Shotgun or Lightning Gun

[StormyWaters 124]

All this XP is burning a hole in Mark Harrigan's pocket and he's looking for something with a little extra bang to deal with the bigger enemies.  I'm torn between the lightning gun and the shotgun.  On the one hand, the shotgun is cheaper(for both XP and cost to play) as well as having higher potential damage.  The lightning gun is more expensive to play and costs more XP, but you get 1 more ammo and more likely end up doing more damage over the course of those 3 shots assuming you don't absolutely crush both shotgun shots.  Which way do you guys lean?

[Starbreaker1 75]

For Mark, I like to take one of each, but I take shot gun first, because with his absurdly high starting fight of 5, with a beat cop out and shot gun you fight at 9, which with an icon or two will give you a very high chance of doing at least 3 damage, and if you happen to have home front you can almost guarantee 5 damage (6?).  Plus in a Mark deck any resource saving should take priority, in any other guardian I would take lightning gun over shotgun almost every time, but in Mark I tend to prioritize shotgun, and so far it has not failed me (cept that one time I pulled a wretched tentacle).  It should be noted however I always take extra ammo before shotgun or at the same time.

[Somatose Boy 28]

I like shotgun first, with extra ammo, then lightning gun. Just one note though, Shotgun's damage is capped at 5.

[awp832 447]

For other characters I think this is an tough question.  For Mark, I like the shotgun.  Extra Ammo will be critical of course, but with Sophie and his fight of 5 he can be at a 10 combat before he commits cards or resources.   Shotgun is very good on Mark.

[Spector1331 55]

16 hours ago, Somatose Boy said:

I like shotgun first, with extra ammo, then lightning gun. Just one note though, Shotgun's damage is capped at 5.

He was referring to the damage you can move with Home Front as well. He mentioned it in his post before the 6. 

[Starbreaker1 75]

That is correct, I posted a question because not that many enemies have health higher than 5

[tsuruki 197]

The thing about Shotgun on mark for me is that a Lightning gun blast is near-guaranteed to deal 3 damage. Shotgun can get that 4 or 5 damage shot but you still need to spend cards to guarantee it, if you shoot a 4 strength 3 health foe you need to buff up to 12 fight to guarantee that the shot does 3 points of damage, assuming that the token bag has a -5 of course.

[awp832 447]

you don't run Shotgun to deal with 3 health enemies.   If you have the ammo, then great, blow some fools away with it.   But shotgun is a boss killer.  You're after guys with 5+ health, and nothing else in the game will take them out as quickly as somebody who is really ready to go all out on the Shotgun.  

In short:  Lightning Gun is better for most mob enemies because of superior ammo, and attack bonus.   Shotgun is better for bosses because of higher max damage.   Lightning Gun also costs more resources and more XP, neither of which is insignificant.  I don't think there is a wrong choice, both are good...  however I do personally prefer the Shotgun, especially on Mark.

[Network57 561]

9 hours ago, awp832 said:

you don't run Shotgun to deal with 3 health enemies.   If you have the ammo, then great, blow some fools away with it.   But shotgun is a boss killer.  You're after guys with 5+ health, and nothing else in the game will take them out as quickly as somebody who is really ready to go all out on the Shotgun.  

In short:  Lightning Gun is better for most mob enemies because of superior ammo, and attack bonus.   Shotgun is better for bosses because of higher max damage.   Lightning Gun also costs more resources and more XP, neither of which is insignificant.  I don't think there is a wrong choice, both are good...  however I do personally prefer the Shotgun, especially on Mark.

I had Mark blast the boss from Oath with back-to-back Shotguns for 6 damage each. It was beautiful.

[HolySorcerer 4,105]

3 hours ago, Network57 said:

I had Mark blast the boss from Oath with back-to-back Shotguns for 6 damage each. It was beautiful.

How'd you get them both to 6?

[awp832 447]

probably he was using a skill card like Vicious Blow or Mark Harrigan's signature card The Home Front.    The Home Front is another reason Mark is particularly good with the Shotgun.

Edited January 16, 2018 by awp832

[Network57 561]

7 hours ago, awp832 said:

probably he was using a skill card like Vicious Blow or Mark Harrigan's signature card The Home Front.    The Home Front is another reason Mark is particularly good with the Shotgun.

One Home Front, one Vicious Blow, yep.

[tsuruki 197]

I'm still partial to the lightning gun over Shotgun. 

It hits the intended target no questions asked and rarely any cards needed to support it unless you want to put down vicious blows (Which are again, further guaranteed to deal extra damage), lest the Autofail token shows up. This is especially crucial on Hard difficulty as opposed to Standard, where you can expect larger penalty tokens to show up and wreck your intended damage. Even Mark can struggle to find the tokens needed to Two-shot a 10hp foe, even with beat cop out you're only blasting at 8 strength, you're always going to need the cards or resource pumps to buff that attack stat to guarantee the extra damage.

 

I'm not saying Shotguns are bad, but those moments where you net just 1 or 2 points of damage with them are going to make you wish you'dd spent 1 more XP. The Extra ammo is not to be ignored either.

 

[awp832 447]

I dont remember the last time I only dealt 1 or 2 damage with a shotgun.  I just invest enough bonuses to make sure I get the damage I need.   Mark's base combat is 5, so with beat cop and Shotgun he is attacking for 9 (not 8).  He also can commit Sophie, giving him a further +2 for 11, then he can further commit cards and resources.  It's easy to get him up to dealing 5 damage a shot.   And I play on Hard mode also, so it's not that.   

To each their own though.  Glad you found something you like.