The Shotgun is the second base weapon acquired in ULTRAKILL, first unlocked in 0-3: DOUBLE DOWN (or 0-2: THE MEATGRINDER if the player defeats the secret encounter) with its blue variant, the Core Eject. Its green variant, the Pump Charge, can be purchased in the Terminal Shop for 12,500P. Its red variant, the Sawed-On, can be purchased for 25,000P.
It is a dark greyish-brown, futuristic, rectangular double-barreled shotgun with silver barrels. The muzzle of the weapon is held by large metal supports below each barrel, and a handle on the bottom. On the side of the shotgun (or the top if the player uses middle weapon viewmodels), there is a small UI indicating the shotgun's variant and its current state. The Shotgun is either break-action if the player is firing the Core Eject or Sawed-On variants, or pump-action if the player is firing the Pump Charge variant.
Mechanics
The Shotgun's primary fire shoots a large spread of concentrated heat pellet projectiles, each dealing 0.25 damage and traveling at semi-high speeds. The amount of pellets per shot and cooldown between shots is dependent on the variant. Shotgun pellets fire with limited piercing capabilities, as any remaining pellets from a shot are able to pass through an enemy as long as any other pellets in the shot kill it.
Shotgun pellets can be parried by the player with the 
Feedbacker immediately after firing, redirecting them, greatly reducing their spread, and causing them to explode on contact with surfaces and enemies, dealing 3.5 damage and granting the player the + Projectile Boost style bonus upon successfully hitting an enemy. Pellets can also be prematurely detonated with the 
Sharpshooter Revolver to create a large red explosion.
When fired at point-blank towards the middle of an enemy performing a parriable melee attack, a Shotgun's pellets can parry the melee attack, dealing greater damage than a normal melee parry with the Feedbacker, which is known simply as a Shotgun Parry.
Shotgun pellets will be launched away when within an explosion's radius.
Usage
The Shotgun is a close-range weapon by nature, with high-spread projectiles necessitating that the player remain near their target to maximize damage. Because of this, it lends itself well to use as a healing tool, especially against low-health enemies such as 
Strays. Although it has limited piercing capabilities and can clear out crowds to a degree, it functions best as a single-target weapon, especially when using shotgun swapping techniques.
Projectile boosting is a powerful asset due to its relative ease of use, and its direct, strong damage. It covers the Shotgun's weakness of not functioning well outside of close-range, and can clear out smaller groups of low-health enemies. It also functions as a good method of maintaining Style, provided the player can consistently hit each boost. Despite this, projectile boosting falls to the nature of arm exhaustion, and must be well-managed with other punches to make sure the player does not put themselves at risk of missing a parry or 
Knuckleblaster hit.
Variants
The Core Eject Shotgun is the blue variant of the Shotgun, acquired in either 0-3: DOUBLE DOWN or 0-2: THE MEATGRINDER. Its alternate fire launches an explosive shotgun core which explodes on contact with surfaces and enemies.
Mechanics
The Core Eject Shotgun's alternate fire launches an explosive core from the shotgun outward in a small arc. The distance and momentum of the core's trajectory is dependent on how long the alternate fire is held down before firing, indicated by the weapon UI's bar turning red. Cores will explode on contact with any surface or enemy, dealing 3.5 damage, or 35 damage to the player.
Cores can be turned into hitscan attacks when boosted by the 
Impact Hammer's primary fire, causing a large explosion on contact with surfaces or enemies.
Cores can be shot with any hitscan attack, detonating prematurely in a much larger explosion. When shot with any 
Revolver hitscan, 
Alternate Revolver hitscan, or the 
Electric Railcannon, a core will detonate into a significantly larger red explosion that deals 7 damage on contact with enemies. When shot by another core or a rocket turned hitscan by the Impact Hammer, or by the 
Malicious Railcannon, an extremely large explosion will occur, with the inner radius of the explosion being that of whichever hitscan was used to perform the shot. This explosion deals 13.25 damage.
Cores are the first object to be prioritized by the 
Marksman Revolver's coin lock-on, only following other coins.
Usage
On their own, cores shot by the Core Eject Shotgun are not incredibly powerful, dealing relatively low explosive damage and firing in an arc. However, they can be turned into very useful tools when combined with hitscan weaponry.
