Shotgun
From Tactical Wiki
[edit] Shotgun usage tips by Cpt Destructo
Original forum discussion here
Being an Engineer is part stealth, part assault brutality and part defense. It's a class that plays much different from many other kits. It requires more fluid movements and timing.
Here are a few helpful tips to making you a shotgun master.
- With the shotgun, you don't need to crouch in order to be accurate. This gives you an advantage over other classes.At close range is where you are at your most lethal. Move around alot. Stop to fire and keep moving until the pump animation is complete. Aim for the head and after a while you will be able to get one-shot kills with little trouble. Your movement will determine if you live or die. Run around them in circles, this seems to work best. The key is to keep moving except when you fire. If you are out in the open you can survive against around 4 assault guys that are firing at you and barely take a scratch if you do it right.
- Examine the area you are going into BEFORE you go into it. Make a note of all the places you can take cover in. You can use these places for cover during combat and as a place to hide while you reload.
- Surprise is your best friend. Be patient and wait for the enemy to turn their back. Then rush in or stealth in and take out the first guy...the others will be alerted..but by using tip #1 you should be able to take them out at mid-range or closer ange by using circle patterns or using cover. Hide behind cover, then step out and fire. Hide behind cover or move again while the shotgun finishes pumping.
- Sometimes aggressive assault can work great. Use sprint to run into the enemy camp using the first three tips. This can sometimes throw the enemy off-guard.
- Mid-range and close-range are somewhat the same in tactics. At mid-range you want to use cover alot more often, but move quickly. Close-range try to stick to fluid motions...zig-zags and circles.
If you master these shotgun tips you will be able to take out half a squad of assaults with barely a scratch at mid-range or close range.
Wanted to add something else. The shotgun isn't for everyone. And some people may never get it down. But if you are having trouble with the tactics used with the kit...try mastering the Special Ops (I keep calling it that from the DC days..but not sure if that's the name?) kit...many of the tactics are similiar to the engineer. Suprise and over-take the enemy with superior movements. Once you have that kit down...using the shotgun will get that much easier.
