Auto shotgun (SLASH'EM)
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | auto shotgun |
| Appearance | auto shotgun |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | firearms |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 1500 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 60 |
| Material | iron |
- For the firearm in dNetHack and its derivatives, see auto shotgun (dNetHack).
- For the "non-automatic" counterpart, see shotgun (SLASH'EM).
An auto shotgun is type of a weapon that appears in SLASH'EM, SpliceHack, SlashTHEM, and Hack'EM. The auto shotgun is a two-handed launcher that uses the firearms skill and is designed for use with shotgun shells. It is made of iron.
Pirates in SlashTHEM know the item as a repeating blunderbuss. In Hack'EM, the auto shotgun appears as a strange broken crossbow when unidentified, similar to the item in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack.
Contents
Generation
Auto shotguns are generated differently across variants.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, auto shotguns are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
Yendorian army sergeants have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with an auto shotgun and 2 different stacks of 3–12 shotgun shells for ammo, while Yendorian army captains have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with an auto shotgun and 2 different stacks of 3–22 shotgun shells for ammo.[1][2]
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, auto shotguns are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, auto shotguns are very rare and make up 1⁄1000 of weapons randomly generated on the ground, in shops or as death drops.
Gun stores can also stock auto shotguns, and have a 1⁄20 chance of generating one on each square.
Auto shotgun generation for monsters behaves as in SLASH'EM.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, auto shotguns are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
Gun stores can stock auto shotguns, and have a 1⁄20 chance of generating one on each square.
Yendorian army sergeants that are not given racial monster equipment have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with an auto shotgun and 2 different stacks of 3–12 shotgun shells for ammo. Yendorian army captains that are not given racial monster equipment have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with an auto shotgun and 2 different stacks of 3–22 shotgun shells for ammo.
An auto shotgun can be created at a forge by combining a shotgun and an iron chain.
Description
An auto shotgun has a very limited range of 3 squares similar to a normal shotgun, but has a higher rate of fire at 2 versus the shotgun's -1 and lacks any to-hit bonus. As detailed in the table below, a hero shooting an auto shotgun with no enchantment (i.e. +0) at Skilled or higher will consistently fire 2 shots per action.
A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"Elaborate on modes of fire."
Rate of fire
| Enchantment | Unskilled/basic | Skilled | Expert |
|---|---|---|---|
| -6 or lower | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| -5 to -3 | 1 | 2 | 1d2+1 |
| -2 to +2 | 2 | 1d2+1 | 1d3+1 |
| +3 to +5 | 1d2+1 | 1d3+1 | 1d4+1 |
| +6 to +8 | 1d3+1 | 1d4+1 | 1d5+1 |
| +9 | 1d4+1 | 1d5+1 | 1d6+1 |
Strategy
While auto shotguns read as powerful on paper with their ability to fire multiple high-damage shotgun shells at short ranges, they have little practical use overall for a majority of players over a normal shotgun or in general. Two-handed firearms are a generally perilous choice of weapon for a hero to begin with, and the auto shotgun is nearly twice the weight of a normal one at 60 aum.
Additionally, the shotgun shells used by auto shotguns are very uncommon outside of sergeants, captains and shopkeepers—the former two monsters are more common but not guaranteed to generate with shells, and said ammo may be destroyed if they are caught in fiery explosions, e.g. from rockets and other explosives fired by their underlings; shopkeepers are generally more frequent, but will usually turn those shells upon the hero unless they can kill that shopkeeper quickly, which also carries significant penalties to alignment record if done directly (even for chaotic heroes).
A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"Consider detailing per-variant strategy."
Origin
An automatic shotgun is a type of automatic firearm that fires shotgun shells, using some of the energy from each shot to automatically cycle the action and load a new round—the gun will fire repeatedly until the trigger is released or ammunition runs out. Automatic shotguns have a very limited range, but provide tremendous firepower at close range.
Automatic shotguns generally employ mechanisms very similar to other kinds of automatic weapons, and there are several operation methods with the most common being gas, recoil, and blowback operated: Each of these methods use springs to return the retracted parts to their forward positions and restart the cycle. Many automatic shotguns are capable of selective fire, meaning they can fire in multiple modes (semi-automatic, burst, and sometimes fully automatic). They generally store ammunition in detachable box or drum magazines in order to decrease reloading time, rather than using under-barrel tubular magazines like most pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns. Automatic shotgun ammunition choices are slightly limited because the fired shot must provide sufficient recoil energy to reliably cycle the action.
Shotguns have a short effective range of about 50–70 metres (160–230 ft), but provide a lot of firepower at close range, and automatic fire enhances these effects in theory due to the increase in the rate of fire—in practice, automatic shotguns are generally viewed as less reliable than manual operation shotguns, as more moving parts lead to increased chances of error and jamming. Automatics also typically have much shorter barrels than pump-action shotguns and especially hunting shotguns, giving them a very high chance of hitting close-range targets and even hitting multiple targets in one area. They are generally intended for use as military combat shotguns, with their high rate of fire and relatively low recoil making them ideal for fast-paced close combat situations.
