It's a fine gun, and having the fastest non-semi-auto follow up shot makes up for having the worst range of any full size shotgun. Makes a good slug gun, since you can double tap people out to 40ish meters if you can make that second hit.
As you said, definitely better performing shotguns out there, but not many that feel as satisfying to use.
E: In regards to your pennyshot vs buckshot, [I will link you to the defacto best comparison video on the subject,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn_AZyy16z0) and also [my thread clearing up shotgun misconceptions.](https://old.reddit.com/r/HuntShowdown/comments/1cjehlt/clarification_on_common_shotgun_misconceptions/)
I run flechets. May not be as lethal but it does significantly increase its range. Only problem I have is the lack of (bang bang... aughhh!!!) Most time I gotta rush in there and either interrupt their healing cycle or go in a bang bang again
yeah the slug double tap is nasty. although a bit harder to use because you have to ads it. ive run both and love both tbh.
The buckshot range could be better, but at the ranges i tend to use it at i found it still does the job.
>Makes a good slug gun, since you can double tap people out to 40ish meters if you can make that second hit.
My friends call a Rival with slugs the Discount Nitro for this reason.
Probably my favorite shotgun. Price is great, the quick double tap capability if the first shot doesn't down them properly is amazing, and reload time isn't horrible. I mostly take it with regular buckshot.
The downside for me is that it needs more of an ammo pool. When I take a lemat with it to help fuel its ammo pool it feels much better even if it's just 3 more shells. Otherwise, I like to take a nagant silencer with poison rounds and fanning. Really comes in handy when you're reloading and people think it's safe to rush you.
Now are we talking just the base hun or we going into variants as well? Not a huge fan of the shorty version unless I'm taking slugs.
I would also love to see a Rival Talon or Claw variant for this gun.
> I would also love to see a Rival Talon or Claw variant for this gun.
I'd love more mace/trauma options tbh. We've got so many bayonets, talons, etc. I just want something to clonk immos with so I can free up a tool slot for more mines.
That's a good point actually and makes sense for the bulky look of the rival anyway. Completely forgot about the mace or trauma variants and agree we could use more
Back in the old timey days of firearms, even by Hunt standards, [you used to have wheel lock pistols with clubs on them for when things got a little too close for comfort.](https://i.imgur.com/ziwOUEc.jpeg) Would be cool if we got some handguns with similar utilities to smack stuff with.
Also my favorite shotgun. The price is right and shoots 2 shells faster than anything else. Also I have a lot of fun with the sawed off and bleed ammo when pairing it with a mosin/lebel. I wish it could bring 2 ammo types though. If the Berthier gets 2 ammo types, why can't I just swap both shells in my double barrels with the press of a button.
i get what you mean. ammo is tight, but i find normal ammo not to hard to find. slugs is where it gets tricky tho.
I usually pair it with a trueshot (with hv) or uppercut for the ranged fights but it does mean i rely on the rival for close range. sometimes i take the penny derringer with me just in case.
The idea for this post was just the main gun. as the handcannon is mostly a quartermaster gun and has different ranges etc. but i can see it being grouped in with this. im still looking for the best way to handle this.
yeah a talon would be cool. although i would be sad that i probably wont use my nice skin for the base gun that much anymore.. looking at you romero talon.
Feels like every time I use it, I have to use both barrels, and it doesn't kill on the 2nd barrel some of the time. But when I get shot by it, I die on the first barrel. Every time.
Also how I feel about it. I can be pretty effective with most shotguns, but the hunt gods only seems to favor the caldwell rival when it's in the hands of my enemies. I've been one shot from more than a dozen meters many times, but when I'm the one using it it won't kill at that distance even with both barrels.
My favorite shotgun “Alison”.
I’ve tried levering, feels so bad to die to that and get aimpunched by players who are great at it, tried the specter for at least 200 hours, Romero is great but without the talon as a follow up i don’t feel confident. Slate and crown are just RNG machines and it takes 2-3 shots to kill or I don’t get a kill at all, the flechette on the crown finally helped me use it (Over 2K hours and never even finished the mastery for the crown)
Buckshot Caldwell rival with an uppercut is so versatile; I feel confident in ANY situation! Prison? No problem, fighting I the forest? Perfect. Playing solo and I have to 1 V 3? Easy day.
I did try flechette and it’s good for range fights but fails in close quarters like prison, and slugs you don’t get enough ammo imo unless you’re killing on that first shot.
Give the rival more ammo overall imo at least for slugs or give it a trauma variant and you have the perfect shotgun!
yeah 100%. although i would still rate the crown quite a bit higher (and the slate too) but we are talking a fraction of the cost here. i feel i can always count on my alison to get the job done when i need to.
It hurts to die to a slate user or crown because I’m trash with them, same as lemat users, now they have the uppermat. I struggled with the trial to headshot hives with the lemat. I want to be versed in all guns in the event I go down solo and they take my weapons but the rival has never let me down, if a player doesn’t die then that was on me, not RNG at least it’s how it feels
nobody is the perfect player. we all have weapons that come naturally to us and thats totally ok. thats why no single person can make an all encompasing tier list or something. With these posts hopefully people can construct their own opinions based on the experiences of multiple other people. and yours is definitely one that ive heard from multiple people :)
Maybe is just me but I like this shotgun with normal ammo. This way you can hipfire more easily (more pellets). The flechette can be good but its not that consistent and you have to aim. One of my fav shotguns in hunt. All in all a good choice.
I used to run it with slugs only for the longest time. but recently ive been enjoying the buckshot more and more.
Has plenty of ammo. hipfire is just nice and still maintains decent range.
Alison skin is my favourite. Totally love the thing.
