Shotgun/Doom 3



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 hence the Shotgun usually serves as the main weapon of choice until the harder levels. The Shotgun also has a "double" shell reload action: although the reload animation only shows Doomguy loading one shell at a time, the loaded ammunition counter increases by two.

Tactical analysis
Due to its wide spread, it is almost useless at long range, making it only useful for close encounters. It's twice as powerful as the original shotgun (in effect doubling its function as a replacement for the classic double-barrelled shotgun). Unlike the super shotgun of Doom 3, this is a pump-action single-barreled shotgun and isn't the same kind as the classic shotgun (which is a Mossberg 550 model).

The Shotgun works best against Imps, Zombies, Demons, Z-Secs and Cacodemons. Remember to get very close to your target before firing. Otherwise, a few pellets might miss. 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. Using it against such stronger enemies is strongly not recommended as it puts the player at a grave risk of being counterattacked easily.

If all of the pellets did connect but the target is still alive, grab either the Pistol or Machine Gun and finish it off.

Due to being shown as diagonally turned left at the player's hands, the shotgun in Doom 3 does not feature any open sights like the original shotgun (which was facially turned forwards), so it would be impossible to aim correctly without the aid of the crosshair in the HUD sight.