__ | | COD Black Ops: Shotty Guide | FAQ Started: January 25th, 2011 | Written By jimmythesnowman | Original Version finished: January 29th, 2011 | Email: [email protected] | Current Version: 1.10 |__ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Introduction [INT]| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, shotguns. Shotguns are a weapons type that shoots not a single bullet, but a spray of pellets. These spread out over distance, making shotguns useless at long range, but at close range...whoa nelly, it'll take your head off quite litterally! In Modern Warfare 2, shotties were relegated to secondary status. As the Shotgun guide posted on Gamefaqs tells, there were still people who just ignored their primary and only used the shotty. Well, with the release of Black Ops, the shotgun has been moved to the primary slot. Shotguns in the game boost high one-hit kill capacity, high mobility, and sheer awesomeness, but are quite useless at long range, and need careful use and the right mapwork to use right. That's the part that most people lack when trying to use it. So this guide is here to teach you to use it right, or your money back (too bad this guide costs FREE). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Version History [VRS]| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.00 1/28/11 | | First version. Mostly complete; wrote this over three nights. I might | | also make a map section later on, when I have the time. | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.10 2/ 7/11 | | Adding Faking It, Maps section. | '---------------------------------------------------------------------------' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Table of Contents [TOC]| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- .-----------------------------------. | [INT] Introduction | | [VRS] Version History | | [TOC] Table of Contents | .-----------------------------------. | [SHT] Shotguns | Learn your weapon, | [WEP] Weapons Overview | Feel your weapon, | [WPL] Weapons List | Become your weapon. | [PRK] Perks | Faster and stronger. | [SCN] Secondaries | The back-up plan. | [EQP] Equipment | Make your own arsenal. | [KLL] Killstreaks | Big sticks and how to avoid them. | [MOD] Game Modes | Playing the modes. | [TIP] Tips | The best section! No really, do read. | [MAP] Maps | * possibly coming soon * Map tips. .-----------------------------------. | [CNT] Contact Information | | [LEG] Legal Jargon | '-----------------------------------' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Shotguns [SHT]| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shotguns. In Black Ops, shotties are the Close Quarters Combat king. They deal damage in pellets rather than bullets; instead of firing a regular bullet, pulling the trigger releases a spray of small but lethal lead. This spreads out over the weapon's range and blasts whatever enemy is being hit with damage to multiple areas, often "gibbing" them (ae. cutting off body parts). The actual mechanics in the game are pretty simple. All shotguns fire 8 pellets. Each pellet does 40 or 30 damage, which drops off to 10 at range. Note that weapons in the COD series fire hitscans, not bullets; for shotguns, the hitscans drop in damage to 10 at a certain point, at which range they simply dissapear. The rate and range of damage dropoff depends on the gun, as does the maximum damage. Several other things differenciate the shotties. Magazine size, from 2 to 4, firemode, between semi-automatic and pump-action, hipfire radius, etc. are all different. .---------------------------------------------------------------------------. | TIP: To see the exact stats for all of these, see Denkirson's excellent | | graphical breakdown at http://denkirson.xanga.com/735016527/black-ops/. | '---------------------------------------------------------------------------' One thing about kill range: range is deterimined by three things. First of all, the most obvious is damage range and dropoff. The Olympia has the longest range, followed by the Stakeout, then the SPAS, then the HS (dual wield, single it's range is equivelant to the SPAS). Second, the Olympia and Stakeout both do a maximum of 40 damage per pellet, whereas the SPAS and HS max at 30. Last, the hipfire spread factor; the Stakeout has the smallest hipfire spread from the hip, and all the other guns are the same. When aiming down the sight (ADS), the Stakeout far outstrips all the other guns. Thus, a combination of these factors comes out with the Stakeout having the longest kill range, followed by the Olympia, then the SPAS, then the HS-10. Note that with the HS you deploy double the firepower, so while it's got the shortest kill range it does have a high kill percentage in that range, wheras the other guns can occassionally fluke. The Materkey is strictly inferior in all regards except for hipfire spread. Yeah, don't use it, Flamethrower is better anyway. I'm not even mentioning it again in this guide, it's not a shotgun for shotgunning at all... .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Weapons Overview [WEP]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' This section is a breakdown of the weapons; stats, abilities, and some tips when using the weapons in question. General tips are in the Strategy section. Here is a table of weapons stats (with a key). Note: All weapons are considered with applicable attachments. As you only have one anyway, and none on the Olympia, there is no reason NOT to use them. .--------------.--------------.---------------.---------------.---------------. | Key | Olympia | Stakeout | SPAS-12 | HS-10 | .--------------.--------------.---------------.---------------.---------------. | Max-min dmg | 40-10 damage | 40-10 damage | 30-10 damage | 30-10 damage | | Dmg dropoff^ | 10/15 meters | 7.5/16 meters | 7.5/15 meters | 5/15 meters | | Hipfire/ADS* | 5.5, 5, 8 | 3, 4, 7 | 5.5, 5, 8 | NA, 12, 15 | | Firemode | Semi-auto | Pump-action | Semi-auto | Semi-auto | | Magazine | 2 rounds | 4 rounds | 8 rounds | 4 + 4 rounds | | RPM | 92.3 RPM | 109 RPM | 312.5 RPM | 341 RPM | | Reload** | 3.3 full | 1.0 first | 1.5 first | 1.35 full | | >>>>>>>>>>>> | 2.65 add | 0.75 add | 1.25 add | | | >>>>>>>>>>>> | | 0.567 after | 0.567 after | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attachments | None | Grip | Silencer | Dual Wield | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' | ^ First number is when the damage starts to drop off, second is max range | | (at which damage = 10). | | * First number is ADS spread, second is standing spread, third is running | | spread. Fire spread is lower when you take a second to stop. Not included | | is Prone spread, which is even narrower. | |** All shotties but HS-10 Daul reload by single shells. This can be cancelled| | at any time to reload some, but not all, of your magazine. The first | | number is first shell reload time (you need to raise the gun); second is | | add time, for a single shell, when your gun is not empty; third is add | | time once you've already loaded 1 bullet in. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Kill Range Probability comparisons. Positions are approximate, based on personal experiences. High means generally one hit; medium, two hits; low, three hits. Note that because 10-15 are double digit, the back part of the the graph is stretched out; also, Steady Aim is factored in here. .---------------------------------------------. ; Olympia ; .---------------------------------------------. | high --------------. | | \ | | medium .--. | | '-------. | | low ''---. | | meters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | '---------------------------------------------' .---------------------------------------------. ; Stakeout ; .---------------------------------------------. | high ----------------. | | \ | | medium .-----. | | '.--. | | low '.--. | | meters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | '---------------------------------------------' .---------------------------------------------. ; SPAS-12 ; .---------------------------------------------. | high ------------. | | \ | | medium .------. | | '--. | | low '-------. | | meters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | '---------------------------------------------' .---------------------------------------------. ; HS-10 ; .---------------------------------------------. | high -----------. | | \ | | medium .------. | | '--. | | low '--------. | | meters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | '---------------------------------------------' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | TIP: A video range comparison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tafUJ27o8. | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Weapon List [WPL]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Olympia -------------------------------------------------- Pros: Good damage, second longest range with a good firerate. Cons: Only 2 bullets to a magazine with a long reload. -------------------------------------------------- The Olympia is the first shotgun you unlock. It doesn't help that it's also by far the most difficult to use. First of all, this shotty gets no attachment choices, which means that it lacks that extra finish the other shotties have. More importantly, however, it has only two bullets to a magazine. Coupled with a rather slow reload, this realy cripples its abilities. The Stakeout is superior to the Olympia in most situations. The Stakeout edges out this gun in kill range, and has double the ammo capacity. In comparison, the Olympia, being semi-auto, has a better chance for a follow-up shot. With only two rounds, it's critical to conserve your shots. Hit and run is particularly important with the Olympia. Also, be very careful about engaging large groups; you want a reliable backup plan, because you'll be calling on it more often then you would like. Stakeout -------------------------------------------------- Pros: Tight spread and high damage gives it the heftiest range of the shotties. Cons: Comes at the cost of pump action, small four-round magazine. -------------------------------------------------- The Stakeout is the game's only pump-action shotty. The pump is fairly quick, though, but it can still get you killed if you miss the first time. So using the Stakeout requires more care for accuracy then the other guns, although not as much as the Olympia. The Stakeout edges out the Olympia for kill range, although not by much. It's pump action and four round magazine may seem underpowered, but done right you'll get at least 2 kills out of every magazine. The Stakeout's only attachment is the Grip. The Grip reduces kick, resetting the gun back to the point it was at during the pump, wheras otherwise if you fire as fast as you can you'd drag up some. More importantly, as it's a shotty, the Grip increases the weapon's rate of fire, from 92.3 to 109 rounds per minute. That translates into about a quarter of second when doing speed fire, critical during firefights. The Stakeout has one interesting charecteristic. When aimed down sight, its cone of fire is reduced drastically. This means a couple of things. Firstly, it means that when camping a hallway, ADS to enhance hit-kill rate. Secondly, combined with its small magazine, it makes Sleigh of Hand Pro a viable perk- the base effect buffs its problematic reloads, and the pro effect increases ADS speed to enhance range. I still perfer Steady Aim, as having to ADS will always be a drag, but try it both ways and see which you perfer. Trivia: + There are two unusable shells on its right side. + The reload animation, and pump animation when ADSed, are very similar to that of the SPAS-12 in Modern Warfare 2. It also has the same firing sound. SPAS-12 -------------------------------------------------- Pros: Silencer makes it the best stealth CQC weapon in the game. Large magazine means it can spam lots of shots. Cons: Large magazine comes with long reload time. -------------------------------------------------- The SPAS-12 has changed drastically from its MW2 iteration. In Mw2 it was a pump-action shotty similar to what the Stakeout is now. Here, it's a semi-auto stealth killing machine. Attaching the Silencer gives you no range drop whatsoever, which is the gun's main perk - it can silently kill at close range, meaning enemy players are oblivious to your presence. That being said, compared to the HS-10, it's a single shotty so it can't match the HS for pure damage. However, it has stealth capacity, and is comparable in ammo with a 8 round magazine versus the 4 + 4 rounds on the HS-10. Compared to the Stakeout, it has double the ammo capacity, and although it doesn't have near the range, it can pump out follow-up shots much more quickly. That translates into better when you miss, same when firing a suprised enemy, worse when they are firing at you (where the Stakeout's one hit potential matters A LOT). Trivia: + The gun has quite a few fingerprints on it. HS-10 -------------------------------------------------- Pros: Dual Wield means it can field double the firepower. Reloads all 4 + 4 bullets in one go. Cons: Eats ammo, shortest range. -------------------------------------------------- The HS-10 has the shortest range of the shotguns, but the highest power. The Dual Wield HSs, which I call Typhoid & Mary after their own Zombies compadres, are murderous at close range. In addition, since you have two shotguns, they will kill in one go if shot double at mid-range. Interestingly, all eight bullets reload in one go. It can also be used single, although I don't recommend it, as the SPAS is strictly superior in that mode. It's one extreme on the table. It field much more firepower then the Stakeout, but also has much less range. One of the reasons I like running these guns is because it reminds me of Akimbo P90s back in Modern Warfare 2...yeah... Trivia: + The first bullpup shotgun in COD, and also the first akimbo shotty (back in the day that woulda drawn some nervous laughter from the peanut gallery). These sections may feel very slim, but that's because 3/4 of what you need is layed out in the sections above this one. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Perks [PRK]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' The right perks are a crucial part of your weapons build. With shotgun running there really are only a couple of outstanding perks you should be using, for the best possible results. ------ Tier 1 ------ Lightweight * recommended * Lightweight is the recommended perk for the first tier. The way of survival for a shotgun user is speed, and having that 8% bonus and, with pro, no fall damage increases your manuverability greatly. Without Lightweight you may find yourself arriving too late to kill someone you stunned, or getting killed trying to get to cover. Scavenger Arguably usable. Having more ammo is always good. However, I find that Scavenger is not nearly as useful as it was in Modern Warfare 2, and it's certainly not something for shotgun users. If you run outa ammo, just grab something off yor enemies. Ghost Now, I've always seen this used on shotty builds, and very effectively at that. Imo, mobiltity trumps stealth with these weapons. Flak Jacket Also arguably usable, but explosives resistance does not impart a direct benefit on shotties. Again, staying mobile is your best defense against what they throw at you. Hardline It's ok, but once again having speed is better then faster killstreaks, especially now that killstreaks have been watered down somewhat by disallowing building. ------ Tier 2 ------ Hardened The base effect is useless; shotguns have nearly no penetration, and are supposed to kill out in the open. Shotties don't deal well with walls at all, and trying to give them that ability wouldn't be a smart idea. The pro effect, however, is pretty ok: low flinching allows you to align shots better, and is critical on the pump Stakeout, which is punishing when you miss. Still not worth it though. Scout You can't hold breath with shotguns. Even if you could their nature means it doesn't matter. Steady Aim *recommended* Steady Aim decreases the size of your cone of fire, and adds buffering effects to your knifing and flinch speeds (pro perk). Steady Aim is BUILT for shotguns. Being able to aim in a concentrated cone of fire enhances kill range when firing from the hip, which you will be doing practically all the time. This should by your choice 99% of the time. Sleigh of Hand SoH is an interesting choice, and some players perfer it to Steady Aim. It is most helpful on reload-heavy weapons, ae. the Olympia and Stakeout. It's pro effect increases ADS speed. Now that's critical when using the Stakeout, which gets a major range enhancement ADSed. In the end, I perfer Steady Aim, but you should try this on and see if you like it. Warlord Shotguns only have 1 attachment! ------ Tier 3 ------ Marathon *recommended* Marathon is your go-to perk for shotgun running. Marathon allows you to sprint for increased or infinite (pro) distance, which is a simple must have for the mobile shotty runner. Ninja Hearing has been nerfed in Black Ops, by a lot. It's a little dissapointing I suppose, as it used to be such a major factor in detecting enemies. Either way you can bank on that ability to detect nearby enemies. If you don't use Ninja you'd never hear them. Wether or not Ninja beats out Marathon in usefulness depends on how consistant you and your team is at getting UAVs, and generally I find that they are consistant enough to make Marathon a superior perk. Use at your own discretion. Second Change No direct benefit for shotgun users, although getting downed so close to the enemy would allow you to hit them better. Hacker Hacker is a useful perk. Being able to see Claymores would save you from getting blown to bits, and seeing Tactical Insertions and other equipment as well would allow you to figure out campers. But still, Marathon is a better perk. Tactical Mask The pro effect is nice, but the base effect is useless. Overall: The perks I use most often are Lightweight, Steady Aim, and Marathon. If you want faster reloads, Sleigh of Hand is a decent second choice, especially with the Stakeout and Olympia. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Secondaries [SEC]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Secondaries are cruicial on a shotgun build. They're what you have to rely on if you get caught in a bad position with your shotgun empty of ammo. Choosing your secondary determines what you can do with your primary out of ammo. Because you have a secondary that doesn't suffer from a range cap doesn't mean you can recklessly try to go for long-range kills. It's your Plan B and not your plan A, and someone with an AR will mow you down with your Pistol in hand right quick. There are three secondary choices: Pistols, Launchers, and Specials. I'm excluding Launchers and the Crossbow from this section, because it's a really bad idea to use Launchers with a close-combat class in general. ARs and LMGs would be much more comfortable with them, and you can't exactly pull out and lug the things in a bad situation, like you can with Pistols and the Ballistic. Note: Upgraded Sights is not discussed here, because it is basically garbage. Pistols ------------------- ASP: The ASP has a small 7-round magazine. To compensate, it also has a fast 1.25 second reload and the faster raise and drop times in the game, clocking in at 25 seconds. This reflects its nature: the gun was originally designed as a Special Ops concealed weapon, meant to be carried in your short pocket and quickly deployed when the oppertunity or danger presented itself. The guttersnipe sights are interesting as well, better for close range and worse for the long, but you should not be using them past mid-range anyway. The ASP does suffer most from a lack of attachment choices, however, with only one option - Dual Wield. DW is discussed at the end of the Pistols section, but it looks like you'll have to use this gun bare. M1911: The M1911 also has a small 7-round magazine, and a longer (pistol- standard) reload, take-out time (although still very short), and regular sights. It does come with one major advantage over the ASP, however: it can accept Extended Magazine. That doubles its ammo capacity to 14, putting it over the ASP in that regard by quite a bit. The other choice is a Suppresor, an interesting idea for stealth but one that leaves you dangerously weak at mid-range. Note: the first three guns of this section all have the same damages - 40 to 20 - and damage ranges - 9.5 to 22.5 - and recoil patterns as well. Makarov: The Makarov is almost completely identical to the M1911, except that bare it has 8 rounds to a clip to the M1911's 7; however, the M1911 Extended Mags has 2 more bullets to a clip then the Makarov's 12, making it a superior stand-off weapon to this gun. The