The Kar98K has been deemed as the best sniper rifle in Call of Duty: Vanguard by the CoD community. It’s quick, powerful, and impressively quick to move around with, which also makes it the ideal candidate for the best quick scoping sniper in Vanguard.
Having played with the Kar98K for some time and trying numerous attachment combinations as well as taking plenty of inspiration from the CoD community, in this comprehensive guide, I will be presenting you with my favorite Kar98K loadout in Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Let’s get into it.
Best Kar98k Attachments
This particular Kar98k class focuses on speed – which makes it useful even on smaller maps like Das Haus – particularly if you’re into quickscoping. This means that I’ve gone for lighter attachments that promote mobility and speed. Either way, here’s the full breakdown of the best Kar98k attachments in Vanguard.
- Muzzle: L Brake
- Barrel: Krausnick 560MM LWSO3K
- Optic: N/A
- Stock: Short Stock
- Underbarrel: GF-59 Flashlight
- Magazine: N/A
- Ammo Type: Lengthened
- Rear Grip: Fabric Grip
- Proficiency: Fleet
- Kit: Deep Breath
Continue reading to find out why I picked the attachments that you’ve just seen as well as some very decent alternative attachments in case you aren’t a big fan of my initial recommendation.
Muzzle – L Brake
The “L Brake” muzzle is quite a simple option. It simply improves the weapon’s accuracy by 3.8% and sprint-to-fire time by 4.6%. Though you will only get access to it from weapon level 60, there are no other real cons to using this attachment.
Potential Alternative: If you’re looking to build a more stealthy loadout, going for the “Scout Silencer” is a great choice because you’ll benefit from sound suppression and better recoil control. The only downside is a reduction in damage range by 18.2%.
Barrel – Krausnick 560MM LWSO3K
For the barrel, I went with the “Krausnick 560mm LWSO3K”. This attachment will boost your aim down sight speed by 4.7% at the expense of bullet velocity, which will see a reduction of 20%.
Potential Alternative: If you’re looking to make the Kar98K a whole lot more powerful than it already is, then go for the “VDD RE02K” barrel. This attachment will boost your sniper’s bullet velocity and accuracy while increasing the one-hit-kill area on your opponent’s body.
The downside to that attachment is that you’ll see a decrease in movement speed and aim down sight speed. Perhaps, if you’re more after a long-range sniper, then this attachment would be a wonderful addition.
Optic – Default
For the optic, I believe that the scope that comes with the Kar98K by default is the best amongst them all. Some of the main reasons why I like the default scope is because it’s super clean when aiming down the sight and it doesn’t have any cons.
Stock – Short Stock
For this particular Kar98K class setup, the stock has the biggest impact on the class as a whole. As we’re trying to build a mobile loadout, going for the “Short Stock” was a no-brainer. This stock will boost your movement speed, aim down sight speed, sprint to fire speed, and aim walking movement speed by two, one, one, and one points respectively. To sum it up, that’s a lot of speed boosts right there.
On the downside, you’ll see a decrease in accuracy, recoil control, aim walking steadiness, and flinch resistance by two, two, one, and one points respectively.
Potential Alternative: If you’re looking to build a proper long-range sniper similar to 3-Line Rifle, then go for the “VDD Thumbhole” stock.
Underbarrel – GF-59 Flashlight
Call of Duty: Vanguard is often chaotic. The graphics and level to detail are crazy, which is a good thing – unless you’re using a sniper. I’ve noticed that when I play Blitz on maps like Tuscan or Numa Numa, the number of particles and smoke that fly up in the air from kill streaks and lethal nades is insane.
As you can imagine, that interrupts what you can see to a great extent and the only thing you can often rely on to see an enemy’s position is their game tag showing through all the smoke.
For that reason alone, I believe that equipping the “GF-59 Flashlight” underbbarel would be of great help as this attachment will increase your enemy nameplate range for better identification and exposure of the enemy player. There are no real cons to this attachment.
Potential Alternative: It’s no secret that the underbarrel is a crucial attachment. If you don’t want to waste it on seeing the enemy players a bit better from further out, then go for something like the “SMLE Pistol Grip”. This attachment will boost your sprint to fire speed and hip-fire accuracy – a great choice for a quickscoping sniper.
Magazine – Default
Similar to the optic, I really believe that the default mag that you get with the Kar98K is the best option for this particular loadout. It comes with 5 rounds per mag and will have zero negative impact on the weapon – unlike all the other mag attachments for snipers.
Potential Alternative: If you’re keen on using a magazine attachment, the only viable choice for this particular build would be the “8MM Klauser 3 Round Mag”. Yeah, you heard that correctly, even my top recommendation has only 3 rounds per mag, which is far from ideal – you’ll be reloading after three shots.
On the plus side, it does boost your reload quickness and aim down sight speed by three and one points respectively.
Ammo Type – Lengthened
To make your Kar98K even more lethal, I went for the “Lengthened” ammo type. This type of ammunition comes with additional powder, which increases the muzzle velocity. You’ll see an increase in bullet travel speed by 30%. Though you will only unlock this attachment at weapon level 62, there are no cons to it.
Potential Alternative: If you prefer to go and gun people down while remaining as stealthy as possible, going for the “Subsonic” ammo type would be of great help. This ammo type won’t show you on the mini-map when you shot. The only downside is a decrease in bullet velocity by one point.
Rear Grip – Fabric Grip
“Fabric Grip” is hands down the best rear grip for snipers on Call of Duty: Vanguard. This attachment will boost your aim down sight speed, sprint to fire speed, and hip fire recoil recovery by one point. The only downside is a reduction in accuracy (horizontal recoil control) by 7.6%
Potential Alternative: If you’re looking to increase your accuracy or ADS without any cons to the weapon at all, then go for either the “Hatched Grip” or the “Leather Grip” respectively
Proficiency – Fleet
Snipers, especially when fully equipped with various attachments can see a hit in the overall movement speed of your in-game character. For that reason, to somewhat compensate for the loss of speed, I believe that the “Fleet” proficiency is a decent choice. It not only improves your movement speed by one point but also your weapon swap quickness.
Potential Alternative: If you enjoy going on an absolute rampage with the sniper, then you can definitely benefit from the “Frenzy” proficiency. This proficiency, which you will unlock at weapon level 61 will allow you to start the regeneration of your health right after you eliminate an opposing player.
Kit – Deep Breath
The “Deep Breath” kit is my personal favorite for the Kar98K simply because it allows me to hold the weapon still when aiming down the sight for long. It’s a great helper if you’re hard scoping an enemy from distance.
Potential Alternative: If you’re looking to nail players down from a close distance, then you can benefit more from the “On-Hand” kit as that will improve your weapon’s dexterity quite significantly.
Final Thoughts
The Kar98k is a fantastic weapon. In my opinion, if built well with a decent set of compatible attachments, this sniper is easily one of the most overpowered weapons in Call of Duty: Vanguard.
For this particular Kar98k build, I’ve gone for mobility, firepower, and accuracy. I truly believe that this is the best Kar98 loadout and the only reason I didn’t go for a long-range Kar98k class setup is because there are plenty of other better long-range snipers such as the 3-Line Rifle.