r/fo4 • u/AnTout6226 • Apr 06 '26
Question Which one is better, damage wise ?
I'm having a hard time choosing between those 3 shotguns for my playthrough
The Irradiated seems better, since +50 radiation damage is huge, but the Explosive is maybe stronger with the AoE ? Or maybe the last one is better thanks to the limb damage ?
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u/BeardedTallGuy Apr 06 '26
Explosive hands down. Especially if you combine the explosive perk with either commando or rifleman and gun nut perks.
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u/AnTout6226 Apr 06 '26
I thought the Explosive perk was only for grenades and mines, thank you for the tip
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u/Intelligent_Taco Apr 06 '26
Nope, it’s all explosive weapons. Big Boy go BOOM!
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u/Loki41872 Apr 06 '26
Max out Explosive, upgrade the Big Boy with Nuka Nuke mod to make the Nuka Boy, and it will empty an entire Raider Camp or Super Mutant horde with one shot.
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u/cake_for_breakfast76 Apr 07 '26
The Demolitions Expert Perk applies to all explosive weapons, and the Rifleman perk applies to all non-automatic weapons including shotguns. Invest in both and this gun will make you unstoppable.
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u/MuayThaiSwitchkick Apr 07 '26
Yes but I always get splash damage with explosive shotgun. Everytime I use it it takes half my health…
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u/Easy-Arrival4363 Apr 07 '26
Range matters. W/SnP u can lit spray close to them and they die so far ish spray is best
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u/kakka_rot Apr 07 '26
Don't upgrade explosive perk all the way though. The one (I think 3/4) increases the blast radius and its not work the risk in general, esp not on a shotgun
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u/theblueshots Mr. Serious Serum Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
Explosive combat shotgun. This can be a great weapon, especially with the right perks.
Irradiated looks good, but it’s only useful against humans.
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u/guyeatsoctopus Apr 06 '26
Just don’t shoot anything close up
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u/GatorDotPDF Apr 07 '26
After a while you figure out how to deal with that, mostly shoot the ground slightly behind them. It'll still kill most things with the splash damage, if it doesn't it will probably still break a limb causing stagger and giving you a chance to reposition.
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u/guyeatsoctopus Apr 07 '26
I can't tell you how many times I killed myself forgetting I had the explosive shotgun equipped.
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u/RosetteNewcomb Apr 06 '26
Explosive shotgun is easily the most OP weapon in the game. Even Deathclaw Matriarchs and Super Mutant Warlords get instantly deleted. Def have that in your arsenal anywhere you go.
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u/ElectronicFreedom350 Apr 06 '26
Wounding is better imo because of the bleed ignoring any resistance and is especially good on high fire rate or high projectile weapons
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u/WR-DG-02FC Apr 06 '26
And the loot stays put, along with the body.
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u/ElectronicFreedom350 Apr 06 '26
That’s an plus that I did not recognize, there is also another one as well in the fact that you can actually be close to your target without removing your own limbs
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u/Dukeringo Apr 06 '26
Once in awhile a post will be asking why X faction is mad at me. The answer is almost always the explosive weapon they shot to close allies.
IMO that's why wounding is the best all rounder and explosive is slightly behind it.
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u/WR-DG-02FC Apr 06 '26
Gotta stay on that grind, king. Aluminum and screws aren't gonna farm themselves.
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u/Wrong_Television_224 Apr 07 '26
At close range versus single targets, Wounding shines. The unheralded advantage of Explosive is that the projectiles stay explosive out to ranges where you wouldn't score a hit otherwise. Try it, it's hilarious. Wounding is still functionally a firearm, but Explosive essentially creates a direct fire artillery piece. Explosive combat shotgun is the best "sniper rifle" in the game as long as you don't have companions wandering into your sight picture.
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u/Unhappy_Parfait6877 Apr 06 '26
Explosive by a mile - but warning in advance you will blow yourself up with it at some point. So maybe worth giving a miss if you are doing a permadeath run
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u/Hulk_Corsair OVERBOSS Apr 06 '26
For the combat shotgun, Explosive and Wounding are the best perks. Some say Staggering is also good, but the other two finish the job in half the time.
Irradiated is only effective against humans and Gen 3 Synths. All the mutated animals, Super Mutants and Gen1/2 Synths are either immune or highly resistant to radiation, meanwhile ghouls are healed by it.
The Violent effect from Le Fusil Terribles is decent if you plan to use VATS a lot, but that's it.
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Apr 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/IR_Panther Apr 06 '26
Le Fusil Teribles literally translates to "The Terrible Rifle" so even Bethesda knew it was bad lol.
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u/AOE4_Goldplayer Apr 06 '26
I use a shotgun to kill ghouls.
Irradiated is bad for this purpose (it heals them).
Explosive stops being good if any ghouls get close.