Makarov is better then the M1911 with a Suppresor, however, because it gets one more bullet in the magazine. CRZ11: Ah yes, the Pistol that makes the other pistols look stupid. The CRZ11 has only marginal differences from the M1911 and Makarov, but comes with a 12 round clip standard. That's 4 more then the Makarov and 5 more than the M1911. In addition its damage dropoff occurs 2.5 meters further away, so it has range advantages as well. With Extended Mags, it gets a whooping 18 round clip, still 4 more than the M1911. It's the best choice with a Silencer too, again because of its clip. But wait, there's more! The CRZ also gets a unique attachment option, Rapid Fire. Rapid Fire basically cripples the gun's strength in return for the quick dispensing of bullets in the magazine. It lowers the hit strength to 30 and hightens damage drop off similar to a Silencer, but gives you the ability to spam it at enemies. Combined with its large magazine, it's an interesting choice, but I still perfer the basic version, which can actually fire faster if you have a quick finger. Python: The Python is unique in that it's not a Pistol at all, but a Revolver. The Python does much higher damage, 50-30, and has longer range, with dropoff at 10/30 meters. That basically means that, at close range, you can kill in * only * 2 shots, wheras the other Pistols take 3. Lastly, it has a smaller hipfire spread then the other guns. In return, the Python also has high recoil, only six bullets to the magazine (yep, it's a six-shooter), and has to reload each bullet seperatly. It also has a good few unique attachment choices: Speed Reloader - The Speed Reloader solves reloading for you. Instead of putting each bullet in seperatly, you put them all in at once in a formed group. It still has a longer reload then the other Pistols, but it's much more managable. Snub Nose - This basically converts the Python into a regular Pistol, except with a longer range and smaller/longer-reloading magazine. The Snub Nose drops max damage to 40, meaning three-hit kills like the other pistols, and increases centering speed, ae. the speed at which your gun puts itself back on target, to the point that the recoil basically matches that of the other pistols. ACOG Sight - When the game came out everyone said LOLWUT when they caught sight of this. ACOG and a revolver are totally misplaced. Interestingly, the Python ACOG is unique; it increases two-hit-kill range by a good five meters, and DOESN'T reduce centering speed as it does with all the other guns. That basically means that, in return for crappy magnification and slow ADS speed, you get a slightly increased killbox. Not worth it of course, but fun as heck to field. ---------------------------------------- Dual Wield ---------------------------------------- Dual Wield is an attachment universially available for each pistol. It's only useful on the CRZ and the Python, however. Having a second gun increases your firepower, but cripples your range. It may or may not be the right choice for you: you're going to be going in close anyway, but you have to question wether or not losing the ability to aim down sights is worth it. Your choice, compadre. Ballistic Knife ------------------- I won't argue, the Ballistic Knife is a wacky weapon. It's also the one I field most often with my shotgun classes. The Ballistic Knife is basically a super- knife. On the one hand, it comes with 2 "knives" which you can press on the trigger to shoot. The knives travel slower than that of even the Tomohawk, however, so using it to kill is a universially appreciated skill kill. In addition, shot knives can be gotten back by pulling them out of wherever they landed. The second use is for knifing. You are basically holding two knives at once; because you don't have to pull it out and swing, as it's already in your hand, your knifing speed is doubled. Now knifing is an effective companion to shotgun running. In fact, if you forget about your knife, you will find enemies often reminding you of its effectiveness. A doubled knifing speed is amazing for rushing a group of players that are either unaware or flashed/stunned/too close to you to shoot you down/can't aim for life. Using the Ballistic gives you an effective plan B for when you have to deal with a large group - plus, it pulls out just as fast as your standard pistol! .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | TIP: Every time you respawn, take out your Ballistic Knife. The Knife | | has a short pulling-out animation that eats up time if you take it | | out for combat later. Pulling it out and stashing it again when you | | spawn ensures that you will be able to pull it out quickly when the | | time is right. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Equipment [EQP]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' There are three types of equipment slots in Black Ops: lethal grenades, tactical grenades, and equipment. They are covered separatly below. Lethal Grenades --------------- Fragmentation Grenade The classic frag is much improved from its Mw2 nerf. It's now a viable contendor with the Semtex, which has recieved a nerf to its throw distance. It's not as good for contact kills because you have to charge it be effective, but the rolling can get you some epic kills down slopes and off walls. Semtex The Semtex has less throwing distance then the Lethal, as well as a smaller blast radius. However, it has the ability to stick to enemy players, which is an instant KO when it explodes, and has a much shorter fuse time, not requiring cocking to always be useful. A workhorse grenade. Also, when you cock it, you can pull it back. Tomohawk Tomohawks are sex-y. They work great when combined with Stun Grenades especially - stun 'em, aim, throw, and get the kill. Using them is an instant ko, but the problem is with enemy movement. It's not nearly as fast as a bullet so if they get off where you throw it it will miss. Also it follows a downward arc, which makes kills beyond a certain range a matter of luck. Either way, a very cool thing to use on the close-range shotty build. Also, you can pick them back up after you use them. Tactical Grenades ----------------- Flashbang The Flash is a very potent weapon, and with a proper hit it is the strongest tactical. When it hits, it causes enemies in a wide radius to get hit with a whiteout - they won't be able to see, will get a ringing sound in their ears, and won't be able to run either. They have a wider blast radius then the stun grenade, but it also has one major disadvantage, which is a longer throw time. Which of the two you perfer is up to you. Stun Grenade I personally perfer stuns. They don't have as wide of an effect, and throw in less, but when they hit the blanket effect is practically the same. Compared to flashes, stuns freeze up the enemy player, keeping them from moving themselves or their gun. Although they could still get lucky and spray in the right direction, most of the time