a sniper at all. In fact, Vantage should capitalize on her targeting potential from afar and learn how to play it slow-but-sure with more convenient Marksman Rifles such as the Triple Take that can pulverize enemies quickly with its 3-in-1 ammo consumption per shot.

Apex Legends is playable on the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.