Vandal

Vandal
Biographical information
Species:	Fallen
House:	Devil Splicers ; House of Devils ; House of Dusk ; House of Exile ; House of Judgment ; House of Kings ; House of Light ; House of Rain ; House of Salvation ; House of Winter ; House of Wolves ; Kell's Scourge ; Pikers
Purpose:	Scout
Combat information
Weapon(s):	Molten Welder (very rare) ; Scorch Cannon (specific variants) ; Shrapnel Launcher (rare) ; Shock Blades (uncommon) ; Shock Rifle (common) ; Wire Rifle (common)
Abilities:	Rapid Movement ; Fallen Melee ; Dodge ; Vandal Dash

"The truths about the Fallen chain-of-command are still making themselves known, but Vandals appear to hold a higher ranking than the Dregs, and deadlier weapons, too. They often have long range capability, but, lucky for us, their weapons take time to charge."

— Bungie.net description.^[1]

Vandals are a class of Fallen warrior. They appear to be superior to Dregs, but subordinate to Captains. Their shock rifles have longer range than shock pistols used by Dregs, but take time to charge.^[1] They are occasionally armed with a Shrapnel Launcher, and at certain times, a Wire Rifle for long range shooting.

Overview[edit]

"You could drown the City in the blood they've spilt."

— Grimoire description.

Savage pirates, Vandals take pride in every world they pillage and every body they drop. Soldiers, brawlers, assassins, and scouts, Vandals serve many roles within a Fallen crew. And whether from distance or up close and personal, they are seasoned, efficient killers, with an arsenal of weaponry and tech to match their bloodlust.^[2]

Gameplay[edit]

Vandals are proper troops, more resilient than the cannon fodder Dregs, in addition to being armed with more effective weapons. They are very agile, and will dodge from side to side to avoid incoming fire.

Vandals can carry a huge variety of Fallen weaponry usually designed to deal high amounts of damage. Their most comman weapon is the Shock Rifles, the main Fallen-automatic weapon which they use at medium range. Once locked onto a target the rifle fires a burst of between four to ten Arc bolts (depending on difficulty, level and the wielder) that fly slowly in a straight line, curve around and home-in on the target. They are very difficult to avoid despite their slow travel-time and can only be avoided by moving into cover or strafing to the right or left but only just right before a bullet or salvo hits requiring observation and an understanding of the bullets' speed.

They can also fight with Wire Rifles, which they use from afar or elevated positions to snipe targets. The Wire-Rifle needs to be charged and subsequently shoots a Arc bolt with a very visible trail. The weapon charging cannot be interrupted and the Vandal will mostly remain stationary while charging unless the enemy gets into melee-range. If so, they can fire their weapon even when a target is very close while approaching them. The weapon itself makes a very loud and recognizable sound while charging and firing, making it easy to spot the shooter. The bolt can be dodged by moving to the sides, running is not a solution as they can accurately hit moving targets as well. The sniper needs to be observed directly and the incoming projectile dodged at the moment of the shot as its projectile possesses an incredibly quick travel-time.

Rarely, they wield a Shrapnel Launcher, which can fire four to six round-bursts, usually closing in on the target to hit them with as many of the four Solar-projectiles the weapon disperses as possible. Their slow travel-time makes dodging them quite easy however, the farther away from the launcher a Guardian is. Jumping high to the side can make them miss completely. Similarly, high-ranking variants sometimes wield Molten Welders, giving them an artillery weapon with a slight AOE but long travel-time, which can be more easily avoided.

For their melee, they will grab their rifle with the right hand and swipe their left hand at a target in range. They never use their lower set of arms while wielding ranged weaponry. They can also wield a pair of Shock Blades, one in each upper arm, that deal Arc damage and requires the Vandal to get into melee range. They have two animations were they either slash the targets torso with the left and right upper arms or they duck and slash the lower torso with the right upper and lower arm. Though they are weaker than Captains wielding them, they usually operate in squads of at least three units or scripted mission-encounters. In Destiny, a variant of Vandal dubbed Stealth Vandals use Shock Blades (or occasionally ranged weaponry) alongside cloaking tech which makes them nearly invisible or very hard to spot from range. In mid-range however, they can be spotted due to some glaring flaws with the technology, such as a white outline, weird reflections of light and the environment or slight blue flashes running across the camouflage. When shot, larger blue, glitching arcs emanate from the torso to the arms, distorting the otherwise somewhat transparent image. In Destiny 2, Stealth Vandals would be replaced by the Marauder as the primary stealth-specialized unit.

