Reaver Vandal

EP 1: Ignition, Act 3 · November 3, 2020 · 1,775 VP. The flagship weapon of the original Reaver bundle and the skin that made the entire line famous. Reaver's concept dates back to 2018 as VALORANT's very first skin prototype, originally codenamed "Dark Fantasy" (later "SoulStealer" in the game files). Art Lead Sean Marino said the concept drew from "very classic dark fantasy themes, such as dark magic, runes, and vampire hunters." The Vandal first appeared during the Closed Beta but was pulled at launch because Reaver was never intended to return. It was designed purely as a test bed for custom models, animations, VFX, audio, and finishers. But relentless community demand ("bring back Reaver") forced Riot to rework it to post launch quality. Marino described the re release as "coming back full circle: creating the prototype, showing it to players in Closed Beta, taking it out of the game, and then reworking it for post launch release." The Store team even accidentally used Reaver as a placeholder thumbnail, causing the skin to "haunt" the menus and fuel speculation it was the next release. The devs designed the EP 1 Player Card to depict mages performing a dark ritual to summon Reaver back from the dead, a joke about themselves reviving the skin line. Reaver was designed to make the player feel like "a necromancer, a corrupted mage who summons dark magic and performs forbidden rituals in the shadows." VFX artist Stefan Jevremovic leaned into pure black for the muzzle flash, describing it as "totally black, like black black, like buh lack with maybe a hint of dark purple," something rarely done in VALORANT's skins. The ghostly reverberations, deep unsettling tones, and bell resounding on the kill banner became iconic audio signatures that players still cite as among the most satisfying in the game. Features 3 color variants (red, black, white) with the white variant being a longtime community favorite. The Reaver Vandal remains widely considered one of the best Vandal skins in VALORANT history, with pros regularly using it in esports broadcasts since its original beta appearance.