How the Suppression mechanic works in Call of Duty: Vanguard

Since early on in the Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer life cycle, the new feature “Suppression” has been at the center of discussion. Sledgehammer Games talked briefly about the in-game feature and its several elements during their multiplayer reveal. And, as of right now, the feature isn’t too popular within the community.

Suppression in Vanguard is a mechanic that slows player’s movement when they’ve been shot by an enemy. So, if a player is being shot at by two or three enemies, their movement will be severely reduced from its normal speed. On top of that, there are perks and attachments associated with increasing or decreasing Suppression’s effectiveness. The dynamics of the mechanic are fully explained below.

The Suppression system in Vanguard

When the developers touched on Suppression in the multiplayer reveal, players weren’t sure what to make of it. Luckily, content creators, like PresitgeIsKey, went in-depth with the mechanic in their early access videos.

Once players saw Suppression in action, the general consensus was that it didn’t really have a place in Call of Duty. However, Sledgehammer has invested quite a few multiplayer aspects into Suppression. Those aspects include specific attachments and perks that revolve around the mechanic.

How to counter Suppression

Piercing Vision allows players to see an enemy they’ve damaged with Suppression through walls. Essentially, this is like a legal and free wall-hack that allows players to spray through a surface, highlight an enemy and secure a free kill. This perk can be countered with Low Profile — a first slot perk — but it still seems somewhat overpowered.

To make Suppression even stronger, there are also attachments that can increase its effectiveness. An example of this is a weapon proficiency called Disable, which increases the movement speed nerf that Suppression causes to an enemy. Players can sort of counter Disable with another weapon proficiency, called Steady, which lowers the effectiveness of Suppression.

All of this together seems relatively convoluted for a single mechanic in Call of Duty. The movement speed nerf that Suppression applies is quite large and severely affects a player’s ability to get to cover after they’ve been shot in Vanguard.

However, with player feedback from the upcoming beta tests, Sledgehammer could make some changes. They’ve been open to feedback before and after the launch on Nov. 5, perhaps Suppression will be one of the aspects they alter.