Hek, Tigris, Kohm - Shotgun Showdown!

[stoybot]

I owned a 6-forma Kohm prior to update 17, and since a lot of the shotguns received a well-needed buff, I figured I'd forma my Hek and Tigris to figure out which one comes out on top. Who's the king of the shotgun world?

 

Before I show you the builds, I'll have to clear up a few misconceptions about the Kohm. First off, Kohm's DPS is not accurate in damage calculators like Warframe Builder due to its spool-up mechanic - the longer you hold down the fire button, the more pellets it shoots out, capping at a maximum of 12. This means that you have to multiply by 12 whatever numbers Warframe Builder gives you for a more realistic sense of the damage output.

 

Additionally, Shotgun Ammo Mutation is a must due to Kohm's really poor ammo economy, but I'll talk more about that later.

 

If you ditch the Ammo Mutation mod and equip both Frail Momentum and Shotgun Spazz, you can reach a sustained DPS of roughly 110,000, which is triple the amount of what the Brakk can output. This is why Kohm is the king of all weapons. However, aside from using it to kill bullet-sponge bosses, I wouldn't recommend running such a build because you'd be out of ammo in a flash. However, there's a very important catch, which brings me to my last point regarding the Kohm.

 

Its spread is affected by both fire rate and spread mods, such as Frail Momentum, Shotgun Spazz, and Vicious Spread. This is actually an understatement - the spread is dramatically affected by those mods. From experience, I can tell you that running any fire rate mods will decrease your DPS by a third or even a half, depending on how close your are, the size of your target, or how clustered the enemies are. Kohm users who have at least Shotgun Spazz equipped are quite used to seeing pellets hit the ground in front of them.

 

Your potential DPS may be lowered even further because of an interesting mechanics I noticed while testing the Kohm in the Simulacrum. If you aim down sights, the spread of the weapon decreases to the point that without any fire rate mods equipped, you can reliably shoot most pellets in the head of an enemy at mid-range, thus increasing your single-target DPS significantly. Try it out yourself, you may be surprised by the results.

 

Now let's talk about maximizing the sustained DPS of the Tigris and the Hek. Since their damage-per-shot is very high and their clip size is very small, both of them actually benefit from Ammo Stock (+60% magazine capacity). Magazine size can be a huge factor in sustained DPS for particular weapons.

 

Here are the builds I used for testing:

 

Tigris: http://goo.gl/OrNv9c

Note: Incendiary coat will slightly increase your DPS against ferrite armor, but the additional bleed procs you get with Sweeping Serration more than make up for it.

 

Hek: http://goo.gl/NZt0Iq

Note: The two additional shots per clip are also fantastic when facing multiple enemies.

 

Kohm: http://goo.gl/yQ7Sjw

Note: Using Shotgun Spazz instead of Sweeping Serration will increase your DPS, but at the cost of facing ammo issues much earlier on. A good strategy with very ammo inefficient weapons is to increase damage per shot, which is why I'd rather take this build to a long survival mission than the one with increased fire rate. Also, as I mentioned, there are downsides to increasing the spread of the weapon.

 

Numbers wise, the Kohm still comes out on top with a bit over 50k DPS, but it's closely followed by the Hek's 46.5k. Tigris is last with close to 40k DPS, but bear in mind that it's still one of the top sustained DPS weapons in the game - and even slightly ahead of the Brakk. The Tigris has one additional benefit that is quite hard to measure - the bleed procs are amazing.

 

I went to the Simulacrum to test the weapons in-engine, which immediately highlighted some issues that weren't apparent on Warframe Builder. I spawned a level 95 Corrupted Heavy Gunner and killed him repeatedly with all 3 weapons. The Kohm, due to its slow spool up, came last as far as speed of killing was concerned. The Hek came out on top, as would be expected from a puncture-based weapon. However, the differences between the three shotguns were not that significant (about 1-2 seconds). If this was a party with 4 Corrosive Projections, the Tigris and the Kohm would perform a lot better. As far as the scenario of facing multiple enemies is concerned, the Kohm is the winner in my opinion. Once fully spooled, it destroys everything you point it at, and the innate 1-meter punch-through.is always appreciated. If you want to add punch-through to the Hek and the Tigris, you'll need 1 additional forma on both, and their DPS will go down quite a bit.

