Vantage in Apex Legends: How to Play

The Abilities of Apex Legends’ Vantage

Spotter’s Lens

Aim down sights to scout with your eyepiece (unarmed or with mid- to long-range scopes) and use a bullet drop indicator to see where your shots will land.

• Vantage can scope while unarmed, providing a 3x zoom and activating the effect.
• When an enemy is within the large blue rectangle, a smaller rectangle appears to indicate the targeted enemy. The bullet drop indicator then activates and the interface displays the Legend’s name, their distance from the player and the tier of all their teammates’ Evo Shields.
  • Pinging the targeted enemy will report that particular enemy’s armor type and how many players are alive in their squad.
• The maximum range enemies can be picked up from depends on the current zoom level of the optic: 175 meters for 2x, 200 meters for 3x, 250 meters for 4x and up to 450 meters for 8x.
• Can spot enemies through some degree of visual obstruction, like windows or leaves.

Vantage’s Passive is Spotter’s Lens. This ability’s main feature is information gathering on enemy squads while aiming down sights. Using this, Vantage should always know how armored an enemy team is, as well as how many players they have alive. The value of this cannot be understated, as it allows Vantage and her team to take favorable fights often.

As for the bullet drop indicator, you’ll hardly notice this during gameplay. Firstly, this effect only activates on 3x scopes or greater. Secondly, when using a spray weapon, you don’t have time to use the indicator to aim. The only application for this is on Marksman or Sniper weapons, which we’ll get into in a bit. Even with the indicator available, focusing on it is often distracting, and you’ll be better off just getting used to bullet drop as a mechanic in the first place.

Echo Relocation

Position your winged companion Echo and then Launch toward him. Must have line of sight for Echo to launch.

• Tapping the tactical button is used to deploy and reposition Echo. Hold the tactical button to launch to him and use the Utility button to recall him.
• Deploying, repositioning and recalling Echo can be done simultaneously while performing other actions (e.g. shooting, reloading, healing), with the exception of reviving.
• When deployed or repositioned, Echo will move in the direction of Vantage’s reticle and stop 40 meters away from the use location.
• The launch animation takes 1 second. It can be initiated from any position, but will fail if Vantage doesn’t have line of sight to Echo at the end of the animation.
  • Line-of-sight means Echo needs to be in view. As such, looking away also breaks line of sight and causes the launch to fail.
• Upon reaching Echo, you can double jump to boost yourself in any direction.

Echo Relocation is Vantage’s Tactical ability. Using it allows Vantage to position her bat companion anywhere within 40 meters. She can then jump straight to it after a short delay. This ability is incredibly versatile and its usage separates a good Vantage from a bad one. In addition to the vast repositioning capabilities, Echo Relocation is amazing at allowing for aggressive plays.

With Echo by your side, you can make aggressive positioning work out consistently.

There is a lot of nuance to properly using this ability. For now, note that you always want to recall Echo after jumping. While Echo can’t be shot and killed by enemies, it will leave a glowing orange mark wherever it is, alerting any enemies to the presence of a Vantage nearby. It’s also much faster to redeploy Echo before jumping instead of waiting for it to reposition from its previous spot.

Sniper’s Mark

Use your custom sniper rifle to mark enemy targets and apply a damage bonus for you and your team.

• Gains 1 round for every 20% ultimate charge. Sniper’s Mark can be used whenever there is at least 1 round available.
  • Takes 40 seconds to gain 1 round and a total of 3 minutes and 20 seconds to acquire the maximum 5 rounds.
• Comes with custom 3x-8x optic (toggle with the “run” button). This will also work with Vantage’s passive.
• While aiming down sights on Sniper’s Mark, a laser will come out from the rifle that is visible to both your enemies (in orange) and teammates (in blue).
• On hit, deals 50 base damage, with a 1.5× headshot multiplier, and marks the enemy for 10 seconds.
  • Mark applies a +15% damage vulnerability from all sources.
  • Subsequent hits from Sniper’s Mark on a marked enemy will instead deal 2x damage and reset the mark to 10 seconds.

Lastly, Vantage’s Ultimate is Sniper’s Mark. Using it equips Vantage with her signature sniper rifle, which holds a maximum of five bullets at a time. The most important aspects to note here are the damage amp and the doubled damage on consecutive hits.

When Vantage hits a target with Sniper’s Mark, they will take 50 damage (75 on headshot before helmets) and get marked with a 15 percent damage vulnerability for 10 seconds. If Vantage hits a marked enemy again, the damage dealt will be doubled and the mark will be reset. This means that you can realistically two-shot enemies (blue shields and below) by getting a headshot with the second bullet.

Hitting a damage amped headshot will do 125+ damage to anything below a Purple Helmet.

How to Play Vantage in Apex Legends

Vantage is a character with a simplistic yet high skill ceiling kit. If you had to slot her into a role, she works as a Scouting/Leading Legend, as well as a secondary Fragging Legend. What’s most important about playing Vantage is using her loaded kit to its fullest potential.

