Shotguns are widely considered to be the "Plan B" of the gaming universe. It's generally assumed that most players would rather use spells, sniper rifles, or some other classic tool to defeat enemy units. It's hard to tell if this is true for Outriders or not because as players naturally climb up the World Tier ladder, it seems like everything is one gigantic Plan B.

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Too often, players think about getting surrounded too late. For most missions, such an event is unavoidable, even with quick-responding teammates watching each other's backs. That's why the shotgun has moved to the "Plan A" for many experts in the game. If the average shotgun doesn't convince fans that it's worth changing, the legendary shotguns are sure to change their minds.

Updated on August 1st, 2021 by Hodey Johns: Outriders has undergone more changes in the first few months than many games go through during an entire lifetime. As a result, balancing has changed drastically. For those who have played the Devastator at launch, this is fantastic news. It's also great for parties that need everybody at their strongest to take down high world tiers. This list has been rearranged to reflect the current state of the game and a section has been added for each weapon about which builds would want to consider using the gun after some analysis. No weapon is truly worthless as mods can always be ripped off and placed on something else.

• Killing shots restore 33% of health to nearby players.
• Critical shots increase critical damage by 50% for 5 seconds.

Killing shots are hard to get while in a party, so it helps to have teammates that are incentivized to let certain players have the final blow. Those who wield Enoch's Blessing heal their friends around them when they get a kill.

It's difficult to recommend the Enoch's Blessing. The healing mod might be tempting to a Tech Shaman, but it only works with killing blows, which teammates will likely be getting.

Perhaps a Warden who still hasn't completed their legendary armor set yet could use this to heal in between Boulderdash, but even then, it's hardly ideal.

• Reloading deals damage to enemies within 8 meters (2-second cooldown).
• Critical shots deal Anomaly Damage in a 1.5-meter radius.

In an otherwise strong list of weapons, the Anemoi comes off as confused, with a mix of typed damage and anomaly damage in a small area around the shooter. The Moaning Winds mod deals damage to enemies within eight meters, though, which is very much a redeeming aspect of the weapon.

The Seismic Shifter is a likely candidate for this gun. It's a shotgun, but range isn't an issue for Devastators. The Anomaly Damage will be a problem for other Devastators, but the Seismic Shifter actually utilizes this as a primary source.

Reaver Tricksters will also want to take a gander at this for similar reasons, it's a melee-ranged build that gets boosts to Anomaly Damage. Just be sure to reload in the center of big groups every few seconds.

• Killing shots teleport enemies to the place where the previous enemy died.
• Killing shots regenerate health.

For players who are sick of hunting down enemies from behind cover, the Body Snatcher has a solution. The mod by the same name makes it so that enemies are ported to the spot where the last target was killed. This can be very powerful for those who have learned about the high World Tiers and understand that exposure to gunfire is a deadly proposition.

Tricksters of all builds might like the way this works with Twisted Rounds, since they'll be able to shoot at a single location and rack up a nice body count without having to hunt down more opponents.

Any Devastator that doesn't have Gravity Leap should give this a look as well; walking toward enemies will create an unbearable lag in DPS and having the enemies come to the player is much preferable.

• Reloading deals damage and inflicts Vulnerable to enemies within a 5-meter radius.
• Killing shots create explosions that deal damage in a 5-meter radius.

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Two-for-one deals on mods are always superior when considering how few slots there are. The Radiation Splash makes it so that a reload deals damage around the player and inflicts the Vulnerable debuff. Following that up with a killing shot works perfectly with the other mod which deals even more area damage.

This mod is ripe for the taking for players who are using a very particular weapon; a three-shell clip in a close-ranged shotgun. Reloading is vital to utilizing the gun's signature skill and the effect only works at close range.

• Shots inflict Time Rift. Time Rift raises the enemy into the air for 5 seconds.
• Increases critical chance by 15%.

Very few guns boost critical chance, but the Aerie Master gives a 15% boost to this statistic. More importantly, the gun raises enemies off of the ground for five seconds. Groups absolutely love this perk as it effectively marks a powerless target for them to wipe out quickly.

This is widely considered the best gun in the game for the best Harbinger Trickster build. With a clip size of only three, this is a huge drawback, so even Harbingers may want to simply nab the mod off of it.

• Critical hits deal Anomaly Damage in a 2-meter radius.
• Critical shots have a 20% chance of not consuming ammo.

