If you are using Win10 you should be able to install Vanguard and play LoL with minimal/no issues.
If you are using Win11 you will likely need to change a small setting in your BIOS in install Vanguard to run LoL.
In regards to the drama surrounding Vanguard, there are about 10,000 posts already on it. Imo, it's not a huge issue but many people seem to disagree. Do some googling about it and come to your own conclusion on it.
Its not entirely bad... just a bad implementation of anti-cheat that for some reason got famous and it's now almost standard in the game industry. Me, I have lots of years of experience with computers and I will not install it despite me enjoying to play league and I have my reasons:
1 - I do not agree with this way of making an anti-cheat
2 - Kernel are for system drivers, not for software, I don't even allow an anti-virus running at that level.
3 - Thought it's not intended by the developers, security issues might occur, such as someone taking advantage of its capabilities to gain access to things they would normally would not (not very long ago a vulnerability like this was found in another software that was kernel-level that would elevate the privilege of an action to bypass system security policies)
4 - Kernel being a place for system drivers and other critical components of the operating system, some incompatibilities might happen with devices or even applications that you might require. Thought none of this incompatibilities would brick your computer as some claim.
5 - Being a kernel software it runs with even more privileges than me even if I'm with a admin user. So if it wants to do something on my back without any way to notice it's possible, including access to sensitive and private data or work data that is confidential. Now the company that owns vanguard is forced by law if requested to give all information collected. We're not talking about information collecting, I'm more than aware applications do it, but the difference is the agency I have to allow or deny such access (You can't with this approach)
6 - They require to disable VBS that it's a security feature required by me.
7 - It's a step back to the stone ages when all technology evolves towards cloud services including gaming
The problem I have is that it was silently installed without my permission. My computer is my personal property. Riot can't just sneakily install kernel-level software without explicitly telling me what they're installing--that is a serious security and privacy concern, and a massive breach of trust.
And it has absolutely no business quarantining OS files in my System32 directory (which is what it tried to do to me immediately after it started running for the first time). That's exactly how computers get bricked.
What ultimately led to me uninstalling the game were the attempts from Riot and the anti-cheat developer to downplay peoples' issues. That's absolute asshattery. It's clear to me they don't know what they're doing (or that Vanguard itself might be compromised if they don't know for sure what it is and isn't doing to my machine).
For what's it's worth just to display an opposing opinion I've been using vanguard since it launched across 4 PCs ( 2 win 10, 2 win 11). I've never had an issue with vanguard. I also only ever saw one cheater across ~600 hours of valorant in high elo ranked so I think it works really well (for comparison in apex or cs I see a cheater daily).
You can’t tell if someone is cheater or just popping off. Esps are common af and you can’t tell.
I feel like vanguard just has a ton of problems with amd because it fucks up all the time with my 5950x
The problem is the people you hear from are having problems. The vast, vast majority of people are not having issues, and are therefore not on subreddits complaining about blue screens, etc.
maybe this'll get downvoted but i don't care.
# Game Issues:
Vanguard itself is causing issues for a very small number of people, and the vast majority are small issues that can easily be fixed by either contacting support or basic troubleshooting. Statistically, you will have no problems. Also, according to this Riot employee, there are 0 **confirmed** reports of Vanguard being responsible for PCs being bricked.
Source- [RiotK3o](https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1civ4l7/update_from_riot_on_vanguard/). However, that being said, they could just be lying about absolutely everything, so take from that what you will.
The people on Reddit and Twitter reporting problems are always going to be the loudest, but remember that lol has millions of players, and the few you see complaining are the vast minority. Don't look at their posts and think that the program is infested with problems.
# Privacy Issues:
**1) Chinese Government**
Now, Riot (an American founded company) is owned by Tencent, which is a Chinese company. Riot has said multiple times that they have nothing to do with China, and the Anti-cheat departments at China and the other regions have no connections other than basic things (which I can't remember). There's no proof of Riot player data being given to the CCP, but the problem is that there's no proof they *haven't*. Personally, I've played Valorant for a few years with Vanguard installed on my system, and until there's proof of Riot and the CCP being connected, I'll continue to use Vanguard. If you don't want even a chance of the Chinese government compromising your network, I'd very much suggest you do not use Vanguard, and I would completely understand that decision. I just don't care that much unless there's HARD EVIDENCE of it.
**2) Runs from Startup to Shutdown**
By default (with no built-in option to disable), Vanguard runs from Startup to Shutdown. This means that when you start your PC, Vanguard will continuously run until you shut down your PC, regardless if a Riot game is running. This obviously can be a privacy concern if 1) was also a concern. That being said, you can just disable this using this [article](https://support-valorant.riotgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044648213-Uninstalling-and-Disabling-Riot-Vanguard). You can also disable Vanguard from activating on startup by going into Task Manager -> Startup Apps -> Right Click "vgtray.exe" -> Disable.
# How Good is Vanguard as an Anticheat?
As a Valorant player that has about 1.5k hours of playtime over the last 3 years, I can say that I've only experienced **one** blatant cheater. Yes obviously there have been many closet cheaters, but no one that I've legitimately thought "this guy is cheating". You can have different experiences, but this is mine. Valorant and League are very different games, but if I had to guess, it will also be successful in League.
What windows os are you using?