The way you look to start fights with Vantage depends on if you have multiple bullets in Sniper’s Mark. If it’s a drop fight and you have zero shots, play like usual. Find a gun and start brawling with enemies. Be ready to use Echo Relocation if you don’t land in a good spot or find quick loot. Vantage plays like a normal offensive character at this point, much like a Pathfinder or Horizon would.

When you have three or more Sniper’s Mark shots locked and loaded, Vantage’s entry method changes. You’ll want to scope around and look for enemies who are presenting openings. Since you can quickly deal 150 entry damage with two shots to any unsuspecting player, this is a very reliable way to give your team a leg up.

Opening a fight with multiple Sniper’s Mark hits is an easy way to win it quickly.

If your team has enough damage, or even a knock, Vantage can go all in and full send with Echo Relocation. When jumping forward, make sure to plan a landing spot that provides some cover to play around: don’t just land in the open. The double jump at the end is similar to that of an Octane Pad and can be used to zone in on your preferred landing spot. While you can’t tap strafe while in the Jet animation, you can on the double jump, adding a bit of extra mobility.

If the fight is progressing a bit more slowly, Vantage can opt to look for angles from the ground. She can move up and take space while trading damage on her opponents, much like a Wraith or Loba can. If Vantage finds herself taking too much damage or being closed in on, Echo Relocation works as an emergency escape as well. Just be aware that enemies can still track you while you’re flying, so don’t go too low on HP.

Just to be clear, despite Vantage being a sniper character, she does not embody the playstyle of typical snipers in video games. If you want to sit behind cover or on high ground and pick opponents off from afar, Vantage is NOT the character for you. Someone like Rampart would fulfill that fantasy much better. In order to be most effective on Vantage, you’ll need to be confident in your aim to open fights up, as well as your movement and positioning to close fights out.

Advanced Tips for Vantage in Apex Legends

Here’s a list of important notes that you’ll need to understand in order to become a top-tier Vantage:

• The fastest way to get an Echo Relocation jump off involves holding your Tactical ability key without releasing it while Echo is currently recalled. This causes Echo to be sent out while your one second channel animation begins.
• As a result, the best way to Vantage jump is almost always to hold the ability while Echo is in a recalled state. Get used to pressing your recall button immediately after you jump, just so you don’t forget.
• When using Echo Relocation aggressively, slide forward while you start the channel. When using it defensively, either hide behind cover if available, or move erratically to dodge bullets if there’s no cover.
• There are three exceptions to the “always hold E” rule.
  • The first is when you’re trying to position Echo for a precise jump where you will likely not be under any pressure.
  • The second is when you know you’ll need the max distance jump rather than a quicker jump. This can be the case when trying to cross a large gap.
  • The last is when you know you will be jumping backwards soon. Echo gets sent out at a distance of 40 meters, but you can travel to make this distance 55 meters before it starts following you. This increases the max range jump for escaping, but can backfire if you move past this 55-meter range.
• Don’t forget to use Spotter’s Lens in the late game. Knowing which teams are on triple Red Armor and which teams are under equipped or incomplete is invaluable when deciding who to push.
• While aiming for consecutive hits with Sniper’s Mark is most efficient, sometimes simply tagging an enemy that your teammate is fighting can be the difference maker. It’s up to you to judge if 50 damage plus a mark is more valuable than trying to shoot your other weapons in various fight scenarios.

Best Loadouts in Apex for Vantage

As mentioned earlier, Vantage in Apex Legends does not fit the typical mold of a sniper character in video games. Her optimal loadouts include options for mid and close range so that she can take advantage of plays made available due to Sniper’s Mark and Echo Relocation. It is NOT recommended to equip Sniper Rifles, as they’ll overlap in usage time with Sniper’s Mark and provide nothing that her ultimate doesn’t already give.

Her most common primary gun should be an Assault Rifle such as the R-301, Flatline, or Hemlock. For secondary, SMGs or Shotguns reign supreme. The C.A.R. or Prowler, as well as the Peacekeeper or EVA-8 are all good options. If you really want to run something with a bit more range, the Marksman options of the G7 Scout or 30-30 Repeater can be chosen. Just note that SMGs pair much better with these than Shotguns.

Best Legends to Pair With Vantage

Vantage’s best teammates are ones that can capitalize on openings that she creates. Legends like Horizon and Valkyrie are great at taking vertical ground, while Octane and Pathfinder are kings of crossing horizontal distance.

The scan Legends Bloodhound and Seer also synergize well with Vantage. Bloodhound is great at popping their ultimate and running in to clean up damage, while Seer can cancel heals and rezzes that Vantage can cause with her damage.

If you want to pair Vantage with a defensive Legend, Newcastle can be her best friend. The ability to pop down cover anywhere, and even follow Vantage into the fray with his ultimate can be a devastating one-two punch.

Apex’s Vantage brings a unique kit that has a simple outward appearance. However, using her straightforward abilities in ways that allow you to maximize their value is key to playing Vantage. Practice using Echo Relocation to traverse the map and gain the upper hand in fights. Opening up fights with Sniper’s Mark feels great as well. Experience and quick thinking will not only get you out of sticky situations, but will provide hours of high-flying fun that few Legends can bring.