Best AS VAL loadout and class build for Black Ops 6
Silent but deadly.
The AS VAL in Black Ops 6 is perhaps the best assault rifle suited to players interested in stealth-focused playstyles.
All thanks to its built-in suppressor, the AS VAL in Black Ops 6 effectively gives you an extra attachment for free, allowing you to spec into its other slots for a total of six.
In this guide, we’ll be running through the best AS VAL attachments and build, the best class loadout, perks, gear, and equipment, and how to unlock the AS VAL.
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Black Ops 6 AS VAL best attachments and build
Coming pre-built with a suppressor, the AS VAL provides an attachment right off the bat which is no doubt going to be appealing to players who traditionally opt for one in their builds. Having it be a core part of the gun means one of the gun's attachment slots is freed up for something else. However, because of this inclusion, it does mean that the gun doesn't have access to any muzzle-based attachments.
Either way, you're able to equip this assault rifle with technically six attachments - or nine if you ran the Gunfighter Wildcard - giving it potential capabilities that other guns don't have.
With all that said, our approach for our weapon build recommendation is to provide it with more ammunition, then offset as many negatives created by this as possible, all whilst assisting it to be an even more accurate and powerful rifle than it otherwise is. As we'll delve into with some of the perks, we're also suggesting an option or two that might help for stealth-focused play, taking advantage of its built-in suppressor.
Here is our recommendation for the best AS VAL attachments and build:
- Barrel: Suppressed Reinforced Barrel
- Underbarrel: Precision Foregrip OR Launcher (Smoke)
- Magazine: Extended Mag I
- Rear Grip: Ergonomic Grip
- Fire Mod: Recoil Springs
As mentioned, whilst muzzles can't be customised, all of the barrel options are custom-built to work around this.
As such, we're rolling with the Suppressed Reinforced Barrel, granting us the base effects of the suppressor hiding us off the radar when opening fire with the weapon, alongside an increased bullet velocity and damage range.
To give the weapon a little more accuracy, we're recommending you pick the Precision Foregrip for improved aiming idle sway, as well as better horizontal recoil control. An alternate pick to achieve similar results is the Ranger Foregrip which trades the reduced sway for increased movement speed when sprinting.
Whilst it might be somewhat of a niche pick, if you want to try something a little more experimental, you could shoot for something like the Smoke Grenade Launcher in this slot. Using this, you can provide additional cover under smoke.
If you want to get even more niche, consider taking a Thermal optic too, so you can spot enemies through the smoke screens you create. It's unlikely to ever be a popular playstyle, but you never know how it might go, especially for smaller maps like Nuketown. Be sure to consider throwing on an Assault Pack too, then you'll be able to replenish smoke grenades with each restock.
Moving onto the next attachment, since the AS VAL chews through ammo pretty quickly and only has 20 per mag, we're recommending you take the Extended Mag I, just to bump that up to 30. You could go for the next tier to increase your mag size to 40, but it's best to see how you feel about the longer reload speeds before you fully commit to this.
To make the weapon feel a little snappier in combat, the Ergonomic Grip is what we're recommending for the fourth attachment, improving sprint-to-fire, dive-to-fire, and aim-down-sight speeds across the board.
Finally, since the AS VAL can be a little difficult to control when it comes to recoil, the Recoil Springs fire mod attachment will make it more accurate thanks to better vertical and horizontal recoil control. The effects of this are all the more notable too, since it's the only attachment the weapon has access to that improves vertical recoil as most others focus on the horizontal kick.
Ultimately, you can choose to customise the gun however you like, and as new attachments are unlocked, you might find there's another you are more comfortable with, so feel free to mix and match to see what works for you.
Black Ops 6 AS VAL best class loadout, perks, gear, and equipment
As we alluded to in the above section, we're taking a fairly stealth-focused approach to our perks, though you could always opt for something that's a little more fast-paced and combat ready, like with builds that lean into the Enforced Combat Specialty. We discuss this briefly as an alternate approach, but what we're focusing on primarily here though is centred on leaning into Recon-based perks.
To get into all the specific deets, below is our recommendation for the best Black Ops 6 AS VAL class loadout:
Best Black Ops 6 AS VAL loadout
- Secondary: Player preference
- Tactical: Stim Shot
- Lethal: Combat Axe
- Field Upgrade: Scrambler or Assault Pack (if Smoke Launcher)
- Perk 1: Ghost
- Perk 2: Forward Intel
- Perk 3: Double Time
- Combat Specialty: Recon
- Wildcard: Perk Greed (w/ Ninja)
Whilst your secondary, tactical, lethal, and field upgrades are generally best left up to your preference, we're picking Stim Shot for a quick pick-me-up mid-combat, Combat Axe for some sick cross-map tomahawk kills - plus, a good stealth option - and the Scrambler to give us and our team some minimap cover. You might want to pick the Assault Pack for a general, all-round fit though, plus it'll net you extra smoke grenades for your launcher if you're trying that build.
Secondary-wise, go with whatever pistol you're a fan of - the Stryder .22 and Grekhova are two great picks if you're not sure.
In terms of perks, since stealth is the name of the game, we're recommending a no-brainer pick in Ghost. This will hide you off enemy radars whilst you're moving, controlling Scorestreaks, or interacting with certain objectives.
Beyond that, Forward Intel in your second slot lets you see which direction enemies are facing on a minimap with an increased size, whilst Double Time increases the duration of your Tactical Sprint.
To top all this off and get you the array of Recon Combat Specialty bonuses - such as hiding enemy death skulls on your eliminations, notifying you when an enemy spots you and more - we're recommending you equip the Perk Greed Wildcard alongside Ninja, a perk that'll reduce the sound of your footsteps, keeping your movements on the lowdown.
Of course, as mentioned, you might want to lean into the Enforcer playstyle, and if that's where your preferences lie, we'd suggest a perk setup with the same Wildcard featuring something like: Gung-Ho, Fast Hands, Double Time, and either Dexterity or Scavenger. This is worth keeping in mind since, after quite a popular weekend on Nuketown, the Recon benefits - like the ability to spot enemies through walls upon respawns - have garnered enough attention that seems they might be up for some kind of a nerf in the near future.
Whatever your approach, many of the perks and equipment listed here are sure to lead you to success in Multiplayer, and are well worth all trying out to see what best works for you.
How to unlock the AS VAL in Black Ops 6
The AS VAL is essentially the most difficult weapon to unlock, in that it requires more time investment than any other in the game.
That’s because, to unlock the AS VAL, you have to reach Level 55, which is the maximum level before Prestige in Black Ops 6.
Eventually, there might be a blueprint you can acquire through an upcoming season that’ll grant you access to the weapon. If you can't wait for that possibility though, you might want to spend a Prestige permanent unlock token on the VAL to have access to it anytime throughout all future Prestiges.
As it stands right now, earning the gun via XP is the only way to use it in core Multiplayer and Zombies loadouts, so you’ll want to be completing as many challenges, completing matches, and maximising your XP gains across the game to reach this level.
Be sure to use XP tokens you earn, or take part in any active double XP events to climb the ranks quicker too.
For more coverage on Black Ops 6’s set of weapons, be sure to check out our loadout pages for some of the best guns in the game, such as the KSV, Tanto 22, and LR 7.62.