Chain Shotguns are Underrated

[cyboogie king]

Chain shotguns are great at close range. I hate those people who shame them just because of their low accuracy. Those people assume that because they are shotguns, they are used by low-skilled shooters. They are wrong. Chain shotguns are able to make quick work of any kind of enemy, even megaspiders, in the right hands. I'd recommend pairing them together with meelers to distract the nearby shooters.

[TUNA!]

Sniper Rifle Chad > Chain Shotgun Boi
Good Quality Melee Chad > Chain Shotgun Boi
Great Bow Chad > Chain Shotgun Boi

[Astasia]

I haven't seen anywhere where they are underrated. Even with their accuracy factored in they are the second highest DPS weapon in the game, second only to mini-guns, which have the downside of being very immobile in combat.

[cyboogie king]

Originally posted by Astasia:

I haven't seen anywhere where they are underrated. Even with their accuracy factored in they are the second highest DPS weapon in the game, second only to mini-guns, which have the downside of being very immobile in combat.

I've seen a bunch of discussions about chain shotguns sucking on Reddit. In a raid, the first people I take out are the people with chain shotguns, as they are the ones that are probably gonna cause the most damage to my colonists.

[cyboogie king]

Originally posted by 4.5 L - 5.7 L / 150 - 180:

Sniper Rifle Chad > Chain Shotgun Boi
Good Quality Melee Chad > Chain Shotgun Boi
Great Bow Chad > Chain Shotgun Boi

Sniper has less dps than bolt action rifle, which is the most common rifle
Meelers are good but can easily get hurt when versing big enemies, such as a bear or a megaspider, while a chain shotgun has enough stopping power to stop both and can easily take out both in about 1-2 bursts.
Greatbow is awful. It has less than 1/3 of the damage... b-but hey, atleast it has good range? right?

[TUNA!]

Originally posted by tymur999:

Sniper has less dps than bolt action rifle, which is the most common rifle

But with a good shooting and agumentation they can hit you from a mile away, negating armor and slowing you down enough that your close range advantage is nullifed. This can also be done while being a low chance of being hit where as a shotgun user must be in close range and if you miss your first shots you might forced into melee making your gun nothing more than a big stick.

Originally posted by tymur999:

Meelers are good but can easily get hurt when versing big enemies, such as a bear or a megaspider, while a chain shotgun has enough stopping power to stop both and can easily take out both in about 1-2 bursts.

True. But shotgun users must hold the enemy back from melee if they fail and locked into melee then their shotgun is then render a poor mans melee weapon while melee pawns can tank hits with a good quality shield and armor while 2 hitting chests and heads with max armor values on the shotgun user and insta killing from time to time.

As for massive foes good quality armor postioning, augs can make make better melee super soldiers in vanilla and not even talking about Tough, Brawler, and Nimble. Add in a double passion in melee and 10 - 15+ melee skill and they can destoy pawns in good enough numbers even with trash weapons.

Originally posted by tymur999:

Greatbow is awful. It has less than 1/3 of the damage... b-but hey, atleast it has good range? right?

More of a meme weapon but I love killing massive well equipt raids with them. Makes for a fun time that Mr. Chaingun can't provide. So I guess I shouldn't of included that but I couldn't help myself. As doesing love larping as bunch of elf boys or crazy tribals.

[The Great Glumbini]

Originally posted by tymur999:

Chain shotguns are great at close range. I hate those people who shame them just because of their low accuracy. Those people assume that because they are shotguns, they are used by low-skilled shooters. They are wrong. Chain shotguns are able to make quick work of any kind of enemy, even megaspiders, in the right hands. I'd recommend pairing them together with meelers to distract the nearby shooters.

Indeed, if you can manage to get a masterwork or legendary chain shotty, it can be brutally effective at short distances. I got a legendary chain shotgun from an item stash and It's still getting used alongside masterwork charge rifles, lances and miniguns. I'll admit he gets much less play time due to his range, but he's excellent at helping my meleers at the front line, especially during infestations. The best way to use them is to support meleers at chokepoints and such. Use shield belted meleers to keep the distance between enemies and shotgunners, and let the shotgunners take out the enemies with deadly efficiency. You would be surprised how many insects 3 melee fighters with uranium maces and marine armor can take out with 1 legendary chain shotgun behind them.The answer is all of them.

