The Guardian is a semi-automatic rifle in VALORANT that can deliver high damage with pinpoint accuracy. Here we’ll be ranking the skins from worst to best.
The Guardian is a cheaper alternative to the main rifles such as the Phantom or Vandal but can still be deadly in the right hands. Its semi-automatic mode of fire lets players be very accurate with it, and its ADS capability allows for further zoom compared to the other rifles. This, in turn, makes the Guardian a long-range headshot machine. It can kill at any range with a headshot or three body shots. The Guardian costs 2250 in-game credits to purchase and has high penetration power to give to those cheeky wall bang kills.
Skins in VALORANT are merely decorative and do not offer any real in-game advantages vs. the default skin. Although compared to other games like CS:GO, which only offer recolours of the same exact weapon, the devs at Riot went one step further with the skins in VALORANT as they completely altered the look of the weapon, added special VFX, GFX, and one skin turns your weapon into a literal dragon!
While choosing a good Guardian skin for yourself, you should determine if you like the theme of the skin, the looks, the inspect/equip animations, the finisher, and the firing sounds. Unlike other games like CS:GO, which have individual pricing for skins, the skins in VALORANT come at a fixed price depending on their collection. For example, select Edition skins cost 875vp while Premium and Exclusive Edition skins cost 1775vp and 2175vp respectively.
Best Guardian Skins in VALORANT: A Complete Tier list
Since the game’s release, Riot has released 33 different Guardian skins in VALORANT as a part of weapon bundles and battle passes. Since battle pass skins are obtainable only during their respective act and cannot be obtained later in the store, we excluded those from our top 10 but included them in the tier list. Battle pass skins are occasionally good, but they aren’t usually better than skins from featured bundles, so our top 10 will remain unaffected by their exclusion.
| Tier | Skins |
| S-Tier (Best) | Prime Guardian, Reaver Guardian, Sovereign Guardian |
| A-Tier (Good) | Infantry Guardian, RGX 11z Pro Guardian, Ruination Guardian, SPECTRUM Guardian, Magepunk Guardian, Oni Guardian, |
| B-Tier (Average) | Gaia’s Vengeance Guardian, Songsteel Guardian, VALORANT Go! Vol. 1 Guardian, Recon Guardian, |
| C-Tier (Underwhelming) | Aero Guardian, Ego Guardian, Hydro dip Guardian, Nebula Guardian, Nitro Guardian, Polyfox Guardian |
| F-Tier (Not Recommended) | Galleria Guardian, Jigsaw Guardian, Tethered Realms Guardian, Infinity Guardian, Ruin Guardian |
Top 10 Best Guardian Skins in VALORANT 2022
Among all the Guardian skins released in VALORANT so far, here are the top 10 ranked according to the basis of looks, animations, and VFX:
10. Infantry Guardian
Fans of WWII-era guns will feel right at home with these guns showcasing wooden stocks and bare-metal features. The Infantry Guardian is the best budget Guardian skin out there with decent looks. Players coming from Call of Duty and Battlefield will definitely love this skin. Also, the fact that Riot managed to incorporate the popular “M5 Garand Pinging sound” into this skin is just the icing on top.
- Rarity: Select Edition
- Price: 875 VP
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Finisher: No
- Color Variants: No
9. Recon Guardian
Another one for the fans of the Call of Duty/Battlefield series or Modern weapons in general, the Recon Guardian is the perfect choice for you. It has a unique feature where you get randomized barrel attachments when buying the skin during a match. When fully upgraded, you can get either a flashlight or laser attachment on this skin.
- Rarity: Premium Edition
- Price: 1775vp
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
8. Magepunk Guardian
At #8, we have the Magepunk Guardian, which came with the 2nd Magepunk bundle added to the game. It features a steampunk version of the Guardian along with cool lightning GFX. It has different colored lightning as the color variations and has all the special sounds and animations you could want.
