Our Valorant Weapon Guide series continues with the shotguns in Valorant. Today we take a look at the Judge. Clearly the better shotgun in Valorant, right?

Before we get to the Judge, we recommend you read our previous Valorant Weapon Guides:

Judge Weapon Guide

We’ve already looked at the snipers, rifles and sidearms in Valorant. Now it’s time for the real underdogs – the shotguns. The Judge is the second shotgun in Valorant and it is quite expensive compared to the Bucky. However, it is worth it. Here is a brief overview of the Judge’s stats:

• Judge rate of fire: 3.5 rounds/sec
• Judge Magazine: 7 rounds
• Judge penetration: Low
• Judge reload speed: 2.2 seconds

The Judge’s rate of fire is similar to the Sheriff’s, and it hits just as hard when enemies are nearby. The penetration is unfortunately pretty poor, so please don’t try to shoot through walls. Capisce?

Judge Damage

As you would expect from a shotgun, the Judge shines in close combat. Patch 3.00 was not good for the Judge, as it further increased the weapon’s damage drop at medium range. Pellet damage dropped from 13 to 10 from 10 meters and from 10 to 7 from 15 meters. See how it scales with distance here:

• 0m-10m: Body 17/Head 34/Legs 14.
• 10m-15m: body 10/head 20/legs 8
• 15m-50m: body 7/head 14/legs 6

Unlike the Bucky, the Judge does not have an alternate fire mode for mid-range opponents. This makes it really only effective in close combat.

Judge price

This is where it gets ugly for the Judge. Patch 3.00 has made the price even worse than it already was, as it has gone up from 1600 credits to 1850 credits. Therefore, it is currently more expensive than some other popular weapons like the Spectre. For that amount of credits, you can buy a heavy armor and a Sheriff. Nevertheless, the Judge is a good choice if you want to slaughter your enemies at close range.

Conclusion

The Judge is the more expensive shotgun in Valorant, and you will probably think twice before buying it because of the recent price nerf. Nevertheless, the weapon’s effectiveness in close combat is unparalleled. It’s more accurate than the Bucky, and if you duck, the spread is reduced even further. Get close enough and aim accurately enough, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a one-shot kill.

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What are Patchnotes?

Patchnotes are specially designed to appear only in the appropriate places.

What is Valorant?

Valorant initially appears to be a cross between CS:Go and Overwatch . A competitive shooter where two small teams compete against each other.

Your team is either ready to attack or defend, with the attackers placing a “stinger” (essentially a bomb) that the other team must then defuse or preferably prevent you from placing at all.

The attacking team can win by either eliminating the defenders or placing the stinger and then protecting it from defusing until the timer runs out. The defenders can similarly win by destroying the attackers before they have a chance to plant their stinger, or disarming the stinger after it has been planted.

Each team of five can play as both attackers and defenders during a game. Each game has a total of 25 rounds, with the first team to win 13 rounds declared the winner

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