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"Yeah, shotgun."
Zoey
"This shotgun'll work."
Coach

The Chrome Shotgun is a Pump Shotgun variant in Left 4 Dead 2. It has the tightest spread of all of the shotguns in the game, which makes it more effective against distant targets than the other shotguns. Compared to the Pump Shotgun, it has a tighter spread and more damage per pellet (31 instead of 25), but fewer pellets overall (8 instead of 10), leading to a negligibly lower amount of total damage (the difference between the total damage of all 80 shots done by this and the Pump Shotgun is only 128 damage; in other words, close to half a shot). Like the other shotguns, its high damage per shot and high penetration against Common Infected also makes it a good weapon for handling Hordes.

All shotguns allow topping off the magazine on the fly, and the reloading process can be stopped to handle sudden threats using shells already loaded in its tube magazine. An effective tip is to reload constantly, as this allows the Chrome Shotgun to be fired almost endlessly so long as the user is not surrounded by infected and forced to spend their entire magazine.

Like the rest of the shotguns, the Chrome Shotgun can:

  • Kill a Witch with one hit if all the pellets strike her head before she rises, making it useful for getting the "Cr0wnd" and "Witch Hunter" achievements.
  • Stumble Common Infected within close range if they are not killed by a shot, which otherwise can only be caused by one other firearm (the Grenade Launcher if the explosion misses up close).
  • "Snipe" distant Common Infected, since they die instantly from headshots and one pellet always travels directly on the crosshair, although this is very inefficient.

Tactics[]

  • The Chrome Shotgun's accuracy makes it more effective than the Pump Shotgun at taking out Special Infected from a distance.
  • Due to the tight spread of the Chrome Shotgun, it's best to find a narrow passageway to kill multiple Common Infected with one shot.
  • The Chrome Shotgun's fairly tight spread makes it an effective weapon for cr0wning Witches.
  • Like with all shotguns, reload as frequently as possible and stock up on ammo whenever you can.
  • There will always have 1 pellet landing in the middle of the crosshair when shooting while crouched, this can be used to snipe a distant infected's head due to the fact they die instantly from headshots. However, this tactic is relatively ineffective against other threats due to low damage of individual pellets and high damage drop off over distance of the shotgun.
  • Dual Pistols are the most effective side arm for any shotgun, although the Magnum works well, too. Avoid using melee weapons, as the Chrome Shotgun benefits more from a ranged secondary weapon.
  • Explosive Ammunition makes your shotgun fire slugs with large explosions. You can use this to shoot the ground which will take out large numbers of Common Infected and knock back Special Infected.
  • Take advantage of Incendiary Ammunition with the Chrome Shotgun to ignite multiple Infected with one shot. The weapon's accuracy (for a shotgun) also means that you can get distance shots on Special Infected and still kill them through burn damage.
  • The Chrome Shotgun may be a good weapon of choice in Versus mode in the early rounds when it is required to kill certain Special Infected at medium ranges, especially when a Survivor only has one pistol. The Pump Shotgun may seem like the better choice, but veteran players will often attempt to attack from a distance which the aforementioned weapon cannot instantly kill Special Infected. This can lead to severe consequences.
  • While being attacked by Hordes, it is best to shove after each shot to push back Infected while chambering the next shell.
    • You can shove as you reload to maintain a full or nearly full clip while still stopping the infected from hitting you.
  • Shoving can also be used to interrupt the Chrome Shotgun's round-chambering animation, significantly increasing its rate of fire and DPS.
    • This can trigger melee fatigue, meaning that the survivor may not be able to shove nearby infected back, leaving them more vulnerable to attack.
  • If your teammate is being attacked on the other side of a thin wall, you can use the Chrome Shotgun to shoot through the wall to save them.
  • While the Chrome Shotgun's accuracy is notably better compared to that of the Pump Shotgun, it is still inadvisable to use it on Infected that are near teammates. Switch to a secondary weapon to avoid friendly fire.
  • Be careful not to aim anywhere near gas cans or other carriable explosives that you don't want to ignite, especially in Left 4 Dead 2's "The Atrium", "The Port", and Scavenge mode. The Chrome Shotgun's spread can easily cause pellets to spray towards unintended targets so long as they are still in front of the shooter.

Pros and Cons[]

Pros[]

  • Has the tightest spread among all 4 shotguns (3.0 x 5.0); taking the role as a "slug shooter".
  • Very effective on tightly bunched Common Infected or on Special Infected that are nearby.
  • It is one of the few weapons that can cr0wn a Witch.
  • The Chrome Shotgun is reloaded with individual shells, so reloading often and early can result in very quick reloads.
  • A lot more damage per shot than Submachine gun variants.
  • Can be used in conjunction with Incendiary Ammo.
  • Slow fire rate makes it easier to conserve ammo.
  • Excellent stopping power with frag rounds. All pellet damage is combined into a single slug with the benefits of explosive area of effect and increased accuracy.
  • Good for medium range combat in early levels.
  • Shoving can be used to significantly increase fire rate and DPS.