Vandals are stronger than Dregs and Wretches and possess more health, but are still a fragile unit unless they are majors or higher. They are a nimble Frontline-Soldier that prolongs its survival through fast movement instead using cover. There are usually less Vandals than Dregs in a squad complementing a group of three Dregs with two Vandals for example. They prefer to stay behind Dregs and take a fire-support-role or aggressively open fire upon spotting their target. Vandals equipped with Shock Rifles will almost always try to maintain some distance to the player and initially move slowly while shooting. Vandals generally only use cover if there is an object large enough to obstruct their entire upright body, only doing so when a player shoots from unreachable distances or their peers get mowed down quickly. If the player deals damage or throws a grenade, they can dodge either left or right if there is no obstruction by either taking a leap or twirl their body to the side. This, combined with their slim, upright frame, makes them generally harder to hit. In Destiny 2, they gain the ability to raise their lower arms from the back up, hunch down and scuttle along the ground for large distances, moving quickly without being able to shoot while also providing an even harder target to hit. If they wield Shrapnel Launchers or Molten Welders, they will sometimes behave more aggressively.

Vandals using Shock Rifles can move around in the area they are assigned to while Vandals using the Wire Rifle remain almost exclusively stationary to the fixed area they are placed in, though they can still dodge upon receiving damage or move to cover their body slightly. But they generally don't act defensively and will openly expose their body while charging their rifle at a Guardian. One should watch out for Vandals using more dangerous weapons like the Wire Rifle or Shrapnel Launcher. Vandals using Shock Blades will simply try to rush down the player and slash at them. If they can't reach the player, they will rush to the nearest object that obstructs the view and prevent the player from shooting them. It can be very situational to decide which Vandal is the most dangerous due to their various loadouts. For a general rule of thumb, the Vandals that prove the most annoying to a player should be dispatched the quickest.

Their leaps and dodges are very predictable and usually prove to be nothing than a miniscule inconvenience for experienced players. They can be dispatched rather easily and need Wire Rifles or Launcher weapons to be a real threat to the player. Their head is where they take the most damage from and shooting their arms or torso will stagger them unless they are currently using an active ability like the dodge, leap or scuttle. Thanks to them not often seeking real cover, parts of their lower arms will often peek out and can be targeted by the players. Ample use of cover and dodging will prevent the player of falling victim to their high-damage output and should open up an opportunity to safely dispatch them.

Known Vandals[edit]

Randal, the Vandal - Infamous Vandal and meme within the community of Destiny, appeared in both D1 and D2.
- Rahndel, the Perfected - SIVA perfected version of Randal, encountered in Wrath of the Machine.
- Nightmare Reaver Vandal - The Nightmare version of Randal the Vandal, encountered on the Patrol of the Moon during Shadowkeep.

House of Devils Vandals

House of Exile Vandals

House of Wolves Vandals

House of Dusk Vandals

Yalsis, the Igniter

House of Spider Vandals

House of Salvation Vandals

Pikers Vandals

Nightmare Vandals

Nightmare of Seresis, Council Hand

Variants[edit]

Notable Variants

Piker Vandal — Vandal of the Pikers
Spider's Associate — Allied House of Spider Vandals
Splicer Vandal — Devil Splicers Vandal
Stealth Vandal — Vandal using invisibility tech
Vandal, Kell's Scourge — Kell's Scourge Vandal
Wrathborn Vandal — Vandal turned into a Wrathborn

Common Variants

Elder Vandal — Heroic Difficulty
Engineer Vandal — Major Piker Vandal
Noble Vandal — Epic Difficulty
Reaver Vandal — Major
Resilient Vandal — Elite Vandal
Resilient Vandal, Kell's Scourge — Elite Kell's Scourge Vandal
Trusted Vandal — Elite Piker Vandal

Specific Variants

Trivia[edit]

Vandals of the five old houses have different and distinct armor variations. House of Devils Vandals have curved horns on the sides of their helmets, as well as small square hooks on top. Those in the House of Kings have flat horns and a trio of bolt-shaped studs on the top. Exiles have their left horn broken off, no decoration on their helmet, as well as a two-pronged shoulder guard. The House of Winter possesses the most baseline vandals, with no decoration or additional armor and with flat horns. However, the decoration on the Kell's Guard appears to be a mix of both that of the Devils and Kings, and they do bare the shoulder guard. Wolves look identical to those of Winter, though the colored sections of their armor are switched, as well as having fur-like scarfs and pelts.
In Destiny, Minor Vandals with Shock Blades wield the left one in reverse grip, while Major non-Stealth ones wield both of them upright.