Lastat27
Nov 26, 2006, 05:33 AM
The Shotgun. Ye old boom stick. The zombie-bane of the past and the suicidal weapon of choice for the future. While most Rangers would rather be dishing out solid damage from 100 meters away, I would like to give some foresight into this refreshing misunderstood force to be reckoned with.
Upon first glance and a bit of testing you'll find that Shotguns can tag many enemies with a single shot and spray status effects around the room with frenzy. However, most Rangers see this as a weak weapon because of its low damage output. There is however one thing that most Rangers are unaware of: Its point blank damage potential.
Basic knowledge:
-Shotguns fire 3 bullets a shot with a Bullet level of 0-10, 4 bullets from 11-20, and 5 bullets from 21-30.
Advanced knowledge:
-Every time you shoot a monster with a shotgun at point blank distance, all four of your bullets hit that monster, and each of them count as a hit.
Test: Level 11 Bullets (4 Shots)
Shoot a level 16 Badira (lizard) at long range four times.
Shoot a level 16 Badira (lizard) point blank.
At long distance you'll notice it takes four shots to kill a Badira. Each shot doing 100 damage. Thus the Badira has roughly 350-400hp.
However, moving into point blank range you'll notice you kill the same Badira with a single shot. But wait, you only saw 100 x 2 damage appear above its head, how did he die to only 200 damage?
You actually just did 100 x 4 damage with a single shot; you just hit him with all four bullets at once, instantly killing him. The damage is there, but the numbers verifying this above its head are not.
*Sometimes you will not kill them with one point blank shot, the reason being one of the four bullets actually missed*
-Shotguns have an "extremely small" area of effect on each bullet. If two monsters are extremely close to each other, one bullet can hit both of them.
It is possible to hit 8 monsters with a single shot using level 11 bullets. All four of your bullets can hit two mobs each. The chance of such a perfect set up is very rare. My record is 7 mobs with one shot.
-Getting into a position in which all four bullets always hit monsters can be tricky. One mob point blank, two mobs rather close, or a group of mobs at long range all work well. At the moment I hit 150x4 point blank, and when mobs are in perfect formations 150x (5~8). Armor deductions aside that is.
Good times for a Shotgun
-Fighting De Ragan with Ice bullets is always fun. I'd rather not fight that douche EVER again, but it's always refreshing to hit De Ragan in 5-7 spots per shot, for 40-150 damage each.
-The big and dumb. Polavohras, Flaming crocs, and Megid masters. Just stay behind them or beside them and let the beating commence.
-Mass mobs. By using Freeze or Shock on C Rank and Shock on B-A Rank you become the best crowd controller around. Your damage output is decent, but it can be hard to hit 4+ mobs with each shot.
-In any other scenario, other weapons can do better. The shotgun can keep up in damage by staying point blank. However, because you are unable to make mobs flinch or strafe out of the way you can really take a beating. Having to dodge constant attacks can really slow you down.
Conclusion
At the moment the Shotgun is nowhere near the best weapon of choice. I would recommend using one as a backup weapon for those PP stressed situations, crowd control on A rank, or for taking down those slow mobs with multiple damage points. At the very least I would take Shock bullets up to 11, and get them to level 21 upon the next update.
Once you get your bullets up to 21-30, you will be hitting mobs point blank with 5 bullets. This is sure to leave a mark, especially when those bullets start doing 200-250 damage a hit.
Upon first glance and a bit of testing you'll find that Shotguns can tag many enemies with a single shot and spray status effects around the room with frenzy. However, most Rangers see this as a weak weapon because of its low damage output. There is however one thing that most Rangers are unaware of: Its point blank damage potential.
Basic knowledge:
-Shotguns fire 3 bullets a shot with a Bullet level of 0-10, 4 bullets from 11-20, and 5 bullets from 21-30.
Advanced knowledge:
-Every time you shoot a monster with a shotgun at point blank distance, all four of your bullets hit that monster, and each of them count as a hit.
Test: Level 11 Bullets (4 Shots)
Shoot a level 16 Badira (lizard) at long range four times.
Shoot a level 16 Badira (lizard) point blank.
At long distance you'll notice it takes four shots to kill a Badira. Each shot doing 100 damage. Thus the Badira has roughly 350-400hp.
However, moving into point blank range you'll notice you kill the same Badira with a single shot. But wait, you only saw 100 x 2 damage appear above its head, how did he die to only 200 damage?
You actually just did 100 x 4 damage with a single shot; you just hit him with all four bullets at once, instantly killing him. The damage is there, but the numbers verifying this above its head are not.
*Sometimes you will not kill them with one point blank shot, the reason being one of the four bullets actually missed*
-Shotguns have an "extremely small" area of effect on each bullet. If two monsters are extremely close to each other, one bullet can hit both of them.
It is possible to hit 8 monsters with a single shot using level 11 bullets. All four of your bullets can hit two mobs each. The chance of such a perfect set up is very rare. My record is 7 mobs with one shot.
-Getting into a position in which all four bullets always hit monsters can be tricky. One mob point blank, two mobs rather close, or a group of mobs at long range all work well. At the moment I hit 150x4 point blank, and when mobs are in perfect formations 150x (5~8). Armor deductions aside that is.
Good times for a Shotgun
-Fighting De Ragan with Ice bullets is always fun. I'd rather not fight that douche EVER again, but it's always refreshing to hit De Ragan in 5-7 spots per shot, for 40-150 damage each.
-The big and dumb. Polavohras, Flaming crocs, and Megid masters. Just stay behind them or beside them and let the beating commence.
-Mass mobs. By using Freeze or Shock on C Rank and Shock on B-A Rank you become the best crowd controller around. Your damage output is decent, but it can be hard to hit 4+ mobs with each shot.
-In any other scenario, other weapons can do better. The shotgun can keep up in damage by staying point blank. However, because you are unable to make mobs flinch or strafe out of the way you can really take a beating. Having to dodge constant attacks can really slow you down.
Conclusion
At the moment the Shotgun is nowhere near the best weapon of choice. I would recommend using one as a backup weapon for those PP stressed situations, crowd control on A rank, or for taking down those slow mobs with multiple damage points. At the very least I would take Shock bullets up to 11, and get them to level 21 upon the next update.
Once you get your bullets up to 21-30, you will be hitting mobs point blank with 5 bullets. This is sure to leave a mark, especially when those bullets start doing 200-250 damage a hit.