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Tactics The Mysteries of That other Shotgun

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timur

timur

Grizzled Veteran
Jan 8, 2010
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IN AMERICA (inside joke)
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#1
You know, as I return to my oldtime favorite perk, the support specialist, I discover 1 thing: I have forgotten the intracicies of the hunting shotgun. Now that I return to using it, I would like a list made to help both me and some other fsr newer to the game:

Your favorite strategies using it

How to properly use it on larger specimen (scrake +FP)

How to properly use it not on larger specimen

And the basic things needed for a good usage of KFs most hated and loved shotgun(thats not the AA12)
 
#4
Your favorite strategies using it:
i will use it for blasting both shots into large groups of well, pretty much anything. shooting a single shot is kinda pointless since you could use the pump or AA12 for that. shooting at single or small groups is a waste of ammo. my favorite strat is to let SS/commandos/demos spam at a scrake/FP and ware them down to about 25-30% health so i can dual barrel em in the face for the kill and the dosh.......and to rage the EBR spammer that thought he was gonna get it :D

How to properly use it on larger specimen (scrake +FP):
same as what i said my favorite strat is. let other idiots spam away and ware them down to low health....when they go to reload, finish the FP/scrake off and take the kill ;)

How to properly use it smaller specimen:
fire both barrels into large groups.

And the basic things needed for a good usage of KFs most hated and loved shotgun(thats not the AA12)
the HS can be very effective on lower difficulty levels against FP/scrakes so long as you're a high support perk. the double barrel blast provides a quick and massive ammount of damage at close masses of zeds or large specimens. the reload is also much quicker than the time it takes to fully reload the pump shotgun or the AA12.
 
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#5
Well, with the Hunty, I use it for erasing mobs of clots in the space of a second. When it comes to Fleshies and Scrakes I zerg-rush them and fire both barrels into the face. I only do this if another player whittles down their health a little bit.

With the AA12, I like to keep it on semi-automatic to kill single ZEDs, most notably crawlers. If there's a large ZED, I just keep blasting until it disappears from the planet. If there's a mob of ZEDs, I still use semi-automatic and try and hit multiple ZEDs with one shot. If it's extreme close combat, I press the middle mouse button like a panic button to switch to full-auto.

The pumpy sits in the middle of these two weapons. :)
 
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#6
Not such a mystery

Not such a mystery

The Hunting Shotty is a master Support weapon. I love it when I'm in a game and see the support pull out his hunting shotty rather than an AA. Then you know you are playing with a "professional".
You can breath a sigh of relief that you aren't going to hear " I need money" ten thousand times every single trader time. you know you aren't getting "spray and pray" and a guy out of ammo 1/3 of the way through the round cause he is taking out single crawlers with his AA from range.

It is much the same as when you get a real sharp shooter who grabs a handcannon and a crossbow. Or even the the professional demo who by wave 7 hasn't littered the field with pipes and hasn't pulled out an M32.
------

It has been quite some time but I played a couple maps with pump/hunting Support the other day and I can say it was a true pleasure to "work" with him. It had that awesome feel of we know we have a job to do, we both know how to do it well. No stepping on each other toes. When he was going for the scrake for a head shot with his hunting I'd keep the crawlers off him and he didn't spaz out when the FPs came and start spamming an AA12 at it like 95% of the rest of the supports.

It is getting more and more rare to play with a professional, but every once in a great while you get one or two in your random and all seems right with the world.
 
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#8
Main #1 tip: "in da mouf!"
Put the barrel in it's mouth before you pull both triggers. The spread on that gun is frankly retarded. Hunting shotgun? pfft. You would starve to death if you used it to hunt.


Tip #2: collapse the mob.

This is a situational tip. There is a good time to use it, and a horrible time to use it.

To use the hunting shotty on mobs of smaller zeds you need them not only to fit within the cone of fire but keep them close enough that they get multiple pellets each.

For the zeds in the front of the group this isn't a problem but the group may be stretched out a bit so zeds in the back are only getting a few (if any) pellets.

One thing you can do is run up on the group close enough so that it triggers them to attack. You then backup quickly to get out of range of the attack. This will cause the front row of zeds to stop and do an attack animation for a moment. The back row of zeds will continue walking forward and close ranks.

After the front row misses you, surge forward again and double-fire.

Like I said though this is very situational. Using it when crawlers are in the front row is inadvisable. Using it when gorefasts are in the front row is a judgement call. If you feel your first shot will drop them then go for it.

Tip #3
Use a "high-low" combo. Instead of a double shot, do a single shot a bit high followed immediately by a single shot a bit low. The first shot will soften targets and might get a lucky headshot. The second shot will finish off any targets plus takeout crawlers.

It's another situational one though. Two single shots has less damage than a double. The idea here is to offset this by getting some head damage into the mix.


Tip #4
(somewhat contradictory to tip1)
When you're trying for a point blank headshot, don't quite do it point blank. In the heat of the moment it's quite possible to miss the head hitbox and land damage on the body instead. I know it sounds noobish to say this but really when a skrake or FP is up close you're firing upwards and it's easy to catch the chest with some of the blast.

Instead as you're running up to do the headshot, fire just a bit earlier than you normally would. Use a range of about 3 feet instead of 0. The spread will ensure you get some pellets into the head.
 
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#9
Having nearly maxed my support perk before the level cap was increased to 6, I hardly ever used the AA12; in fact, I think it to be a waste of money and space. Between the shotgun and the hunting, there is little else a proficient support player needs.