 

All 3 weapons are top-tier without a doubt, but if you had to pick up only one, should it be the Kohm? The answer is no. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it's not worth putting any forma in it yet. What I haven't mentioned so far is how many rounds it took to kill that Heavy Gunner. The Hek and the Tigris took roughly 8 to 10 rounds. On the other hand, the Kohm took, on average, about 70. This means that you'll need 8 rifle ammo pickups (7 shotgun and 5 sniper) to replenish the ammo you wasted on killing that enemy. Hek and Tigris need only 1 shotgun ammo pickup to do the same.

 

"Ah, but I'll use Team Ammo Restores," you say. Good luck with that! You'll need 9 Medium Team Ammo restores to fully replenish the Kohm's ammo, while you'll only need 1 for the other two shotguns. I'd say the Kohm is not viable for any mission in which it takes more than 30-40 ammo to kill an enemy. Granted, given how powerful the Kohm is, it will take you a while to reach that point. Furthermore, without any fire rare mods, the spool-up time is quite bad... and frustrating.

 

The ammo economy issue with the Kohm is due to the fact that it's an outlier in the world of shotguns with its low damage per shot. Even a Primed Shotgun Mutation is not going to solve the problem. With the Kohm 3.0 update, DE crippled its ammo economy, but unlike the Synoid Gammacor nerf, we don't have access to the fantastic Primed Pistol Mutation. The Gammacor's damage per shot is also well adjusted relative to other secondaries, so the ammo drops replenish a significant chunk of its maximum ammunition. Sadly, this is not the case with the Kohm.

 

After running missions with all 3 weapons, my favourite one is definitely the Hek. I have to admit that I enjoy the Kohm more when I have Shotgun Spazz equipped, but I don't run it in endless missions - or regular ones - for all the reasons I've outlined above. The Hek's Justice proc can be quite a lifesaver (not to mention how amazing it is on an Ice Chroma), and the 6 shots are just enough to deal with a small group of enemies. If you want to burst down a heavy unit, you can do that too. The high status chance further increases your DPS when running Corrosive/Viral builds and can make a huge difference. It's also not particularly dependent on Corrosive Projection due to its high puncture damage. Interestingly enough, when modded for a 4-Corrosive-Projection squad, it still deals higher DPS to Cloned Flesh/Flesh targets compared to the Tigris.

 

In theory, a toxic Chroma can make the Tigris amazing. However, in practice, the toxic Chroma is rather squishy and way too limiting in terms of frame choice.

 

I'll say this at the end: If you like to play with shotguns, try these 3 weapons in-game before you make up your mind. They all have a different feel to them yet their DPS is top-tier regardless of which one you choose. U17 is great for all the shotgun lovers out there!

[taiiat]

frankly, you might as well make two categories.

Kohm, and Hek/Tigris/Drakgoon.

or just don't really make the comparison at all, since there's nothing to compare to Shotguns that simultaneously fill the role of every other Weapon in the game at the same time.

so you could just use those, because they do everything, faster and easier than the other choices. just better.

a comparison would be better served once Hek, Tigris, Drakgoon, and Sobek are... readjusted. i say it like it's going to happen, because it must happen. elsewise if a Player is looking to min/max, those 4 Weapons are the only ones in the game worth using. just better.

while simultaneously being less flexible for endurance, once Enemies stop being trivialized by the Damage, there is still nothing else to bring to the table, making the other Weapons eventually more ideal. Enemies need to be pretty high Level for this to happen though.

