Shotgun/Doom 3

"The shotgun deals considerable damage at close range, however the wide spread limits long range effectiveness."

- PDA Description

The shotgun of Doom 3 is a devastating close-range weapon. It can be first found in Mars City Underground on either a shelf or in the large room with multiple generators.

Weapon Schematics
The Doom 3 Shotgun is the pump-action version, and holds 8 shells at any one time. It is also the only weapon in the Doom 3 arsenal which allows for firing during reloading. Ammunition for the shotgun is in the form of small packets or large boxes of Shells, as well as deceased Shotgun Zombies. Ammo is generally easy to find throughout the entire game, and since much of the fighting takes place in tight corners, the Shotgun usually serves as the main weapon of choice until the harder levels, where it would fall as a secondary weapon. The Shotgun also has a "double" shell reload action: although the reload animation shows Doomguy loading only one shell at a time, the loaded ammunition counter increases by two - this is perhaps to save time and provide a faster reaction to the player so they won't be vulnerable to enemy attack during a delayed reload process.

Tactical analysis
In contrast to the classic shotgun, which allowed players to snipe enemies from several yards, Doom 3 's Shotgun is almost useless at long range, as it cannot kill even a healthy zombie over 15-20 feet away. To make up for this, it is twice as powerful as the original shotgun at close range (in effect doubling its function as a replacement for the classic double-barrelled shotgun).

The Shotgun works best against Imps, Zombies, Demons, and Cacodemons, since they try to rush the player, giving the shotgun's high short range damage an advantage. In contrast, enemies with higher health and/or do exceptionally higher damage at close range will not be good targets. For example, fighting Mancubus or Arch-vile with the shotgun is generally not a good idea, as they can survive a full shotgun blast a blank range and do massive melee damage. To maximize ammo efficiency, remember to get very close to your target before firing so that as many pellets as possible make contact with the target. If an enemy has a melee attack, trick it into using the melee attack, then shoot. This works best for Tentacle Commandos.

The Shotgun is useful until the start of Delta Labs, where powerful enemies such as Commandos and Arch-viles start to appear. It is strongly recommended to avoid using it against stronger enemies, as the necessity to approach at close range will put the player at a grave risk of taking heavy damage from these enemies' counterattacks. However, once you soften them enough from a distance, you can get up close and unleash the Shotgun to finally take them down.

For weaker enemies that usually die from one shotgun shell, if most of the pellets make contact but the target is still alive, the player can quickly draw either the Pistol or Machine Gun and finish it off to maximize ammo utilization.

Due to the view model being shown as diagonally turned left in the player's hands, the shotgun in Doom 3 does not feature any open sights like the original shotgun (which was centered in the forward position), so it does offer a guide to aim accurately without the aid of the crosshair presented on the HUD.