Cores can be charged to shoot at a distance and then sniped with a Revolver shot to deal with large crowds of enemies or deal distanced burst damage to big enemies who can't be approached at close range easily. The explosion is relatively simple to set up and deals more damage than a projectile boost, making it easy to utilize and take advantage of. When combined with an Electric Railcannon shot, the weapon's piercing hitscan will persist through the core, allowing it to hit enemies behind the core or out of its explosion range. This technique functions particularly well in long corridors or cramped spaces due to the Electric Railcannon's strength against enemies lined up in waves.
As the Marksman Revolver's coins strongly prioritize cores, the weapon can be used to more easily hit cores that may be hard to snipe from a distance due to their small size. This is very effective with the hitscan 
Railcannon variants, and is the best way of ensuring that the player doesn't waste a good shot.
Cores can be used with the Impact Hammer's primary fire for big mid-range damage very similar to that of a Malicious Railcannon shot, but this is a harder technique to set up and perform without the Core Eject Impact Hammer, due to its cores firing based on player velocity instead of level of charge.
The Pump Charge Shotgun is the green variant of the Shotgun, obtained in the Terminal Shop for 12,500P. Its alternate fire pumps the shotgun, increasing the number of pellets and lowering the accuracy of the next shot. 3 or more pumps cause the weapon to release a large explosion.
Mechanics
The alternate fire of the Pump Charge Shotgun will pump the shotgun, increasing the number of pellets in the next shot as well as its spread. The Pump Charge can be pumped up to three times, with any subsequent pumps having no effect on the next shot. On one pump, the next shot fired by the Shotgun will have 16 pellets rather than 10, and slightly greater spread. On two pumps, the next shot will have 24 pellets instead of 10, and much greater spread. On the third pump, the Pump Charge Shotgun will begin to produce an alarm sound, signifying that the next shot will produce a large explosion centered around the weapon that deals 10 damage to enemies and 50 self-damage to the player, rather than shooting any pellets at all. However, a three-pump explosion can still perform shotgun parries.
Pumping the Shotgun has no cooldown and can be done at any time. After a pumped shot, the Pump Charge Shotgun will always reset to its default state.
Usage
Due to its lower base damage than the Core Eject and Sawed-On variants, the Pump Charge Shotgun is best utilized only after being pumped once or more. However, this necessitates that the player remain at close range to enemies, as the greater spread of one-pump or two-pump shots from the Pump Charge means that they can only maximize their potential damage at point-blank. The Pump Charge, nonetheless, lends itself well to this usage, as it has a shorter reload speed than the other two variants, and has an extremely short alternate fire cooldown meaning it is almost always immediately available.
Because of its alternate fire's immediate reload speed and little setup, the Pump Charge functions great as a combo filler weapon that can fit nearly anywhere in certain tech to increase the player's damage and style. It can be used almost anywhere at any time, which allows it to function as a backup weapon for the player when other weapons are on cooldown or otherwise unavailable.
The explosion created at three pumps may at first seem like a detriment, but it can actually be powerful in a number of scenarios if used carefully. Its high 10-damage blast can instantly kill most low-health enemies, and even some stronger ones such as 
Virtues. As well as this, it retains the ability to perform shotgun parries, meaning that it can deal even more damage on a single target and instantly refill stamina that the player may utilize to dash out of the explosion immediately after the parry.
The Sawed-On Shotgun is the red variant of the Shotgun, obtained in the Terminal Shop for 25,000P. Its alternate fire revs up a chainsaw attached to its side which can be launched at enemies on a tether before returning to the player.
Mechanics
The alternate fire of the Sawed-On Shotgun revs up a small chainsaw attached to the shotgun's side when held, causing it to deal damage on contact with enemies directly next to the player. On release, the chainsaw will launch outward on a tether and then return, with the distance dependent on how long it was revved up before releasing. While launched, the chainsaw will pierce through enemies it comes into contact with, hitting them 3 times before doing so. Chainsaws take 4 seconds to recharge after being shot, but that time is doubled if a chainsaw remains active while another one is recharging. Chainsaws will persist even after swapping to a different weapon.
When a chainsaw returns to the player, a brief red flash will appear in the middle of the screen indicating that the chainsaw can be punched by the Feedbacker or the primary fire of the Impact Hammer to launch it again. This can be done as many times as desired and allows multiple chainsaws to be launched at once. If a chainsaw is instead punched by the Knuckleblaster, it will break from its tether entirely, becoming an independent projectile that will ricochet off surfaces and pierce through enemies, hitting them 4 times on contact. Detached chainsaws will eventually break after hitting many surfaces and/or enemies, and can be punched to propel them in a different direction. They are also affected by magnets from the 
Attractor Nailgun, spinning in a small circle around the magnet.