The Bulwark's remarkable twenty bullet clip is tied for the most on this list. It's also equal parts accurate and stable, so the gun feels much less like a shotgun and more like a machine gun that fires pellets. Players disappointed with how their build is stacking up might be able to close the gap with this gun at their side.

The gun isn't bad for Seismic Shifters and Reavers so long as the player controlling them is accurate and knows enemy weakpoints.

More importantly, the mod here does massive Anomaly damage in an area with no cooldown so long as the player is hitting critical strikes. So ranged Anomaly Damage builds like the Fire Storm and Demolisher should consider ripping the mod off of this and putting it on a long-range gun.

• The first shot in each magazine deals area damage in a 5-meter radius.
• Killing an enemy with 30% or less ammo in the magazine immediately replenishes the magazine.

The game's developers might not be big believers in romance, but the community has been falling in love with this shotgun's weapon design. The first bullet in each clip always does some area of effect damage, which complements the golden exterior of the Darkness Charmer well.

The massive untyped damage from the first bullet in the clip will appeal to anybody who uses a gun with a tiny clip size. Taking the mod off of the Dark Charmer and putting it into a different gun is smart for Pestilence Technomancers and Vanquisher Devastator.

Long story short, the smaller the clip, the better the mod becomes.

• Killing shots make all shots do critical damage for 8 seconds.
• While at under 50% magazine capacity, rolling reloads all weapons.

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In particular, shotgun users are in danger when they reload because of the distance between themselves and their enemies. The High Roller might only have three shots officially in the clip, but players that get down to one or zero bullets left only need to roll and the gun will be automatically reloaded.

The High Roller is one of the most searched and sought-after shotguns in the game. The gun itself with its three-shell clip is not great, but the Embalmer's Rage makes it so that killing an enemy with a bullet turns all shots into critical hits for the next eight seconds.

This is an absurd benefit for almost any class, but especially Ash Breakers and Assault Rifle Pestilence Technomancers who should make this mod from the High Roller a requirement.

• Killing shots grant the Golem effect for 3 seconds.
• Killing shots grant a 15% Leech boost for 20 seconds.

For solo Devastators, this could very well be the best gun in the game. Killing shots both heal and provide the Golem effect which significantly reduces damage. This is a tank's dream come true, so long as the tank gets to have the final hit.

For those looking to put together the best Vanquisher build in the game, this weapon, or at least the mod, is the best one in the game. It's complicated for other classes to understand, but this Devastator build requires a precise rotation. The Golem's Limb can actually free up an entire skill slot.

To the non-Devastators, sorry, but the Golem Rising mod doesn't even function.

• Killing shots deal damage in a 5-meter radius, multiplied by the number of enemies around the deceased target.
• Shots inflict Weakness (8-second cooldown).

The Anomaly Effigy is the best shotgun in the game so long as somebody around has the power to keep enemies clustered together. The Concentration Blast deals extreme damage to enemies that are grouped up and this damage is multiplied per enemy unit caught in the area.

Because this Concentration Blast mod activates on kills, this isn't great for Devastators that play as semi-tanks or full-on tanks.

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It is, however, amazing for Assassins. The Trickster can properly utilize both mods on the gun for physical damage. The six-shell clip is preferred for many experts, so some Assassins might take this gun as is and not meddle around with it.

• Do up to 43% extra damage based on armor.
• 30% of critical damage is returned as health.

For tanks, the Deathshield is probably the best weapon in the game. By taking all of the nodes that beef up armor and finding a solid armor set, this shotgun's damage goes through the roof. The ability to do more damage by protecting oneself better with armor has been overpowered in gaming for a long time and it's still true in Outriders.

This is the best gun mod in the game for the Warden and no other class can use this quite right. Because the best Warden build is an armor stealing machine, the Death Shield is basically a flat 43% damage increase. It turns the tank into a top-tier DPS talent.

• Shots call down a comet that deals damage to enemies in a 3.5-meter radius.
• Shots decrease enemy resistance by 35% for 6 seconds.

There is a legitimate possibility that somebody was supposed to put a cooldown timer on the Shadow Comet but forgot to do so. Keep in mind that this shotgun is automatic, so it goes through the twenty shells with violent speed. Having each blast call down a comet makes this, for general purposes, the undisputed best shotgun in the game right now.

The mod here does colossal area damage with no cooldown and it doesn't even require killing shots. So any build that uses an automatic and rapid-fire weapon will want to take this mod. Every build of the Pyromancer can make great use of this.

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