Is there something wrong with the AA12 or shotguns in general?

[Mish101]

I noticed with sabot rounds it seems to mostly do 5 damage per shot even though it says its like 30-60 even at close range the only range it does ok damage is literally pointblank. On the other hand...i had enemies sometimes hit my guys(armoured) for like 90 to the head. When i shoot at the head again close range i had 5 damage and occasional 70 crit.

[SirHawk]

High miss chance. You get a guaranteed minimum damage on miss, but shotguns generally tend to miss a lot.

[Mish101]

Even on 90 marksmanship merc at 4-6 tiles?

[SirHawk]

4-6 tiles is far af, 1-3 tiles is the actual usable range.

[Mish101]

I see so basically in that case may as well use normal shotgun shells and sabot rounds are useless.

[Trolleur_Durden]

The minimum damage applies the special effects of the shells loaded, which is extremely reliable and can be clutch sometimes, like pulling an enemy out of cover. But yeah, overall, shotguns aren't the best weapon out there.

[uncle nick]

I can't get Sabot rounds to work. Instead, I'm using Breacher rounds in the AA-12, it's armour piercing, gets the close range bonus, and maybe suppress enemy also. If i need a weapon with longer range, i use a rifle or a sniper.

I think players who struggle with shotguns and pistols need to first understand that you need 2 shots to kill. If you know you always need 2 shots, then you plan for the 2nd shot.

For example, you can use Tex's Dance For Me. He can shoot multiple targets before he goes into overwatch, then during the enemy turn he shoots them again a second time. And going back to OP's problem, since you are using overwatch which fires burst into torso or legs in the case of Tex, you have to use Breacher AP rounds.

Another option, is when you have multiple targets that are close together, you can shoot each of the targets once, then run another merc up close and set over watch on them all at close range with the pistol/shotgun. During the enemy's turn, they will all get shot again but this time by the merc with the pistol/shotgun. Again, works best with D Eagle .50 and AA-12, expanded mags and AP rounds. The range is shorter; but you only use these at close range.

[uncle nick]

I think there is a mod to un-nerf the AA-12. In other games, when i have used the AA-12 mod, it's just like one burst kill, and lots of blood everywhere. I remember there was a dev diary where the game devs said they nerfed the AA-12 for that reason.

Example: game with AA-12 mod.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1195061506

[Mish101]

Originally posted by uncle nick:

I can't get Sabot rounds to work. Instead, I'm using Breacher rounds in the AA-12, it's armour piercing, gets the close range bonus, and maybe suppress enemy also. If i need a weapon with longer range, i use a rifle or a sniper.

I think players who struggle with shotguns and pistols need to first understand that you need 2 shots to kill. If you know you always need 2 shots, then you plan for the 2nd shot.

For example, you can use Tex's Dance For Me. He can shoot multiple targets before he goes into overwatch, then during the enemy turn he shoots them again a second time. And going back to OP's problem, since you are using overwatch which fires burst into torso or legs in the case of Tex, you have to use Breacher AP rounds.

Another option, is when you have multiple targets that are close together, you can shoot each of the targets once, then run another merc up close and set over watch on them all at close range with the pistol/shotgun. During the enemy's turn, they will all get shot again but this time by the merc with the pistol/shotgun. Again, works best with D Eagle .50 and AA-12, expanded mags and AP rounds. The range is shorter; but you only use these at close range.

I didn't say i use overwatch. i use normal aimed shots

[Mish101]

I think that if this is the case for shotguns its a little unfair. Because I had enemies later in the game 2 shot my mercs and kill them from 6-8 tiles away with m1014 consistently which is why i thought the shotgun could be used at that range with sabot rounds. But apparently ai shotguns and player shotguns are not the same.

[uncle nick]

Yes, you were saying that your AA-12 normal aimed shots with sabot rounds were not doing enough damage.

I can show you how Tex can use overwatch to do enough damage. I posted a sequence of images of Tex taking down 3 enemy in the Tex thread.

[uncle nick]

Originally posted by Mish101:

...Because I had enemies later in the game 2 shot my mercs and kill them from 6-8 tiles away with m1014....

This is also possible for your merc to do the same 2 shot kill with the benefit of some perks. Maybe with Recoil management, Sharpshooter, Anatomical Precision and a few other perks?

I use Tex for close range shotgun because he is Level 4 with CQC. And Fast Runner and Opportunistic Killer works well for his talent.

[JimmysTheBestCop]

I felt like enemies are too far away for any of the close range weapons.