- Shotgun

Learn about the Shotgun in Duke Nukem Forever, including its damage, stats, advantages, drawbacks, and usage tips for both campaign and multiplayer modes.

The Shotgun is a powerful close-quarters weapon that first appears in the Campaign mission "The Lady Killer (Part 2)" and is also available in the "Going Down" DLC. It excels at dealing high damage rapidly but suffers from a slow reload time and significant pellet scatter at range.

Stats / Weaknesses:

• Damage (Per Pellet):
  • Campaign (Range>384): Easy 12.5, Normal 10, Hard 7.5, DiG 5
  • Campaign (Range<192): Easy 18.75, Normal 15, Hard 11.25, DiG 7.5
  • Multiplayer (Range>800): 0
  • Multiplayer (Range<800): 40
• Magazine Capacity: 7
• Maximum Ammo Carried: 28
• Rate of Fire (Avg.): 1.04 seconds
• Reload Time: 0.65 seconds (pull up), 0.53 seconds per shell, 0.93 seconds (pump)
• Melee Cooldown Time: 0.84 seconds
• Enemy Drop: Yes
• Multiplayer Respawn Time: 20 seconds
• Drawbacks: Shots scatter greatly over longer ranges; very slow reload time.

Strategy:

• The Shotgun is excellent for close-quarters combat, capable of dishing out large amounts of damage quickly before needing to reload.
• Avoid reloading during a fight if possible, as it leaves Duke vulnerable. If reloading is necessary, switch to another weapon to finish the job.
• In Campaign on DiG difficulty, it can take out many enemies in as few as two shots. Keep the weapon fully loaded whenever possible.
• There's a damage threshold in Campaign: at ranges between 192 and 384, damage per pellet increases from the base 10 (Normal difficulty) up to 15. For example, at 288 units (halfway), each pellet does 12.5 damage.
• In Multiplayer, Shotguns have a maximum range where shots stop dealing damage. Otherwise, each pellet does 40 damage. Like in Campaign, getting closer to the target maximizes the weapon's effectiveness.

GLITCH:

There is a visual glitch where Duke pumps the Shotgun when reloading, but no shell casing is ejected. This is a common animation error in video games where unused shells might theoretically be ejected during a reload.