Bungie doesn't "get" why shotguns will never be good in PVE (Destiny)

by squidnh3, Monday, February 09, 2015, 16:42 (3372 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

This was actually the first thought that I had as soon as I read that paragraph (although I don't feel like Bungie doesn't "get" it).

There are a few differences between PvE and PvP that make shotguns good in one and bad in the other.

1) Punishment for Death - In Crucible, death is an acceptable outcome. Sometimes you are just going to die, but you want the percentages to play out in your favor. A single death isn't always a big deal. The shotgun works pretty well for this. However, in PvP, a death can be a terrible setback, and the reward isn't worth the risk.

2) Enemy AI vs. Humans - Human opponents are equally dangerous from every range, and in some cases even more dangerous from further away. Human opponents can be tricked by feints and baiting at close range, while enemy AI tends not to be so complex. Enemy AI usually don't respond effectively to attack from long range: usually they either sit there or possibly ineffectively scatter. It's easy to pick them off, because they aren't waiting for you to pop over that hill like a human would. And enemy snipers are purposefully poor, as previous experience has shown players don't enjoy tackling auto-headshot enemies.

3) Thinking back to the last truly effective Bungie PvE shotgun (Halo 1), that was a really a combination of factors. You had an enemy (The Flood) that was nearly immune to snipers. You had a bunch of corridor/room crawls with said enemy. You had a shotgun with good range and a lot of ammo before needing to reload. And the enemy liked to drop ammo for that weapon.

Shotguns still won't be the weapon of choice in Destiny until we get an enemy like The Flood, and levels like the Library. Given that combination wasn't entirely popular, I 'm guessing it's on purpose. That being said, taking down Praetorians on the VoG with Swordbreaker is pretty satisfying.