Chainsaws that are tethered can receive and transmit conductor hitscans created by shocks from the 
Jumpstart Nailgun or Electric Railcannon on enemies that are embedded with nails.
Usage
The Sawed-On Shotgun specializes in raw strength, being a weapon with simple technique and the ability to stack damage on top of other weapons while firing. If a player can balance between the concentration of using other weapons and juggling a chainsaw with the Feedbacker, they can greatly increase their damage potential at a time. The Sawed-On, when juggled, also works well against large or slow-moving enemies, as it is more likely to hit them both on the way out, and towards the player. Even without juggling, the Sawed-On can work to simply improve the base Shotgun's strength and healing capabilities if launched at the same time as a primary fire shot.
The chainsaw of the Sawed-On is an incredibly powerful healing tool, especially when revved but not launched. Running through crowds of enemies with a revved chainsaw can very quickly bring a player back to full health or Hard Damage limit, and when launched, can pierce through groups and release large amounts of blood in the process.
Chainsaws also function well as a magnet trap weapon, especially in conjunction with the 
Sawblade Launcher. Sawblade traps formed around magnets benefit from the increased power of a chainsaw which has been detached from its tether, and the chainsaw will hit each individual enemy more times at once than sawblades can.
Advanced Techniques
Shotgun Swapping
Shotgun variants can be quickly swapped between to negate the weapon's reload animation, due to their independent cooldowns. On each swap, the Shotgun's animation will reset as the player is firing with a new variant, allowing them to rapid-fire the weapon for great amounts of close-range burst damage. This can also be combined with projectile boosts in some scenarios, but the player must keep in mind that arm exhaustion will eventually make the Feedbacker unable to keep up with the speed of each swap. The primary downside to this tech is the quick depletion of weapon freshness on each Shotgun variant, which can severely affect Style.
Explosive Boosts
Explosions can be used to the player's advantage for quick and easy-to-access movement at the cost of significant self-damage. In the Shotgun's case, this comes in the form of core boosting and overpump boosts. Core boosts can be performed by sliding and shooting a core from the Core Eject during the slide. Due to the player's slide being slightly faster than the speed of the core's travel arc when not held down, the core will end up behind the player as it hits the ground, quickly pushing them forward at the cost of 35 self-damage.
Overpump boosts, on the other hand, involve preparing an explosive shot from the Pump Charge Shotgun by pumping it three or more times, aiming in the opposite direction of that which the player intends to boost, and then firing, causing them to be quickly shot outward from the explosion at the cost of 50 self-damage. Unlike core boosting, this explosive boost can be performed in any direction and in midair, but requires slightly more preparation.
Core Nuke
A core nuke is performed by shooting a core with certain forms of hitscan attacks, these being either another core or rocket turned hitscan by the Impact Hammer primary fire, or a shot from the Malicious Railcannon. Core nukes are almost always performed with the latter weapon due to its ease of use and lack of setup, however. A core nuke is the largest explosion achievable by the player alone, and deals 13.25 damage to enemies on contact, making it one of the most volatile tools for dealing quick burst damage or clearing large crowds of enemies near-instantly.
Overpump Dash
The self-damage of performing an explosion from an overpumped Pump Charge Shotgun can be negated. This is done by dashing out of the way slightly before firing the explosion, giving the player invincibility frames while exiting the blast radius. Dashes can be performed in any direction to avoid the blast.
Style Bonuses
| Name
|
Points
|
Description
|
| + QUICKDRAW
|
50
|
Hit any enemy within half of a second after swapping to a Revolver, Alternate Revolver or Shotgun.
|
| + BIG KILL
|
100 / 125
|
Kill any big enemy or boss.
