For non-shotgun ammunition, see Ammunition Types.
Shotguns have access to a multitude of different ammunition types exclusive to their class. All shotguns in-game have access to these, including the Serbu Shotgun and Sawed Off . One may find the different ammunition types in the Other category in the shotgun's Attachments section. Their are four types of different ammunitions; Buckshot, Birdshot, Flechette and Slugs. The effectiveness of each ammunition type is different for each shotgun. Each shell is distinguished by the different color of the shell.
Buckshot
Buckshot
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
|
| ||||
| Attachment Type | Other | |||
| Kills Required | 0 | |||
| Note | {{{Note}}} | |||
Template:Quote/attachment
History
The tactical buckshot is the main and standard shotgun shell used by many military forces, special forces and law enforcement forces around the world. The tactical buckshot fires eight to fourteen hardened 00 (8.4mm) pellets, depending on the load.
The main purpose of the buckshot is to increase the hit chance, not the accuracy, of each shot. All of the pellets can hit a human size target at 25m, but it can cause lethal wounds up to 70m. The tactical buckshot has low penetration, making it unable to pierce soft armor, but it's still able to pierce wooden doors or standard dry walls. This shell is also used by hunters for hunting medium to big game.
In-game
The buckshot is the default load of all shotguns and fires 8 powerful pellets at once. It's very effective at close to medium range. Depending on the base statistics of the weapon, the effectiveness of this shell varies between weapons.
Generally, the buckshot is very deadly at close range. It can reliably kill a full health opponent in one shot up to 60 to 70 studs, and about 30 studs for the Serbu Shotgun. At medium range (less than 150 studs) the buckshot requires about 2 to 3 shots to eliminate a full health enemy. However, in combat, the enemies don't always have full health so 1 hit kills at this range are possible.
At longer range, the buckshot becomes less effective as the pellets spread very wide, the player will likely get killed if he/she tries to engage at this range. Buckshot also has a slightly larger spread than Flechette.
At a very long range (300+ studs) the pellets still have their damage and are able to kill low health enemies. Though this is the pure luck, it's not reliable and can't be called effective.
Usage
As it is the standard shotgun round, Buckshot should be used as a standard shotgun was made to be used: efficiently clearing out enemies at close to medium range play, and avoiding spraying at long ranges.
Birdshot
Birdshot
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
|
| ||||
| Attachment Type | Other | |||
| Kills Required | 1000 | |||
| Note | {{{Note}}} | |||
Template:Quote/attachment
History
Like the buckshot, the birdshot fires multiple projectiles. The pellets of the birdshot are smaller, weaker and have a lower penetration capacity, but are more numerous.
The birdshot is also used to increase the hit chance rather than accuracy. Mainly used by hunters for hunting small prey (snakes, rats, birds, etc) in which the target is frail but not necessarily easy to hit. In police and military applications, this shell can be used for breaching doors in assaults. The birdshot still causes some very serious tissue damage at very close range, around 10m, especially if it hits the eyes.
In-game
The birdshot in Phantom Forces has 24 or 27 pellets depending on the shotgun, 3 times the number of pellets of the standard buckshot in the game. However, the spread is also 3 times larger. The maximum damage per pellet of the birdshot is 1.1x times lower than the standard buckshot while the minimum damage per pellet is the same as the buckshot. The damage drop off range is slightly better than the buckshot. Depending on the base statistics of the weapon, the effectiveness of this shell varies between weapons.
The birdshot is extremely dangerous at close range as it fires more pellets than the buckshot. Even with the reduced damage, the potential damage of the birdshot is still a lot higher than the buckshot. It has the same 1-hit range as the buckshot, around 70 studs, and can eliminate multiple opponents with one shell. Nevertheless, at a farther range, the birdshot loses its effectiveness compared to the buckshot due to the very widespread. It will require many shots to neutralize an opponent. At 100 studs, only 2 to 3 pellets actually hit the target. However at medium ranges, pressing T on certain shotguns tightens up the spread of these pellets.
At a very long range, the pellets still have their damage and are able to kill low health enemies. This is pure luck, however, so it's not reliable and can't be called effective.