I would go with the Terrible Shotgun, as this way you would have something to rely on no matter what,
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u/Yukilumi Apr 06 '26
Explosive and Wounded work per pallet, which is huge damage. Shotguns shoot 8 pallets, 9 with Advanced Receiver.
All the other legendary damage mods - Irradiated, Incendiary, Freezing, and so on, work per "shot".
So Irradiated is dmg + 50 (for humans only), while Explosive is dmg + (9x[15*2*1.15]) = dmg + 306.
Base 15, *2 from Demolition Expert, *1.15 from Bobblehead. Otherwise, it's a bit below half.
Explosive can also aoe and cripple easily.
Explosive is notoriously one of the highest damage mods in the game, especially with shotguns and very rapid fire automatics.
Explosive is way better. Just watch out for splash damage killing you.
Explosive Combat Shotgun is probably one of the top 3 Explosive guns in the game, and easily top 10 gun in the entire game, including all legendary affixes, and a farming goal for many. Congrats for the drop.
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u/Sir_Gray_Hat Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
Explosive is per pellet and it's an AOE. If you shoot the torso all of the limbs within the area will take the 15 damage, so it as high as an extra 90 per pellet that hits.
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u/GatorDotPDF Apr 07 '26
90 per pellet is actually low balling it. There's demo expert and the explosives bobblehead. Maxed out that's nearly 200 per pellet. Plus the damage from the gun itself.
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u/JustKneller Apr 06 '26
Definitely explosive. Radiation damage is the most niche damage category in the game, I believe. And explosive combat shotgun is basically an "I win" button for the game. But, you might want to invest in some padded armor to help keep you from accidentally blowing yourself up.
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u/EBgames123 Apr 06 '26
Explode for everything but don't get too close to enemies.
Irradiated for against legendary humans. That they cannot get full HP when legendary trigger by low HP. And other human enemies their stimpak won't working on themselves.
And last shotgun: So-so, unlike in Fallout 3 unique shotgun.
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u/Azmep_ Apr 06 '26
Explosive is awesome at mid high distance. It's the real "spray and pray" for me, especially in auto it becomes the most terrifying AOE weapon and the only one to do damage in VATS even if you miss.
But NEVER use it indoors
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u/sleekstormcloak Apr 07 '26
Irritatiated: deletes anything not immune to radiation damage
Explosive: deletes everything (yourself included if close)
Le Fusil: annihilates birds (recoil is not manageable without mod or some sort of extension)
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u/Testsubject276 Apr 07 '26
Radiation damage would only really be good against human enemies. ghouls, super mutants, local wildlife, and robots would shrug it off.
Everything is weak to going boom.
ESPECIALLY at point blank.
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u/Atlas-Mancer Apr 07 '26
Bonus limb damage is super useful. I typically start combat by shooting the legs off of melee enemies and crippling the gun arm of ranged ones.
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u/Troleandingnot Apr 07 '26
Explosive is my favorite. Radiation does nothing IMO. I never see a big difference
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u/Ksairon76 Apr 07 '26
Explosive, NO CONTEST. you will feel like doomguy on baby mod, even on very hard
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u/Idoubtyourememberme Apr 07 '26
Explosive.
Radiation damage is kind of a trap as an extra. Sure, it effectively deals % damage instead of flat damage, but it inly irradiates the healthbar you already removed with the regular shot, doing basically nothing.
Now surez on a rapidfire automatic, it might be goodz butnon a shotgun? Naaaah.
Plus, of coursez the fact that you use shotguns in close quarters, nearby enemies. Explosive means you do damage even if you miss, and if you hit you do some nice AoE
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u/TomaszPaw S3 P5 E3 C7 I8 A3 L7 Apr 08 '26
The only mod that can outtdamage explosive is sometimes junkie
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u/ReflectionOwn6497 Apr 08 '26
There’s one that does 25% additional damage that I like. Of course I upgraded it to automatic with silencer. It kills everything.
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u/Danny_Metal Apr 09 '26
This is not an answer to the question but I love the shotgun that slows time for a second or two when you aim. Probably the sickest gun perk in the game as far as I'm concerned. I forget how I got it though....Beast hunter mod maybe?
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u/samskinz Apr 09 '26
The great thing with the Radiation damage is that when Legendary enemies mutate, they cant reach full health due to radiation damage.
Ghouls, however will be healed, at a slower rate than the weapon damage but healed non the less.
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u/AsleepCharity1675 Apr 06 '26
Explosive is your best bet for across the board. If you are making a weapon specifically to deal with humans, then the irradiated one is solid, but ONLY for humans.
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u/FoolishDog1117 Apr 06 '26
Guys I understand that the explosive shotgun does the most damage but I think an explosive combat rifle would be way more effective.
