Call of Duty Vanguard is no longer supported with additional content or significant updates, and players have largely moved on to more recent releases. Nevertheless, Vanguard’s multiplayer is still available and this AS44 loadout is usable.
The AS44 was one of the meta assault rifles of choice in Call of Duty: Vanguard thanks to its fast rate of fire that ripped through enemies with ease, providing you found a way to manage the recoil that you’d be met with.
When you consider the pedigree of assault rifles in the game, it was a pretty prestigious position to be in. The best STG-44 Vanguard class proved to be one of the best Vanguard guns for the game’s lifecycle, helped by the fact that assault rifles occupied that sweet spot between the mobility of an SMG and the obscene chaos of a light machine gun. The best AS-44 Vanguard class ess a cool look at what might have been too: an early assault rifle that was designed in 1944 and shipped in limited quantities in 1945 before development was stopped in 1945 with the death of the designer, Alexey Sudayev. Then the AK came along in 1947 and… well, it became one of the best guns in every Call of Duty to feature it.
Best Vanguard AS44 class
The best CoD Vanguard AS44 loadout was:
- Muzzle: F8 Stabilizer
- Barrel: Zac 650MM Precision
- Optic: Slate Reflector
- Stock: Zac 12B Custom
- Underbarrel: M1941 Hand Stop
- Ammo Typo: Lengthened
- Rear Grip: Polymer Grip
- Proficiency: Sleight of Hand
- Kit: Fully Loaded
As said above, the aim of this build was to temper the AS44’s recoil and let you get rounds on target. The gun fired so fast that kills wasn’t a problem – lining up your shots was.
With that in mind, and before we jump in, it’s worth highlighting that while the optic we used was the Slate Reflector, any sight with 1 to 2x magnification was a solid shout here. It was largely up to personal preference.
The F8 Stabilizer was a vital choice as it bumped up your range but also brought the recoil down to a manageable level by itself. The Zac 650MM Precision Barrel helped with horizontal recoil and had a cool secondary bonus of upping headshot damage, meaning as the recoil kicked the gun up over an enemy’s head, you could bag an even quicker kill.
Elsewhere, Sleight of Hand let you reload faster; essential as you would run out of rounds mid-firefight a whole lot. Fully Loaded was a kit choice that let you tote more ammo about, starting with a couple more magazines. Scavenger was also a potential perk pick, letting you pick up extra rounds from enemies you’d taken out.
Finally, the Zac 12B stock and M1941 Hand Stop both buffed your recoil control in different ways and combined to let you play the AS44 aggressively, pushing through busy areas of the map and enemy-held strongpoints without too much worry.
It was, however, important not to get overconfident near blind corners. The AS-44 fired fast, but you would still lose out to one-hit kill weapons like shotguns and sniper rifles. Against these enemies, it was best to play off of the fact that they could only fire in semi-automatic, whereas you had a literal hose filled with bullets, just waiting to make their acquaintance.
You could boost your offensive options by pairing the gun with stun grenades and a gammon bomb, and you’d be an intimidating opponent at mid and close range.
Several of these attachments were quite late in the unlock process, so if you were hoping to dominate early on, you did have to put in the legwork first.