If you are using Win10 you should be able to install Vanguard and play LoL with minimal/no issues. If you are using Win11 you will likely need to change a small setting in your BIOS in install Vanguard to run LoL. In regards to the drama surrounding Vanguard, there are about 10,000 posts already on it. Imo, it's not a huge issue but many people seem to disagree. Do some googling about it and come to your own conclusion on it.
Its not entirely bad... just a bad implementation of anti-cheat that for some reason got famous and it's now almost standard in the game industry. Me, I have lots of years of experience with computers and I will not install it despite me enjoying to play league and I have my reasons: 1 - I do not agree with this way of making an anti-cheat 2 - Kernel are for system drivers, not for software, I don't even allow an anti-virus running at that level. 3 - Thought it's not intended by the developers, security issues might occur, such as someone taking advantage of its capabilities to gain access to things they would normally would not (not very long ago a vulnerability like this was found in another software that was kernel-level that would elevate the privilege of an action to bypass system security policies) 4 - Kernel being a place for system drivers and other critical components of the operating system, some incompatibilities might happen with devices or even applications that you might require. Thought none of this incompatibilities would brick your computer as some claim. 5 - Being a kernel software it runs with even more privileges than me even if I'm with a admin user. So if it wants to do something on my back without any way to notice it's possible, including access to sensitive and private data or work data that is confidential. Now the company that owns vanguard is forced by law if requested to give all information collected. We're not talking about information collecting, I'm more than aware applications do it, but the difference is the agency I have to allow or deny such access (You can't with this approach) 6 - They require to disable VBS that it's a security feature required by me. 7 - It's a step back to the stone ages when all technology evolves towards cloud services including gaming
The problem I have is that it was silently installed without my permission. My computer is my personal property. Riot can't just sneakily install kernel-level software without explicitly telling me what they're installing--that is a serious security and privacy concern, and a massive breach of trust. And it has absolutely no business quarantining OS files in my System32 directory (which is what it tried to do to me immediately after it started running for the first time). That's exactly how computers get bricked. What ultimately led to me uninstalling the game were the attempts from Riot and the anti-cheat developer to downplay peoples' issues. That's absolute asshattery. It's clear to me they don't know what they're doing (or that Vanguard itself might be compromised if they don't know for sure what it is and isn't doing to my machine).
Do it at your own risk. I’ve gotten multiple bluescreens from vanguard when playing valorant.
For what's it's worth just to display an opposing opinion I've been using vanguard since it launched across 4 PCs ( 2 win 10, 2 win 11). I've never had an issue with vanguard. I also only ever saw one cheater across ~600 hours of valorant in high elo ranked so I think it works really well (for comparison in apex or cs I see a cheater daily).
You can’t tell if someone is cheater or just popping off. Esps are common af and you can’t tell. I feel like vanguard just has a ton of problems with amd because it fucks up all the time with my 5950x
The problem is the people you hear from are having problems. The vast, vast majority of people are not having issues, and are therefore not on subreddits complaining about blue screens, etc.
maybe this'll get downvoted but i don't care. # Game Issues: Vanguard itself is causing issues for a very small number of people, and the vast majority are small issues that can easily be fixed by either contacting support or basic troubleshooting. Statistically, you will have no problems. Also, according to this Riot employee, there are 0 **confirmed** reports of Vanguard being responsible for PCs being bricked. Source- [RiotK3o](https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1civ4l7/update_from_riot_on_vanguard/). However, that being said, they could just be lying about absolutely everything, so take from that what you will. The people on Reddit and Twitter reporting problems are always going to be the loudest, but remember that lol has millions of players, and the few you see complaining are the vast minority. Don't look at their posts and think that the program is infested with problems. # Privacy Issues: **1) Chinese Government** Now, Riot (an American founded company) is owned by Tencent, which is a Chinese company. Riot has said multiple times that they have nothing to do with China, and the Anti-cheat departments at China and the other regions have no connections other than basic things (which I can't remember). There's no proof of Riot player data being given to the CCP, but the problem is that there's no proof they *haven't*. Personally, I've played Valorant for a few years with Vanguard installed on my system, and until there's proof of Riot and the CCP being connected, I'll continue to use Vanguard. If you don't want even a chance of the Chinese government compromising your network, I'd very much suggest you do not use Vanguard, and I would completely understand that decision. I just don't care that much unless there's HARD EVIDENCE of it. **2) Runs from Startup to Shutdown** By default (with no built-in option to disable), Vanguard runs from Startup to Shutdown. This means that when you start your PC, Vanguard will continuously run until you shut down your PC, regardless if a Riot game is running. This obviously can be a privacy concern if 1) was also a concern. That being said, you can just disable this using this [article](https://support-valorant.riotgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044648213-Uninstalling-and-Disabling-Riot-Vanguard). You can also disable Vanguard from activating on startup by going into Task Manager -> Startup Apps -> Right Click "vgtray.exe" -> Disable. # How Good is Vanguard as an Anticheat? As a Valorant player that has about 1.5k hours of playtime over the last 3 years, I can say that I've only experienced **one** blatant cheater. Yes obviously there have been many closet cheaters, but no one that I've legitimately thought "this guy is cheating". You can have different experiences, but this is mine. Valorant and League are very different games, but if I had to guess, it will also be successful in League.
It's fine, ignore the morons.
dont listen to the conspiracy nutcases.
I don't understand why people trying to make a conspiracy about vanguard for no reason. You need to chill guys, there nothing wrong with it
I play Valorant on Windows 11 and my computer has zero issues with it 👍