The regular shotty is pretty basic: you line up zeds and maximize penetration. If you aren't taking down multiple targets with one blast, you are doing it wrong.

When it comes to scrakes/fps, I have always preferred the hunting shotgun (in tandem with the regular shotty) to the AA12. Got a scrake lumbering towards you? No problem! Soften him up with the shotty, continuing to blast him even after he is charging. I can typically get 5 shots into him before he's in my face. Then it's a simple matter of blasting him into a never-ending backwards somersault with but one discharge from the hunting shotgun.

If there are other zeds around the scrake, just use your hunting once, then back off and continue with the normal technique.

Flesh pounds are a tad trickier, being a more formidable opponent. But then most other perks can't solo him, so why push the matter? Work together, and do try to get that final double-tap killing blow; you know, for the (zombie) ****s and (hysterical) giggles.
 
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#10
-[SiN]-bswearer said:
How to properly use it on larger specimen (scrake +FP):
same as what i said my favorite strat is. let other idiots spam away and ware them down to low health....when they go to reload, finish the FP/scrake off and take the kill ;)
Click to expand...

what he said about that^. but if u are left to single handedly kill the scrake, put about 4-5 pump shotty shots in the scrakes head. that will soften him up just enough for the boomstick to wipe him off the face of the earth
 
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#11
Hunting Shotgun's job is to help soften up the Patriarch after you unload an AA12 clip into him. I don't use it on any wave other than 1 and 11.

It just doesn't do the jobs that the AA12 and normal shotgun do well enough. AA12 can take scrakes and FPs easily with little to no softening before or after unloading a round into them. Normal shotgun is the king of killing the small fry. Hunting Shotgun has a niche use that just isn't useful enough all the time to bother using it, honestly. AA12 doesn't even cost that much money... you only need it late in the game when the big ones roll in.
 
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#12
And also, I have realized something.........i really should never have gotten that last perk level as a support, as i really could use the shotgun over the hunting in the 1st wave. In fact, id even say that the basic shotty might be better in the start than the aa12, but that could just be me.

but despite ur efforts, i find the hs horrifically useless in wave 1 (just too high ammo costs, too few crowds to blast, and no shotty to use of smaller groups). At risk of soundin noobish, i kinda liked lvl5 better:eek:

I had totally forgotten about the curse of lvl6:(
 
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#13
How to use it:
Don't. End of story. Go home and play on your Floor that Kills you. :p

Seriously: I hate the Hunting over the AA12 or Pump. Way to little damage and way to much spread before you have to reload. Pump has a nice spread so it can take out a group but it's tight enough that the pellets don't hit the walls(most of the time) but hit the Zeds.
 
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#15
timur said:
And also, I have realized something.........i really should never have gotten that last perk level as a support, as i really could use the shotgun over the hunting in the 1st wave. In fact, id even say that the basic shotty might be better in the start than the aa12, but that could just be me.

but despite ur efforts, i find the hs horrifically useless in wave 1 (just too high ammo costs, too few crowds to blast, and no shotty to use of smaller groups). At risk of soundin noobish, i kinda liked lvl5 better:eek:

I had totally forgotten about the curse of lvl6:(
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that. You may as well use your knife on the first wave since the only way to kill clots with the hunting shotgun is to run up to their faces. It's also a lot cheaper. Save it for the bloats and sell it when the wave is over. That's what I do.

I have to admit though, the hunting shotgun is an underrated weapon. I've had the game for about a year and I remember when the hunting shotgun was always used to take out the big ones. The game has changed a lot, especially since the tier 3 weapons were introduced. The hunting shotgun is powerful and nostalgic, but if you really want to get the job done just save up for the aa12.
 
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#16
timur said:
And also, I have realized something.........i really should never have gotten that last perk level as a support, as i really could use the shotgun over the hunting in the 1st wave. In fact, id even say that the basic shotty might be better in the start than the aa12, but that could just be me.

but despite ur efforts, i find the hs horrifically useless in wave 1 (just too high ammo costs, too few crowds to blast, and no shotty to use of smaller groups). At risk of soundin noobish, i kinda liked lvl5 better:eek:

I had totally forgotten about the curse of lvl6:(
Click to expand...
Yeah, spawning as Support means that you're basically screwed for a bit. HS just doesn't work as your only big weapon. Thankfully I have other perks at high levels so I can just play Berserker wave 1 or something instead. And I used to like spawning as Support due to how versatile the normal Shotgun is.
 
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#17
timur said:
And also, I have realized something.........i really should never have gotten that last perk level as a support, as i really could use the shotgun over the hunting in the 1st wave. In fact, id even say that the basic shotty might be better in the start than the aa12, but that could just be me.

but despite ur efforts, i find the hs horrifically useless in wave 1 (just too high ammo costs, too few crowds to blast, and no shotty to use of smaller groups). At risk of soundin noobish, i kinda liked lvl5 better:eek:

I had totally forgotten about the curse of lvl6:(
Click to expand...


Sharpshooter is the same way. The crossbow doesn't get useful for many many waves. At least with SS your 9mm becomes deadly.
 
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#18
It isn't that hard to make the hunting a useful weapon on wave one: if you are in a larger map (say, West London) then you do a bit of strafing to bunch up the zeds. Not that hard, really. If you are in a closed level (say, Bedlam) they group up by default.

Yes, ammo is expensive via the trader; it is also rather plentiful via random spawns. I always buy the regular shotgun after wave one, and just keep the hunting ammo topped up with ammo finds around the level. Since it doesn't get used all that often through the first three or four waves, refusing to buy ammo isn't a problem.
 
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