2. The Crown & King Auto-5

Bow down to The Crown & King Auto-5.

The Crown & King Auto-5 is the peak shotgun in the game, as of update 4.0. This is nonnegotiable. It has everything you wantfrom the Spectre 1882 without any of the flaws. It has basically the same range and damage as the Spectre, it has a higher rate of fire, and it can be reloaded without expelling a shell. That last one is significant because, as any shotgun fans will tell you, that expelled shell was the difference between winning and losing a firefight.

The Auto-5 flew under my radar for a long time. I had heard from an arbitrary source that it was garbage, and just never gave it the time of day. That was a mistake. The Auto-5 is far and away one of the deadliest close range weapons in the game, surpassing the Chain Pistol in the hands of an experienced player and jumping leaps and bounds over any melee weapon in a PVP fight.

The major issue many players have with it, I believe, is the cost. It’s an expensive piece of equipment and can be a drag in open combat. This is where metagame may come in handy again, because if you built a loadout to eventually have the quartermastertrait;you could have something a little bit more powerful and ranged backing this, which beatswhat the small weapon category has to offer.

In any case, the Auto-5 boasts some impressive stats:

• Capacity - 4+1/6

• Cost - $466

• Category - Large Weapon

• Range - 25

• Damage - 64

• Control - 40

• Rate of Fire - 70

• Reload Speed - 40

• Melee - 24

• Stealth - 20

• Heavy Melee - 36

• Ammunition Type - Shotgun

• Damage Type - Rending

• Melee Damage Type - Blunt

• Heavy Melee Damage Type - Blunt

Unfortunately, the Auto-5 has an extremely steep XP wall. You only unlock it at level 92, though, if it's any consolation by that level you shouldn't really have a problem buying it. Once you’re prestiged, if you grew attached to this gun like I did, you’ll find that nothing scratches the Auto-5 itch just right, and you’ll always long for it to be back in your hands again.