The Shotgun fires 17 pellets of 10 normal damage each (170 total), arranged in fixed rings around the crosshair. It is the main marine answer to fades and lerks in close quarters and kills a Skulk in 1 shot at point-blank range.
Research#
Shotgun Tech is researched at an Armory for 20 team res (30 s). Marines then buy it for 20 personal res, or the commander drops it for 20 team res.
Damage falloff#
Pellets do full damage up to 5 m. Between 5 and 15 m damage drops linearly to 50% and stays there. Shotgun weapon upgrades are smaller than other guns: +7.8% per level.
Shots to kill with every pellet landing inside 5 m:
| Target | W0 | W1 | W2 | W3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skulk biomass 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Skulk biomass 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Skulk biomass 9 + Carapace | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Gorge biomass 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Gorge biomass 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Gorge biomass 9 + Carapace | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lerk biomass 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lerk biomass 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lerk biomass 9 + Carapace | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Fade biomass 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Fade biomass 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Fade biomass 9 + Carapace | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Onos biomass 1 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Onos biomass 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Onos biomass 9 + Carapace | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
Finishing with the pistol#
A blast followed by pistol shots kills faster than waiting for the next blast (0.85 s):
| Target | Pistol hits needed after this many shotguns | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | |
 Skulk, biomass 1 | 5 | kill | kill |
 Gorge, biomass 1 | 13 | 5 | kill |
 Lerk, biomass 1 | 12 | 4 | kill |
| Fade, biomass 1 | 21 | 12 | 4 |
 Onos, biomass 1 | 80 | 72 | 63 |
Full-health targets. A highlighted cell means that many shotguns save a pistol compared with the cell to its left.
See Kill combos.
Tips#
- Aim center-mass; the outer ring of pellets misses small targets at range.
- Fight around corners. The shotgun wins every fight that starts at 3 m.
- Hold one shell in reserve and reload between fights: 6 shells go fast.