that's an easy kill. The arc of effect is not as wide as that of the Flashbang, however, so keep that in mind. Note: Flashed players can still move their gun, so they can also get lucky and randomly spray you down in the whiteout. Decoy Grenade These are an odd one. When dropped they roll around on the floor and simulate gun fire and reloading. Their jerking movements are meant to look like a real player on the enemy radar. They're ok for luring enemy players out, but depending on how aggressive and/or smart the enemy is they may not take the bait. Overall, a fun choice to play with. Willy Pete The new smoke grenade. The Willy Pete drops a dense cloud of smoke wherever it is dropped. Extremely useful for capturing objectives-which is a lot easier if you have one-distracting opponents, and covering your movements through a choke point. But their use is always and always has been very iffy. Damage use is neglicable. Remember, Infrared can see right through it! Nova Gas The Nova, when thrown, releases a puff cloud of damaging yellow smoke. The radius is not nearly so wide as that of the Willy Pete's, and you can still see through the smoke. The smoke damages enemy players that move through it, keeps them from running, and blurs their vision. However, its damage is neglicable- even if you hit the enemy with a direct impact and they get a full whiff, they are not likely to die from it. In terms of direct usefulness, the Stun does a better job, but the Nova has the longest linger time of the grenades. Equipment ----------------- Camera Spike The Camera Spike is a thermal camera. Basically just drop it and it will toogle to your minimap, allowing you to see what's going on below. Good for camping, when your eyes tell more of the story then the radar, and having an extra set helps. Not useful in any way for shotgunning. C4 Placeable explosive pack. Good explosive radius, but low throw distance makes it a difficult option for anything not involving objective defense. Not recommended. Tactical Insertion Extremely useful. On a hit-and-run class like the shotty you want to be able to get behind them. Drop a Tac in behind them, and you will be able to return to their backs every time you die. Just be careful of people camping it for a free kill. You want to drop them in a nice, shady spot, away from the action. They are a bit noisier then they were before, and take a different form then Mw2's flares, but they're just as good. Jammer A good item to drop in a high traffic area. It's better for camping corners and such, but being as mobile as you are you can use them to mess with the enemy team. Still, as it imparts no direct benefit on you (you don't want to be in one place for too long, ever), it's not as useful as the other options. Motion Sensor There's a lot of options for campers in this game...the motion sensor acts as a mini-uav, performing sweeps in a limited area. Drop it in a high traffic area and it will find good use, but again, there are more directly benefitial choices. Claymore Clays are a strong choice on any class. With shotgunners, you can drop them waaay ahead of the crowd, and in high traffic area's they're almost always going to get tripped. Overall, usually a free kill if you get it in a good spot on anyone not using Hacker. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Killstreaks [KLL]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' This section is on using killstreaks and dealing with enemy killstreaks. Spy Plane - 3 kills An enemy spy plane is your worst opponent. You can't mix and mingle with the enemy crowd too well if you're on their radar and they are prepared for you. Therefore it's great if you can get Strela support to take them down quickly. On your side, the Spy Plane is your greatest friend. By looking to radar you can see were the enemy crowd is, and find the best path to take them all. I would always keep one enabled, as it's a bridge to higher streaks. Counter Spy Plane - 4 kills The Counter Spy Plane is the most annoying perk in the game, at least for the affectees. For its duration it blocks the enemy team from seeing anything on the minimap. That pretty much makes you immune to Spy Planes, which is incredibly useful. On the enemy though, it's a major annoyance. Again though you can't do anything about it except hope for a friend to shoot it down. SAM Turret - 4 kills I lied, you can use this :P. The SAM Turret gives your team practical immunity to killstreaks, except for the Napalm Strike and Blackbird. It'll even take out Care Packages for pete's sake. Put it in a confortable position in the back of your spawn, and it will do the gritty work. On the enemy, again, it's the opposite. Care Package - 5 kills Care Packages are random. You never know what you'll get, but be careful of enemies stealing it, and steal your enemy's packages as much as possible. Napalm Strike - 5 kills When you get this I recommend you wait for a Spy Plane. Placement is key for kills, and placement is also key for the blocking effect - they won't be able to walk through the flames for those the five seconds they're active. When dealing with an enemy Napalm, where they drop it is key. You can tell a few moment before it drops wether or not it's going to be on top of you. If it is, run to the side quickly. You want to avoid taking the hit, after all! Staying inside helps too. Your high mobility lets you swerve out of the way 90% of the time, as long as it doesn't drop directly on you. Sentry Gun - 6 kills Sentry Guns are fun in objective games, but given your mobility you can avoid them pretty easily. If you want to take it out, go around the size and punch their circuits, or throw flashes and stuns to temporarily disable it and run it right down. Mortar Team - 6 kills The mortar drops six bombs on three locations, by twos. You want to drop them on the enemy spawns and maybe a foward position. Positioning mortars is kinda hard. Anyway, to avoid them, go inside, as you can't really predict where they will land without seeing them land. Attack Helicopter - 7 kills Fire and forget. The heli will come up to the map, stick around the are you drop it at, and kill whomever it decides to kill, adding to your total. It can get you a good bit of kills over time, but it's vulnerable to launchers, with only 1 set of flares. The minigun only does 10 damage per bullet, but it's laser accurate and high rpm, so it will be difficult to avoid once it's firing. A launcher or staying inside helps. Valkaryie Rockets - 7 kills Pretty gimmeky. The valkaryie plays like the Predator from MW2, only with two missiles, it has to be airdropped, and it doesn't drop down from above but you launch it. The blast radius is dissapointing, but it's fun to use. I can't say I know any specific technique for avoiding it. Stay inside if you want, but it can reach through windows :) Rolling Thunder - 8 kills Like the Stealth Bomber from MW2, except it's one kill lower and less stealthy. Basically comes on the map and drops