The Best Pistol in Valorant in 2022

The pistol round is one of the most important rounds in Valorant, and winning it lets your team buy better weapons faster than your opponents. It’s crucial for gaining momentum early on, so naturally, you’ll want to make sure that your pistol of choice is the right one.

We’re deep diving the pistol roster to help you decide what to go for when you jump in your next Valorant match.

Much like the Frenzy, you’ll need to get up close to your opponents if you want to deal any serious damage with the Shorty. Its short-range effectiveness means that you’ll be at a disadvantage unless you’re holding an angle or camping a corner.

Instead of rounds, the Shorty shoots two shells with pellets that deal 36 head damage and 12 body damage within a 10m range each. At 15m, damage drops off significantly at only 9 head damage and 3 body damage for each pellet. Bullet spread also increases drastically with range. Each shell houses 12 pellets, meaning a headshot from less than 9m could deal up to 432 damage with a clean shot.

You should pick the Shorty if you like to hold angles, and don’t mind being stationary for most of the round. This makes it more suited for defending players.

Overview:

• Primary fire: Semi-Automatic
• Fire rate: 3.3 rounds/sec
• Magazine capacity: 2
• Wall penetration damage: Low

It’s free, it’s basic, and it’s alright. The Classic is your starting weapon, and as the only free option, it does an okay job at everything, without really excelling at anything. It has two firing modes, the primary one being semi-automatic with a firing rate of 6.75 rounds a second, and the second being a 3-round burst.

The alternate firing modes make it effective at short and medium distances, and the increased magazine capacity at 12 rounds makes rapid-firing a valid option at medium range. Holding on to the Classic means that you’ll be able to buy either a full ability kit or light armor. Two headshots will take down an opponent with full armor.

You should keep the Classic if you’re looking to surprise opponents with abilities and enjoy having a great amount of adaptability in the pistol round.

Overview:

• Primary fire: Semi-Automatic
• Fire rate: 6.75 rounds/sec
• Alt. fire: 3-Round Burst, spread increase
• Fire rate: 2.22 rounds/sec
• Magazine capacity: 12
• Wall penetration damage: Low

The Frenzy is the closest you’ll get to an SMG in the pistol rounds with a fully-automatic fire rate of 10 rounds a second. Unlike the Sheriff, Ghost, and even the Classic pistols, Frenzy won’t do you any favors at long range. You’ll need to get within touching distance before you’ll be able to do any severe damage, but catch them up close and you'll shred them apart.

The Frenzy needs two headshots to kill any unarmored opponent further away than 30m, but thanks to the impressive firing rate at 10 rounds per second, four body shots might be a more viable strategy. Unfortunately, the Frenzy suffers from a low mag capacity, meaning you’ll have to be conservative with your ammo if you want it to last the round.

You should pick the Frenzy if you’re looking for a pistol that won’t punish you if your aim hasn’t been on point.

Overview:

• Primary fire: Full-Automatic
• Fire rate: 10 rounds/sec
• Magazine capacity: 13
• Wall penetration damage: Low

You’re a natural at one-tapping, FPS games were designed with you in mind, the last time you missed a headshot you didn’t sleep for three days. Sound familiar? Then the Sheriff might be for you. With a magazine capacity of only 6 rounds, you’ll need to hit your shots to be effective, but once mastered, the Sheriff can go head-to-head against any weapon. It has one firing mode with a fire rate of 4 rounds a second.

The Sheriff is deadly at all ranges and only slightly decreases in headshot and body damage on targets further than 30m. On the other hand, it suffers from a high amount of recoil, small magazine capacity, and a slow rate of fire on top of it being the most expensive pistol in the game. Going for the Sheriff then means that you’ll miss out on abilities and armor in the pistol round.

You should pick the Sheriff if you’re comfortable with hitting hard shots or coming from CS:GO and used to using the Deagle.

Overview:

• Primary fire: Semi-Automatic
• Fire rate: 4 rounds/sec
• Magazine capacity: 6
• Wall penetration damage: High

The Ghost is the most popular pistol of choice in the pistol round due to its mix of high fire rate, impressive damage, low recoil, and great magazine capacity. It also comes equipped with a suppressor if that isn’t enough. Unlike the Classic, Ghost only has one semi-automatic firing mode with a firing rate of 6.75 rounds a second, which it makes up for in every other category.

The Ghost needs two headshots to take down targets with full armor further away than 30m, but thanks to its increased accuracy, when compared with the Classic, aiming from afar won’t impede your shot too much. It’ll cost you 500 credits which leaves you room to buy an additional ability.

You should pick Ghost if you’re looking for an all-around great pistol with high damage output that still leaves room for buying abilities. With the current meta, this is the best pistol to go for in the pistol rounds.

Overview:

• Primary fire: Semi-Automatic
• Fire rate: 6.75 rounds/sec
• Magazine capacity: 15
• Wall penetration damage: Medium