Key Takeaways
- The First Descendant blends the looter shooter and RPG genres, complete with a cash shop and optional season pass.
- Shotguns in the game, like Fireworks or The Last Knight, offer varying damage, crit chance, and fire rates, catering to different playstyles.
- Ultimate-tier shotguns like Smithereens and Executor have higher damage and unique stats but require effort to unlock through blueprints and research.
The First Descendant mixes several genres into a unified whole. It is part looter shooter and part role-playing game. It operates as a live service game, and of course, has a cash shop. There is also an optional season pass available, which gives better rewards to subscribers.
As with most first-person shooters, there is a full range of weapon categories in The First Descendant, including shotguns. These are high-damage, slow-rate-of-fire weapons that do the most damage at close range. Unfortunately, there is little to differentiate the different shotguns in this game, with several having considerable overlap. But then again, a shotgun is a pretty basic weapon in the real world, so this is somewhat understandable.
6 Fireworks
Low Damage And Low Crit
- Tier: Rare
- DPS: 254
- Rounds: 12
- Fire rate: 67
- Critical rate: 1%
- Critical damage modifier: 1.15
- Reload speed: 1.61 seconds
Fireworks is a pretty lackluster shotgun in The First Descendant, but it marks the boundary between shotguns that are useful and shotguns that are useless. Being the lowest entry doesn’t mean it is awful. It’s capable but nothing special. For players who want to focus on a high-power build in The First Descendant, Fireworks is pretty easy to get and better than any standard weapon.
This shotgun should be pretty easy to loot. It drops with a 50% chance in the Classified Area in Sterile Land for completing the Unknown Laboratory. It is likely that for many players, Fireworks will be the easiest of the better shotguns to get hold of early in the game.
5 The Last Knight
High Crit Chance
- Tier: Rare
- DPS: 272
- Rounds: 9
- Fire rate: 120
- Critical rate: 3%
- Critical damage modifier: 1.2
- Reload speed: 1.69 seconds
The Last Knight isn’t just a very cool-looking shotgun in The First Descendant, it is also a pretty capable one. Sure, it doesn’t compare to either of the two ultimate-tier shotguns, but it is much easier to acquire. But with its higher crit chance, it could be the basis of a shotgun build until the player can unlock one of the two top-tier shotguns.
As with most rare weapons in The First Descendant, The Last Knight can be farmed. Players should head to the Grand Square area of Kingston, and complete the Suspicious Battery Pack. There is a 50% chance of The Last Knight dropping.
4 In A Blink
Can Be Farmed Quite Easily
- Tier: Rare
- DPS: 400
- Rounds: 8
- Fire rate: 75
- Critical rate: 2%
- Critical damage modifier: 1.2
- Reload speed: 1.54 seconds
In a Blink is an excellent shotgun, and as with all shotguns, it uses High Powered Rounds as ammo. What makes this shotgun a compelling choice is that it is fairly simple to create a high DPS build around this weapon by trying to max out the Firearm ATK, Weak Point Damage, Bonus Firearm ATK, and Weapon Change Speed stats.
Another reason to look closely at In A Blink is the fact that it can actually be farmed. Players can head to the Lost Supply Depot area of Vesper, and complete the Sepulcher. In A Blink drops with around a 50% chance.
3 Subconsciousness
Highest Raw Damage Shotgun
- Tier: Rare
- DPS: 412
- Rounds: 10
- Fire rate: 120
- Critical rate: 2%
- Critical damage modifier: 1.2
- Reload speed: 1.45 seconds
Subconsciousness is everything a good shotgun should be. With very high damage but very close range, it is a weapon that needs to be used up close and personal in The First Descendant. For players who cannot yet gain access to either of the two best, ultimate shotguns, then Subconsciousness is a good choice.
Subconsciousness can be farmed at a 50% drop rate, which is good news. Players should head to the Convertor Facility area of Fortress and complete the Central Control Unit. This weapon is the perfect rare shotgun to begin putting together a high-power build around, based on the player’s class and skills, and then upgrading to an ultimate-tier shotgun when possible.
2 Executor
Toss Up For Top Place
- Tier: Ultimate
- DPS: 282
- Rounds: 15
- Fire rate: 109
- Critical rate: 1%
- Critical damage modifier: 1.1
- Reload speed: 1.85 seconds
It was tough to decide where to put Executor on this list. Both of the ultimate-tier shotguns could have taken the top spot. However, the Executor misses out on the top spot simply because Smithereens fits the shotgun weapon archetype more closely. But at the end of the day, it will be down to the player to decide which they prefer.
Unlocking this weapon in The First Descendant is somewhat complicated. It involves getting hold of the blueprint through intercept battles or looting it in hard mode in certain regions. Once the player has the blueprint, they need to find all of the research materials and research it.
1 Smithereens
Top Pick For A Shotgun
- Tier: Ultimate
- DPS: 292
- Rounds: 10
- Fire rate: 150
- Critical rate: 1%
- Critical damage modifier: 1.1
- Reload speed: 1.6 seconds
Smithereens took the top place over the Executor because it has higher damage and a better fire rate. However, as already mentioned, both of these last two shotguns from The First Descendant could have taken the top spot.
Unlocking this weapon is going to take some effort, as it uses the same mechanics as all ultimate weapons do. Namely looting the blueprint and then researching it. But for a high-power build, this is the endgame weapon, unless the player prefers the slightly different stats of the Executor.
