Vandal Build — Marathon Season 2

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SHOWING VERIFIED CANONICAL

GOAL

RANK TARGET

EXPERIENCE

WEAPON PREFERENCE

TEAM

BUILD REPORT

“Apex Entry Disruptor”

This build turns the Vandal's Microjets and Amplify into an aggressive vertical entry tool — you drop in from above, blast a hole in enemy positioning with Disrupt Cannon, then close distance with superior mobility and sustained mid-range firepower. The forgiving margin is baked into the core and implant selections, giving you heat management and ability recovery so mistakes in your movement arc don't get you killed.

A

LOADOUT GRADE

RANKED VIABLE

Weapons

Impact HAR

PRIMARY

At 24 damage per shot at 400 RPM with a mid-range profile, the Impact HAR delivers competitive sustained DPS that rewards aggressive entry — you clear angles fast without needing precision aiming under adrenaline. The 18-round mag is manageable but pairs well with magazine mods. Mid-range is exactly where vertical-drop engagements resolve after Disrupt Cannon clears spacing.

Bully SMG

SECONDARY

At 15 damage per shot at 540 RPM with 23-round heavy rounds magazine, the Bully covers the CQB bracket that opens up after you land from a Microjets entry. Heavy Rounds ammo type differentiates it from the HAR's light round pool, preventing ammo competition. It fills the gap when enemies get inside your HAR's optimal range.

Weapon Mods

CHIP SLOT

Slip Protocol (Superior)

While moving — which is 100% of this build's identity during aggressive entry — stability and accuracy increase by a massive amount. This directly compensates for firing the Impact HAR mid-slide or post-Microjets landing when hipfire spread would otherwise punish you. Maximum uptime on this mod given constant movement.

OPTIC SLOT

Oracle Lens (Superior)

Greatly increases ADS speed, accuracy while moving, and ADS accuracy. This is the optic for a mobile aggressor — the ADS speed reduction lets you snap into sights immediately after landing a Microjets jump without the animation dead zone costing you the engagement.

BARREL SLOT

Steady Barrel (Superior)

Greatly increases stability, ready speed, and accuracy while moving. The ready speed component is critical here — after Disrupt Cannon resolves and your arm morphs back, you need your Impact HAR ready immediately. Stacks with Slip Protocol for compounding accuracy-while-moving benefits.

MAGAZINE SLOT

Stopping Mag (Prestige)

Custom-made for the Impact HAR, this increases magazine size and reload speed — exactly what an aggressive entry shooter needs. More rounds before a reload means you can clean up post-Disrupt Cannon without a vulnerable reload window mid-fight.

Shell Cores

Microjet Efficiency Package

PASSIVE

Grants an additional Microjets charge that generates less heat — this is the single highest-value core for vertical movement priority. Two jumps with reduced heat cost per activation directly enables repeated aggressive entries and dramatically increases your ceiling on forgiving repositions when the first angle doesn't pan out.

Adrenal Core

PRIME

While Amplified, movement abilities generate even less heat, and Cardio Kick extends Amplify's duration. This synergizes directly with Microjet Efficiency Package — Amplify already reduces heat buildup from movement, Adrenal Core compounds that. A Cardio Kick mid-run extends your Amplify window, letting you chain more Microjets jumps inside a single prime activation.

Cut to the Chase

TACTICAL

Disrupt Cannon takes less time to overcharge. In aggressive solo play you rarely have the luxury of holding the 2-second full charge — this mod closes the gap between a quick-fire blast and a maximized one, making the Disrupt Cannon far more reliable as an entry tool when you're already committed to a push.

Implants

HEAD

Energy Harvesting V4 (Superior)

Firewall: -5, Tactical Recovery: 40%

40% Tactical Recovery means Disrupt Cannon is back up dramatically faster after each use, which is the core loop of this build — entry, disrupt, fight, repeat. The Firewall penalty is acceptable on a solo aggressive build that's not sitting in status-heavy encounters. The passive Walk it Off also cleanses debuffs on kill, which is a forgiving margin bonus for solo play.

LEGS

Graceful Landings V4 (Superior)

Melee Damage: 20, Agility: 20, Fall Resistance: 50%

Agility: 20 directly increases movement speed, which accelerates every aggressive entry. Fall Resistance: 50% is essential — Microjets entries from height are punished by fall damage without it, and this implant removes that tax entirely. The Frenzy Matrix passive (defeating a hostile increases tactical recharge rate and sprint speed) further accelerates the entry-fight-reposition loop.