a whole lot of large-radius bombs in a row. Kills everything on Nuketown. Hear it coming, GET INSIDE. Blackbird - 8 kills Blackbird is an intelligence cou al natural. For 60 seconds, it basically functions like a massively upgraded Spy Plane. It provides real time data instead of five-second sweeps; it gives enemy positions as arrows, indicating their positions as well as their directions; it works through Ghost Pro; and lastly it cannot be shot down. It can only be jammed with a Counter UAV, but if the team is any good that will be quickly shot down. While it's up it's not that easy to shotgun, or do anything really. But, if you play your strengths, remember that they can't tell if you have an LMG or a Shotgun, so you can still potentially stack kills. Chopper Gunner - 9 kills Pretty generic tip: just stay inside. Remember that as long as you put a solid surface between you and the chopper, you will be fine. Attack Dogs - 11 kills Another fire-and-forget streak. Call in the dogs and you'll passively get kills. they wrck havok on enemy teams. Fortunatly, being a shotty runner you're well equiped for dealing with them; they have as much health as regular players so the best thing to do is to keep going, shotgun any that go for you. Maybe help a teammate in need, too. Gunship - 11 kills Same as with the Chopper Gunner, just harder to avoid. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Game Modes [MOD]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Hardcore vs. Core ---------------------- Hardcore has become more common in Black Ops, now that Dedicated Servers are allowed. Hardcore is basically Core, except you play with less health, limited HUD, no minimap, and limited health regeneration. It's NOT recommended to play shotguns on Hardcore, as any gun will kill in one hit at close range on Hardcore, without suffering the damage drop. Core, meanwhile, is the game archetype we all know and love. Team Deathmatch ---------------------- The standard. The main problem with TDM has always been that when your team presses the other team to the limit, the spawns swap. That may be benefitial to you, getting you out of situations where you would be trapped in a limited area by player movement, or bad for you, getting you caught with your back to their guns. Demolition ---------------------- In Demolition you have two bomb sites. You either defend it on the one side, or try to blow them up on the other. The way to accomplish this is to plant the bomb, and then protect it until the fuse sets off. Shotguns work very well for rush-defending the bomb sites. Domination ---------------------- In Domination you are given three flags. You must capture them, and they will give you points. The first team to get to 200 points wins. There is generally one situation: the two teams each control their spawn flag, flag A or C, and are constantly fighting over posession of the B flag. Occasionally you might get trapped on the B flag, or even get completely dominated. Either way, shotguns win find plenty of love ruining potential flag caps. Capture the Flag ---------------------- You have two flags, one on your side and one on the enemy's. Rush the enemy flag and bring it to your flag to score points, and defend your own flag to deny them points. Capture the Flag will definetly appreciate shotgun user's ability to quickly terminate flag runner or defenders before they can snatch the flags to safety. Sabatoge ---------------------- Not commonly played, but the premise is simple. You have one bomb on the map. Get it and carry it all the way to the enemy's bomb site, deep in their spawn. Then, protect it until it blows to win. Sabatoge takes a gruelingly long time, but is overall similar to Search & Destroy in tactics. Search & Destroy ---------------------- Yeah, this is not a mode to use a shotgun in. In Search you have a limited time to plant the bomb at one of two sites. There is no respawning, so players are MUCH more careful in their movements. Tactics often trump close-range firepower so shotties have little place here. Headquarters ---------------------- A personal favorite. A headquarters spawns at a random point on the map. The object of the game is to first capture it. Once you do, you will get points every five seconds or so. The enemy team then has to execute your team as quickly as possible to stop you from getting too far ahead. Once you capture an objective, beware, as you do not respawn until it is destroyed. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Tips [TIP]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Right, well, this is the nitty-gritty of this guide: shotgun tactics. All of the stuff up to this point has been pretty dry; but learning techniques for effective use is anything but. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | TIP: A video on Olympia tactics, but the author covers the nitty-gritty | | of shotgun work in general (and has some sweet clips running): | | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJfDt4tH2SA. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Know the maps. It's very important to understand the maps when shotgunning. You want to know the safe spots where you can reload; the corners that you can use for suprise; the no-go long range zones where you don't do anything except run across; the enemy spawns and routes to get into or behind them; and lastly high-traffic areas. You need to know all of that to be most effective, so use an easier gun until you understand the maps. Get to know them; it can't hurt to do so! 2. Know your gun's kill range. It's important that you understand your gun's kill range, and to what range it will have its effect. If they're out of your kill range, you absolutely need to run up to them. If they don't know you're there, it's easy enough, but it gets harder when they're shooting you. In that situation... 3. When you're outgunned, run... When an enemy is out of your range, and shooting, you can do one of two things. You can run, using your superior mobility to sprint the heck out of there. Once safe you can recover, reload, or flank or lure them into the easy kill zone. They generally do one of two things; either they rush at a weakened you, something you should greet with a shotgun blast to the nuts, or they stick around with their sights up. It's important to keep clear of grenades, either way, as they can be your doom. Should they camp, it's always, always a good idea to just leave them alone. Go down the other side, or go around them. Or... Faking It: An adaptation of the above. Basically you let them see you, and then go the other way. They expect you to flank, but in reality you wait a second and then come back the same way you came before. They have to rescope on you and you gain valuable shooting/distance-closing time. 4. ...or throw tactical grenades Assuming they're still trying to aim at you, and haven't gotten a fire-lock yet, you can duck down and blow them with a quick Stun or Flash - the Stun's quicker throw really, really matters here. Once they're disabled, move around their hipfire spread (they tend to spam shots when disabled) and put a grenade, shotgun shells, or knife into them. Your choice. 