News - Are Shotguns Overpowered Modern Warfare 3. Shotgun Overview (warzone 2i 2023 Beta)
In today's article, we're going to be talking about the Modern Warfare 3 beta, and specifically, we're going to talk about how the shotguns feel and how they are balanced. I know a lot of people follow me just for shotgun content, and that's kind of what I am on YouTube: the shotgun guy for Call of Duty, so I wanted to share my input on how they feel, how they're balanced, and if anything needs to change.
I've already seen people on Twitter saying that they're really strong and sometimes overpowered. Other times people say they're really weak or maybe even garbage, so I kind of wanted to offer my input on it. If any developers are watching, maybe some certain ways to balance some certain things and answer the question overall, if they're overpowered or not currently, keep in mind that this is just a beta build, and things are definitely, most likely going to change, so just keep that in mind.
But as of the current build, I wanted to share my thoughts on them, so if that sounds good to you, let's just go ahead and hop into it.
Lockwood 680 overview
The first shotgun I'm going to talk about of the two we have access to in the beta besides the one you get from the Juggernaut, which is, I think, the origin 12. This one is going to be the Lockwood 680. This is the pump action of the game, and overall, I've had a lot of fun with it. We've had a lot of good time to kind of experiment with the gun and try out good attachments to see what works, and honestly.
I got to say that my initial impressions were that this was a pretty bad and subpar shotgun. It was just very inconsistent, barely getting any one-shot kills, but then the next day of the beta hit, like day two. And it felt like they had buffed it somehow because it was just performing a lot better.
I don't know what it was; maybe they didn't touch it at all, but it felt like it was performing a lot better, and I was getting way more one-shot kills, but I was also still getting some hit markers. It's not the most consistent shotgun, but if you do hit a well-placed shot, you will get a one-shot kill, but like I said, it is a bit inconsistent.
Sometimes I got kills where I didn't think I deserved the kill; other times I was getting hit markers like twice or three times when I felt like that should have been a one-shot kill. Like I said, it's just a little inconsistent. It could be a net Cod issue, my aim is a tiny bit off, or we don't have a really tight spread.
Any of those could play into it, but just know that if you're going into this thinking, this is a sort of model 680 from Modern Warfare 2019. You're going to be very disappointed. One thing I've noticed in this game in particular is that the shock shotguns that you can access do not have very good range.
You know, in the other cods, you could kind of get like two shots from ridiculous 20-meter distances with them, like, again, the Modern Warfare 2019 model 680. That's not the case if you're shooting that far with this thing. You're going to take about four or five shots; it's really rough, but up close, yes, this does one shot kill, and in fact, the one shot kill range I was able to get with the first barrel was about that 7 to 8 meter mark.
From what I could tell. I was testing on someone who wasn't playing, and I got to about the 9-meter mark, and I still wasn't getting a one-shot kill, so I believe it's sitting around that 7- to 8-meter mark. So just don't expect one shot at ridiculous ranges, even with slug rounds overall. I'm pretty happy with the way that this thing is balanced.
I think currently it's at a good sort of tradeoff between having a decent one-shot kill range and also relying heavily on how well you can move. Of course, you're going to have people using this; they're going to sit behind a doorway or camp behind doors, or, you know, play kind of cheesy and kind of camp their butts off, but that's okay; you're still going to be able to finesse them with the movement in this game, and I think that balances out.
You're reducing your one-shot kill range with these things, it seems, but you're also getting some better movement. So that's pretty cool. I'm happy with it. I really hope they don't buff it too much and make it like the combat shotgun and Vanguard at launch. I think right now it's in a pretty damn good spot, so keep it as is.
Maybe give it a little bit more pallet damage up close so it's a little bit more consistent, but otherwise, I feel like it's in a pretty perfectly balanced spot for this beta. Now what I want to do is talk about some ammo types and some other attachments that we had access to for this particular shotgun that I think you should keep an eye out for, especially if you're going to play weekend 2 at the beta.
Unique attachments
So first, there are two attachments you should look out for that boost your rechambering. Speed, and these are definitely things that you want to try out because they are very good, and they take your rechambering, speed up pretty damn noticeable, like it was actually shooting pretty fast for a pump action.
It's something they might have to keep an eye on; it might be a little too fast. I'm not entirely sure, but there is a downside to rechambering: accuracy, but I still can't really find how that really plays into it. I have to test in private matches, which we can't do in a beta, so just something to keep in mind: these might be a little too strong given how fast they make you shoot, but another attachment I want to talk about is the bolo rounds on the 680.
They're a funny Amo type, which is basically just two metal balls with a wire that connects them, so if you can think about it, it's like a chain with two balls on the tip of it; it kind of resembles that, and yes, it's an Amo type you can use in real life, but in the game. I found it to be pretty lackluster, if you're expecting to go and sort of snipe with this like a slug shotgun.
It didn't really feel that great; it was very inconsistent, even with the hit detection; it just felt off, and the one-shot kill range didn't feel that great either, even if you hit your shot, so. I don't know, it just wasn't very good. I was getting hit by markers up close with this thing as well.
Maybe it was with limb damage, even though it says it boosts limb damage. Not entirely sure, but I'm not super impressed with these, and I wouldn't recommend running them because they're way more trouble than they're worth.
Riveter full auto shotgun overview
Next up, I want to talk about the full-auto shotgun of the game, which is the Riveter, which is a 410 shotgun. And to be honest, my impressions of this one are that it's in a fairly good spot overall, but compared to the 680, it is definitely more lackluster.
