Tactical Shotgun



The Tactical Shotgun is a Hardmode, post-Plantera ranged weapon. It is an upgraded version of the Shotgun, auto-firing six spread shots per bullet consumed (against the Shotgun's average of four), for a possible combined base damage of 174 per bullet spent (not including bullet damage stats which are then added). It has a 8.33% / (1/12 / ) chance to drop from Tactical Skeletons in the post-Plantera Dungeon.

Tips

 * The Tactical Shotgun's wide spread, high knockback, and numerous projectiles make it effective at crowd control, especially with Explosive Bullets.
 * Care should be taken when using Explosive Bullets at short range, since they can harm the user.
 * Against single targets such as bosses, Chlorophyte Bullets negate the Tactical Shotgun's inaccuracy at long range.
 * When using Chlorophyte Bullets, most or all of the shots will hit causing a lot more damage but with only using one bullet. This method is more effective than the Megashark or Clockwork Assault Rifle as the Megashark shoots about two shots per bullet vs six shots for one bullet with the added bonus of the Tactical Shotgun doing damage per shot. The Clockwork Assault Rifle shoots three bullets vs six bullets (which also do less damage than the Tactical Shotgun). When paired, they can destroy most Hardmode enemies and quickly farm bosses with ease.
 * Overall, the Tactical Shotgun is a very ammo-efficient weapon if one wishes to avoid grinding for the resources required to craft mass amounts of bullets, especially Chlorophyte Bullets with their expensive crafting cost.
 * For general indoor use (such as the Hardmode Dungeon or Jungle Temple), Nano Bullets are a much cheaper alternative that has a weaker homing ability and also confuses many of the enemies in those locations.
 * It is inadvisable to use this weapon with Meteor Shots or any kind of piercing ammo against single targets. The bullets' piercing damage will cause the target to become invulnerable for a few frames, which means only one bullet will hit.
 * Luminite Bullets are an exception as they do not create invincibility frames and all bullets will pierce through normally.
 * Crystal Bullets are highly recommended for crowd control since they create two shards, for a total of twelve shards per round.

Trivia

 * The Tactical Skeleton's shotgun in the sprite does not appear to have the drum magazine or scope, making it more closely resemble the Shotgun.
 * Despite appearing to have a scope, the Tactical Shotgun has no inherent zoom capability like the Sniper Rifle.
 * This can slightly be compensated by equipping a Rifle Scope, Sniper Scope, or Recon Scope.
 * While the Tactical Shotgun is automatic, the Tactical Skeleton enemy that drops it seems to wield a significantly slower, semi-automatic version.
 * The Tactical Shotgun bears similarity to the Shotgun, but with more cosmetic attachments and a more metallic structure.
 * The Tactical Shotgun is one of eleven guns in Terraria to share its name with a real gun, the others being the Uzi, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Revolver, Chain Gun, Flintlock Pistol, Red Ryder, Musket, Handgun and the Quad-Barrel Shotgun.