The birdshot has a grey shell case.
| Statistics | Multiplier (actual value) |
|---|---|
| Pellets | x3 (24 pellets) |
| Max damage | x0.9 |
| Min damage | x1 |
| Max range | x1.2 |
| Min range | x1 |
| Velocity | 900 studs/s |
| Piercing power | x0.5 |
Note:
-Red colour signifies inferior to the standard load.
-Green colour signifies superior to the standard load.
-White colour signifies the same to the standard load.
Usage
Use birdshot if you are more the aggressive player who wants to stand closer or at medium ranges to their victims and kill them from that range. Due to its improved performance at close range, birdshot is best fit with an aggressive play-style, requiring the user to get close to an enemy to ensure a kill. However, a large pellet spread causes it to deal minimal damage from a distance, similar to buckshot. So it is best to either get closer to the target or switch to a secondary at range. Overall, this attachment rewards the user with the massive damage output in close quarters, but sacrifices ranged performance greatly.
Flechette
Template:Quote/attachment
Flechette
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
|
| ||||
| Attachment Type | Other | |||
| Kills Required | 500 | |||
| Note | {{{Note}}} | |||
The flechette consists of tiny darts that can easily penetrate through objects such as walls.
History
Flechettes were designed and tested during the Vietnam war by the U.S. Army. The purpose of the flechette (literally "dart" in French) is to pierce through materials like the slug shot, but still retain the effectiveness of buckshot. A 12 gauge shotgun shell can contain 8 to 20 darts, depending on the load.
The flechette is very effective against armoured targets, able to pierce the regular police bullet resistant vest or punch through to a target behind a thin cover of wood or drywall. However, the flechette has not been officially adopted by the military due to the overpenetration to unarmored targets, often leading to unwanted property damage, death or injury to allies and civilians. The expensive price of these shells is also a notable reason.
Still, gun enthusiasts still improvise their own flechette shot and sell them at very expensive prices.
In-game
The flechette fires multiple projectiles like the buckshot. However, the projectiles of the flechette round can go through walls of a certain thickness. Its purpose is to hit targets behind cover like walls, and the tall slabs of cement like the ones guarding the hill in Crane Revamp. This shell also has slightly less spread than buckshot. The flechette does statistically less damage than the buckshot, but the reduction is very slight and only affects the maximum damage, so it doesn't affect the effectiveness of this shell comparing to the standard buckshot at any range; this shell increases the max damage range but is insignificant. Therefore, the flechette can be considered as a straight upgrade of the buckshot shell, if not taking into account the decreased pellet count.
Trivia
- The flechette has a blue shell case.
| Statistics | Multiplier (actual value) |
|---|---|
| Pellets | x1 |
| Max damage | x0.9 |
| Min damage | x1 |
| Max range | x1.2 |
| Min range | x1 |
| Velocity | x1.1 |
| Piercing power | x6 |
Note:
-Red colour signifies inferior to the standard load.
-Green colour signifies superior to the standard load.
-White colour signifies the same to the standard load.
Usage
Flechette rounds largely serve the same purpose as buckshot, albeit with a tighter spread and penetration capabilities at the cost of damage. This has the potential to greatly improve a shotgun's 1-hit kill range, or hinder it if the shotgun is more reliant on damage up close for a kill. For tighter spread and greater velocity, the effective range of flechette rounds is increased by a little bit compared to buckshot, and is therefore more helpful in extending effective range, while also maintaining the shotgun playstyle.
Slugs
Template:Quote/attachment
Slugs
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
|
| ||||
| Attachment Type | Other | |||
| Kills Required | 2000 | |||
| Note | {{{Note}}} | |||
The slug shell is a type of shotgun ammunition that fires only a single projectile. The projectile is simply a large and heavy projectile with very high kinetic energy and causes very serious damage.
The slug's projectile is made of materials like lead and frangible metallic alloys. Due to the softer materials used, the slugs have several different designs to fill with a rifle bore or smoothbore shotgun. Though heavy and powerful, the hunting slugs have a very weak piercing power. Therefore, it's mainly used by the hunters for hunting big games or by the police/army for breaching in an assault.
