The only problem with shotguns is that it's easier to learn to use one than it is to fight against one.
Mainly because xenos are easier to click on (especially on high ping) and because every caste interacts with shotties differently. Also, if you fuck up as a marine there's a decent chance someone will grab you to a medic.
But in a situation where both players have some experience and are equally skilled, it's a balanced weapon.
People are forgetting xenos should work as a swarm for full effect. Just get good.
the thing about shotguns is you cannot trade hits with them, which means you have to play a no damage run when you fight them
since most xenos damage using melee, the range in which shotguns are effective and do not have a way around doing so, this makes it much much riskier to deal with in comparison to other weapons
cuz if you're a lurker you can take a burst or two or more if u dodge some shots from an m41 but if its a shotgun you're going to be put really close to crit/in crit in 1 shot + the stun, the room for error is just so much lower as a xeno/in a 1v1
there are abilties for some castes that make your job easier but at some point you will have to enter that shotgun range which = pain
unlike other standard weapons (besides flamethrower, which kinda works the same as a shotgun with some caveats), you cant just go up to them and slash while taking a hit, if you take a hit you are DONE unless you're a bulky boi caste
now i know, shotgun doesnt actually '1hit' most castes blablabla but it definitely feels like what I just said and in the previous or ensuing combat that huge chunk of damage will end up with the xeno dead thanks to a additional stray bullet or a melee hit while you're stunned and the number of things it 2hits is pretty numerous and you can pull off a 2hit pretty fast in the right circumstances
is why shotguns are the most popular cuz it negates them from just going up to and damaging you superior to other options, it is just way too risky of a thing as a t1/2 to engage and as such gives the marine the best chance of "surviving" a 1v1 and in general, it serves as a deterrent: however it does not let you push as well as other weapons due to the lack of cover-fire/spammability and range shakiness, is why you dont really see shotguns defending lz1 behind cades and the like
imagine having a balanced weapon that trades damage at range and chip damage for close range cannon blasts, and imagine having players on a team with a wide variety of tools and god tier communication complain that they can't solo everythign by themselves without a margin of error
times have changed and so have I
to add onto cabal's post, i like to play defender and i can attest defenders can easily 1v1 buckshotters
young or mature can't fight, but you're also not supposed to fight as a mature T1 so don't do that
once you are at elder or ancient it's just a matter of utilizing your faster movespeed to land the tailsweep and get the stun then wailing on the marine before they get up. you will reliably hardcrit a marine before he can get to his feet and you can drag them off into a corner while you're doing it. do not lower your headcrest as a defender because it drops your speed and makes this near impossible- it's a noob trap
the main issue is getting slugged on the frontline and then unga balled, but even then that shouldn't really be happening if you're situationally aware or you have backup
Last edited by Kineem; 01-26-2020 at 09:46 PM.
In all scenarios, all it takes for a defender is to enter 4 tiles range of a buckshot, got hit, stun and over and over and over. You can only pray for tailsweep to stun a marine, just as drone can somehow dodge first shot via going back and forth into and out of the range, then disarming. If marine is aware you are there from the beginning, defender has poor chance to win "true" 1vs1 (no suprises, no jumping around the corner, or from the darkness etc) against buckshot/slug , even at ancient.
For half the hive? Yes, it's suicidal. I'd say that their weaknesses are spitting castes and t3s. One shotgun vs a warrior/lurker too, if the marine isn't a gamer.
Runner/lurker: Pounce from outside of their range, back off before they get up so you don't get pb'd
Spitter/sentinel/boiler: use your neuro/acid spray
Any T3 that isn't boiler: Just do your thing
Queen: Neuro, or if you're really bad at the game then screech
warrior: Lunge
Defender: Don't
drone/hivelord/carrier: Bro why are you even fighting a shotgun marine?
I play as Dawson Hook and Brad.