Best controller settings for CoD: Vanguard Season 5

Liam Mackay
best call of duty vanguard controller settings

Call of Duty: Vanguard offers controller players a ton of customization to perfect their aim and movement, so here are all of the best controller settings you can use on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC in Season 5.

Vanguard Season 5 is the latest major multiplayer update for the WW2 title and its upcoming Reloaded update will be the final content update ahead of Modern Warfare 2’s October 28 launch.

While Season 5 brought along a new map, the EX1, and RA 225 SMG, perfecting your aim remains as important as ever.

Vanguard is on the same engine as Modern Warfare and Warzone, so many of the controls will carry over, and aiming and movement feel almost the same.

Here are the best settings to maximize your aim and movement while playing in Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 5.

Vanguard Operator in Season 5

Best Vanguard controller settings

Basic Controls

  • Horizontal Stick Sensitivity: 6
  • Vertical Stick Sensitivity: 6
  • ADS Sensitivity Multiplier: 0.9
  • Custom Sensitivity Per Zoom: Off
  • Button Layout Preset: Tactical
  • Flip L1/R1 with L2/R2: If you play with claw grip or want faster button press time, you should turn this On
  • Vertical Aim (On Foot): Standard
  • Aim Response Curve Type: Dynamic
  • Controller Vibration: Off
  • Weapon Fire Threshold: Off

Getting the best sensitivity is really up to you and your preferences. We recommend starting around 6 and messing around with it until you find the perfect sensitivity.

And we highly recommend the Tactical Button Layout Preset as it binds your crouch/slide button to the right thumbstick. This allows you to slide-cancel, crouch, and go prone without taking your thumb off the stick.

Vanguard operator using Valois revolver in Season 5

Advanced Controls

  • ADS Sensitivity Transition Timing: Instant
  • ADS Sens. Multiplier (Steady Aim): 1.00
  • Stick Layout Preset: Default
  • Controller Orientation: Up
  • ADS Stick Swap: Off
  • L2 Button Deadzone: 0
  • R2 Button Deadzone: 0
  • Left Stick Min Input Deadzone: 0 (then increase as required)
  • Right Stick Min Input Deadzone: 0 (then increase as required)
  • Left Stick Max Input Deadzone: 100
  • Right Stick Max Input Deadzone: 100

Deadzones are entirely dependent on your controller. Depending on how old it is, you may have some stick drift. You should set your Deadzone to 0, then incrementally increase it until the stick drift is gone.

menendez using EX1 in Vanguard Zombies

Weapons & Equipment

  • Target Aim Assist: On
    • Target Aim Assist Mode: Default
  • ADS Aim Assist: On
  • Weapon Mount Activation: ADS + Melee
  • Weapon Mount Movement Exit: On
    • Weapon Mount Exit Delay: Short
  • Depleted Ammo Weapon Switch: On
  • Blind Fire: On

For Target Aim Assist, setting it to ‘On’ will have the same feeling as Warzone and Modern Warfare, which is a huge benefit if you’re used to those games.

Movement

  • Automatic Airborne Mantle: Off
    • Grounded Mantle: Off
    • Automatic Ground Mantle: Off
  • Mantle Stance Queueing: On
  • Automatic Sprint: Automatic Tactical Sprint
  • Auto Move Forward
  • Sprint Cancels Reload: Off
  • Sprinting Door Bash: On
  • Parachute Auto-Deploy: On

Tactical Sprint remains vital in Vanguard, and unfortunately, repeatedly pressing it will quickly wear out your controller. To counter this, we recommend using Automatic Tactical Sprint to preserve both your controller and thumb.

And there’s nothing worse than accidentally mantling an object or wall, so we’ve set Airborne Mantle to Manual, so you’ll only do so when intending to.

