Super Shotgun Stuff
SuperShotgun vs. Supershotgun
SuperShotgun battles are some of the most fierce, and technical, battles in all of Doom2. There are a number of things that are utilized in effective supershotgun duals:
- Swinging in relatively close the the opponent to get a shot in, then swinging away while the gun reloads.
- Swinging around behind the opponent at times, in an effort to disorient the opponant and get a closeup shot in relative safety. With 2 good supershotgunners, this manuver causes a position reversal instead.
- Making "swing shots" when needed, that is an abrupt pivot and firing onto the opponent.
- Attempting "run-down" kills, where you run up point blank while the opponant's SSG is reloading, and fire, without swinging away. This is used effectively when a partial hit or several partial hits have already been inflicted on the opponent. The intent in all cases is to expose the opponant to the maximum amount of your shot while sacrificing your own safety, because you expect him to drop dead from the shot anyway.
- During all such manuvers, especially during the reload, jumping around irratically, in an effort to ruin the opponants aim. This can include deliberately changing direction in time with when you expect the opponent will fire.
- Maintaining time and rhythm so that you can get off the maximum number of aimed shots in the shortest time, but interrupting your rhythm if it will aid you by either disrupting the opponant's dodging pattern, or helping you recover from a partial disorientation.
- Not Missing (seems simple but...its not always so).
You can practice some of this stuff in the SSG and SG specific handling area, pretending that the pillars are your opponent, but having a moving target that fires back becomes important in this stage of learning. After getting good at hitting still targets, its critical to play other players to continue learning SSG skills. Any of the shotgun series wads are an excellent place to play people to concentrate on SSG skills.
(a) A side note about SSGing against keyboarders
If you are a mouse+keys player who is playing other mouse+keys players while learning your SSG skills, and then you play the stray keyboarder who happens to stumble in boasting of his great SSG skills, you may find that your aim against him feels confusing and different, and hes getting more kills on you than you understand. This is because SSG technique as realized by a Keyboard-only player involves keeping back a medium distance while timing shots carefully, frequently while strafing, and includes limited straferunning if any. This speed and technique difference can not only affect the aim of an intermediete-skilled mouser, but some of the techniques used between mouse+keys players in SSG battles actually aid a slow moving, medium-distanced keyboarder in making his shots on the mouser.If you, as an intermediete-skilled mouser, want to maximize your score against a keyboarder on a wide open SSG map, you will find success in modifying/simplifying SSG technique into straferunning in unchanging directions, and always working as hard as possible to stay as close to the keyboarder as you can. Crossing back and forth in front of a mouser makes his aim harder, but you will avoid doing this with a keyboarder because that is what he depends on to make his shots because he cannot actually aim with the keyboard alone any more than you could. He will constantly back away from you to attempt to lengthen the distance to aid his aim, so you will find yourself basically chasing him around the map, sometimes ending up in medium range and the other times ending up close in.
Supershotgun around corners
The supershotgun is the classic and excellent hallway weapon. In the hallway area of the SSG and SG Specific handling area you can practice all kinds of hallway manuvers, like moving out very briefly into an intersection, accurately firing where you imagine the opponent to be, then moving back around 2 corners, or moving into an adjacent hallway or room. The reason for this kind of movement is that you are only exposing yourself to potential damage while you are firing, then attempting to shield yourself while the gun reloads.
Supershotgun Vs. BFG
A point blank supershotgun blast is one of the best ways to shut down someones BFG for them. If you miss, however, you will likely be a pile of guts a moment later. The key to being able to do this is in practicing close-up work with the supershotgun, while moving around. Don't miss!!