Edited August 8, 2015 by taiiat

[GoSonic]

For Hek build, take off Shotgun Spazz and Ammo Stock and put on any of these 4: Breach Loader, Vicious Spread, and/or Seeking Force(Or Seeking Fury). The Hek NEEDS punch through. For a shotgun that had 4 rounds punch through will help out with multiple enemies.

[p3z1]

TBH I am personally not a fan of fire rate mods for these (except tigris) guns, so lemme give my 2c on each gun

 

Tigris: I read/saw a build that uses 4 in the magazine (of a sort), then modified it a bit (http://goo.gl/ebkLOV). This build will rip through grineer without much problems. Seeking fury for + reload speed and punchthrough to get the most bang out of your buck (probably wrong wording, but w/e).

 

Hek: Not a fan of fire rate + ammo there. Just slap in more power. Seeking fury is, again, welcome in the build.

 

Kohm: Screw sweeping serration and slap in a dual stat mod. Gives more stat procs and more damage (personally don't like buffing IPS stats).

 

Personal preference is tigris though. Can kill multiple targets easily with my build and burst down big targets.

[HAYABU5A]

cant even consider kohm a shotgun, its just a rifle that happens to use shotgun mods

 

also hard to compare in game handling > dps on paper 

 

agree best advice is try them all after buffs and go with whatever suits your playstyle and dont worry too much about theory stats

[Acos]

I find that a lot of the comparisons depend heavily on what level of enemies you are fighting. As an example, Ammo Mutation is a viable answer to Kohm's issues provided that you are killing enemies often enough that ammo drops remain plentiful. Once enemies start reaching up into what I consider "absurd" levels of health and armor it starts to become an issue again as you can't kill enemies as fast as you are running out of ammo. Hek/Tigris won't have that issue until much later as their ammo economy is so much more efficient. 

Of the three, I do find the Kohm the most fun in a mindless "obliterate everything in front of you" sort of way, but I also don't know that I really consider it a "shotgun" either; It could very easily be a rifle and I don't think anyone would argue about it. 

 

I find Tigris difficult to use for the 'hoard mode' style of gameplay this game is almost always offering. If we had a 'quick-shot' method for melee like we have a quick-melee option for fire-arms I think I would enjoy the Tigris much more. While the damage is obviously impressive, the value of the utility mods we have doesn't ever get the gun in a good place that it feels quick enough to handle all the threats being thrown at me. 

The Hek can use some mods to get enough utility going that I feel comfortable using it. 6 shots, quicker reload, punch-through, and I start to feel much more comfortable using the weapon without feeling as though I've sacrificed too much damage to make it viable. 

 

Edited August 8, 2015 by Acos

[stoybot]

frankly, you might as well make two categories.

Kohm, and Hek/Tigris/Drakgoon.

or just don't really make the comparison at all, since there's nothing to compare to Shotguns that simultaneously fill the role of every other Weapon in the game at the same time.

so you could just use those, because they do everything, faster and easier than the other choices. just better.

a comparison would be better served once Hek, Tigris, Drakgoon, and Sobek are... readjusted. i say it like it's going to happen, because it must happen. elsewise if a Player is looking to min/max, those 4 Weapons are the only ones in the game worth using. just better.

while simultaneously being less flexible for endurance, once Enemies stop being trivialized by the Damage, there is still nothing else to bring to the table, making the other Weapons eventually more ideal. Enemies need to be pretty high Level for this to happen though.

 

You're ingoring utility here. For a long time the Brakk was the highest DPS weapon in the game, but you didn't see many Brakk users around - even amongst those that own it - because of its limitations. For dealing with large crowds, I'll take a Firestorm Tonkor over the new shotguns without even thinking about it. For bursting down single targets reliably - and at a distance - I still prefer the Vectis, or the buffed Lex. The Opticor and Dread are not bad either. What those weapons have as an advantage is the headshot factor, something the shotguns don't do all that well. You want to deal with Nullifiers? Have fun shooting your Tigris and Hek at their bubbles. Min-maxing is only one part of the game. Knowing what weapon is appropriate for a particular situation is another. Shotguns didn't have their niche in the past. Now they do. I don't know about overpowered but I do find that quite refreshing.

For Hek build, take off Shotgun Spazz and Ammo Stock and put on any of these 4: Breach Loader, Vicious Spread, and/or Seeking Force(Or Seeking Fury). The Hek NEEDS punch through. For a shotgun that had 4 rounds punch through will help out with multiple enemies.

 

You still end up with less DPS and 2 less rounds per magazine. Did you even try it out before posting? Also, I haven't commented on punch-through in the OP. Seeking Fury is a nice mod to use on them, but the comparison was in terms of DPS.

 

Also, don't forget that punch-through is highly dependent on the faction you're fighting. It's fantastic against Infested, but Grineer, Corpus, and Corrupted don't provide a lot of opportunities for punch-through to really shine. The builds I posted can be modified with additional forma to allow for it though.

Edited August 8, 2015 by stoybot

[GoSonic]

You still end up with less DPS and 2 less rounds per magazine. Did you even try it out before posting? Also, I haven't commented on punch-through in the OP. Seeking Fury is a nice mod to use on them, but the comparison was in terms of DPS.

 

I have been using the Hek forever. Its my most used weapon with almost 60k kills. Most enemies should be dead before you need to reload with a 4 round mag. With that multishot +90% more damage would help a lot. If you would like it more with 6 shots instead of 4, go ahead and use ammo stock. Its my opinion but I think you should try it. 

Edited August 8, 2015 by SpecialistOps

[Epicagemo]

Tigris wins in burst dps hands down. Slash prof and viral make a deadly combo for it, but it's terrible in the rest of the shotgun compArisons lol

[stoybot]

I find that a lot of the comparisons depend heavily on what level of enemies you are fighting. As an example, Ammo Mutation is a viable answer to Kohm's issues provided that you are killing enemies often enough that ammo drops remain plentiful. Once enemies start reaching up into what I consider "absurd" levels of health and armor it starts to become an issue again as you can't kill enemies as fast as you are running out of ammo. Hek/Tigris won't have that issue until much later as their ammo economy is so much more efficient. 

Of the three, I do find the Kohm the most fun in a mindless "obliterate everything in front of you" sort of way, but I also don't know that I really consider it a "shotgun" either; It could very easily be a rifle and I don't think anyone would argue about it. 

 

I find Tigris difficult to use for the 'hoard mode' style of gameplay this game is almost always offering. If we had a 'quick-shot' method for melee like we have a quick-melee option for fire-arms I think I would enjoy the Tigris much more. While the damage is obviously impressive, the value of the utility mods we have doesn't ever get the gun in a good place that it feels quick enough to handle all the threats being thrown at me. 

The Hek can use some mods to get enough utility going that I feel comfortable using it. 6 shots, quicker reload, punch-through, and I start to feel much more comfortable using the weapon without feeling as though I've sacrificed too much damage to make it viable.

 

Ammo economy is based on damage per shot, not damage per second. If you kill an enemy with 80 shots or 120 - but faster - you've still used more bullets to get a single chance at a drop. Aside from that, I agree with you, although the Kohm does feel a bit more like a shotgun when you lower its fire rate. Also, with Sweeping Serration and Nekros, you can desecrate to your heart's content. Nekros + Kohm = Hydroid 2.0.

 

I too struggled with the Tigris when facing large and spread-out crowds. At least the Hek's Justice stagger gave me some breathing room, and some additional shots.

[Monolake]

Did you use corrosive on one weapon and viral on another? It should take you only 5-6 shots with Hek if you build it properly

[stoybot]

Did you use corrosive on one weapon and viral on another? It should take you only 5-6 shots with Hek if you build it properly

 

During my tests, I used Corrosive + Heat on all 3.

[Monolake]

During my tests, I used Corrosive + Heat on all 3.

 

vs lvl85, but I'm using a gimped 0 forma build

 

[Djego27]

U17 is great for all the shotgun lovers out there!

 

My Strun wraith and Boar prime might disagre with that, but yeah Hek, Strun, Tigris and Sobek got a lot of buffs.

 

Well out of the 3 the Hek is probably my favourite currently. I might be a bit biased simply because I don't really like the trigger mechanic of the tigris and would prefere it with less damage, 1s reload and a standard trigger with just a very high fire rate(that lets you shoot both barrels nearly at the same time). The ammo use just kills the Kohm in the long run and should have toned down a bit with the last changes.

 

 

[stoybot]

TBH I am personally not a fan of fire rate mods for these (except tigris) guns, so lemme give my 2c on each gun

 

Tigris: I read/saw a build that uses 4 in the magazine (of a sort), then modified it a bit (http://goo.gl/ebkLOV). This build will rip through grineer without much problems. Seeking fury for + reload speed and punchthrough to get the most bang out of your buck (probably wrong wording, but w/e).

 

Hek: Not a fan of fire rate + ammo there. Just slap in more power. Seeking fury is, again, welcome in the build.

 

Kohm: Screw sweeping serration and slap in a dual stat mod. Gives more stat procs and more damage (personally don't like buffing IPS stats).

 

Personal preference is tigris though. Can kill multiple targets easily with my build and burst down big targets.

 

Remove Burdened Magazine from your Tigris, put Ammo Stock in its place, add Vicious spread and you'll end up with the build I use on my punch-through config (albiet different polarities). You'll get roughly 6,000 sustained DPS increase, and about 15,000 Burst DPS increase. Vicious Spread works quite well since the Tigris pellets deal a lot of damage and can each kill fodder-type enemies. You'll lose the additional bullet in the magazine, which, depending on your playstyle, might be a negative. Also, you're losing about 1,000 DPS in your current build because of the maxed Burdened Magazine. You only need it at rank 1 to get the 4-bullet magazine.

 

As far as the Hek is concerned, I'd like to remind you and everyone else in this thread (as I'm sure I'll get similar comments again in the future) that damage per shot is not the whole picture. Burst DPS = Damage-per-Shot * Fire Rate. Sustained DPS = Burst DPS / (Magazine Size / Fire Rate + Reload Speed). Sustained DPS is what matters when the enemies become bullet sponges, which is where the shotguns currently shine. So when you tell me to put more power, consider the fact that my Hek fires nearly twice as fast as yours. Feel free to post a Hek build with higher sustained DPS, then we'll talk.

 

You are right about the Kohm though, and I appreciate the correction! I looked at it again and it does more damage both when modded for fleshy and armored enemies. I tend to count on the bleed procs, but in the case of Kohm, they're not particularly great due to the low base damage. It's definitely not a Dread/Tigris-tier weapon. Unless I'm on a Nekros and need the extra "chop" factor, I'll be running a dual-stat mod from here on.

[IX-44]

 I might be a bit biased simply because I don't really like the trigger mechanic of the tigris and would prefere it with less damage, 1s reload and a standard trigger with just a very high fire rate(that lets you shoot both barrels nearly at the same time). The ammo use just kills the Kohm in the long run and should have toned down a bit with the last changes.

 

You can get Tigris down to 1.3s reload while keeping a 11k slash (or higher with Primed Point Blank) damage stat, and the mechanics of the trigger currently DO let you shoot both barrels at nearly the same time, just tap your fire button.

 

 

Just my opinion though, if you don't like it that's okay. :3

 

 

 

 

I'm a fan of my 4 (when I get Primed Point Blank it'll be 5) forma Tigris. Been using it exclusively since about a month before U17 and it's the cat's pajamas. Vicious Spread increases the damage and makes the spread on Tigris more like a shotgun rather than a heavy duty boomstick. Not to mention it kicks up the damage.

[stoybot]

My Strun wraith and Boar prime might disagre with that, but yeah Hek, Strun, Tigris and Sobek got a lot of buffs.

 

Yeah, I feel your pain... And I was sure the Strun Wraith would be buffed...

[taiiat]

You're ingoring utility here. For a long time the Brakk was the highest DPS weapon in the game, but you didn't see many Brakk users around - even amongst those that own it - because of its limitations. For dealing with large crowds, I'll take a Firestorm Tonkor over the new shotguns without even thinking about it. For bursting down single targets reliably - and at a distance - I still prefer the Vectis, or the buffed Lex. The Opticor and Dread are not bad either. What those weapons have as an advantage is the headshot factor, something the shotguns don't do all that well. You want to deal with Nullifiers? Have fun shooting your Tigris and Hek at their bubbles.

yes, Nullifier Shields if you're at a distance(can't quickly get inside) is one weakness.

however, they are more efficient at dealing with:

- large crowds

- single targets

- close targets

- medium targets

- far targets

- Kill things Ammunition Efficiently

your (insert thing you like here) cannot compete with them because they are perfect for every situation except Nullifier Shields now.

you might say their Accuracy isn't so hot at longer Ranges - but that's actually perfect. that group of 30 Enemies over there on the other end of the room? with a few Ancient Healers in it? yeah, you just Killed ALL of those Enemies in a single shot(or maybe two).

can't aim for Headshots? well, pfft, you don't need them.

nothing can compete with that. they do every other Weapon's job almost picture perfectly. the only job they can't do (except for Strun Wraith), is Status. but they won't need it until Enemies are like, lv120+.

Brakk wasn't used everywhere because it had heavy Damage Falloff. Shotguns now have... very little.

[Empiren]

I personally think the Hek is the winner here.

 

Hek has close to the damage of Tigris per shot with the Steel Meridian mod, BUT has increased status chance due to increased pellet count.

 

Add to that, the Hek has double the clip and you have yourself the winner.

==========================

 

I feel that the Tigris spends too many mods trying to make up for it's poor secondary characteristics while the hek delivers 80% + of the same product and can be doubled as much.

 

 

 

Of course Tigris wins in the ammo economy, but not really a surprise there.

[stoybot]

yes, Nullifier Shields if you're at a distance(can't quickly get inside) is one weakness.

however, they are more efficient at dealing with:

- large crowds

- single targets

- close targets

- medium targets

- far targets

- Kill things Ammunition Efficiently

your (insert thing you like here) cannot compete with them because they are perfect for every situation except Nullifier Shields now.

you might say their Accuracy isn't so hot at longer Ranges - but that's actually perfect. that group of 30 Enemies over there on the other end of the room? with a few Ancient Healers in it? yeah, you just Killed ALL of those Enemies in a single shot(or maybe two).

can't aim for Headshots? well, pfft, you don't need them.

nothing can compete with that. they do every other Weapon's job almost picture perfectly. the only job they can't do (except for Strun Wraith), is Status. but they won't need it until Enemies are like, lv120+.

Brakk wasn't used everywhere because it had heavy Damage Falloff. Shotguns now have... very little.

 

You appear to be a veteran so I'm a bit surprised I have to explain this... Aren't you forgetting about a little something called weak spots? I'm talking about headshots in particular. My Soma Prime kills the aforementioned Heavy Gunner faster than any of the new shotguns because I can reliably dump all my bullets in his head. Its downside is that it has a much worse ammo economy. Hell, my 6-forma Akmagnus kills them as fast as the Tigris, and sometimes even the Hek because of the same reason. And the Brakk? Good luck getting all its pellets in the head of an enemy, even up close. It was by far the worst performing weapon of the bunch. And yes, I'm still using my Akmagnus more often than the Brakk after the update.