[Serina]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631000586
Got that and a Charge lance (excellent) as a reward from a Caravan request. Haven't had the chance to use the chain shotgun yet since most of the action my colony currently sees require snipers and bolt-action rifles.

[SuburbanHermit]

Chain shotguns are brutal in the hands of 4-5 pawns in close quarters. I like to put doorways on the sides of my killboxes to flank enemies with a chain shotty crew. Outdoors though, I like to "run n' gun" with bionic legs and a sniper rifle to keep derpy pawns at range.

As an overall weapon, I still like the assault rifle the most because of its decent damage, ROF and range.

It's charge lances I have mixed feelings about...

[KalkiKrosah]

Shotguns in general are underrated. If you make your base to have tight close spaces, shotguns and machine guns rule the battlefield.

I like to use a combo of shotguns and grenades to stop enemies from charging at me. And then build my kill zones in such a way that it optimizes short range weaponry. If an enemy comes in with a bolt action or a sniper rifle they no longer have a range advantage. And anyone trying to charge in gets chewed up by the shotgun, grenade and machine gun fire. Basically I am prioritizing stopping power over raw damage. And it works incredibly well.

[M.K.]

When you have Scyther mechs INSIDE your base, and the fight has degenerated into a corridor-and-room skirmish, then chain shotgun is your only answer.
(Melee being a bit suicidal, against those mobile cuisinarts)
.
Also for clearing out those pesky Infestations, the high DPS of the chain shotgun is almost king. (just below the real king, grenades)

But against any enemy that is going to shoot back at you? Suicide!

[martindirt]

All weps has pros and cons. All depends on the circumstances.

[TUNA!]

Originally posted by KalkiKrosah:

Shotguns in general are underrated. If you make your base to have tight close spaces, shotguns and machine guns rule the battlefield.

I like to use a combo of shotguns and grenades to stop enemies from charging at me. And then build my kill zones in such a way that it optimizes short range weaponry. If an enemy comes in with a bolt action or a sniper rifle they no longer have a range advantage. And anyone trying to charge in gets chewed up by the shotgun, grenade and machine gun fire. Basically I am prioritizing stopping power over raw damage. And it works incredibly well.

Make long corridors and sniper rifles still rule the day the same can be said about melee as if done right you can make so the enemy is forced into a 1 v 3 giving them little chance. Shotguns really don't have much space to shine in the meta sure they are not trash but they really lack an area where they are good enough justify using them.

[KalkiKrosah]

Originally posted by 4.5 L - 5.7 L / 150 - 180:

Originally posted by KalkiKrosah:

Shotguns in general are underrated. If you make your base to have tight close spaces, shotguns and machine guns rule the battlefield.

I like to use a combo of shotguns and grenades to stop enemies from charging at me. And then build my kill zones in such a way that it optimizes short range weaponry. If an enemy comes in with a bolt action or a sniper rifle they no longer have a range advantage. And anyone trying to charge in gets chewed up by the shotgun, grenade and machine gun fire. Basically I am prioritizing stopping power over raw damage. And it works incredibly well.

Make long corridors and sniper rifles still rule the day the same can be said about melee as if done right you can make so the enemy is forced into a 1 v 3 giving them little chance. Shotguns really don't have much space to shine in the meta sure they are not trash but they really lack an area where they are good enough justify using them.

Sniper rifles don't do well against hordes of tribals who overwhelm you with numbers. And it struggles even more against hordes of manhunting cobras. Basically small and numerous targets are the hard counter to sniper rifles.

Shotguns really aren't meant as a kill weapon. They are a support weapon whose main purpose is to use it's stopping power to thwart enemy advances. The way I use them is to thwart any enemy melee from getting too close to my firing line. When thats handled I lob a grenade at an enemy in cover and then shoot them with shotguns to give the rest of my shooters more time to get in more shots and to keep them in the blast radius of the grenade. Enemy snipers can do damage but their low rate of fire mixed with my animal meat shields mitigates a whole lot of their effectiveness.

Every weapon has a strength so you gotta play to your weapons you have in your arsenal and counter what they got.