New Mechanic: Individually Load New 'Secondary/Special' Shotgun Rounds During Game!

Having the ability to load various ammo types into the shotgun during the game for a given situation would be awesome. However the player would need to adopt some shotgun round management but this mechanic would also raise the skill ceiling/weapon proficiency and produce new player opportunities.

! [Warning: In-depth Idea expansions/explanations below based off a previous 'breacher shotgun' related post ( @lightspeed ). Lightspeed introduced me to this idea and I'm trying to flesh this mechanic out and would like feedback and thoughts. It's advised to not skim through this. With a mechanic such as this, it would be a lot simpler to play it and be exposed to this mechanic than to read the conception and back-end details of the feature.] !


With this feature, there would have to be some changes to how shotguns are modified with ammo/attachments in the load-out screen. That being...

You choose a base ammo type as an attachment under the 'Ammo' category just like normal. Additionally, there is another attachment category listed under that called 'Secondary/Special Ammo' (or something) in which you then choose another type of round to take with you, although in a much lower quantity. These special/secondary rounds aren't loaded into the gun by default, they require manual loading during the game. The 'Secondary/Special Ammo' types would be Slug, Flechette, Buckshot + new ones like maybe types of Bird-shot, different kinds of Slugs, 'Dragon's Breath' rounds etc. There are a lot of different shell types and there is bound to be at least one more type of shell that could be introduced.

Example: You could select 'Buckshot' as your 'Ammo' attachment and 'Slugs' as your 'Secondary/Special Ammo' attachment if you wan't some engagement flexibility in the off-chance a target is at a long distance. You can also swap these options around by selecting 'Slugs' as your 'Ammo' attachment for the base type and then 'Buckshot' as your 'Secondary/Special Ammo' type for when you go CQB.

You can not double up on the same ammo type and the secondary/special types have a supply cost just like how the 'Ammo' attachment types do.

You can only choose one secondary/special ammo attachment, just like how you can only choose one barrel/optic/side-rail/under-barrel attachment.

You don't have to take any extra secondary/special ammo types if you don't want the added mechanic/complexity. It has a supply cost tied to it so you could put points elsewhere.

Depending on the secondary/special ammo type chosen, each of the special/secondary ammo types would yield a different carry limit, which also is affected by the tier of your ammo carrier. Example numbers: Picking slugs as your special/secondary ammo type would yield you 6 slug rounds. If you had a light ammo carrier you'd get 14 slugs rounds and with a heavy carrier on you'd get 26 slug rounds. So it somewhat works just like how you get an extra rocket with the RPG/MAWS when you have a heavy ammo carrier. The more 'niche' the special/secondary ammo type is, the fewer rounds you'll get (if they add in more shotgun shell ammo types, there is bound it be more 'niche' ones). These are example numbers and the supply cost for picking specific special/secondary round types would need to be tuned as you essentially carry more rounds than normal in which it also scales better the higher tier your carrier is.

Player control/input:

  • Holding down the 'RELOAD' button performs the 'Ammo Check' and when holding a shotgun, it will also tell you if you have any special/secondary rounds loaded in the tube and how many total special/secondary ammo is left. You could technically press 'R' to load one normal round in, cancel it, then double tap 'R' to load in a special/secondary round, then cancel and repeat to stack the tube with alternating ammo types, but that's on you to manage that.
  • Double tapping 'R' would load one round of the special/secondary round type since double tapping 'R' for shotguns doesn't do anything, unlike for weapons utilizing 'box magazines'. Double tapping 'R' is extremely fast and would allow the player to quickly respond and capitalize on an opportunity if they had invested points in 'Special/Secondary Ammo'
  • If you double tap 'R' when your shotgun is full (+1 in the chamber) and if that chambered round is of the base round type, your character will pump the shotgun back, spitting out that round and inserting the special/secondary round directly into the breach/chamber. As the player, with this mechanic in mind, the chances of you needing to load your special/secondary round type on demand wouldn't occur that frequently, although this feature would still exist so you could perform an on demand load of your special/secondary ammo even when completely full.

Example Scenario:
Your shotgun is 100% filled with buckshot, but you see an enemy in the distance sprinting out in the open, so you quickly double tap 'R' and load in a round of your special/secondary ammo which you chose to be of type 'Slug', then boom, you snipe that exposed player with a one-and-done slug round.

There is a real life method of 'Carrier loading'/'Ghost loading' where you can save the round that would of been spat out, but that's going a bit far. The way it would work is If your shotgun magazine tube is full and you have one in the chamber but you need to load the special/secondary round type right then and there, you can do it by sacrificing the 1 round in the chamber.

This sounds all complicated, right? If so, this should help. As the player, you'd:

  • Select your 'Ammo' attachment like normal
  • Select your 'Special/Secondary Ammo' attachment
  • Spawn in with your shotgun loaded already with your 'Ammo' attachment like normal
  • Double tap 'R' to load one round of your 'Special/Secondary Ammo' when you think your given situation favors it
  • Shoot shotgun to use your freshly loaded 'Special/Secondary' round(s)

[TLDR]:
During the load-out screen, you can spend supply points on another shotgun attachment category called 'Secondary/Special Ammo' or something like that (listed right below the 'Ammo' category). It allows you to carry a few extra shotgun rounds that are of a different type to the base 'Ammo' you selected. During the game you can individually load a single special/secondary ammo round into your shotgun by double tapping 'R' for an on-demand response to a given situation that favors your special/secondary round type (Example scenario 3 paragraphs up).

last edited by Jarple

I like the premise... but have you tried the slug rounds yet? It's like they simply vanish at long range. I've tried them with some serious scopes and i swear the bullet magically disappears after a certain distance.

@AMURKA Yeah I have, you just gotta compensate a lot. Slugs require a huge lead past 150m and further and it takes a lot longer to reach the target than other cartridges. I haven't tested anything extreme though, only about 200'ish meters but even then it's kinda out of the shotguns effective range lol.

please dear god let them add explosive shotgun rounds, those would be the shit. I like your Idea would be bloody helpfull sometimes

Great idea, execpt for the birdshot. People have taken a round of birdshot point blank in the back and walked out of the building. Not exactly great for combat, unless it were to shoot down drones.

@excaliburrebel said in New Mechanic: Individually Load New 'Secondary/Special' Shotgun Rounds During Game!:

Great idea, execpt for the birdshot.

Yea lmao what do we need birdshot in this game for?

Just naming some other types of shells, I just yolo'd it.

They should add it for the meme

I think double-tapping reload should load secondary ammo, instead of only loading one round. If you want to switch back to the standard ammo as you're reloading, you would tap reload.