ACS-12īeing the only automatic Shotgun in the game meant that the ACS-12 was an ‘automatic’ inclusion to my list (see what I did there?). ‘Jazz Hands’ obviously synergizes well with the Double Barrel and ‘Premeditated’, as you both want to and need to reload very often. As for ‘Distance’, I feel like having a little more range on a weapon like a Shotgun can be helpful in both PvP and PvE. I’ve explained why I like ‘Premeditated’ already. For PvP, you won’t find a better Shotgun, and for numbers in PvE, the Double Barrel is sure to entertain.īest Talents – Premeditated and Distance/Jazz Hands Buff lasts for 10 seconds.īasically, you should always be reloading your Double Barrel fully, meaning you receive 50% damage to an already powerful burst damage weapon. If all shells are reloaded then weapon damage is increased by an additional +50%. Premeditated – Weapon damage is increased for every shell loaded to a max of +35%. This thing hits like a truck, and with a 2 bullet capacity it benefits ridiculously well from the shotgun-only weapon talent ‘Premeditated’. The Double Barrel Shotgun is capable of huge amounts of burst damage. Double Barrel Shotgun/Double Barrel Shotgun Replica If you compare these two talents with some of the better weapon talents like ‘Premeditated’, you can see why this weapon falls a little short. The ‘Sandman’ talent is also pretty poor, as healing that has already taken place before the debuff was applied isn’t prevented. Using melee attacks in a game like The Division is both risky and unrewarding, as the damage you put out has no way of scaling, Melee builds aren’t a thing, yet we have a weapon and a weapon class devoted to melee. The talent ‘Sweet Dreams’, for example, requires you to land a melee attack on an enemy for an armour increase that only last for a mere 10 seconds. Sadly, having Sweet Dreams holstered is the most use I’ve got out of it, as the other two weapon talents are nowhere near as good as the talents you could have on a normal high end shotgun. This isn’t even the best part of this talent, however, as the Evasive also works when your shotgun is holstered! So for example, if you pair this with a 100 mag LMG, you will get 25 rounds back per roll. For those confused, Evasive actually reloads 25% of your weapons magazine, so that’s two shells per combat roll in real terms. The equipped weapon talent is also fantastic, added a new way of playing the game by rolling more often to refill your ammo. Like I said, the damage here is solid, especially the sustained damage where only the Double Barrel shotgun can compete. Whilst it features pretty decent damage-some of the best burst and sustained damage from any shotgun in fact-it also has some of the most useless weapon talents in the game.
The exotic Shotgun in The Division 2 is a bit strange. Sandman – This debuff prevents the enemy from using armor kits and from receiving healing from any source.Įvasive – While equipped, dodging reloads 1% of your current weapon’s magazine. Killing an enemy with the Sandman debuff reapplies the bonus armor. Sweet Dreams – Landing a melee attack on an enemy after swapping to this weapon grants 35% bonus armor and applies the Sandman debuff. So with that in mind, here are my favourite Shotguns in The Division 2, with the weapon talents I’d most like to see rolled on them. With the right build and talents, a powerful Shotgun can in fact one-hit-kill a player.
The shotgun-only talent ‘Premeditated’, for example, can be extremely strong in PvP, boosting damage by up to 50% in some situations. Unlike every other weapon in the game, shotguns don’t gain a shooting or damage benefit, instead being awarded with increased melee damage.ĭespite the meta and that dodgy weapon bonus, Shotguns can actually be pretty powerful, especially in PvP with the right weapon talents. What I find most disappointing about the shotguns is the weapon type bonus. The Division 2 is sadly no exception to this rule, with Shotguns quickly become the least popular weapon, especially in PvE. So insanely powerful in some games yet so weak in others, it seems that this weapon type, above all others, is the most difficult to get right.