Combat Shotgun

"Come to daddy, my sweet shotgun."

- Francis

"This shotgun feels right. It feels real right."

- Ellis

The Combat Shotgun is an Auto Shotgun variant in Left 4 Dead 2. It holds up to ten shells with 90 in reserve. It is a Tier 2 weapon and tends to spawn in the same places as its counterpart, the Tactical Shotgun. In early footage, the Combat Shotgun used the former's animations as placeholders, but eventually got its own animations.

Tactics

 * The Combat Shotgun is very effective at close range against major threats, such as Tanks, Witches, etc. Ideally, Incendiary/Explosive ammo should be used with this weapon when up against a Tank.
 * While the Combat Shotgun has a tighter spread and is thus slightly more accurate than the Tactical Shotgun, it is not a ranged weapon; nevertheless, it is marginally better at handling mid-range threats than the other auto shotgun.
 * 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.
 * Great care is needed on Expert mode because two direct shots will incapacitate a teammate even if they have full health. Even a glancing blow can be severely damaging. Switching to a melee weapon or Pistol is therefore almost essential if a Horde is attacking a team member.
 * Acquire the habit of reloading often, as the weapon becomes significantly less effective if the magazine is depleted. Apart from high-pressure emergencies requiring full auto, a good idea is thus to reload after every couple of shots.
 * If caught in a fight while the shotgun is empty during a Horde attack, shove zombies back while reloading: you'll be able to fire off a shot or two every second or so, allowing you to keep the Infected at bay.
 * Narrow hallways and choke points are ideal conditions for this weapon. A Horde trapped in such killing zones can be obliterated by a few quick shots.
 * This weapon fires heavy buckshot that can easily penetrate thin walls and barriers at close range, although its stopping power is degraded by doing so.
 * Using a Laser Sight on the Combat Shotgun does nothing to enhance its technical accuracy aside from reducing the increased pellet spread while moving. Its practical benefits are limited to showing teammates where a player is aiming and to confer a psychological advantage in the sense of being able to pick out a target with more confidence. At least, teammates can avoid standing between a user and a target in Expert mode.
 * This applies to the other shotguns as well. Save your upgrade for the assault rifles, where there is a significant increase in accuracy (especially the AK-47).
 * This weapon makes dispatching Witches incredibly easy (except on Realism Mode). All a player has to do is to get up close (preferably behind) and shoot her a few times, almost certainly killing the Witch and possibly cr0wning her.
 * This brutal capability can be handy on Versus as it obviates the need for the fine technique required for cr0wning her.
 * A Witch that has been startled can also be dispatched quickly if a Combat Shotgunner simply backs up to maintain distance and goes full auto into her central body mass. The ease of cr0wning Witches with the Combat Shotgun can lead to multiple cr0wnings in a single game. A good tactic would be to have a "designated Cr0wner" who would carry a Combat Shotgun and kill/Cr0wn any Witch that is in the way of the Survivors.
 * Clicking repeatedly will make the weapon fire faster than holding down the trigger, but be aware that it will drain ammo faster. This also applies to the Tactical Shotgun.
 * Stay close to teammates if you are using the Combat Shotgun. If you are attacked by a Smoker from any formidable distance, you will not be able to free yourself before you are pinned unless you land a lucky headshot with a stray pellet, making you dependent on your teammates to protect you from such an attack.
 * You will also not be able to save other teammates for quite some time unless you are very close to them, which would result in significant, unnecessary damage.
 * If you are close by, your shotgun will free your teammate from any Special Infected notably faster than any other weapon could, minimizing any damage incurred in the attack.
 * 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 Combat Shotgun's spread can easily cause pellets to spray towards unintended targets so long as they are still in front of the shooter.

Pros

 * It has high damage, making it incredibly effective at killing the Infected at close range.
 * Is better than the Tactical Shotgun at handling mid-range threats due to a tighter spread.
 * Can easily cr0wn a Witch.
 * Despite the damage penalty, at close range it can be a very effective weapon against a Tank, especially with Incendiary Ammo or when two or more people use automatic shotguns.
 * One full magazine at point-blank range (which can be fired in as low as 3 seconds) is enough to kill a Tank on Easy difficulty, even taking the 15% damage penalty into account. Normal requires two, Versus requires three, and Advanced and Expert require four. Theoretically, if all four Survivors use automatic shotguns and fire at point blank range, it is possible to kill a Tank on any difficulty in 3 seconds or less.
 * Has a fair amount of close-range penetration and is very effective at taking down Hordes.
 * Great for choke points.
 * Works well with a Magnum or dual Pistols for far away targets.
 * Is reloaded with individual shells, so reloading often and early results in a very quick and safe reloads.
 * The gun can be partially reloaded; if a reload is started and subsequently interrupted, the gun is not left with zero ammo, unlike guns that use magazines.
 * Reloads can be interrupted manually to maintain safety while still refilling the magazine.

Cons

 * Effectiveness is drastically reduced the further away the shooter is from their target. Switch to pistols to handle ranged threats.
 * It has a very small magazine, only being able to hold 10 shells at once. Wastefulness can quickly result in helplessness.
 * Due to its high rate of fire and low ammunition reserve, it is very easy to run entirely out of ammo.
 * Its spread of shot is tighter than that of the Tactical Shotgun so it is slightly less effective at taking down Hordes that are up close or spread out.
 * Although it can hit farther than its counterpart shotguns, hitting a distant target is difficult and requires multiple shots.
 * Reloading time is extremely long if the magazine is low on ammo or has been emptied.
 * Its effectiveness is reduced in open spaces where Hordes can spread out and attack from multiple directions.
 * Friendly fire becomes an issue on higher difficulties.
 * Laser Sights only improve accuracy while moving, and are mostly useless.
 * Suffers a 15% damage penalty against the Tank.

Differences
The Combat Shotgun is built for longer distances than the Auto Shotgun, with a tighter spread, fewer pellets per shot, and more damage per pellet. This makes it more effective against individuals or small groups at medium range, but it is still largely ineffective at long distances. Regardless, the Combat Shotgun also makes it slightly easier to cr0wn a Witch than with its counterpart. At extreme ranges, the Combat Shotgun's lower pellet count results in it having less hit chance than the Automatic Shotgun, despite the tighter spread. However, both shotguns are practically useless at these ranges.

Behind the Scenes

 * Early beta footage showed that the Combat Shotgun used the Left 4 Dead Auto Shotgun animations, including pulling a non-existent stock when the gun was pulled out. It also seemed to have the same damage, fire rate, and so forth as the original Auto Shotgun early on.


 * Early videos show that the folding stock on the Combat Shotgun had an animation while moving.