No. The aiming is NOT fine. Shotguns are NOT fine. They need more damage, and DUST needs faster aiming.

...and less FPS drops, especially in CQC. And a wider FoV. In shotgun range the target merely needs a slight nudge to the side to strafe out of the narrow cone of visibility we have. Add a bit of lag and you don't even know what direction he strafed in...

CCP should give SGs the same love they gave HMG because SG'S aren't precision weapons . They are short Range area of denial weapons powerfull, large spread with limited range...

The Shotgun aims slowly because it is one of the most massive light weapons. It is quite a bit more chunky than any of the infantry rifles. While the pistols can be aimed quickly, and the Infantry Riles are still fairly light to handle, the Shotgun is a ponderous thing for a light or medium suit to be carrying. Only the heavy weapons are slower to aim, and slower to bring to bare when coming out of a sprint.

That of course is the RP explanation. From a game play perspective the slow aiming of the shotgun is one of the many balance features which keeps the ShotgunGÇÖs high alpha damage from being overpowered. Now wether these factors are properly in balance is another matter. Lets look at what they are.

Damage is balanced by:
- Short rang
- Slow aim & time required to bring to bare coming out of a sprint.
- Rate of fire
- Ammo capacity
- Reload speed

Hit detection is not a balancing factor, and if there is a problem, then it needs to be fixed.

Currently the balance has been thrown off due to the popularity of Brick tanking to compensate for the short TTK. Normally brick tanking would be far less common due to having to sacrifice mobility to get that extra health, and because normally it would not be as needed. However, with such a short TTK mobility is less beneficial and larger health pools are vastly more helpful.

Essentially automatic weapons became more powerful, the community compensated by brick tanking their suits, and the shotgun got left behind.

It may be that the Shotgun has too short a range, is ponderously slow when aiming, and needs a faster rate of fire. Or it may be that buffing any of these things at the same time that people are switching from brick tank fits to speed or shield recharge fits, could make the Shotgun suddenly Over Powered. You saw what happened when AV was nerfed and Tanks were buffed at the same time.

I would favour leaving the Shotgun unchanged for 1.8, and then assessing the state of the Shotgun two weeks after 1.8 drops. Then determining if the Shotgun needs a buff for the following patch.

And of course, hit detection is not a Balance factor, so they should fix any problems there at their first opportunity.

Edit: RP explanation for Shotguns having a short range:
The Shotgun in DUST is a Plasma weapon. It fires a number of small supper heated pellets of plasma that are held in electromagnetic suspension until fired. (Otherwise the shotgun would melt into slag.) These superheated pellets contain an immense amount of energy in an unstable state. When they impact the target they release that heat energy, vaporizing the surface they impact, causing an explosive out-gassing of vaporized material. Very deadly at close range, but as the pellets travel through the air they out-gas and cool, losing much of that stored energy. At 15m they impact like hot paint balls and by 25m they would have literally evaporated.

If Shotguns were shown to have no dispersion, then I am sure CCP would fix that bug just as they fixed the HMG once it was finally proven that the HMG had no more dispersion than a Laser Rifle. (I sort of wish they would bring the old HMG back as a Precision HMG as I finally got good with it once I figured out how it worked.) However, aside from some hit detection issues, it appears that Shotgun dispersion is working as intended.

Simple solution just fix HD and range. I'll be happy.

They simply don't do enough damage.

A proto shotgun with a complex damage mod is just barely good enough to take down an STD suit in one shot.
Shotguns NEED the one shot killing power, since their DPS is garbage.

Recommendation:

* Shotgunners should be using Nova Knives or a Fine Rifle.

They simply don't do enough damage.

A proto shotgun with a complex damage mod is just barely good enough to take down an STD suit in one shot.
Shotguns NEED the one shot killing power, since their DPS is garbage.

There's a world of difference between a 5m effective range and a 1m effective range.

I'm trying to get better with the knives but they are really tough to use, especially on maps without a city socket as the primary battle area.

Whether it's better to use a rifle - maybe. To each his own. I prefer getting up close and personal, just not close enough to pig-stick the other guy ;)

They simply don't do enough damage.

A proto shotgun with a complex damage mod is just barely good enough to take down an STD suit in one shot.
Shotguns NEED the one shot killing power, since their DPS is garbage.

If the Shotguns should be 1-hit killers, what should the nova-knives be then? 0 hit killers?

Yup totally wasted points going to proficiency 4, alt has lv 1 sg and theirs basically no difference except I might get one more shot off, which makes a diff trying to unload a clip but not to shoot two or three consecutive shots

Have you seen Jolly Rog3r?? He's a beast with a shotgun. In his videos i clearly see a huge difference between his RoF and mine. And he only has proficiency to lvl4, i have none. It's a great advantage.

Jolly's also a beast with a Rail Rifle.
Good players are good players.
"Look at so-and-so" isn't a measure of balance.

Which means you need skill to be good with a shotgun, not the shotgun be good for you.

Which means you need skill to be good with a shotgun, not the shotgun be good for you.

Very much impressed with guys like you, Fusion, Lightning xVx.
I cannot argue with your results :-)

That said, Shotgun Heroes would perform even better this build with a Fine Rifle ...

* Similar DPS.
* No 5m Range Restriction.
* No Backpedal / Bunny Hop Counter.
* Less Time between Engagements (flanking, positioning, stalking).
* Less Risk (disclosing position to close gap).
* Superior Tactical Options (cover, elevation, angles).
* Better Odds vs Multiple Targets.
* Etc Etc Etc

^ Lots of Benefits. No Draw Backs (other than less Style). Just food for thought.

Maybe this will all change in 1.8. Doubtful.
CCP really doesn't like Shotguns.

^ Amen.

Which means you need skill to be good with a shotgun, not the shotgun be good for you.

Have you seen Jolly Rog3r?? He's a beast with a shotgun. In his videos i clearly see a huge difference between his RoF and mine. And he only has proficiency to lvl4, i have none. It's a great advantage.

I think what he meant was that player skill can compensate for gear deficiencies and that you, therefore, can't tell if a weapon is balanced just because one player does well with it. So yes, you're right. Shotguns require more player skill, but it's because the player need to make up for its deficiencies. Thus, shotguns are under powered.

I never understood why Shotgun doesn't get a Proficiency damage boost. Without that, it stays a perpetual noob killer and that's about it.

Some pros do well with it, but those same people would do well with just about anything.