For years, buy-round debates in Valorant began and ended with one question: Phantom or Vandal? That two-horse race just got a third contender. Riot is dropping the Warden, a scoped rifle built for players who’d rather out-range enemies than out-spray them, in Patch 13.06 on September 22, 2026.
Unlike its siblings, the Warden ditches damage drop-off entirely. Whether you tag someone at 10 meters or 40, you’re hitting just as hard — a genuinely new philosophy for Valorant’s rifle class, first detailed in Riot’s own weapon design on the Valorant Wikipedia page.
Table of Contents
Warden Mastersheet: Full Stats
| Stat | Warden |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 22, 2026 (Patch 13.06) |
| Weapon Class | Rifle |
| Price | 2,900 Credits |
| Magazine Size | 18 rounds |
| Reserve Ammo | 90 rounds |
| Fire Rate | ~6.5 rounds/sec |
| Body Damage | 50 (flat, no range drop-off) |
| Time-to-Kill | ~460ms |
| Wall Penetration | Medium |
| Reload Time | 2.5 seconds |
| Equip Time | 1 second |
| Scope | Built-in 2x |
| Move Speed (base / ADS) | 5.4 m/s / 4.104 m/s |
Should You Buy It?
The math is simple: a ~460ms TTK puts the Warden nearly on par with the Vandal’s ~420ms, but with a built-in scope for cleaner long-range duels — something neither the Phantom nor Vandal offers out of the box. The trade-off is a smaller magazine and slower fire rate, so close-range spray fights still favor the old guard.
If you’re still deciding which rifle suits your playstyle this patch, our breakdown of Valorant’s best agents and loadouts on TechnoSports is a good next stop before you jump into ranked with the new gun.
FAQs
Is the Warden confirmed or still a leak?
Riot has officially confirmed the Warden alongside Patch 13.06, so it’s no longer just datamined rumor.
Is the Warden better than the Vandal?
Not strictly — it trades fire rate and magazine size for a built-in scope and zero damage drop-off, making it a range-specialist pick rather than a straight upgrade.
