There are many weapons in VALORANT, the tactical first-person shooter made by Riot Games. In order to become a master of the game, it's pivotal that you learn to master the weapons in it. That's why we've made a series of weapon guides for VALORANT weapons discussing the weapon cost, the weapon damage, and controlling the weapon's recoil. In this guide, we'll be talking about the Spectre submachine gun.

Cost

The Spectre is significantly more expensive than the other SMG, the Stinger, costing a total of 1600 credits. Given that the minimum amount of credits you earn at the start of a round in VALORANT (in this case, when you've lost the round prior) is 1900 credits, the Spectre can be a costly investment. It's better to buy it when you and your team are starting to accumulate a reasonable amount of money and, more importantly, have a bigger budget than the enemies. That way you don't have to invest in the real big guns, which are expensive, but you'll still have a weapon advantage in the round.

Damage

Somewhat surprisingly, body shots and leg shots with the Spectre deal slightly less damage than the same shots do with the cheaper Stinger SMG. However, it's greatly compensated by the headshot damage the Spectre does. Just two headshots with the Spectre will take down an opponent up to twenty meters away from you. Beyond that, it will take an additional third shot to the head to take them down, but do will a third shot landing in any other area of the opponent's body.

The table below shows the exact numbers for the damage the Spectre does in VALORANT:

The Spectre suffers from a reasonable amount of damage falloff, especially when it comes to headshots. However, with a fire rate of 13.33 bullets per second when firing regularly, the damage it pours out is still significant. You can keep firing for a while too, as the Spectre's magazine can hold a total of thirty bullets.

Recoil

Another advantage the Spectre has over the Stinger in the SMG category is its accuracy. The first few bullets the Spectre shoots are impressively accurate, and even the recoil is manageable. It drags up slowly, but not incredibly far, making it easy to mitigate. When it reaches the top of its vertical recoil, the Spectre starts to swing from left and right. Contrary to the vertical recoil, this swing is difficult to predict and counter.

To mitigate the recoil of the Spectre, you simply need to drag down your mouse to increase the chance of your bullets hitting the target. Combating the left-right swing is super difficult, but it can be done. Generally, the Spectre will hold the outermost point of the swing longer than it will be "in transition" to the other side. So, if you're committed to holding down the fire button, adjust your aim once the Spectre hits that outermost point, and counter the swing when it transitions to the other side.

Recoil when aiming down sight

When you toggle the zoom function on the Spectre and aim down sight (commonly referred to as ADS), it slightly reduces the recoil and spread of the weapon. However, the fire rate drops too. Instead of firing bullets at a 13.33/s rate, the Spectre drops to a 12 bullets per second rate when you're zoomed in.

As can be seen, the recoil reduction when aiming down sight with the Spectre is ever so slight. Both the horizontal recoil and the swings from left to right are impacted minimally. However, in ADS mode the Spectre does become more precise. Leaving aside the 1.15 zoom the sight provides, the first few bullets also land more accurately. The zoomed-in mode is by far the best option of the weapon when you're stuck in a long-range duel with an opponent.

To summarize:

Whereas the Stinger is for the run-and-gun, spray-and-pray type of SMG combat in VALORANT, the Spectre is better off in the hands of those who want close-range combat, but also can adapt to opponents further away. Though it's meant for close to medium-range combat, and does excel there, it is far more rewarding in the hands of someone with good aim than other weapons designed for the same range. It costs quite a bit more than the Stinger, but combined with a silencer (it's not completely silent, but muffled), and more mid to long-range potential, the Spectre is an excellent weapon to use as punishment when the enemy is forced to save money.

VALORANT weapon guides:

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Images via Riot Games