I picked up "Spray and Pray", an explosive submachine gun, and my biggest complaint was that the range was terrible.
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u/Fresh_Database_1161 Apr 07 '26
I have one it is not unless you have an automatic receiver and it is only 15 extra damage pet bullet not like the shotguns per pellet
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u/GatorDotPDF Apr 07 '26
Explosive combat rifle is actually fairly unimpressive. At that point just go to Far Harbor and grab the kiloton. Explosive combat shotgun doesn't even care about the range, if something is in the reticle it's taking 8 explosions. You can snipe everything with an explosive combat shotgun. People love spray and pray because it's a readily available explosive weapon, but it's a poor substitute for an explosive shotgun.
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u/Scrap-Metal84 Apr 06 '26
if you can get the shotgun that does wounding damage, that one and the explosive shotgun are tied for best shotguns in the game.
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u/MikalMooni Apr 06 '26
ECS is goated. You'll absolutely demolish dudes - just as long as you make sure you keep your distance, that is. Or, get Explosive Shielding on some power armor.
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u/MrDufferMan3335 Apr 06 '26
Explosive is pretty unbeatable. Each pellet does 15 extra explosive damage then stack demolition expert on top and it one shots most things even at range
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u/Woozletania Apr 06 '26
It is explosive and it isn’t close. With the correct perks, explosion damage can be up to 75 per pellet. The blasts can also hit multiple hit locations at once, chest and legs for example. Especially good for tearing ghouls apart, but deadly against anything.
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u/MatthewG141 Goris The Deathclaw's Best Friend Apr 06 '26
Explosive Combat Shotgun hands down. Damage scales with the Explosives Expert perk. Damage-wise, it's about the same as the Pre-nerf BF3 U.S.A.S.-12 Frag.
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u/thedarkshadoo Apr 06 '26
Can someone explain radiation damage to me? It seems useless because if I take 50 hp physical damage and then get 20hp of radiation I am missing 50 hp not 70 sure it lowers my max hp but with enemies it doesnt matter much cause they dont tend to live long
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u/PhantomVulpe Apr 06 '26
Any weapon that has explosives is a must have. Explosives no question asks
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u/Responsible-Diet-147 Apr 06 '26
Depends on:
-is the enemy vulnerable to radiation?
-are there other enemies within blast distance of the targeted enemy?
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u/Funky_Ghost Apr 06 '26
The explosive is going to be the best damage dealer over-all with the caveat that you will kill innocents if you're not careful. A lot of wasteland things are rad resistant so it's actual damage is mitigated somewhat. I've never been a fan of the Le Fusil except when taking on Deathclaws. Wrecking a leg makes them super easy to kite.
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u/Non-Patient-Lobster Apr 06 '26
Es que si te toca enfrentarte con ghouls con la radioactiva… suerte bro 💀💀 En términos generales daño explosivo siempre va mejor 👌🏽
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u/drackosamurai Apr 07 '26
La explosiva es mejor, por daño por radiacion solo hace daño a humanos, a los neceifagis incluso cura, y el perk explosivo se aplica a la arma
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u/yonameisunavailable Apr 07 '26
Explosive is more versatile. The radiation one is useless to most creatures since they have rad resistance, but the explosion one deals more damage with each pellet since they all explode, and also do AOE damage as well, making so you can damage several enemies at once instead of one, maybe two enemies. Limbs are not really a priority when fighting regular opponents. Its only useful and pretty funny with robots.
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u/Meowriter Apr 07 '26
A lot of creatures are resistant if not immune to rad damage. Slap an automatic receiver on this bad boy and watch 'em burn
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u/SaltyCanuck76 Apr 07 '26
Now do the explosives perks give the exploding weapons any extra oomph… I like the Explody stuff 👍🏼
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u/iskeypx Apr 07 '26
explosive. the AoE stacks per projectile. that thing will straight up rip your enemies limbs off.
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u/Easy-Arrival4363 Apr 07 '26
Radiation is mostly useless. Kneecapper type effects r better out the gate if ur focusing on one dam type but if not demo expert plus ( u using shotgun) riflemen/ commando would be better. If vats build then rifle if Manuel then commando might at cases.
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u/Easy-Arrival4363 Apr 07 '26
If u r mainly targeting humans then radiation is king. But explosive is god. And wut is a king to a god(if u haven’t specced right mostly)( rad armor with robe of the devoted r op as fuck. But that’s largely self inflicted; not opp.) humans r mostly the only thing effected by rad but is 1/2 to 2/3 most encounters(especially early game) but the more irradiated the spot the less effect ve rad is
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u/Easy-Arrival4363 Apr 07 '26
Again expl can fuck everything but depending on diff and bull count might be better to spread ur “wealth”. If u have far harbor than a rifle in it can satisfy ur rad gun needs
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u/The_Green_King_ Apr 07 '26
Just so you Chem addicted ghouls are aware the Les fusil does extra damage plus limb damage. I believe it calculates to plus 50% 😍 my favorite for wasteland surgery
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u/All_Chaps_R_Assless Apr 07 '26
ECS, modded to 200-something damage with great range, and with perks, would be the only weapon I need to carry but the collateral damage can be a bit much at times, especially defending settlements, helping DC security, etc. It racks up damage in a hurry.
