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Shotguns are short-ranged weapons that use the ‘Shells' ammunition type. They are best used for dealing heavy damage in one hit at close range. Shotgun pellets are uniform in their spread; additionally, shotguns cannot be swapped quickly to avoid the shot timer as of Season 5. Since Season 9 (Patch 9.30), a shotgun delay will not apply if one shotgun is in your inventory. You will get a shotgun delay when switching from shotgun to shotgun if more than one shotgun is in your inventory.
The Tactical Shotgun Ranges across all 5 rarities. It has moderate fire rate, a slightly larger hitbox compared to the pump and does decent damage, but not enough to one-shot opponents.
The Pump Shotgun Ranges across all 5 rarities. It has significantly slower fire rate but more damage per hit, especially the Epic and Legendary rarities, which can one-shot fully-shielded opponents with a single headshot.
The Combat Shotgun Ranges from Rare to Legendary. It has moderate fire rate and can do good damage even from medium and long ranges.
The Drum Shotgun Ranges from Common to Rare. With an automatic fire rate, it can do good damage with spray-like fire, but only in very close quarters.
Notes
Reload speed indicates the time it takes to reload a shotgun from empty to full.
Shotguns have high power, but a very low rate of fire.(Besides the Combat Shotgun and the Drum shotgun ) Intended to be used in close-quarters combat,(besides maybe the Combat Shotgun) players should attempt to land headshots in order to end fights as quickly as possible.
Though cross-hairs show where the spread will hit, players should still rely on the center of the reticule when aiming, otherwise they risk only getting a partial shot in, thus dealing out sometimes much lower damage.
Though most weapons benefit from aiming down sights, the shotgun is meant for more quick, haphazard play, and therefore does not benefit nearly as much from aiming down the sights (the only exception being the Heavy and combat Shotgun). Use this fact to your advantage.
The drum shotgun is the only shotgun to have a mag and takes the full reload time no matter how many shells are loaded.
Trivia
The Heavy Shotgun appears to be a KSG-12, with a holographic sight.
The Uncommon and Rare Pump-Action Shotgun is most likely based off of a Remington 870 Express, while the Epic and Legendary is clearly based off of the SPAS-12 .
The Tactical Shotgun appears mainly fictional, mostly made of what appears to be a red plastic. The barrel is sawed off, making it better suited for close quarters.
The Drum Shotgun appears to be a Fostech Origin 12.
The Combat Shotgun is designed after the Taran Tactical Benelli M2 John Wick uses in Parabellum.