How good are shotguns in Black Ops 4? Drift0r provides the best tips for shotgun users

For the first time since Modern Warfare 2, shotguns are secondary weapons again in CoD, but are they a viable option over a pistol in Black Ops 4? YouTuber Drift0r breaks down the numbers.

In MW2, the Spas-12 shotgun was so good that players would often use it as their primary weapon, despite it being a secondary (and we can’t forget the Akimbo Model 1887’s, pre-nerf), so CoD decided to move shotguns to the primary slot.

But, with Black Ops 4 they are secondaries once again, which means that Treyarch have had to make them somewhat less powerful, so as to make them really just a last resort, similar to a pistol.

As there are only two shotguns, the MOG-12 and the SG-12, Drift0r condensed them into one single ‘In-Depth’ episode, his popular series where he takes a deep dive into weapons, attachments, perks and more in Call of Duty.

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His findings for shotguns are fairly simple, as they operate the same as they did in Black Ops 3, with a base damage, then additional damage points for every pellet which connects.

This allows the MOG-12 to be a one hit kill at very close ranges, but this range is massively extended with the ‘Choke’ attachment, as it doubles the pellet damage, giving a much longer one hit kill range.

As for the other shotgun, the SG-12, it’s semi-automatic fast fire rate is balanced out by a much lower base damage and pellet damage than its counterpart, but with the right attachments, becomes much more viable.

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With the extended (drum) magazine, plus the powerful tac light – which essentially blinds nearby opponents – Drift0r explains that the SG-12 suddenly becomes much more useful.

Without these attachments though, you will find the SG-12 to be too weak to stand out, never managing a one hit kill no matter what range you are at or attachments you are using.

Whether you should be running a shotgun over a pistol is likely a matter of preference, but judging by Drift0r’s tests, these shotguns are well placed a secondaries, best used for cleaning up already weak enemies.