5. If they're running away and you really want to kill them, use tacs. If an enemy is going in a different direction and you'll lose them, you can throw a tactical grenade and "catch" them. They'll be forced to slow down, and you can catch up and easily kill them. 6. Your knife isn't obsolete, keep using it. Just because you're using a close range weapon doesn't mean you should stop knifing. It saves ammo and is a reliable kill at extremely close ranges. In fact, it's often a superior choice to just backstab someone that doesn't see you. If you run out of ammo or are at extremely close range, put the knife over the shotgun. The Ballistic Knife and maybe Tomohawk are both extremely useful in that regard. 7. Get used to dying. Shotgunning is an extreme form of rushing, and like rushing, it's liable to get you killed. A lot. After all, if you go the wrong way and someone is waiting for you with an AR, your broomstick won't help one tiny bit. If you'd like easy kills, slap a silencer on a FAMAS, get some Claymores, and camp somewhere like a noob; but shotgun running is infinitly more fun and rewarding. 8. The size of their profile is key. The shotgun's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness to a point. If they dropshot you, they're reducing their profile heavily, making it harder to land shotgun shells in them. It's one of the most effective counters to the shotty. Also to avoid are people camping behind dumpsters etc, with only their head sticking out; yeah, not a kill-happy situation. Flank instead. 9. Aim down the sight can help in certain situations. Unlike in previous iterations, aiming down the sight (ADS) is actually benefitial now. It's very clumsy to do on the go, but if you have the time going into your sight will enhance kill range, especially if the gun you're using is called the "Stakeout." Note: this is null 'xcept for the stakeout if you are using Steady Aim. 10. Always be mobile. The main, main, main point of shotgunning is to be swift. Never camp in one spot. You'll get spammed to death by automatic fire and a shrapnel heap of grenades. Your gun is fearsome, but not so fearsome that the enemy can't get to you. The main point of running with a shotgun is to be swift. Get a kill or two in a hallway, and then run through a different way. Camping is extremely counter-productive with a shotty, and should only be done when, for instance, holding the flag and waiting for your teamates to kill whoever has yours. 11. Shoot on the fly. Don't aim down the sight. Usually, you don't need to, except for point 9. Keep moving as you fire, closer to the enemy, down the side. I find that bunny hopping, ae. jumping to the sides, is great for messing with their aim. If they spot you just outside of kill range, they generally need a bit of time to get their sights up and start firing, and you can use that time to close the gap. If they try to knife you, hey, it's their funeral. Give them a shotgun blast to the head. 12. A coordinated team is a winning team. One of the things that teams in COD lack is coordination. When everyone on the team knows what they are doing, and have microphones, games can get pretty professional in informational quality. A well-synchronized team is able to keep UAVs in the air, share information on enemy locations and spawning (via audio- typing takes a lot of time. AKA: you NEED a microphone), and in general support one another. This becomes extremely important in modes like Sabatage and CTF, where teamwork is absolutely critical. 13. Know where they are. Related to the above. I always keep a UAV when using my shotgun kit, it's your best friend (aside from the Blackbird but an 8 killstreak is a really good run in of itself...). Having UAVs up, and using general map knowledge and the mini-map to figure where they are firing, is critical as well. Footsteps are also useful, although not nearly so much as in Mw2. The footsteps have been nerfed pretty badly, but you can still hear them close up, with a good set of headphones. Use them to pinpoint enemies close to you. Quality headphones are priceless; not everyone can get Turtle Beach HPA2s like mine, but even crappy ones sure beat stereo. 14. Don't be predictable. Never go the same way twice. Especially, if a camper is bothering you, flank them! It's pretty simple - if they can predict you, they can shoot you, and if they can shoot you before you can shoot them, well, you're dead. 15. Get good reflexes. When you start to take damage, you need to quickly assess the situation. Should you try to run them down? Should you toss a stun? Should you flank? Should you flee? When you see a big enemy group heading for you, you need to quickly assess the situation. Should you try and mow them all down? Should you retreat? Should you try and trap them with grenades and equipment? When you...yeah, you get the picture. 16. Be ready to use plan B. Your secondary can be a litteral lifesaver. When out of ammo and there are enemies left standing, pull out your secondary and get ready to rumble. Pistols and the Ballistic Knife are recommended choices, as is a Tactical + Lethal Grenade combo. Secondaries are covered in more depth in their own section. 17. Get them in a row. What you don't want is for there to be too many enemies to handle at once, or to be caught under fire reloading. The best case scenario with a shotty is to engineer your running such that you have a nice, consistant flow of dead meat, er, enemy players. If you ever catch a large group, a stun + explosives, Ballistic Knifing spree, or explosives party is recommended. This is especially true wth the Olympia and the Stakeout. 18. Open spaces - avoid them. Avoid open spaces like the plauge. You'll get camped to death and won't be able to retaliate. Every map has 'em, and the ones to avoid are outlined in the Maps section. The worst possible thing you can do with a shotgun is to try and run down someone out of your range in an open area. You better pray they have bad aim, or you're going to eat loads of lead. 19. Use reload cancelling. I'm suprised how many people don't know this. Your gun is reloaded when the magazine counter is reset, NOT when the animation is finished. For instance, when reloading off an empty mag, rechambering the gun, the last "extra" action, is not actually needed to fully reload it. There is a short time between reload and bringing up the weapon on practically all animations. The amounts vary, but it basically allows you to break out of reloading straight into combat. This can be done by pressing sprint, shifting guns and then back again, or by knifing. With shotties, this basically allows you to ignore pumping the gun after reloading, and to partially reload your guns, leaving a few shots out if you get caught reloading. A very useful technique. 