The shotgun is one of the more complex weapons in the quake arsenal. Perfecting the shotgun is perfecting both timing and accuracy, and in close can be more deadly than any weapon depending on how you play defense while using it.
Because the shotgun really shines at distances shorter than 15ft, it is important that the user have adequate dodging skills when applying the pressure with the gun against opponents bearing a bazooka. Depending on how impatient one's opponent is and how he chooses to fire his weapon, the shotgun has the ability to drain 200+ life from a victim within 4 or 5 seconds. Of course if your opponent has 200 health or more and has a weapon, it is neccessary that dodging be a main consideration.
Shotgun is best used for up close floating opponents, such as those flung gently into the air by a bounce pad. If they are unexpecting, a shotgun is a sure kill, as the push force it has at close range will certainly knock a bounce pad user off his balance, which would in turn leave that opponent open for another relatively easy shot. Although the railgun has always been known to be the weapon of choice for the bounch pad, the shotgun is much better at close range bounce pads, simply because of the shotgun's MUCH improved rate of fire over the railgun. 2/1!
In addition to that sort of usage, the shotgun is also good for mid-range combat, between 15-20 feet. Where rockets are guesses and railshots require intense aiming, the shotgun can steadily drain your opponent of life until he or she realizes what's going, where they normally switch weapons to something they think will work better (i.e. a railgun or lightning gun), or they will begin to approach you with a rocket launcher because at close range, rocket launcher is also devastating. If one can keep their composure, i would suggest after an initial use of the shotgun, if your opponent does something like i wrote about, you should really continue with the shotgun. #1 it will aggrivate them as it isn't strongest weapon, yet they are dying to it. And #2, the shotgun is even stronger if aimed correctly up close. If they approach you with the rocket launcher in hand, normally one good shot should finish them off, if you've already landed a few and the assumption is made that they have armor and health. If they don't have any health left, the shotgun gets even better. Of course if they back up and try for the railshot, depending on how much health they have left you should either rail along with them, or switch to machine gun at long distance to finish them off. 7 health points per bullet is really annoying when you're trying to aim and you have 52 health points left.
When all is said and done, the shotgun remains king of mid range combat through and through. Remember, you can dodge a rocket. You can't dodge a bullet. |
