Is Buckshot worth it at the moment?

[chryckis]

Now I just started playing so I admit that I don’t know if buckshot is working as intended or not. For me they seem to be as lethal and effective as rifles. At least for a crappy shot like myself.
However, the fact that buckshot seems to struggle to penetrate deep enough to hit vital organs (not sure if that’s a bug or not) and even when you are lucky enough to get a vital hit, the hit doesn’t register on the score even though the harvest screen plainly shows the vital hit (pretty sure that is a bug), means that your income and xp progression suffer.

This makes it seem like it is meaningless to use buckshot for players leveling up or wanting to maximize profits.

For example, I shot a coyote at close range with buckshot making it drop after only a few steps. The harvest screen showed I hit the lung but since it didn’t register in the score, I got a significant reduction in money and xp. Normally you get over 1000 bucks for Coyote using other appropriate weapons and ammo, this time I got just over 900.

It doesn’t seem as much difference but over time it adds up especially when you have ammo costing up to 800 a pop.

It seems like at the moment you should only use buckshot if you are fine with nerfing your own progress. Which I personally think sucks since, just like with bows, you have to get close to kill something with a buckshot load, making it more challenging than just dropping a target at 200+ meters with a rifle.

Not to mention that shotguns are so versatile being able to use three types of ammo. If buckshot was a viable option then on most reserves you would never have to carry more than a rifle and a shotgun and still be able to shot every critter with the proper ammo.

Now instead you have to go around with a golf bag worth of different rifles.

Heck, if buckshot was viable then I’d run around Cuatro Colinas with only my trusty 20ga SXS shotgun.

Which makes me wonder if it’s worth keep using buckshot for the fun of it or if the draw backs of never getting 4 green harvest checks not matter how well you shoot with the negative effects that have on your xp and income gain means its is better to leave the buckshot in the cupboard until this issue is resolved? At least if you don’t want your XP and income to suffer?

[Striker]

The intent of the designers is to force you to carry a number of different sized weapons if you want to be able to humanely harvest several species during the course of a single excursion. Buckshot is bugged for the time being. When it's fixed I'd expect they nerf it so U still won't be able to run around a reserve and kill everything moving with your trusty 20 ga buckshot load without suffering some form of penalty. Very slow bleed rate, poor penetration on larger animals etc... You might wind up having to carry both the 12 and a 20 ga shotguns and use buckshot, birdshot and slugs if you want avoid all XP and income penalties.

[Machin Shin]

Only Shotgun really worth to use atm is the New 10 Gauge imo. Perfect weapon for Rabbits/Ducks. And you can also Take Down T9 Animals with it. Had some good shoots with Slugs. But over 50 meters you need to aim very high ( need to learn it) But i managed to oneshoot Lions over 130 meters with it :)

I rarely use Buckshot but had also some nice shoots with it but only use wen 30 meters and have a good broadsite shoot. Its not always bugged(to be clear it never was on my shoots...)

[naspa]

CAcciatore is one of my favorite guns. Use it for almost any animal short range. Buckshot has a small problem - it will take down small-medium-sized animals close range, but hitting a vital organ is something you have to be lucky with. (Slugs can be aimed pretty good and for bird shot hitting vitals does not matter).

[Jellybug]

I also love the cacciatore and have days where that's the only gun I carry. 12 GA slugs are now "appropriate ammo" to pass the Harvest Check for class 4 and above. So most deer (Blacktail, Whitetail, Fallow) and several other medium animals (Warthog, Wild Boar, Lesser Kudu) are now valid targets and therefore don't require buckshot if you're toting the 12 GA.

Only the smaller animals require shot - Springbok, Lynx, Jackals, Coyotes, etc. Birdshot for the rabbits & birds.

[chryckis]

Originally posted by Jellybug:

I also love the cacciatore and have days where that's the only gun I carry. 12 GA slugs are now "appropriate ammo" to pass the Harvest Check for class 4 and above. So most deer (Blacktail, Whitetail, Fallow) and several other medium animals (Warthog, Wild Boar, Lesser Kudu) are now valid targets and therefore don't require buckshot if you're toting the 12 GA.

Only the smaller animals require shot - Springbok, Lynx, Jackals, Coyotes, etc. Birdshot for the rabbits & birds.

Yeah, slugs work fine. It's just that annoying gap of class 2 and 3 that require buckshot. Like the most classic of buckshot targets the Roe Deer. Like the bow the shotgun has the potential of being completely versatile across a large spectrum of animal classes by dint of switching ammo types. But with buckshot out of commision you get this weird gap in the middle. It's like if the default .243 rifle would be viable for class 2-3 and 6 but not 4 and 5.

As for the devs intending for you to carry more than 1 weapon Cuatro is a bit of an exception to that rule since if you ignore the hares there are at least 3 rifles i think that can take out every other animal in that reserve so you really only need 1 weapon there, two at the most.

Still while buckshot actually works no one commented on if they are worth using seeing as they will never give you a full score or maximum xp and money?

[Jellybug]

Buckshot (at least the 12 GA variety) is massive overkill for coyotes & jackals, and I've never not scored a vital hit. I tend to spend most of my time on Layton, however, so can't speak to the class 3 monsters as well (there aren't any). In part, this is due to bringing the target in at closer ranges, but mainly it's a shell that can kill an animal 10x as large as your average class 2 being legal for class 2.

I have failed the harvest check versus whitetail & blacktail, however, even while getting 100% quick kill, since no vitals were hit. The shell is rated for 5 (again, none on Layton), but it struggles with class 4.

Slugs to the rescue.