Mass Effect: Weapons: Shotguns

# **Shotguns**

Shotguns are one of the primary weapons in the Mass Effect universe. These weapons typically deal very high damage at close range but at the expense of less accuracy over larger distances.

## **AT-12 Raider**

 File:Mass Effect AT-12 Raider.png
Carried by the batarian military's notorious Special Intervention Unit, the Raider is a semi-automatic shotgun that loads slowly but fires rapidly, with tremendous force. Short-range even for a shotgun, the Raider has a large pellet spread. Rather than eliminating recoil, its integral compensators instead make it predictable and vertical.

## **Dhan**

 File:Mass Effect Dhan.png
The Dhan is a kett semi-automatic weapon which unleashes a single plasma-surrounded projectile that causes devastating damage. The Dhan's large and dense projectiles can knock down opponents and generate magnetic fields sufficient to sustain plasma spheres. Dhan appears to translate to "peacebringer".

## **Disciple**

 File:Mass Effect Disciple.png
Originally handcrafted for the exclusive use of justicars, the Disciple Shotgun's schematics were finally released to asari commandos after centuries of negotiation. The Disciple uses shells packed with microscale submunitions to deal staggering amounts of damage. Even shielded enemies are stunned by the force of a blast from this weapon.

## **Geth Plasma Shotgun**

This three-barreled geth weapon fires miniature but potent cluster rounds of superconducting projectiles and has a longer range than standard shotguns. A two-stage trigger system allows for either quick-fire capacitors or a charge-and-release attack to electrify the projectiles as they exit the weapon. As the rounds hit the target, they fragment and electricity arcs between the pieces, flash-converting the air to conductive plasma. The resulting impact, heat, and electrical charge overloads shields and barriers and causes massive trauma to unarmored targets.

## **Graal Spike Thrower**

 File:Mass Effect Graal Spike Thrower.png
The Graal is one of a long line of krogan weapons used to hunt thresher maws. Its ammunition consists of oversized flechettes meant to pierce thresher hide and create deep wound channels leading to massive blood loss. For additional firepower, the weapon is double-barreled, and, as a last resort, possesses blades to cause internal injuries if the wielder is swallowed by the thresher. Using a Graal on a humanoid target has predictably grisly effects. Its shots can be charged for more damage.

## **Hesh**

 File:Mass Effect Hesh.png
The semi-automatic Hesh, translated to "order," is a kett weapon that fires clusters of plasma-surrounded projectiles. Fired rounds are powerful enough to stagger most foes and demand submission from the rest.

## **M-11 Wraith**

 File:Mass Effect M-11 Wraith.png
The Wraith is favored among mercenaries, pirates, and slavers in the Terminus systems. Its high-impact damage and sturdy construction make it a popular "quick-draw" shotgun. A variant of the M-22 Eviscerator, demand for the Wraith is higher than ever, even though the weapon is banned in Citadel space. In order to lighten its weight, the Wraith holds fewer shots than the Eviscerator.

## **M-22 Eviscerator**

The Lieberschaft 2180 shotgun, or "Eviscerator," is of human civilian design and has a unique ammunition generator. Where most modern firearms slice chips or pellets from an ammunition block, the M-22 shaves off serrated metal wedges designed to fly aerodynamically. This dramatically improves its armor-piercing capabilities, and its tight grouping ensures lethality at longer ranges than standard shotguns. This design violates several intergalactic weapons treaties, so the M-22 is not distributed to militaries.

## **M-23 Katana**

Manufactured by Ariake Technologies, the Katana is a common mercenary weapon, and is also popular on colonies with varren infestations. It's deadly at short range, but ineffective at long range.

## **M-27 Scimitar**

Manufactured by Ariake Technologies, the Scimitar features twin mass effect generators, giving it a more rapid rate of fire than a traditional shotgun. This weapon was created for the Eclipse mercenary band, but is rapidly becoming popular with Blood Pack mercs as well.

## **M-300 Claymore**

Very rare krogan shotgun. Deals high damage at short range; less effective at long range. Effective against armor, shields and biotic barriers. It is of human design but is only used by krogan, due to the fact that the kickback from a single shot has enough force to break a human's arm. Protected by Fabrication Rights Management (FRM) technology, this weapon is nearly impossible to reproduce and is prohibitively expensive.

## **N7 Crusader**

 File:Mass Effect N7 Crusader.png
Bruised and bloody Alliance marines on Torfan attributed their survival against waves of batarian mercenaries to the precision and stopping power of the Crusader. With a design patterned on riot shotguns, this weapon has a moderate rate of fire that rewards careful aiming. Since this accuracy requires little room for error, the Crusader is primarily used by highly trained soldiers.

## **N7 Piranha**

 File:Mass Effect N7 Piranha.png
The N7 Piranha is an assault shotgun designed for the Reaper war. When the N7 program began training alien resistance forces, the lighter-bodied species wanted a low-recoil weapon with a wide pellet spread for dealing with hordes of husks. The result was the Piranha, which hit a sweet spot in close-range firepower. Its rapid-fire capability tears apart not only husks but most opponents unlucky enough to be in its way.

## **Pathfinder Deep Impact**

 File:Mass Effect Pathfinder Deep Impact.png
This shotgun feeds data directly to a Pathfinder's SAM, allowing adjustments to the weapon's balance, recoil, and heat buildup. During development, the Deep Impact's sonic signature was reconfigured multiple times to find the noise most likely to intimidate alien wildlife.

## **Reegar Carbine**

 File:Mass Effect Reegar Carbine.png
This electrical weapon improves upon the arc pistol's design by generating a sustained current on its target. This weapon is named for the quarian Reegar family, whose marines have served valiantly against the geth.

**Game Notes**:

* This weapon suffers from very poor accuracy. Attacks suffer a -2D at short range, a -3D at medium range , and a -5D at long range. There is no attack penalty for attacks made at a range of 1 meter or less. It has no effect on a target beyond a range of 10 meters.
* Users of this weapon suffer only have the normal multiple action penalties if used against the same target.

## **Ruzard**

 File:Mass Effect Ruzard.png
A massive, slow-firing krogan shotgun, the Ruzad delivers a forceful blow that will stagger any enemy who survives. In krogan culture, Ruzad translates loosely as "judge." The krogan consider the name more obvious than humorous or ironic.

## **Shorty**

 File:Mass Effect Shorty.png
Outlaws cobbled together the compact Shorty because they wanted a close-range weapon with extra ammo. The shogun fires three-round bursts, but is heavy to carry because of a large ammunition clip; the recoil kicks like an angry mule.

## **Venom Shotgun**

 File:Mass Effect Venom Shotgun.png
The Venom shotgun was developed by the salarian Special Tasks Group to meet the unpredictable needs of those stationed in hostile areas. The double barrel fires ammunition that detonates on impact, while a third barrel below can be charged to fire a round of microgrenades. Given the covert nature of most STG assignments, the Venom was designed to force an exit strategy and was issued to teams whose primary objective was to extract compromised undercover operatives. The shotgun is now issued to frontline soldiers in the war against the Reapers.

## **Source**

* Mass Effect Wiki: Shotguns
* thedemonapostle