Strategy:Double shotgun

Main Guide (v0.9.9.5)

General Tactics

Basic strategy posted by Kashi 19:11 January 12, 2012 (GMT).

Ah, the Double Shotgun, one of the most emblematic weapons that ever existed in the game. It's the bigger, nastier brother of the normal shotgun, carrying an even deadlier pack that comes on a two-hitting blast, sending enemies flying towards the unknown in just one go. Still, while this weapon has very good pros, the cons balance them, turning what could be a gamebreaking weapon into a merely incredible one, depending on the use one gives to it. Yes, its strenghts are limited to what one decides to do, because the many drawbacks it has (Its range being the main one) turns it into a bad choice to use most of the time, unless one has the corresponding traits that bring out the best qualities of the weapon itself.

The main use of the double shotgun, which is a marked difference to other shrapnel-based weapons in the game, is at short range while dealing with packs of mobs, as the weapon itself has an horrendous damage reduction based on the range, limiting the pain it can cause to the monsters if the are beyond 6 squares from the player. This is normally a problem for new players, as it's common to make the mistake of firing the double shotty as a long-range weapon, failing to cause any harm to the enemies. Another problem it has is that it consumes ammo the same as a fat child eating candies, as each fire makes use of two shots per use, combining it with a 2 second reload time, double of what the normal shotty has.

Still, this weapon can be a lifesaver when in a pinch (And by pinch, we mean "Surrounded by mobs"), as each shell fired from it counts as separate attacks, dealing damage and sending knockback separately. This can be translated as "The enemy flies farther and get damaged even more than with a normal shotty". Even though, the same disadvantages other shotguns have, namely the "shrapnel"-type of damage they cause, appear on the double shotgun, as it makes it a terrible choice when dealing with armored enemies, unless one assembles a Plasmatic shrapnel or gets the trait Army of the Dead.

While the weapon itself carries on with its good use even at late-game, the main problem that affects it at that stage is the same that can happen everytime, which is the lack of ammo. This, at the beginning, can be slightly handwaved, as enemies that drop shells are common, but during late-game levels, the number of spawned former sergeants drop, marking an end to the weapon itself, unless one makes use of the Plasmatic Shrapnel as a self-producing ammo factory, of course.

Modifications

At the current version of DoomRL (0.9.9.5), there are three possible assemblies that can be used on this weapon. Interestingly enough, two of them makes use of a unique mod that doesn't appear very often.

The first one, and the most simple is the Plasmatic Shrapnel (Any shotgun + PN), which can come in two flavors depending the way in which the shotgun gains more damage (And the eponymous change in damage type) or it gains the ability to manufacture its own ammo (At the cost of reloading) and gaining the plasma damage, too. This, while making use of a rare Nano Pack, it eliminates some of the disadvantages the weapon has, turning it into a viable choice even at late stages due to the change from shrapnel to plasma damage, also solving the ammo problem. Still, this doesn't do a thing about the lack of range, which is solved by another assembly.

Next comes the Nano-shrapnel (Any shotgun + PPN), which can do the same as the Plasmatic Shrapnel, but changing the damage type of the weapon to piercing instead of plasma. In my honest opinion, while this one ignores armor altogether, plasma can be better, because of the ability to destroy walls. Same thing, but it can be a bit stronger, depending how do you assemble the mods.

And the last, but not least, is the Focused double shotgun (Double shotty + PAT), a souped-up version of the unmodded double shotty, which raises the damage it can cause, while changing the type of spread the weapon has. That, for starters, solve the problem with the range, as it gives it the same range as a normal shotgun. That means that mobs don't need to be as close as before. A good choice when you're doing a AoSh run, considering the fact that it doesn't rely on a rare level drop as the Nano Pack.

Trait Usage

There are several ways to bring out the best use of a double shotty in a game, be it a standard one or a challenge, most of them related to the character build used by the player. Obviously, all of them makes use of Shottyman, because it makes moving and reloading a combined action, no longer wasting time as a sitting duck while you pump shells into your boomstick. This, combined with the fact that reduces the reloading time (Due to the Reloader L2 traits) and the fact that shotguns have perfect accuracy, can ensure that being hit by the enemies is as hard as it gets, even better if the player is running, as there is no drop-off in the aiming of the weapon.

In the case of damage-boosting, the trait to go is Son of a Bitch, which grants a good +1 per trait level to the damage caused per shot, which basically means that the double shotty gets a free 2 damage to each enemy caught up in the blast in SoB L1. Pretty amusing to see those demons gibbed, yup.

When it comes to master traits, it depends on the way you want to have your weapon built with assemblies. A normal choice is Fireangel, combined with the use of one of the assemblies that help ignore the armor of an enemy, be it Plasmatic or Nano-Shrapnel. Fireangel grants immunity to explosion damage (i.e: rockets, barrels, the Archvile AoE attack's splash damage, the Cacodemons' plasma ball, etc), raises the evasion of the character and the movement speed (Because of Hellrunner, grants a free dodge by sidestepping and also reloads the shotgun on movement.

Another choice is the previously mentioned Army of the Dead, which turns the shotgun into an armor-piercing stick of death against... pretty much everything in the game. Double health (Via Badass) and reloading on movement turns this trait into a secondary viable option, especially if you combine it with the powerhouse that is the Focused Double Shotgun, which deals incredible damage in one go to all enemies in the cone of fire. Still, you have to stock shells like hell, because the shortage can prove to be a pain in the ass later on.