There is a more special slug shot. It has a sub-caliber, pointed, heavy bullet, made from lead, hardened steel, or other composite materials. It's basically an oversized rifle bullet. This shell is always saboted mainly to protect the barrel from the hardened projectile, unlike the soft materials used on the normal slugs, and also ameliorate the trajectory and the velocity of the projectile. Therefore, slug shot can only be fired in a rifled bore shotgun. This type of ammunition shot is used by the military and some law enforcement forces to disable an armored target or unarmored vehicle, often by destroying a car's engine. This type of shell is tightly controlled by the law around the world for civilian uses because it's considered as a cannon caliber (over 12.7mm of diameter). This type of slug shot is classed as special ammunition by the military and well known as the Armor Piercing slug in popular culture.
In-game
The slug in Phantom Forces is a very powerful ammunition type for the shotguns. It deals a very high amount of damage and usually results in a 1-hit-kill in CQC. However, at longer ranges, slugs drop to two-shot kills; only headshots can deliver one-shot kills. It multiplies the maximum damage by 3 and the minimum damage by 2.5 times. It also has a large x1.8 headshot multiplier and a x1.5 torso hit multiplier. The slug shot also has a very high piercing power, increases the piercing power of the shotgun by 5 times, like the flechette shot. However, the slug shot will fire only a single projectile, unlike the multiple projectiles the other shell types fire. The slug shot has a lower ballistic trajectory comparing to the conventional rifle bullet, so its muzzle velocity is slower than a rifle and therefore has greater bullet drop. Depending on the base statistics of the weapon, the effectiveness of this shell varies between weapons.
The slugs are best to use at medium to long range. The slugs are accurate enough to enable the player to engage the enemy at medium range, from 100 to 200 studs depending on the range of the shotgun. The stopping power is high enough to enough to eliminate an opponent in 1 or 2 shots. A headshot at this range can be a 1-headshot-kill. At longer range, the slugs still guarantee 1 to 2 shots to kill, but no 1-headshot-kill capacity and the shot becomes inaccurate. Over 150 studs, the horizontal dropping spread of the slugs also become more noticeable, and at over 300 studs, the player can get a miss even when they carefully aim with the shotgun, though it's unusual. The slow velocity of the shell also affects the effectiveness of engagement, as the projectile has large bullet drop compared to the long rifles (the Marksman rifles and the Sniper Rifles). Therefore, the shotgun's slug shot is inferior to the marksman rifles and the sniper rifles at very long ranges. Ammo management is also a crucial factor in using slugs because shooting 4+ rounds in quick succession can result in a long reload. Since each shell takes 1 second to load, having to load 8 or 14 shells into your shotgun can waste your time.
Because slug shells only fire one projectile at a time, and because shotguns shoot quite slowly, there is less room for error when using this attachment. Special care must be taken when aiming.
This type of ammunition is mainly used for shotgun sniping due to its nearly identical damage and less spread.
| Statistics | Multiplier (actual value) |
|---|---|
| Pellets | x1/8 (1 pellet) |
| Max damage | x3 |
| Min damage | x2.5 |
| Max range | x1 |
| Min range | x1 |
| Velocity | 1800 studs/s |
| Piercing power | x6 |
| Headshot | x1.8 |
| Torso | x1.5 |
| Limbs | x1 |
Note:
-Red colour signifies inferior to the standard load.
-Green colour signifies superior to the standard load.
-White colour signifies the same to the standard load.
Usage
More so than any other ammunition type, the slug round drastically changes the shotgun user's efficient playstyle. With slugs attached, the shotgun has significantly higher damage and accuracy at range. With the proper optics, a shotgun with slugs could be effectively used as a dmr or a sniper rifle, providing the user focuses on long range encounters. While slugs can eliminate a target at close quarters with careful aim, the lack of spread and extra pellets of traditional shotgun rounds is a major downside when it comes to short range. Therefore, the user would be safer switching to a secondary in these situations. Overall, the slugs attachment flips the traditional shotguns usage on its head, excelling at longer ranges and performing poorly at close quarters.
Trivia
- This was released in June 2016, as a part of the Summer Update.
- Equipping a different ammo type along with a suppressor will not show the damage nor range changes that the suppressor causes on the equipment screen.
- This is the only attachment available exclusively to shotguns.
- This was the first set of attachments to be exclusive to a specific gun category.