Configuring Shotguns in Raid Mode

[Sapphidia]

So, I've got a lot of hours under me and have completed all Code Red medals, close to having all the achievements... yet in all my time I've never been able to work out how best to use shotguns.

Magnums and Sniper Rifles are easy to setup and are always powerful and useful. Pistols and Assault Rifles are very ammo efficient and great for applying shock and fire or dazing things. Machine Pistols are insane DPS with fire ammo when something needs to die -now-.

But shotguns? I just can't get them to work well. Or rather, I just can't see the point of using them over other weapons in any situation. Obviously Focus and probably Close Range are mandatory on them, but I find them really clunky. Either they kill super fast but leave you too vulnerable during reloading, or churn through your ammo quickly. Also the fact that elemental ammo on them has a low chance to proc on the entire shell burst rather than each individual pellet means that it's really unreliable to use a shotgun for applying burn/ice effects.

What mods and upgrades do people use in shotguns, and does it depend on the type? There's a huge difference between the Hydra and the TAP in performance, and the Drake seems amazing on paper all-round.

[Blacktail]

You ever tried a shotgun with burst fire and fire ammo? Run up to the enemy, tell him to take a peak into your barrel and click - take a picture - it´s gonna be overwhelming.

If you have very sturdy big guys - try full burst - mindblowing ^^

[Sapphidia]

Well I definitely had more success using Burst +1/2 on the higher capacity shotguns or Full Burst on something like a Hydra. I guess Full Burst on a Drake or TAP would basically be purely for big bosskills as it would waste half your ammo on any normal mobs.

But Fire Ammo? I've just had really bad experiences with elemental on shotguns. They have what, 20% chance to proc the elemental effect per shot, rather than per pellet. So you get big drought periods where you see no fire at all, and then one or two shots that are complete overkill. It's weird because each pellet can -crit- individually (making Crit seem like a good mod for shotguns as it's a more consistant damage boost).

Do you honestly find elemental ammo procs enough on shotguns to make it worth it? I never really saw the point of Fire Ammo when you're hoping to kill the enemy with the initial burst rather than a damage over time due to the close range nature.

[Shadow]

There is not a specific situation that requires the use of sgs. Most of the time, full burst magnums or muramasa with evade cancel, or AMR take out the enemies super fast.......In rev1 ,sgs are mainly used to kill norman brothers instantly, but neil in red code so weak.....

[Babu Dakar]

Triple burst fire is key.

[William Shakesman]

I just used a high Capacity double barreled shotty with focus for all of Code Red. My pistol and fire muramasa did most of the heavy lifting but the shotgun was useful for all sorts of staggers and knockdowns against basic enemies and the rock armor dudes.

It's also handy for hunter knockdowns.

Though, really, once you get a good pistol and rifle, anything else you bring in Raid is just "for fun" and there's not a lot that's more "for fun" in guns than a good feeling shotgun.

[ageres]

Use piercing and critical hit. I also use life stealer

[Cataclysm]

Originally posted by ageres:

Use piercing and critical hit. I also use life stealer

I also use piercing and life stealer. Greedy killer or Soul eater are nice to have around as well, but not both on one gun.

[phillipjharris]

Greedy Killer 10 and Soul Eater 10 on one gun is the most efficient way to use them as it maximizes your return on every kill, just don't use fire ammo with them. Electrocute/electric and Ice/frostbite are the best way to augment other than DMG 20. I use a LVL 100 AMR with 30 Ups in Capacity. Homing Ammo 10, Capacity 10, with Greedy and Soul 10 damage base is about 49000 and it has 56 shots. On VIII-06 I clear 300,000 exp and gold everytime.

[Vilmer Slaughter]

Originally posted by phillipjharris:

Greedy Killer 10 and Soul Eater 10 on one gun is the most efficient way to use them as it maximizes your return on every kill, just don't use fire ammo with them. Electrocute/electric and Ice/frostbite are the best way to augment other than DMG 20. I use a LVL 100 AMR with 30 Ups in Capacity. Homing Ammo 10, Capacity 10, with Greedy and Soul 10 damage base is about 49000 and it has 56 shots. On VIII-06 I clear 300,000 exp and gold everytime.

I personally don't bother with greedy killer. Gold never really seems to be an issue once you've found your stride with the right weapons. At least until a gun worth upgrading comes along.

And your point on not using fire ammo on a xp/gold weapon... 1000 times yes good sir. I favored fire ammo for the sheer fact of being able to dot up lesser enemies and move along. Then I realized that the fire kills weren't counted, since technically, the gun didn't do the killing blow.

As far as my shotgun goes, I mandatory Crit+Pierce+Stagger+Damage, extra slots are wild cards.