TORSO

Survival Kit V2 (Enhanced)

Firewall: 10, Hardware: 10, Self-Repair Speed: 15, Revive Speed: 10

Provides a wide defensive baseline across four stats — Hardware 10 adds meaningful effective HP for a shell with no native shield, Self-Repair Speed 15 accelerates passive recovery between engagements, and Firewall 10 partially offsets the Firewall dip from Energy Harvesting V4. This is the forgiving margin implant: it keeps you in fights longer without dedicating the build to a pure tank posture.

◇ Vandal Cradle Build — Season 2 Stat Plan

Free respec · resets each season

Primary investment in Dexterity for mobility-compounding perks, with secondary investment in Endurance to manage the heat cost of chained Microjets entries and Amplify activations.

DEXTERITY TRACK

11 ENERGY

PERK · Slider

Sprint sliding generating less heat is directly synergistic with a build that chains sprint-slide-Microjets sequences during aggressive entry. At 11 Energy this also picks up Loot Siphon at 5 Energy as a pathing bonus, which feeds Tactical energy from containers during the extraction phase. Note: these perk values are listed as unverified in the database.

DEXTERITY TRACK

14 ENERGY

PERK · Full Throttle

Gaining Cardio Kick effects at the start of every run means every engagement opens with boosted movement — this is a free aggressive entry buff that combos with Adrenal Core's Cardio Kick extending Amplify. Extremely high value for the run-start positioning phase where vertical movement choices matter most. Note: listed as unverified in the database.

ENDURANCE TRACK

9 ENERGY

PERK · Heat Dissipation

Generated heat recovering more quickly directly addresses the Vandal's primary weakness when chaining Microjets jumps — heat accumulation. With Microjet Efficiency Package reducing per-jump heat and Adrenal Core reducing heat during Amplify, Heat Dissipation at 9 Energy closes the loop on heat management between ability windows. Note: listed as unverified in the database.

OPEN THE CRADLE PLANNER →

STRENGTHS

+Microjet Efficiency Package plus Adrenal Core creates a compounding heat management system that enables repeated vertical entries without Overheat penalties — you get more jumps per engagement than a stock Vandal

+Slip Protocol (Superior) plus Oracle Lens (Superior) plus Steady Barrel (Superior) stack accuracy-while-moving and ADS speed on the Impact HAR, making post-entry gunfights forgiving even at awkward angles

+Energy Harvesting V4's 40% Tactical Recovery paired with Cut to the Chase means Disrupt Cannon rotates fast and charges fast — your primary engagement tool is reliably available every fight

+Graceful Landings V4's Fall Resistance 50% removes the height tax on aggressive Microjets entries entirely, opening vertical angles that would kill other shells

WEAKNESSES

−No shield slot investment and Firewall at a net -5 from implant trade-offs means sustained gunfights against multiple opponents punish mistakes hard — this build forgives movement errors, not positioning errors

−The Bully SMG's 23-round magazine and heavy rounds dependency can create ammo pressure in long dungeon runs where Heavy Rounds are scarcer than Light Rounds

RANKED NOTE

This build is configured for unranked casual play where there are no score constraints — it is ranked viable at Solo A tier per the Vandal's rated bracket, but is optimized for fun and effectiveness rather than ranked efficiency metrics.

⬢ Build Analysis

Here's the read on this configuration: the Vandal's kit is built around one core idea — controlled chaos at entry. You jump in, disrupt formation, win the resulting scramble. This loadout sharpens every part of that loop. Cut to the Chase shaves the Disrupt Cannon overcharge window so you're not standing still for two full seconds in a live fight. Microjet Efficiency Package gives you a second jump that costs less heat, and Adrenal Core makes both of those jumps even cheaper during Amplify — that's your entry window, right there, compounding into a system rather than individual abilities. The Impact HAR at 24 damage and 400 RPM is the right primary because it doesn't demand precision under pressure — Slip Protocol (Superior) plus Steady Barrel (Superior) plus Oracle Lens (Superior) means you're accurate while sprinting and snap-ADS fast after landing. Graceful Landings V4 with Agility 20 and Fall Resistance 50% means height is a weapon for you, not a liability. Energy Harvesting V4's 40% Tactical Recovery keeps Disrupt Cannon in rotation. Survival Kit V2 patches the defensive baseline without committing to a tank posture. This isn't a one-trick build — it's a playstyle expressed in stats.

Best Marathon Vandal Build — Season 2 Loadout

◇ Vandal Cradle Build — Season 2 Stat Plan