Shotguns

Shotguns are designed to inflict a high level of damage at close range. Because of their limited range, they are usually ineffectual when fighting in open terrain. Although the Reticulans do not have any shotguns of their own, the Microslug Accelerator has a similar role.

All shotguns utilise the rifles skill.

Humanoid transgenants will start using shotguns from the middle stages of the game onwards. They are only likely to be a threat in an establish base mission or if you are ambushed in an urban mission.

The potential damage inflicted by the SPAS-12, Neostead and the HK CAWS is calculated in a different way to the other weapons in the game. Each round consists of 15 pellets which are fired at the target in a conical formation. The closer the target is to the soldier, the more pellets will hit the target. The numbers given for the amount of damage inflicted, both here and in the in-game glossary, are based on the assumption that all 15 pellets will hit the target, something that is only likely to happen at point blank range. The amount of damage you inflict will dramatically fall off as the distance to the target increases.

Pump Action SPAS-12

Weight: 4.4 kg
Ammo capacity: 6 rounds
Damage type: soft

Aimed mode
Max range: 11 metres
Damage: 600
Rate of fire: 0.5 rounds per second

This is the most basic type of shotgun in the game, and is available in infinite quantity from the beginning. It is also the primary weapon used by Malcolm MacLean in the tutorial mission.

The SPAS-12 is rendered obsolete by the Neostead, however there are a few situations in the early stages of the game in which it is useful; it is difficult to take out a charging chomper before it can maul anybody with the other weapons available in the first few missions; the Uzi and the Colt 0.45 lack the killing power and the deceptively fast pace of a chomper makes it a difficult target for grenades, even for the experienced player. It is well worth equipping one of your soldiers with a SPAS-12 until you have some assault rifles.

Neostead

Weight: 5.5 kg
Ammo capacity: 12 rounds
Damage type: soft

Aimed mode
Max range: 12 metres
Damage: 900
Rate of fire: 0.4 rounds per second

Although the Neostead is heavier than the SPAS-12 and has a slower rate of fire, its greater damage potential, range and ammunition capacity render the SPAS-12 obsolete.

For experienced players, the Neostead is a popular choice for the second stage of a UFO recovery or alien base mission because of the high damage potential in the close range conditions therein. It can also be useful against the transgenants in establish base missions, perhaps more so than the HK CAWS which has lower range when used in burst mode, although later on you will get better results against the transgenants with the hybrid plasma rifle.

The Neostead can sometimes be found in the arsenal of a newly captured base from the earliest stages of the game.

HK CAWS

Weight: 5.5 kg
Ammo capacity: 9 rounds
Damage type: soft

Aimed mode
Max range: 13 metres
Damage: 480
Rate of fire: 0.5 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 8 metres
Damage: 1,440
Rate of fire: 1.0 rounds per second

This is the only shotgun in the game that is capable of firing in burst mode.

The HK CAWS is unimpressive when used in aimed mode; although it has a high range and rate of fire compared with other shotguns, the damage potential is even lower than that of the SPAS-12. It is really designed to work in burst mode at point blank range, under which conditions it is the most destructive shotgun available.

As with the Neostead, this is a popular choice of weapon for the second stage of an alien base or UFO assault mission because of a damage potential even greater than that of the enhanced plasma shotgun. Because of the limited range in burst mode, it is less effective in missions against the poorly armoured transgenants.

The HK CAWS can sometimes be found in the arsenal of a newly captured base from relatively early in the game.

Plasma shotgun

Weight: 4.5 kg
Ammo capacity: 4 shots before power cell depletion
Damage type: plasma
Uses hybrid power cells. Improved hybrid power cells give 8 shots before depletion.

Aimed mode
Max range: 10 metres
Damage: 820
Rate of fire: 0.2 rounds per second

The plasma shotgun is a human application of Reticulan plasma technology. It is related to the plasma rifle and has the same research prerequisites; plasma principles and hybrid power cells.

The slow rate of fire of the plasma shotgun is a major drawback. By the time it is available to build, the Reticulans will be regularly using area effect weapons, so you will be trying to kill or disable a Reticulan soldier before he can even open fire.

Another significant drawback is the reloading time – 12 seconds, second only to the collapsible plasma cannon. Twelve seconds will feel like even longer when you are in the middle of a firefight with Reticulan soldiers equipped with advanced plasma launchers, microslug accelerators and alien rocket launchers. You should consider reloading it when there is a lull in the fighting rather than waiting until the power cell is depleted. You will be wasting ammunition, but hybrid power cells are easy to manufacture.

By the time the plasma shotgun is available, most Reticulan soldiers will be wearing sky or bio armour, both of which give considerably greater protection against plasma damage than soft damage, so the Neostead and HK CAWS will inflict greater damage on Reticulans than the plasma shotgun.

Although the plasma shotgun is devastatingly powerful against the transgenants at close range, you are usually better off with a plasma rifle or the later human assault rifles for their greater range and rate of fire.

The plasma shotgun never really lives up to its potential, and it is rarely, if ever, worth having on a mission. Build one if you really want to have some enhanced plasma shotguns and then forget about it.

Enhanced plasma shotgun

Weight: 4.5 kg
Ammo capacity: 5 shots before power cell depletion.
Damage type: plasma
Uses hybrid power cells. Improved hybrid power cells give 10 shots before depletion.

Aimed mode
Max range: 11 metres
Damage: 1,140
Rate of fire: 0.2 rounds per second

As the name suggests, this is an enhancement to the basic plasma shotgun. In order to build an enhanced plasma shotgun, you must have a basic plasma shotgun and have researched enhanced hybrid weapons, which can only be done once you have recovered the Kasputin Yar files.

Although this model offers improved range, damage capacity and ammunition capacity over its predecessor, it still has the same drawbacks as its predecessor; the rate of fire and reloading time are unchanged.

Although the enhanced plasma shotgun has a high damage potential, it should be remembered that Reticulan armour is optimised against laser and plasma weapons, so the Neostead and HK CAWS are still more effective against them. If you want a weapon that will inflict an enormous amount of damage at close range, consider using the M240 flamethrower, the warp demolition device or the microslug accelerator, which boasts an excellent rate of fire, ahead of the enhanced plasma shotgun.

For missions against the transgenants, the enhanced plasma rifle is a far better weapon than the enhanced plasma shotgun. Although the damage potential is a little lower at 750, the greater range and rate of fire more than make up for it. Remember that the humanoid transgenants have area effect weapons by the time the enhanced plasma shotgun is available, so you will need weapons with a high rate of fire.