News - So Many Shotgun Nerfs: Did Shotguns Just Get Destroyed. Warzone Weapon Balancing
Lockwood 680
Damage total: we now deal only 120, so pretty significant damage to Nerf there, and also for the defender's heavy long barrel, the sprint to fire penalty now is 30% rather than just 8%, so that's pretty significant. Jump Up In It Sprint to fire speed, so it's going to feel a lot slower when you're trying to get that first shot off after sprinting, so now if we talk specific ranges, first of all, the pre-f two-shot kill range, which was so good with this gun with the base gun with the base lock with 680, was out to about 8 and a half M, and the new two-shot kill range for this shotgun is only out to about 6.8.
So it's a pretty big adjustment to its range there now. I do want to point out before this update that it seems like the range that you could get 200 damage for this shotgun, which was a combination of its Max damage range and its first drop off, was only out to about 6 M. It felt like I didn't have the exact number, but now I'm getting it out to about 6.8 M, where you get 200 damage total, so I could be wrong, but it seems like this number got buffed up a little bit, so the first range, or rather that range, where you can deal 200 damage, is out a little bit further.
That's just what it seems to me again. I don't have the exact number pre patch, but this is actually pretty good and not really anything to scoff at because dealing 200 damage per shot, that far. I mean, that's double what the other pump actions can do, so that's really strong still, so we do have that potential silver lining to this update again.
again I can't confirm it was buffed, but it definitely feels like it was, and it seems like it is a little bit longer than what I can remember, but also from about 6.8 M to about 10.4. That is where that damage reduction kicks in. You only deal 120 damage per shot, not 176. So you'll take three shots from 6.8 to 10.4 M, and then its minimum damage range, which is now 10.4 M, seems like it was reduced because prior to this update it seemed like it was about 16.5.
Based on the advanced stats that I had, this got a pretty significant reduction to its minimum damage range, and also, the damage you deal per shot in this range is 68. Damage per shot gives you an idea that this is not a two-shot, three-shot, or even a four-shot kill; it is a five-shot kill. If you are past 10 meters with this thing, you are going to take five shots to kill with perfectly placed shots.
That is incredibly bad. I mean that's insanely bad you do not want to be shooting people that far with this thing and really this Nerf while it's still a great shotgun was really focused on getting its potential at ranges really reduced and basically it got its nuts cut off in that department, because like I said you don't want to be caught dead with this thing past 10 m now as to what Barrel you should be using there are two that you should really be using and that's the Bryson Hammer Forge long barrel and then the one that we all use the one that we know and love the defender heavy barrel now of course the big one the defender heavy barrel gives you 10 pellets, the one that's only the hammer forg long one gives you six the base default pet count but with this longer Barrel your two shot range is out to about 8.5.
M to basically where it was before the Nerf and with the 10 pellet Barrel it's out to 7.9. So if you want to have a little bit better mobility and aim down sight speed and a little bit less of a penalty to your Sprints of fire speed, definitely try the hammer Forge long barrel out yes it doesn't have 10 pellets but it can still work wonders, and honestly with the Lockwood Defender heavy barrel the Sprint of fire speed penalty didn't feel too bad in war zone simply because I'm sliding around quite a bit and I'm always kind of pacing my shots a little bit so it didn't really affect me too much but I can see this being definitely significant especially for multiplayer but in war zone particular since you're moving around and jumping and you have to get two shots out it doesn't feel nearly as bad but yes this shotgun it's still amazing It mainly just got really, really cut off at ranges, so if you're again past 10 m and you do not want to be caught dead with this thing, you really got to push close, and the fact that you can deal 200 damage out to almost 7 m with this thing again, that's really, really good to give you perspective.
The Bryson 800, basically only does this out to about 3.4. Is MERS or so, and that's basically double that so to give you some perspective of course so if you're looking for a different way to run this thing you could use the build I always show off but take off the brew and Bastion grip and instead put on the kamur riy 33 laser to get a good Sprint of fire speed bonus, but if you do want to swap to the other Barrel you can basically use the same load that you had before it just swap the barrel to the Bryson Hammer forged long barrel and maybe you could swap out that brewing and bason angled grip for something like that skeletonized, x-ray guard that you can get for a little bit better movement speed so moving on from the lock with 680 I feel like I talked a lot about that one.
Haymaker
We have the Haymaker, which basically got reduced to some of its ranges. Basically, this one wasn't as bad as people might think because its damage wasn't reduced at all. I can confirm it still does the same damage. You're still getting ridiculously good time to kill with these things; it's just that the ranges aren't nearly as good.
So here is a new damage profile out to about 4.1 M. That's your new three-shot, and of course, if you stack that with the heavy barrel or the long barrel, it's going to be even better, so no, this shotgun didn't get nerfed into the ground. It's still very effective, and it's still very strong, so take with that what you will now.
Riveter
The Riveter also caught a Nerf, but again, mainly to its ranges. Now the base gun did get a Nerf to its range, which I don't really care about because this thing was terrible with the base, and I do not recommend using it without anything like incendiary. But incendiary also caught a Nerf on this thing, and again, the damage in particular didn't change at all; it's just the ranges, so you're still getting an insane time to kill up close of about 300 milliseconds and then 450 in the next range, and these ranges extend out to about 2.5 M now and 3.3.
So honestly, this is still an amazing shotgun if you're using that caned laser build I showed you in my last article. I highly encourage you guys to try it out because it's still a menace and still very, very good. So for the Riveter and Haymaker, yes, they did get Nerfs, but they're not nearly as bad as people might think, and even though they're not using the shotgun anymore, trust me, it's still great.