Cons[]

  • Very low amount of ammunition. A total of just eight shells in the gun and 72 (56 on Xbox 360) extra.
  • Negligibly lower damage per second than the Pump Shotgun.
  • Not effective for long-range targets or against Hordes in big, open spaces.
  • The Chrome Shotgun must pump every time you fire, making it hard to hit fast-moving targets.
  • Friendly fire becomes a danger on Expert difficulty, as one shot can incapacitate a teammate at close range from full health.
  • It has a long reload time if you are reloading from empty or a nearly empty.
  • Smokers and Spitters will be very hard to hit at long distances, making them hard to kill safely.
  • The slow rate of fire and reload speed, as well as the damage penalty for all shotguns, means the Chrome Shotgun takes the longest of any primary weapon to kill the Tank, excepting the Scout and AWP (though it ties with the Pump Shotgun).
    • However, shoving while firing can be used to increase the speed at which the Chrome Shotgun kills the Tank.

Achievements[]

PC-exclusive[]

Achievement Get Skeeted On
GET SKEETED ON
Kill a pouncing Hunter with a shotgun.

Achievement Shotgun Wedding
SHOTGUN WEDDING
Kill the Witch bride with a single shotgun blast on expert difficulty.


Notes[]

  • The Chrome Shotgun is modeled after the Remington 870 Marine Magnum. Valve most likely renamed and recolored it as the "Chrome Shotgun" to avoid licensing issues and make it easier to identify.
  • In early gameplay videos, the Chrome Shotgun shared the Left 4 Dead's Pump Shotgun animations. The stats were shared as well.
  • The shotgun's animation, instead of pumping downwards due to recoil, resembles Team Fortress 2's shotgun pump animation, but slower.
  • Within 100 game units, all shotguns deal 5x damage to Common Infected (which makes a difference on Expert Realism). These variables can be configured in the developer console.
  • All shotguns suffer from reduced damage against the Tank. This makes sense, since buckshot is notorious among hunters for being a very poor option when hunting big or thick skinned animals on account of the low ballistic coefficient of shot pellets. This is also a balancing fix because the Tank is much easier to hit due to shotguns having a larger spread and therefore a larger crosshair as a result of their multiple fired pellets per round, compared to most other weapons where attacking an enemy with a large hitbox would not affect gameplay very much compared to a normal sized enemy.
  • This, along with other shotguns, is hard-coded. Its attack interval and reload/shell-insertion interval is impossible to be changed through the modification of the weapon scripts — technically you can, but it won't do anything, as the entity will still shoot at its default attack interval, and reload at its default shell-insertion interval. Upon reloading with an increased capacity through modification, it suffers an animation glitch upon the 17th shell and beyond.
  • The PC-exclusive September 2020 update for Left 4 Dead 2 gave the Chrome Shotgun a different alternative skin which gives it the Pump Shotgun's textures. An alternative skin was also given to the Pump Shotgun which gives it the Chrome Shotgun's textures.
  • This, along with other pump shotgun have an incorrect reload animation when emptied. After the loading the 8th round the Survivor is supposed to pump a new shell into the empty chamber, but never does.
  • The Chrome Shotgun shares its firing sounds with the "Force-A-Nature" shotgun from Team Fortress 2, another Valve game.

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Weapons
Primary Weapons
Tier 1 Chrome invert Chrome Shotgun / Pump invert Pump Shotgun / MP5 Invert MP5 / Mac10 invert Silenced Submachine Gun / Uzi invert Submachine Gun
Tier 2 Ak invert AK-47 / Scar invert Combat Rifle / M16 invert M-16 Assault Rifle / SIG Invert SG 552 / Auto invert Auto Shotgun / Spas12 invert Combat Shotgun / AWSM Invert AWP / Hunting invert Hunting Rifle / Steyr Invert Scout / G3 invert Sniper Rifle
Special Tier Grenade launcher inverted Grenade Launcher / M60Icon M60 Machine Gun
Secondary Weapons
Sidearms Pistol inverted M1911 Pistol / Deagle invert Magnum Pistol / Pistol l4d2 inverted P220 Pistol
Melee Weapons Bat invert Baseball Bat / Cricket invert Cricket Bat / Crowbar invert Crowbar / Axe invert Fireaxe / Pan invert Frying Pan / GolfClubIcon Golf Club / Guitar invert Guitar / Katana invert Katana / Knife Invert Knife / Machete invert Machete / Baton invert Nightstick / Icon pitchfork inverted Pitchfork / Icon shovel inverted Shovel
Special Tier Chainsaw invert Chainsaw
Other Weapons
Grenades Bile invert Bile Bomb / Molotov inverted Molotov Cocktail / Pipebomb invert Pipe Bomb
Upgrades L4D2 ammo explosive Explosive Ammunition / L4D2 ammo incendiary Incendiary Ammunition / Laser sight HUD invert Laser Sight
Fixed Weapons MMG Icon Heavy Machine Gun / Minigun icon Minigun
Items
Usable Items Explosive Barrel HUD invert Explosive barrel / Fireworks icon Fireworks / Gas canister HUD invert Gas can / Oxytank icon Oxygen tank / Propane tank icon Propane tank
Special Items Cola Cola / Gnome icon Gnome Chompski
Featured in both games / L4D1-exclusive / L4D2-exclusive (Counter-Strike weapons / PC-exclusive)
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