How to use the Stinger: Valorant weapon guide

Valorant’s Stinger was once the King of the Force Buy. While it’s been nerfed a bit recently, the cheap SMG is still a handy pick if you’re not committing to a round entirely. Here’s how you can get the most out of it.

Sometimes there’s a tough choice to make in Valorant. When you’re choosing your weaponry for each round, you have to weigh up the best out of the 17 choices. The default picks are the rifles, but you can’t always afford those.

This is where SMGs like the Stinger come in. Undercutting the market at just about 950 Creds, the Stinger can blitz enemies before they have a chance to react. If you want to make the most out of the cheap buy, here’s how.

Stinger damage stats

The Stinger SMG boasts the highest fire rate in all of Valorant with 16 rounds per second. However, this is balanced out by its small 20-bullet magazine, meaning you’ll dump your entire clip in just over a second.

It doesn’t quite make it a bullet hose like the Odin or the Ares, but it can still pepper down enemies, especially up close. With decent body damage, you can quickly blitz down an enemy. Headshots are a bit harder to hit, but the 2.5x damage bonus really helps.

Stinger spray pattern

The Stinger’s spray pattern is pretty wild. After the first five bullets, the gun sprays up a ton, before swinging madly from left to right. The accuracy after the first half-dozen shots really goes down, so you have to be in close proximity to an enemy to have a chance of getting a spray down.

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The good thing is that its quick fire rate usually means they don’t have a chance to fight back. Having rounds dumped into you at 16 per second usually equates to getting shredded in just a matter of milliseconds, even with the wild spray.

Run in and hold left click

It’s about the only strategy you can apply with the Stinger. The gun does one thing super well, and that’s spray down enemies with its rapid rate of fire.

If you have a Stinger, you should be the first one in 90% of the time. You take the short-ranged angles, pre-aiming and pre-firing around corners to try and wipe out enemies holding close. If you guess right, especially when exploding onto a site, you can do real damage.

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There’s no two ways about it ⁠— you can’t be finicky dipping in and out of cover with the Stinger. You either go big or go home.

Don’t forget about the Stinger’s right-click for long-ranged fights

If you do find yourself a bit disadvantaged, the Stinger has a handy burst-fire option. By scoping in, you can enable the Stinger’s four-round burst ⁠— similar to the Bulldog’s three-round one.

While not incredibly effective, this can help you take those longer-ranged gunfights. The damage drop-off at range with the Stinger isn’t that huge, so if you land a dink or two, you’ll swing the round in your favor.

This trick is especially handy on defense when you won’t be able to rush easily (unless on retake).

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At 950 Creds, the Stinger has never been cheaper. While the patch 2.03 nerfs hit it pretty hard, the Episode 3 price buff makes it a decent pick-up over the shotguns or even the Sheriff.

It’s not a gun you buy every round. However, if you need to scrap together a decent buy, throwing a couple of Stingers across the board could be the difference between securing that Thrifty win, or falling even further behind.