Are shotgun builds worth it?

[DorkDroll]

I've played the game before but this time I want to delve deeper into the game (I never even made it in the first 7 days)

I like to use shotguns in almost every game I play and I was wondering if this game is worth doing a shotgun build or if I should focus on some other weapon

[Brevan]

I tried a character where I quickly dumped points into Shotgun (normally I play melee and don't bother with spending points into attack skills until late-game). It wasn't as terrible as I expected, but it felt like the purpose of early-shotgun with skill point investment was in slowing down enemies so that you could switch to a melee weapon to finish them. This would give value to the sawed-off mod, which increases the cross-hair size a lot, since even one pellet hitting a Z seems enough to slow them.

Pipe Shotgun = Terrible, just used to slow things I think.
Shotgun = Two shots with pretty quick reload, not bad at all. Still notice the handiness of slowing a group and then switching to something else or running away.
Pump Shotgun = 8-11 shots, I might not bother with using anything else.
Auto Shotgun = >30 shots with gun-mods, very fast reload, seems to pop heads with every head-shot, wouldn't surprise me if it were nerfed.

[...👑 JOST AMMAN 👑...]

A-B-S-O-FREAKING-L-U-T-E-L-Y !

[Megahurts]

I'm a shotty guy too...less so in this game. I usually just use shotgun turrets as a way to use up all the shells I collect....unless RNG bestows a purple auto-shotgun...I may use it once it a while.

Be advised though...watch your background lol...shot guns in this game tear up wood blocks and obliterate canned/med/ammo loot bags.

[Johnny Thunder]

Yes & the progression is very good, each upgrade is meaningfully better.

People say pipe shotgun sucks but it should suck imo, the issue is pipe machinegun is so good every other pipe weapon looks bad.

[mathaniel]

My opinion. Yes. Vanilla, no outside mods. Depending on settings. From a new start.
Shotguns are great from a lvl 1 pipe on. If you ain`t skeered, Stand your ground and just shoot them in the face. One shot, one kill. *Almost always, depending on the deader. Bears, Dire wolves, Lumber Jacks NO, green hoodie guys, big mama, the hooker gal etc, can be exceptions and can also not be.

The double barrel is devastating early on, close range. Lined up. it can, take a couple out sometimes. Slow reload on both, and one shot or two shots in crowded rooms are dangerous, so planning and awareness.

Pump shotgun? Well, I sure ain`t a skeered now that`s for sure lol. Big d**k daddy from Cincinnati. Lots of rounds and crowded rooms aren`t such a bother.

Auto shotgun? By now with your spec`d build? I do believe back when you first got the pump shotgun you went from prey to predator yeah? Holy cow with my build and this auto shotgun I can run around nekkid lol. GL and cheers

[RasaNova]

Yeah, if you like your zombies close then shotguns are king. A fully modded auto shotgun can clear a room of zeds (and, um, walls) in seconds. It was my main weapon for a very long time, but in A19/20 I've been using them a lot less, in favor of AK/M60 and using the shottie as a horde night backup, but there is no denying their massive stopping power.

I skip the pipe shotgun, though... Only really works for me if I keep multiples loaded on my toolbar, and I would much rather have a pipe machine gun and more slots available.

[Q-Ball]

Only problem I have had with Shotguns is the ability to take out the POI, along with the zeds. It's messy. Super effective, but messy.

[Ripflex]

If you don't mind the building you walk out of after, looks like swiss cheese, then Shotguns are great. :)

[tools guy-kun]

Absolutely. Once your loot stage gets to a certain point, doesn’t even have to be all that far, and investing in perks/books that boost your loot, you’re gonna find shotgun ammo especially a lot in POIs and questing. I never had to craft any shotgun ammo and I have an entire storage chest full of shotgun ammo from questing.

Plus, you can get a stack of 60 shells as a possible reward from the easier tier missions.

Basically, if you’re one for questing, you’re going to struggle running out of ammo. You’d have to go out of your way to waste your slugs.

And shotguns are freaking strong, most notably the pump action.

[Macdallan]

Shotgun builds are absolutely worthwhile. :)

[URMarty]

nice

[Amins]

I very rarely put points into the shotgun perk, yet I use shotguns quite a lot. Because they're that good on their own. On my first horde nights, I can get everything grouped up at the front door behind a hatch and tear them to pieces. Assuming I have a double barrel or better, because the pipe shotgun is trash and really just a liability to use. Garbage damage, single shot and insanely slow reload speed.

But when I do start putting points into them, they get very powerful... and also tear up everything around me. But it is fun to just shoot loot crates open instead of switching to an axe and chopping them.

[Skaarphy]

In defense of the pipe shotgun, it helps a lot in the early game when encountering dogs. One dog, that is, but still. It's a life-saver.

[Zent]

Depends on how you like to play, poor ammo, poor range, no stealth option, will attract zombies, and punches holes in buildings (pro/con). Good damage at close-closemid range. IMO it's marginally better than automatic weapons in terms of economy but I don't recommend as a primary weapon, more of a backup weapon until you get to mid-late game and can craft ammo for it. Then it's definitely a strong pick for primary weapon as long as you can remotely aim in the general direction of enemies.

tldr - early game? awful. terrible. do not use. Mid game? good backup. Late game? I am your god now.

[BGratz]

Originally posted by Skaarphy:

In defense of the pipe shotgun, it helps a lot in the early game when encountering dogs. One dog, that is, but still. It's a life-saver.

Good old days when you had a half row of muzzleloader to survive the day 3 Dog Pack