Less Lethal Nova

The **Less Lethal Nova** is a primary weapon and the non-lethal version of Benelli Nova shotgun introduced in SWAT 4. Since this weapon bears resemblance to that of its lethal counterpart, it is painted green so that it may be easily distinguished from the other.

## In-Game Description

*The Less Lethal shotgun is a Benelli Nova, pump-action shotgun which is always loaded with less than lethal beanbag rounds. It is most often used on an uncooperative suspect or civilian. The specially designed less lethal shotgun is necessary to eliminate errors that can occur from individually loading lethal or less than lethal munitions into the same weapon. To remind the operators that this particular weapon is only to be loaded with less than lethal ammunition, it has been painted green.*

## General Usage

The Less Lethal Nova shotgun fires beanbag rounds which are capable of temporarily disorienting the target upon impact. This weapon bears an ammunition capacity of 7 rounds with an additional reserve capacity for 22 rounds. Similar to its counterpart, the Pepper-ball Gun, it is generally used as a reliable and practical method of employing non-lethal force in combat situations without adhering to the Rules of Lethal Engagement. The Less Lethal Nova is usually preferred over the Pepper-ball gun due to its abilities to stack multiple stung morale modifiers and to stun targets instantaneously regardless where the target was hit. By stacking mutiple stung morale modifers in rapid succession, a barrage of two to three beanbags fired from this firearm will almost always compels a target to cooperate with the Officers, be it a civilian or a determined gunman. However the weapon suffers from a poor rate of fire, and if the player sustains an injury to their arm, the weapon's accuracy decreases altogether making it incapable firing effectively at long range.

## Effect

When a beanbag strikes a target, it stuns the target for 8 seconds while subtract their morale value by 0.4. Shooting a target mutiple times will multiply the morale reduction value by the number of hits. After recovering from the stun effects, the target's morale will return to normal and sustains no injury.

There is no form of immunity in the game that renders the beanbag rounds ineffective when compared to the case of the Pepper-ball gun. Against the AI SWAT officers the beanbag is ineffective, while on the other hand, the player will suffer from the effects of beanbag rounds in both singleplayer and multiplayer.

## Changes in Elite Force

In SWAT: Elite Force, this weapon is changed to suit its realistic nature as a *less*-lethal weapon, in the sense that it is now capable of inflicting damage on targets. It could even incapacitate or *kill* targets when fired repeated at a target, at a very close range or at the head, which means the Rules of Lethal Engagement now applies to this weapon. On the flip side, the beanbag rounds' morale reduction value is increased to 0.8, while the weapon also applies an additional 0.2 morale reduction on top of that due to its new ability to inflict injuries like a lethal firearm - meaning even a single strike by a beanbag is more effective than Taser Stun Gun in forcing suspects into surrendering. The damage done by the beanbag shotgun isn't capable of shredding Heavy Armor.

Given that the beanbag rounds are now capable of causing damage, firing the weapon at civilians in any circumstances will forfeit the "All civilians unharmed" score bonus, which in turn results in less than 100% mission score even if no one is killed or incapacitated. AI SWAT officers can also be disoriented by the beanbag rounds.

The effects of beanbags on suspects can now be mitigated or even totally eliminated with body armor, where they couldn't in the original game. Similarly, the player and the AI SWAT officers can also be equipped with different armor options to either mitigate or enhance the stun effects of the beanbags.

## Gallery

A suspect suffering from the effects of the less lethal's beanbag rounds

 Marksman Rifles