Apex Legends Best Shotgun (All Shotguns From Worst To Best)

Updated:

08 Jul 2019

What Is The Best Shotgun in Apex Legends?

Ahh Apex Legends. One of the best battle royale games out there! If you’re like me and absolutely love this game, you want to learn everything you can to give yourself the edge you need to win!

The road to becoming a master Apex predator starts with picking the right gun for the right situation.The last thing you want is to get cornered and die by a sadistic Caustic player and his Nox gas because you didn’t have the right kind of shotgun for those close encounters.

But don’t worry! I’m going to walk you through every shotgun Apex Legends has to offer to make sure YOU get the best loadout and come out on top!

#4. Mozambique (Worst)

Poop gun making its way through the ranks

The Mozmabique has been known as a running joke for being the worst, most useless weapon in Apex Legends since the game first launched back in February. However, the Mozambique has recently made some strides to be an actual contender when deciding which weapon to grab. The Mozmabique is a shotgun pistol that shoots a 3-round triangle spread. It can only hold 3 shots at a time dealing some pretty mediocre damage. But, where the Mozambique really shines nowadays is with the addition of a new hop-up that has been introduced with the awesome launch of Season 2, the Hammerpoint Rounds Hop-up. The Hammerpoint Rounds allows the Mozambique to deal more damage to enemy health. It's actually very surprising how good the Mozambique is now with this Hop-up. It can deal nearly twice the amount of normal damage with the Hammerpoint Rounds hop-up attatched. Not only that, but it deals 3x the amount of damage if you can get a point blank headshot on a enenmy. As much of a joke weilding the Mozambique has been in the past, it is, surprsingly, a decent weapon now. I know it's shocking.

Despite all these great enhancements to the Mozambique, it's hasn't quite earned the title of best shotgun in Apex Legends yet. Twice the amount of damage is great and all don't get me wrong, but let's not forget the Mozambique had some pretty trash damage stats to begin with, so it's not really a huge game changer. You're looking at a change of a 15 base damage to 30, so you can tell the difference, but its not an amazing difference. Plus, you have to be real up close and accurate with the gun to take advantage of the damage increase. Not to mention, you still have to deal with only 3 shots per mag and the spread is still pretty terrible. Unless you're up close, you can't hope to get a decent shot in. The Hammerpoint Rounds help balance this, but the Mozambique still has a long way to go to being the absolute meta of shotguns in Apex Legends

Weapon Stats:

Base Body Damage: 15
Base Head Damage: 30
Base Body Damage (Hammerpoint): 30
Base Head Damage (Hammerpoint): 132
Max Body Damage: 30
Max Head Damage: 44
Max Body Damage (Hammerpoint): 90
Max Head Damage (Hammerpoint): 132
Magazine Size: 3
Fire Rate(RPM): 180
Attachments: Optics, Shotgun Barrel, Hammerpoint Rounds

Why it Sucks:

Hammerpoint Hop-up may make the damage decent, but its still not crazy good
Triangle spread makes landing a decent shot very difficult.
This weapon isn't gung-ho ready for everybody...yet

#3. EVA-8

The EVA-8, a real weapon!

While the Mozambique might not be terrible now, if you see an EVA-8 lying around you're probably better off. The EVA-8 is a pretty decent weapon it terms of damage, but where this weapon really shines is its rate of fire. This shotgun has the highest rate of fire out of all the shotguns that can be found in the game. Combine this gun with a level 3 shotgun bolt and you’ll be sweeping the battle zone with deadly shells in no time! Fun fact, the spread of this shotgun is in the shape of the number 8, hence the name EVA-8. Cool right? This weapon gives a nice balanced vertical spread, so if you shoot a person straight in front of you, you’ll no doubt get hit on them.

The EVA-8, however, has a low damage output. It’s better than the Mozambique for sure, even with its buffs. But, it can sometimes feel lacking. So, while you might be able to get 3, maybe 4, shots on a player, unless they’re really close you’ll probably won’t kill them. This can make fighting a little frustrating when you are repeatedly hitting a player and they are still pushing towards you. While the damage might not be the best, the high rate of fire helps balance this and will still be able to keep you in the fight. So, if you’re out in Kings Canyon and see a EVA-8 lying around, do yourself a favor and pick that sucker up!

Weapon Stats:

Base Body Damage: 7
Base Head Damage: 10.5
Max Body Damage: 63
Max Head Damage: 90
Magazine Size: 8
Fire Rate(RPM): 128
Attachments: Optics, Shotgun Barrel

Why it Sucks:

Low Damage unless up close with players
Can feel lacking at times

#2. Peacekeeper

The beast that is The Peacekeeper!

This is probably one of my favorite weapons in Apex Legends! The Peacemaker has one of the highest damage outputs in the game, making it a force to be reckoned with. This weapon turns into an absolute beast when paired with the Precision Choke hop up. If you aim down the sights of your Peacekeeper with the Precision Choke attached, it will concentrate your spread into a narrow shot. This increases the precision of the weapon, but more importantly, it will destroy your opponents even if they have a decent shield or helmet on.

While this weapon has some awesome damage, it's a little bit of a risk/reward situation. The Peacekeeper has a very slow rate of fire. In fact, it has the slowest rate of fire of any shotgun in the game. So, if you try to shoot somebody and you miss this gives them some time to retaliate and put you in a real tight spot. You can balance this with a shotgun bolt, but you’ll still be at a slight disadvantage. The reload time is also pretty slow. If you’re in a heated battle with another player and you run out of ammo it's going to take you a few seconds to reload and in a battle royale game just one second can be the difference between life or death.

What I really appreciate about the Peacekeeper is that it rewards you for being skillful at the weapon. If you take your time and line up your shots, the low rate of fire and reload times won’t seem so bad. It might take some time, but if you can master the Peacekeeper you’ll become an unstoppable force and be one step closer to becoming Champion!

Weapon Stats:

Base Body Damage: 10
Base Head Damage: 15
Max Body Damage: 110
Max Head Damage: 165
Magazine Size: 6
Fire Rate(RPM): 58
Attachments: Optics, Shotgun Barrel, Precision Choke

Why it Sucks:

Takes time to master
Low Rate of Fire
Slow Reload times

#1. Mastiff (Best)

The Mastiff, the Holy Grail of shotgun killing machines!

The Mastiff is the most unique and powerful shotgun in the game, no question! This a legendary weapon, so you know it's the best of the best. The mastiff has the highest damage output allowing you to cause almost 300 damage to a player! 300!!! The secret to this insane amount of damage is the weapon's unique spread. Unlike other shotguns that fire in an outgoing spread that scatters, this weapon's spread is completely horizontal. It fires 8 pellets in a straight horizontal line, with most of the damage being concentrated near the center of the shot. Shooting from the hip with this shotgun makes killing even the most defended players a breeze. The damage is at its greatest when aiming down the sights concentrating all 8 pellets into a narrower spread for kills that require precise aiming.

This weapon is beyond amazing! However, there are some things about this weapon you should keep in mind. Since the Mastiff is a legendary weapon, it can only be found in care packages that drop down in random places across the map. This also means that it has a set amount of ammo, which means you can’t replenish the ammo at all with any shotgun ammo you find on the ground. You have 20 shots total when you pick up the Mastiff, so you gotta make each shot count if you’re planning on using it a lot. Also, it can only hold 4 shells at a time, so it has one of the lowest mag sizes in the game. However, it more than makes up for it with its crazy damage and spread.

The Mastiff is the perfect weapon for close encounters, making it more than deserving of being at the top of this list!

Weapon Stats: