For my fellow shotgun lovers. It’s clear shotguns suck and simply don’t compete at all with smg’s like they used to. For people that love shotgun play like me. hopefully i can help. I have been through every shotgun in the game, here are the top 3:

#1 Reclaimer 18

Muzzle: Crown Breaker Choke
Barrel: Discourager 900 Heavy Barrel
Underbarrel: Bruen Bastion Angled Grip
Laser: STOVL Tac Laser
Ammunition: BOLO Shells

Description: This shotgun features 2 modes, A pump action mode as well as a semi auto (spas) fire mode. For this build, it is intended to use the semi auto (spas) mode. Normally BOLO shells have a massive hipfire/tacstance/ADS spread however the semi-auto fire negates this allowing for highly accurate, highly dangerous weapon with a sub 0.6ms TTK. It has the highest damage range possible. You may find that if you did want to use the pump action mode, you will have to ADS, this is viable as well with devastating 2 shot range. You may also ADS the Semi-auto mode which makes the spread even tighter allowing for incredible damage. Over all this is the best shotgun in the game for range, TTK and usability.

#2 Riveter

Barrel: JCX-L Suppressed Barrel
Magazine: 30 Round Mag
Rear grip: XTEN Grip
Laser: SL Razorhawk Laser Light
Ammunition: .410 Gauge Incendiary

Description: The Riveter is a fully automatic, high fire rate shotgun. For this build you must enter tac stance. Its large magazine and low TTK allows it to shred through multiple enemies, Offering squad wiping potential and ease of use.

#3 Akita

Muzzle: Akita Full Bore-12
Barrel: 14” Retriever Hunter Barrel
Magazine: Bulk Feed Extended 2
Stock: Vagabond Stock
Laser: Redwell Tactical Laser

Description: The Akita is a fully automatic shotgun, for this build it must be used in tac stance. The Akita offers the tightest spread, so you must be accurate, however for landing your shots it rewards you with a sub 0.600 TTK up close. With a high fire rate and High damage range, this build is perfect for the accuracy skilled players. Only offset by its magazine size and accuracy requirements. This build definitely leaves people questioning what you’re using.

finally: I’ve put a lot of time into this, going through every shotgun to find each and every best build for it then comparing them. It’s sad to see what’s happened to shotguns in recent times because too many of them simply don’t perform at all and the game is so heavily smg dominated.
those are the absolute top 3 i found overall. I would advise you to try the reclaimer before it gets the BOLO shells removed as they like to do. I hope with the next major update i won’t have to spend ages looking for a decent build. But go use them and have fun with these builds!

I’ve recently reinstalled warzone after years. The last time I played was around the release of caldera and for some reason I’m back.
Warzone still feels the same. I love verdansk is here and it feels good to be back.
But I need advice on gun play.
Specifically shotguns.
In old warzone I loved shotgun play. I loved the likes of the JAK-12 and the street sweeper in old warzone.
I’ve played some matches of the new mode lockdown to level up some guns and I’ve levelled up Akita and riveter and some others.
They feel so different to what they used to with the range and the feature tac stance.
Shotguns used to excel in hip fire in old warzone which seems from what I’ve learned to lean more into tac stance over hip fire.
The damage range seems to have been heavily reduced in all shotguns.
SMG’s have always been meta but at least in old warzone it felt like shotguns were direct competitors to smgs. Now it feels like you just get dominated because of how shotguns feel now.
Is there anything I’m missing or a secret build or is warzone currently in a close range full smg meta?

I just struggle to find an opener for higher skilled players.
Stare when I throw a heavy and can react to lights so I’m not sure what to do.

I feel like I’m losing my mind. Up until about a week ago, I was having a blast in Dominion. I could pick fun characters, mess around with some off meta picks, and actually play the game without needing a gallon of G Fuel and a professional coach.
Then, almost overnight, it’s like the game decided I’m a pro player.
Suddenly, every lobby I’m in is a sweat fest. I’m talking:
• Four-stacks running optimal ganks.
• Everyone playing their Rep 70s or the absolute S-Tier meta.
• Getting light parried for just thinking about an opener.
• Perfect rotations and competitive level objective play.
I literally can’t play my "fun" characters anymore because if I’m not playing my absolute main and sweating through my shirt, I just get deleted. Is it normal to jump skill brackets so quickly? Does the MMR system just have a threshold where it decides you've had too much fun and tosses you to the wolves? I’m honestly just trying to figure out if I need to start taking this game like a second job or if I’m just in some weird matchmaking limbo.
Has anyone else experienced this sudden shift from "casual fun" to "competitive tournament" vibes?
(For info I’m total rep of 130 but recently got the game back after a year or longer so I’m not at that numbers skill level average and I strictly play dominion with a win percentage of 56.50% and a kda of 1.69)