100 points are earned unless a Shotgun is used at point-blank, then 125 points are earned.
|
| + PROJECTILE BOOST
|
90
|
Parry a Shotgun pellet into an enemy. Does not include  Swordsmachine's or  V2's shotguns.
|
| + OVERKILL
|
100
|
Kill any small enemy with a point-blank Shotgun or Impact Hammer blast.
|
| + PARRY
|
100
|
Parry any enemy attack.
|
| + GROOVY
|
60
|
Kill any enemy with the Sawed-On Shotgun's chainsaw before firing it.
|
| + NO-NO
|
40
|
Kill any enemy with the Sawed-On Shotgun's chainsaw after firing it while it's still attached.
|
| + RE-NO-NO
|
60
|
Kill any enemy with the Sawed-On Shotgun's chainsaw after firing it while it's still attached and parrying it with the Feedbacker at least once.
|
| + UNCHAINEDSAW
|
80
|
Kill any enemy with the Sawed-On Shotgun's chainsaw after detaching it with the Knuckleblaster.
|
| + ATTRAPTOR
|
60
|
Kill any enemy with any type of  Nail,  Sawblade, or Chainsaw stuck to or orbiting around one  Magnet.
|
Media
The previous Shotgun model used in older versions of ULTRAKILL.
Trivia
- Projectile boosting was originally a bug discovered by Hakita as player projectiles used repurposed code from enemy projectiles. As such, the player was able to parry shotgun pellets. This was then kept in the game and given its special Style Bonus, albeit balanced to function around the player.
- Shotgun primary fires push the player forward by an almost imperceptible degree, due to shotgun pellets being able to move "soft bodies" and influencing the player in this way as the pellets intersect them at the start of their travel. This is occasionally used in speedruns in conjunction with shotgun swapping for minute movement optimization, known as Swap Boosting or Duck Boosting. This effect is magnified by Dual Wield power-ups, though the distance gained still remains very small.
- This technique can also be performed by repeatedly firing the
Jumpstart Nailgun's cable.
- Ejected cores use the same texture as the Hell Orb projectiles fired by many enemies.
- Cores could be hooked by the Whiplash during Early Access versions 11a through 11c.
- The Sawed-On Shotgun's name is a pun on sawed-off shotguns, a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel. Sawed-off shotguns are typically depicted as short-range guns with lots of power.
- The + Groovy style bonus is a reference to a quote spoken by the character Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead 2.
- The Sawed-On Shotgun is the only variant of a player weapon which directly changes the mesh of the weapon model.
Terminal Entry
DATA:
An experimental close range weapon that uses hyperconcentrated heat as its projectiles.
After each shot, the shotgun must be opened to allow its heat-generating cores to vent excess heat, stopping them from melting or exploding. This process is largely automated, requiring little more from the user than a flick of the wrist.
In the case of core failure, the pump can be used as a manual heat building mechanism. This process has been simplified via a small button near the grip that pumps the shotgun without requiring physical force from the user, though its ease of use has also greatly increased the reported amount of misfires from users pumping too much heat into a single shot.
Heat weapons never caught on as much as electric weapons due to their volatile nature and strict cooling requirements, but unlike electric weapons, they don't require a separate projectile, making their ammunition truly infinite rather than just practically infinite.
STRATEGY:
- The shotgun is only effective at extremely close ranges, making it a risky but very devastating damage dealer. This also makes it ideal for healing.
- Can parry melee attacks via a point-blank shot to the chest. Riskier than using the Feedbacker arm, but with higher damage as a reward.
ADVANCED STRATEGY:
- Quickly swapping weapons skips the wait time after a shot, allowing for continuous bursts of massive damage at the risk of having to stay close for an extended period of time.
- The Core Eject variation's core can be shot out of the air via a hitscan weapon such as the Revolver to increase the radius and damage of its explosion. An already explosive hitscan will increase its radius even further.
- The slowness of the condensed heat projectiles may seem like a detriment at first, but this means that a well timed punch with the Feedbacker arm can hit them, parrying one's own shot for far greater accuracy, speed and damage. Color Customization
Each unlockable preset is reproducible one-to-one with custom colors; their corresponding color and hex codes are also in the table below.
| Name
|
Soul Orbs
|
Color Code
|
STANDARD
|
0
|
N/A
|
CLASSIC
|
10
|
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
|
PALACE
|
25
|
R: 0.60
G: 0.60
B: 0.60
R: 1.00
G: 0.66
B: 0.00
R: 1.00
G: 1.00
B: 1.00
|
CARAMEL
|
50
|
R: 1.00
G: 0.80
B: 0.60
R: 0.60
G: 0.60
B: 0.60
R: 1.00
G: 0.80
B: 0.60
|
LUXUS
|
100
|
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
R: 1.00
G: 0.65
B: 0.00
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
|
Filth:
Schism:
Soldier:
The Corpse of King Minos:
Ferryman:
Mindflayer:
Sentry:
Minos Prime:
Sisyphus Prime:
Streetcleaner:
Malicious Face:
Swordsmachine "Tundra":