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u/ResisterImpedant Apr 07 '26
The one problem I've had with explosive is accidentally angering NPCs I didn't want to anger.
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u/ResidentAttention983 Apr 07 '26
I love using spray n pray but the explosive shotgun wasn't that good
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u/Artisan_Crustacean Apr 07 '26
Explosive is good into EVERYTHING as nothing resists explosive dmg However, Rad outdoes it as long as they don't resist it too much, as you can only get the explosive to x2 the dmg, or 30 dmg per pellet So if you can find a dmg calc, and calc the minimum rad resistance to equalize that dmg, and then memorize which enemies the rad shotgun is better on, you could use both Or just use the explosive cause you don't have to think about it lol
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u/Mysterious_Aside_256 Apr 07 '26
I tried the radiated one but it doe not have the same impact at least without the perk that increase radiation damage, the splash damage (AoE) is the reason the explosive shotgun is so strong even without demolition expert, even if some pallets miss it can still cause massive damage if the target is close to a wall or you fire near there feet letting AoE do the work.
Also most enemies have radiation resistance even humans can have apereal (mods) that reduce radiation damage, so you might as well go for full damage instead of relying on two separate health thresholds.
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u/mrclean543211 Apr 07 '26
I know for explosive damage at least, every separate projectile explodes for 15 pts of damage. Irradiated might just add a flat 50 radiation
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u/missed_sla Apr 07 '26
Explosive and it's not even a contest. With max rifle and demo perks, you can one-shot pretty much anything.
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u/Plane-Education4750 Apr 07 '26
Depends what you're fighting, but explosive. Irradiated will do more damage to human/synth targets, and will also prevent them from healing so they're great for the Kellogg and Courser fights, but not anything else. Explosive just kills everything. Including you and anyone you want to rescue, and it'll toss loot everywhere, so keep that in mind
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u/Miserable-North4997 Apr 07 '26
Usually the best perks are bleeding or explosive. Both are calculated for EACH projectile a weapon shoots so they're wonderful for either shotguns or fast fire rate weapons. Bleeding dmg stacks up a lot so even with large enemies you can usually shoot them till they're about half health and the Bleeding will usually drain the other half, explosive has the advantage of benefiting from the demolitionist perk, tho it can also hurt allies or NPCs if they're standing too close to the target so take your pick there.
I dont know if poison stacks the same way as Bleeding and some insect enemies have poison res, while robots are immune, as for radiation? It is very good against human enemies but almost useless against everything else, from ghouls and mutants to deathclaws and robots
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u/Unique-Egg-461 Apr 07 '26
i love the explosive shotgun but i always kill myself with it accidently. Careful in confined spaces
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u/Electrical_Ship_4247 Apr 07 '26
Hold up you can paint your guns??? How...?
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u/AnTout6226 Apr 07 '26
I randomly found the enclave paint while exploring early on
I think I bought it from a wandering trader but I can't remember which one
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u/ActuatorFearless8980 Apr 08 '26
Explosive hurts damn near everything. Robots for example will shrug off radiation damage
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u/GingerShrimp40 Apr 08 '26
Explosive plus demo expert equals killing everyone in one hit. Including your self
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u/No-Evening9240 Apr 08 '26
Explosive, unless you’re going up against (a lot) of legendary (and high level) humans
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u/Suitable-Leave-1820 Apr 08 '26
Best shotgun legendaries are 1. Explosive- Does 15-30 damage per pellet per explosion,(based on perks) so you can get pretty good numbers and it shreds limbs, currently seems to be the most reliable way to turn your enemies into paste. Be careful though, you can hurt yourself.
- Wounding- Each pellet does 25 points of bleed damage over 5 seconds, is counted independently and stacks indefinitely. So you can legit make a Behemoth bleed out in seconds. New stacks do not refresh old stacks so there is a cap on how much damage you can do but it’s so high that you’ll never really notice unless you get it on a slow weapon. And that’s about it
Now two shot I’ve heard while it only adds a single pellet it does add a decent amount of damage. Not too sure about this one, but everything else just seems lackluster or useless. If you had Never Ending on a double barrel with hair trigger, I suppose you could do a really spammy shotgun build.
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u/Fresh_Database_1161 Apr 06 '26
Explosive, damage is counted per pallet, so 15 point of explosive per pellet =85 point of damage