Vanguard and Warzone Season 5 weapons

Action Behavior

  • Slide Behavior: Tap
  • Aim Down Sight Behavior: Hold
  • Equipment Behavior: Hold
  • Steady Aim Behavior: Hold
  • Automatic Weapon Fire Behavior: Hold
  • Interact/Reload Behavior: Prioritize Reload
  • Scoreboard Behavior: Toggle

Vehicles & Killstreaks

  • Automatic Camera Recenter: Short Delay
  • Aim-Based Steering: Off
  • Tank Aiming Behavior: Unlinked

Best Vanguard Aim Response Curve

Ranked Play in vanguard season 3

Like Warzone, Vanguard has separate Aim Response Curves so you can fine-tune your aim. Here’s a breakdown of the three types of Aim Response so you can make an informed decision:

  • Standard: Simple power curve map from aim stick to aim rate. When you initially aim, there will be a slight delay in speed when the stick is pressed all the way in a specific direction.
  • Linear: Removes initial speed delay when the stick is pressed all the way in a direction. More for aggressive, fast movements at the cost of precision.
  • Dynamic: Hybrid system between linear and standard for fine aim rate control. Your aim will speed up slightly when initially moving the stick.

Standard will suit the majority of players as it has the classic Call of Duty feel, suiting both long-time and new players well.

However, Dynamic allows for finer control over your aim, making those micro-adjustments for long-range fighting much easier. If you’re a confident player, we highly recommend learning Dynamic.

Best Vanguard Aim Assist Type

Raul Menendez in Vanguard Zombies

Aim Assist is vital for controller players, and Vanguard allows you to choose from four different types.

  • Default (Vanguard): Traditional aim slowdown near the target. A wider area where your aim will slow around an opponent. This is the same Aim Assist used in Warzone too, so will feel familiar.
  • Precision: Strong aim assist slowdown that only kicks in when close to an enemy player. Only use this option if you’re a skilled and accurate player. The slowdown area is minimal and casual players will not like this.
  • Focusing: Strong aim slowdown that kicks in when narrowly missing targets. If you’re new to Call of Duty, this is your best bet to improve on a controller.
  • Legacy (Black Ops): Alternate aim slowdown near target. If you played more Cold War than Warzone, Legacy will feel more familiar to you.

For the Aim Assist Type, we only really recommend using Default or Legacy. Even if you’ve been playing more Warzone, one of these options will feel natural to you.

Polina sniping in Call of Duty Vanguard

Best Aim Assist for sniping & quickscoping in Vanguard

Call of Duty’s sniping is one of the many aspects that made the franchise what it is today, and quickscoping is just as powerful in Vanguard. With these settings, you’ll be able to hit faraway targets and quickscope up close.

For Aim Response Curve, we recommend Dynamic. This allows you to make the fine adjustments needed to nail those headshots and quickly transition between targets when quickscoping.

And for Aim Assist Type, there’s not much reason to deviate from Default or Legacy. However, if you feel you could do with some extra control, it’s worth trying out Precision.

FOV slider in call of duty vanguard

Does FOV affect Aim Assist in Vanguard?

Thankfully, Sledgehammer included a field of view (FOV) slider for Vanguard on consoles, but it can affect your aim assist.

Increasing your FOV gives a huge advantage in allowing you to see much more of what’s in front of you, but also shrinks everything to fit more into your view. This can make hitting far-off targets much more difficult.

Warzone has settings to combat this, and Vanguard should follow suit. By having Scale Aim Assist with FOV set to Enabled, your Aim Assist will feel consistent, no matter your field of view.

How to find the best Vanguard controller settings

We recommend jumping into a Private Match and battling bots on Dome to find the perfect settings.

To maximize your time while testing out the settings, here’s what we’d recommend:

  • Map: Dome
  • Mode: Free-for-All
  • Rules:
    • Time limit: Unlimited
    • Score limit: Unlimited
  • Bots and players:
    • Number of bots: 6
    • Bot difficulty: Recruit

Dome is a relatively small map, so you’ll be able to get into constant action with the bots. And the Recruit difficulty means that they’ll hardly shoot back at you.


Also if you prefer battle royale to multiplayer, be sure to check out the best controller settings and PC settings for Warzone Season 5.

Image Credit: Activision

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About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor who focuses on Call of Duty but also plays lots of fantasy RPGs or anything else in his massive gaming backlog. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam freelanced in games journalism before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].