- Rarity: Premium Edition
- Price: 1775 VP
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
7. Ruination Guardian
The Ruination series of skins are a part of a collaboration with Riot’s other hit game, League of Legends. The Ruination Guardian comes in an ancient theme of the Ruined King and has a smokey aura coming out of it. The best part about the ruination Guardian is that each and every color variant looks amazing with its vibrant colors. It comes a bit pricier as it is an exclusive edition skin, but it is well worth the cost.
- Rarity: Exclusive Edition
- Price: 2175 VP
- How to Buy: Store only
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
6. Oni Guardian
At #6, we have the Oni Guardian, which is comparatively less popular among the Oni lineup. But this is no bad skin by any means. Everything about this skin, from beautiful color variants to firing sound and finisher, is amazing.
- Rarity: Premium Edition
- Price: 1775 VP
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
5. SPECTRUM Guardian
“A collection of weaponized color and sound that elevates the way you experience the game, taking you from a player to a performer” – Zedd on SPECTRUM
The Spectrum line of skins was VALORANT’s first collaboration with the artist Zedd, including the SPECTRUM Guardian. The Spectrum Guardian offers satisfying firing animations, RGB lights, and an insane finisher. Also, did we mention that you can listen to sick tracks by Zedd during the inspect animation?
- Rarity: Exclusive Edition
- Price: 2675 VP
- How to Buy: Store only
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
4. RGX 11z Pro Guardian
The RGX 11Z Pro Guardian is a gamer-esque take on the Guardian skin, coming in at 2175VP. It has a satisfying muted firing sound and can change its RGB lights with the inspect animation. It comes in 4 different color finishes and has a decent finisher.
- Rarity: Exclusive Edition
- Price: 2175 VP
- How to Buy: Store only
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
3. Reaver Guardian
The Reaver series of skins is one of the most popular skin bundles in VALORANT, with the Reaver Vandal and Reaver Operator gaining much popularity along with the Reaver Guardian. The skin has a unique reload animation, with the player reloading the magazine without touching it as though using some sort of dark magic. The firing sounds, skin color variants, and finisher put this Guardian skin in our top 3.
- Rarity: Premium Edition
- Price: 1775 VP
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
2. Prime Guardian
The Prime series of skins is one of the oldest and most coveted skins in VALORANT. Although quite plain in looks compared to the newer skins, the Prime Guardian still gets top 2 because of its satisfying firing sounds, VFX, and cool reload animation.
- Rarity: Premium Edition
- Price: 1775 VP
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
1. Sovereign Guardian
Finally, we have the Sovereign Guardian at our #1 spot. The Sovereign bundle is one of the oldest but best-looking bundles in the game. It features an angelic or holy theme with intricate patterns in white with gold accents. When upgraded, it also shines in blue. The Sovereign Guardian also comes in different color variants as well. The best one is the black and purple combination which looks amazing and is often considered a dark version of the skin. However, the other two are nothing to write home about.
The Sovereign Guardian’s satisfying firing sounds, GFX, and a very excellent finisher finally seal the deal on why this is the best Guardian skin you can get in VALORANT to date. Additionally, it is a Premium edition skin which not only makes it cost less than the Exclusive Edition skins but also means the Sovereign Guardian can appear in the Night Market to be bought at a discount!
- Rarity: Premium Edition
- Price: 1775 VP
- How to Buy: Store, Night Market
- VFX, GFX, Kill Banner, Finisher: Yes
- Color Variants: Yes
So this wraps up our list of Best Guardian skins in VALORANT 2022. Note that, like all lists, this is subjective, and your personal rankings might differ from the ones we have here. You can also take a look at the best skins for other weapons in the game:
Best Phantom Skins | Best Vandal Skins | Best Operator Skins | Best Ghost Skins | Best Spectre Skins | Best Classic Skins | Best Sheriff Skins | Best Ares Skins | Best Odin Skins | Best Marshal Skins