 

Also, how about we mention that a red-crit headshot that procs bleed from the Dread can 1-shot a level 95 Corrupted Heavy Gunner? The shotguns are nowhere near as effective as the Tonkor when dealing with crowds and their DPS falls down to the level of many rifles outside their effective range. As anyone who has faced a crowd full of Scorpions will tell you, there are significant downsides to getting into effective range.

 

Feel free to take the new shotguns to all your mission because Warframe Builder says they have the highest DPS. I sure as hell won't be doing that.

 

EDIT:

 

Tested a few more weapons out of curiosity and a 5-forma Lex as well as a 5-forma Twin Grakatas (with Primed Pistol Mutation equipped) performed on par and sometimes better than the Hek. Both those weapons have a much lower sustained DPS than the shotguns, yet their accuracy in landing headshots more than makes up for it.

Edited August 8, 2015 by stoybot

[taiiat]

Feel free to take the new shotguns to all your mission because Warframe Builder says they have the highest DPS. I sure as hell won't be doing that.

passive aggressive in, passive aggressive out.

i'll not, because it feels gross to use disgustingly Overpowered Equipment in Missions.

their sustained Paper DPS is very comparable to Assault Rifles now. this immediately shows a problem. because Bows are considered extremely effective, while their Sustained DPS is extremely poor. because they shoot slowly, but are very effective per hit. yet their DPS is low! must be terrible.

these Shotguns have the same DPS as Assault Rifles and other bullet hose like Weapons, despite having low rates of Fire.

extremely obvious balance problem.

it's basically impossible to Kill something faster with the other Weapons you mentioned, when Time to Kill on those Shotguns is ~5ms.

dealing ~45,000 or so spread out across a group, means that that entire group is dead. an Ancient Healer too? still just dead.

a Bow, or a Sniper Rifle, woul do similar Damage per shot, but in a pinpoint location. would Kill a line of Enemies in that group. the Shotgun Killed them all.

i'm surprised i have to explain this to you.

Lex Prime is a Marelok with Crits now, so ofcourse it is also comparable. it was balanced before, it is Overpowered now. before, you were rewarded for Accuracy, now you don't need to bother.

Twin Grakatas is statcrepe over Grakata. the only downside is a longer Reload. everything else is better.

[stoybot]

...

 

Calls me passive aggressive while continuing to ignore my argument. Projection much? You can keep pretending I didn't say anything about headshots making a huge difference in practical, as opposed to on-paper DPS, which is my core point. Rifles and bows can keep landing those headshots at a distance, and shotguns, which would have about the same on-paper sustained DPS from afar cannot, which lowers their practical sustained DPS.

[Vaskadar]

The added utility of punch through far outweighs the extra couple of shots in the magazine. I'd rather be able to damage 6 enemies at once with one shot, than damage 6 enemies individually, with six shots.

 

I'd even go so far as to forgo seeking force (if fighting humanoid enemies) and trade it for Seeking Fury. That tiny bit of extra reload speed will make things easier in the long run.

 

It's also absurd not to run Tigris without a punch-through mod. Seeking Fury is the go-to now.

[BluelitHalo]

No doubt, Hek and Tigris come out on top for single enemies.

The reality is that you'll be facing hordes of enemies at a time. Try spawning multiple heavies in the Simulacrum and testing this. Equip Seeking Force or Seeking Fury on the Hek and Tigris to damage densely packed crowds before reloading. Kohm has innate punchthrough, so nothing to compensate for there.

Those results will be way more valuable.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Sonitorum

[taiiat]

Weakpoint Crits and Weakpoint shots in general

which is great, and i think Marksmanship is important - except that takes effort, while the Shotgun will still Kill it in one or two shots, without having to aim at all. just point somewhere over there.

i love Shotguns, but i don't love those few now. they defeat the existence of most of the Weapons in the game.

Strun Wraith remains as being the best balanced Shotgun in the game.