Shotguns

General Strategy

The first thing we should say about the shotguns is that the damage results are very random. The numbers shown for the M3 and the XM1014 below are quite awkward (i.e. headshots inflicting less damage than body shots). This is because only a fraction of the buck from each shot will hit the area the size of a head. With that in mind, many of the individual projectiles directed to the head will miss. On the other hand, the chest region is more likely to catch most of the buck making body shots more damaging in most cases.

The M3 Super 90 has eight pellets per shot while the XM1014 only has six per shot. Neither shotgun can penetrate through walls or other permeable surfaces. The shotguns are unique in that each of them can be fired while reloading. As long as there is at least one round loaded, it can be fired off during the reloading process.

Benelli M3 Super 90

M3 buy screen

M3 in action

Availability: Terrorists and Counter-terrorists
Cost: $1700
Rounds per clip: 8
Rate of fire: 1.25 rps
Reload time: 4.2 Seconds (for all 8 rounds)
Avg. damage to unarmored chest: 100 health
Avg. damage to unarmored head: 100 health
Avg. damage to armored chest: 100 health
Avg. damage to armored head: 66 health, 33 armor

M3 spread

The M3 Super 90 isn't worth buying. It's slightly more powerful than the XM1014 auto shotgun, but its slow rate of fire and even more sluggish reload time make it very unappealing. Those two setbacks aside, the M3 does have a little more range than you'd expect from a shotgun. As the buck spread screenshot shows, it is the only gun in the game that does not suffer from recoil due to the slow nature of the pump action.

The M3 might be a viable option if you have a very accurate first shot, and your style of play limits you to areas where you'll only encounter one enemy at a time since you'll likely get torn apart if you miss the first shot or if you meet up with more than one enemy. All things considered, if you have your heart set on owning a shotgun, your money is better spent on the XM1014.

Benelli XM1014

Auto shotty buy screen

Auto shotty in action

Availability: Terrorists and Counter-terrorists
Cost: $3000
Rounds per clip: 7
Rate of fire: 3.5 rps
Reload time: 2.7 Seconds (for all 7 rounds)
Avg. damage to unarmored chest: 100 health
Avg. damage to unarmored head: 71 health
Avg. damage to armored chest: 100 health
Avg. damage to armored head: 67 health, 34 armor

Auto shotty spread

The XM1014 auto shotgun is one of the most deadly weapons in close quarters combat. Lots of weapons are capable of killing two or three people within a few seconds, but none are as consistent as the auto shotgun. Keep that in mind if you are constantly running into groups of enemies at close range. The XM1014 does have a slight recoil, but nothing as bad as any of the automatic rifles or sub machine guns.

When you're up against more than one enemy, you must move from target to target very quickly. Learn to identify death animations, and immediately move on to the next target once you confirm a kill. This strategy applies to all weapons, but it's even more important for XM1014 users. Since the auto shotgun only holds 7 rounds, you can't afford to waste a single round on an enemy that's already dead. It only takes you two seconds to fire off all of your rounds, so you must make all your shots count if you want to be the last man standing.

If you hold down the fire button when the gun is reloading, it will fire one round at roughly the same pace as a fully loaded M3 pump action shotgun. So if you hold down the fire button after the clip is empty, you are basically left with an M3 until you can take some cover and reload the entire clip. The M3 seems even less appealing now.

Last word of shotgun advice: avoid wide-open areas as much as possible. You don't want to get into a long range fight against a rifle when all you have is a shotgun.