20. Adapt to the target. Shotgun users are good at eliminating two targets in particular. First, the campy camper. Figure out where they're holed up, then go down a shady side route to get to their backs and execute them. The second are other rushers, who run right into the jaws of your shotgun. LMGs especially suffer at close range from shotgunner-schitsofrenzia. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Maps [MAP]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Array --------------------- A good map for shotgun running, Array aint. This map is full of long ranges and clear pathways, making shotgun running anywhere except for inside the dish and inside/behind the electrical station rather risky. However, on the flip side, there's a lot of bush to mask your movements in the back spawn. It's possible to shotty here, but I don't recommend it. Cracked --------------------- Cracked is an urban map, and urban = good for shotty running. This a square building-to-building map. Tons of pathways, a real mess. Leapfrog between buildings and keep from straying outside. The middle and right roads in particular are killer. Crisis --------------------- Crisis can be divided into three basic sections: the beach, the middle area, and the back area. There are three general paths between the two sides of the map: 1. The left pathway. This takes you through the auto shop, past the BMG, and down past the rocks. The rocks above are often camped, so as a shotgun runner you have no way of taking them on efficiently, the greatest problem on this pathway. Be careful of getting flanked, there are several small buildings and a rock passageway to the right here. 2. The middle pathway. This takes directly between the two other sections via an underground tunnel, which is a great conduit for foot traffic in a narrow space. However, it's very predictable, as there are only two covered positions inside. 3. The right pathway. This also takes you underground, and is linked to the middle path via a junction. It's the narrowest path of them all. The most predictable of all, but also the most effective :) The many buildings on this map are perfect for shotgun running. However, avoid the rocks as much as possible, those places are camper land, as well as the lake and shallow water area behind them. Firing Range --------------------- A small, dense map. Very good for shotty running. Again, the open roads in the center and right of the map are killer, so avoid. Get inside the buildings and clear them out, the best way to play shotgun on this map. Grid --------------------- Another winter map. Grid features a wooded area in the front spawn, an obvious no-go area. However, the two buildings in the center and the power station and extra buildings in the back spawn are all excellent areas for shotty movement. However, be sure to keep linear distances to a minumum. The center road is a no-no area, and being a shotgunner in the building requires smart movements. Hanoi --------------------- Hanoi is a good map for shotguns. It's basically a building complex with some open roads here or there. Avoid the open area of the train tracks, the garden area, and the roads to the left and the bottom, beyond sprinting across them. Havana --------------------- Another great map for shotgun running. In fact, arguably the best. There are three pathways, the center road (bad), and the buildings to the left and right (good). The building paths are somewhat linear when you've played them as much as I have, but still fantastic for shotty running. Besides the center road, the two roads on either spawn are another bad area to be. Jungle --------------------- A messy map, as it was meant to be. This is another large map with areas for both long and close range. In general you want to not be in the long paths on the ground floor, and instead by looping around the side roads. A general rule of thumb is, the greener/housier, the better. Launch --------------------- Another all-purpose map, this one does veer towards some long range fighting however. If you use a shotgun, stay amongst the buildings in the center, and avoid the train tracks in the center of the map beyond sprinting across them, it's horribly exposed. Nuketown --------------------- The most overused map ever. Anyway, shotties work wonders here. A small box map with narrow corners, a bunch of vehicles in the center, and many narrow corners. Great, great, great for shotguns, especially if you can infiltrate the enemy building and drop a tac there... Radiation --------------------- Radiation is an industrial facility. It has several buildings, which makes it very good for shotty running. The area to avoid is the center of the map, out above where everyone can shoot you, and the same place underground, as it's a stretch of mostly empty cememnt and you can get shot very easily. The outside area behind the back spawn isn't ideal either, but the rest of the map is game. There are four paths you can take here: 1. Center, outside. Not recommended, there's a ton of empty space. 2. Right side factory building. Watch for people camping on the ladderways up above, and you can do plenty of damage. 3. Center, downstairs. Watch for people dropping in behind you, and be super- careful of the large room for movement here; otherwise it's very compressed so a good spot to shoot in. 4. Right side. People love to camp the ladderway here. Excessivly. You can go down here of course, but keep a grenade ready to drop people. Summit --------------------- Another Russian winter map, again as varied as the others. The building are obviously good areas to be, but the long paths on the sides, and the semi-open areas on either back end of the map, aren't. Villa --------------------- Villa is pretty good for shotgun running. There are lots of buildings to creep through. But be sure to avoid the open areas, again: the road on the side and back of the map, and the central square in general. WMD --------------------- WMD is everything at once. There are multiple large buildings scattered in the map, and several open roads as well. Stay off the roads and crowd into the buildings. The back spawn area, the main road in the center of the map, and the road the left-top junction road on the left side are all obviously dangerous areas to be in. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Contact Information [CNT]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' If you have a comment, thank you, or addition to make on/to this guide, send it to me at a[underscore]bilogur[at]yahoo[dot]com. Just please, don't troll/spam me. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Legal Jargon [LEG]| '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' This guide is (C) 2011 jimmythesnowman. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Currently that permission goes to Gamefaqs and Neoseeker. (which I * still * think is run by Neopets :).
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