Call of Duty: Vanguard is now available, bringing 16 standard multiplayer maps and four maps exclusive to the Champions Hill mode. As always with a new Call of Duty game, you want to make sure you’re using the best settings. This guide covers the Controllers and Graphics settings in the Call of Duty: Vanguard menus.
Here are the recommended settings for console players on PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S:
Basic Controls
- Horizontal Stick Sensitivity: 5
- Vertical Stick Sensitivity: 5
- Ground Vehicles Sensitivity Multiplier: 1.00
- Air Vehicles Sensitivity Multiplier: 1.00
- ADS Sensitivity Multiplier: 0.90
- Custom Sensitivity Per Zoom: Off
- Button Layout Preset: Default or Tactical
- Vertical Aim (On Foot): Standard
- Vertical Aim (Ground Vehicles): Standard
- Vertical Aim (Air Vehicles): Standard
- Aim Response Curve Type: Standard or Dynamic
- Controller Vibration: Off
- Trigger Effect: Off (This is for PS5 users adaptive triggers feature)
- Weapon Fire Threshold: Off (This is for PS5 users adaptive triggers feature)
Getting the best sensitivity is really up to you and your preferences. We recommend starting around a 5 or 6, and then adjusting it up or down until you find the perfect sensitivity. By default, the game starts you at a sensitivity of 4, which can feel a bit slow.
Whether you choose default or tactical button layout might depend on the type of controller you use. Your movement In Call of Duty can get hectic with plenty of sliding, crouching, and going prone. Tactical layout is recommended for those using a standard controller, as it maps your crouch/slide button to the thumbstick, so you can be quick without ever needing to move your thumb. If you have something like a Scuf or another controller type that lets you remap your buttons, you can just leave this on default setting.
Advanced Controls
- ADS Sensitivity Transitioning Timing: Instant
- ADS Sens. Multiplier (Steady Aim): 1.00
- Stick Layout Preset: Default
- ADS Stick Swap: Off
- Controller Orientation: Up
- ADS Stick Swap: Off
- L2 Button Deadzone: 10
- R2 Button Deadzone: 10
- Left Stick Min Input Deadzone: 4
- Right Stick Min Input Deadzone: 4
- Left Stick Max Input Deadzone: 99
- Right Stick Max Input Deadzone: 99
The Deadzone setting is something not all players will be familiar with. Deadzone is entirely dependent on your controller, and an older controller may have more stick drift than a newer one. If you’re unsure how to test your controller’s stick drift to determine the proper deadzone setting, YouTuber JGOD has a great guide for showing you how to test your controller in-game. The video demonstrates this on Modern Warfare, but ultimately how to test stick drift is the same. The default seems really high at 10, and unless you have a really old controller, it will likely be much less. My controller is still fairly new, and mine is set to 4.
Gameplay Settings
Weapons And Equipment
- Target Aim Assist: On -Default
- Target Aim Assist Mode: On (this setting only applies to Campaign and Zombies)
- Weapon Mount Activation: ADS + Melee
- Weapon Mount Movement Exit: On
- Airborne Mantle: Manual
- Depleted Ammo Weapon Switch: On
- Blind Fire: Off
Movement
- Automatic Ground Mantle: Off
- Mantle Stance Queuing: On
- Automatic Sprint: Automatic Tactical Sprint
- Auto Move Forward: Off
- Sprint Cancels Reload: On
- Sprinting Door Bash: On
The Tactical Sprint feature returns in Call of Duty: Vanguard, which allows you to run even faster for a brief moment by holding your weapon up in the air. This feature is great, but repeatedly pressing it with the default setting will wear out your controller’s sticks much faster. The Automatic Tactical Sprint is the best option for your movement and to provide less wear and tear on your controller. This activates the Tactical Sprint simply by moving forward while standing.
Action Behavior
- Slide Behavior: Tap
- Aim Down Sights Behavior: Hold
- Equipment Behavior: Hold
- Steady Aim Behavior: Hold
- Automatic Weapon Fire Behavior: Hold
- Interact/Reload Behavior: Tap To Reload
- Scoreboard Behavior: Toggle
Graphics
- Safe Area: Adjust to your specific monitor/TV
- Brightness: Depends on the monitor. Try starting at 50 and adjusting up or down for the best setting.
- Color Customization: Default
- Field of View: 100.00
- Camera Movement: Least 50%
- World Motion Blur: Off
- Weapon Motion Blue: Off
- Depth of Field: Off
- FIDELITYFZ CAS: Off
- On Demand Texture Streaming: Off
The higher you set the field of view, the more you can see, but it also zooms everything out. For the Field of View, the settings let you go all the way to 120, but this tends to leave you feeling zoomed out too far. It’s all personal preference here, but I recommend testing somewhere between 90-100.
For the On-Demand Texture Streaming, it’s unclear how much data this uses. If you have unlimited data then it can’t hurt to turn it on, but set this to off if you have a data cap. Or maybe set the setting’s download limit to something small.
(As of launch day, most of the graphics settings are resetting every time you load the game up. So make sure to check your settings each time you hop on. This also happened with the Black Ops Cold War release, but hopefully it will be fixed soon.)
Adjusting these console settings should help you get the best aim, movement, and visuals across multiplayer, campaign, and Zombies mode.
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