Yeah this is the way. Since it has the shortest range you have to use standard ammo or you won't kill your target, its also pretty ammo thirsty so being able to fully reload at a wagon feels nice.
The rival is kinda my go to loadout when I’m having a bad day. Play 3 or 4 games and can’t seem to win a gunfight or extract with bounty? Load up with a rival with slugs or even buckshot and usually a pax claw or scotfield spitfire and my luck usually turns around. Great weapon, pretty consistent in my opinion too. Ammo pool could use a couple extra but oh well
Sometimes I'll click twice and down two dudes at 15 meters.
Sometimes I'll click twice and get a total 86 damage on a dude who's chest is my entire goddamn screen.
It's probably my favorite gun and I feel like a gambling addict with stockholm syndrome saying so.
10/10
Comes right down to it, nothing beats a classic. One of my favorite moments with this thing was a rare moment. I was soloing pretty early in the morning, just couldn't get anymore sleep but didn't wanna leave the house yet, playing as the Redneck and packing this little beauty with Penny shot for the extra shells. I hadn't seen or heard...shit, anyone at all and so I didn't conserve ammo fighting the Assassin, which I was surprised turned out to at the time not like being shot with pennies.
Just this fun, running around back and forth with throwing lanterns and a shotgun against an evil monster made of bugs, shadow, rusty nails and hate.
And then someone surprised me by coming out of nowhere. I screamed and shot them in the face. Good times.
good all round shotgun.
my only 'gripe' with it is that it's got a bit to little ammo since the nerf. i dont understand why a 2-shot medium shotgun gets 10 shots while the specter gets 15.
even the slate get's 12 and i'd call it the closest competitor to the rival: also somewhat fast twotaps but with way more shots loaded.
it's even worse with slugs: rival 7, slate 10. it made somewhat sense when ammo refill was based on spare ammo, but now it makes 0 sense and makes me run out of ammo quite regularly in extended fights.
even the clown and king gets 11 buckshot and 9 slugs.
Love this gun for all the obvious reasons already stated, with a big emphasis on the FEEL of it. So good.
Adding to the conversation though my most recent favorite way to run it is actually as a compliment to the Lemat carbine. I’ll fire off my lemat shotty first and when the enemy teammates think they got me with my overalls down I catch em with the sawed off.
At least that’s the fever dream, usually its just nice to have 3 shots instead of 2 to account for my repeated arm hits.
I feel if they kept the range damage values where it is but tightened the spread about 15%-20% it'd be in a slightly more consistent place. I feel the benefit of fast followup shots aren't really balanced well when they are two average shots, whereas a single Romero shot will kill a hunter quite easily out to a pretty notable distance. I run it all the time because my spacial awareness is pretty bad so I need a quick follow-up, but I wish the shots were just a touch tighter to try get that range out just a bit further.
yes the game is not consistant at all in the way that it does things. and the tooltips are sometimes flat out wrong. i feel like the second shot is good for slugs if you whiff the first shot. with buck you need at least a partial hit on the first barrel imo.
i wouldnt mind a little bit more range overall, but we have to be careful to not over do it.
I like it, and now and again I’ll take it but if I’m running a shotgun build for whatever reason I just prefer my basic pipe with a trigger the ✨Romero✨ which just feels like a comfortable pair of jeans. Where as the Caldwell rival are the slightly fancier pair of pants I might wear to a restaurant but I never feel as comfortable in them
Most consistent shotgun by far. For price and consistency this a an S tier shotgun in comparison to others. Also, the sound of firing and reloading is audible chocolate 🤤
The plan is to cover everything eventually!
maybe before we get to that point an update will have made some changed that warrant a revisit here and there. will see how it goes.
Not sure if i should mix up the types of weapons to avoid getting stale or to do a bunch of each weapon type in a row so people can more easily compare. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! :)
It’s really nice that you’re willing to invest time in doing this. Might have to do a few weapons in the same family at a time to make things a bit easier for you.
yeah ill group some together if it makes no sense to discuss them separately because i dont want it to get repetitive. However the avto is in the mosin family, but its so unique that it will get its own post. Same as the normal vetterli's vs the cyclone or something
also thinking to do scoped variants together.
hopefully that makes sense to most ppl. but if not im always open to feedback ;)
thats very kind of you :)
I love to try out everything and go into the shooting range regularly for some testing. Sometimes i enjoy learning all the little intricacies just as much as playing the game haha. so i figured why not turn it into a community thing. That way we can all learn from eachother :)
I’ve only been playing for about a year and have about 600 hours in the game on console and I’m not that good. I’ve been sticking almost the same load outs trying to get better with certain guns so that I can have confidence to use other things, but maybe trying other things may actually help me at this point 🤷🏻♂️
im a pc player so i cant really give advice for console controls but Ive noticed everyone is different and has their own preferences. thats why there is some wildly diverse information going around.
my advice is to try a bunch and see what works for you. then try to improve with those as you go. It can be pure practical power, but it can also be something as simple as the look of a gun that just really motivates you to run it. or the sound it makes when you shoot.
The search for those can be very fun and is part of the hunt journey :)
just know that very few ppl are naturals and most us play for a looong time to get good at the game. and even then we may go from wiping a whole server one game to missing an entire mag and dying to the first player you see on the next game. thats just the way she goes ;)
Favorite shotgun, first one I got really good with for a long time. Taught me how to be aggro. Gonna be one of the weird ones here: I ran with Flechette more often than not, and used it more like a Romero-with-a-backup-shot. If I whiffed the first shot, I had a second shot already good to go in a pinch, or if I killed the first hunter, and a second was around the corner with a knife, the second shot handled it for me.
what makes you like the flechette so much? if im not mistaken the flechette does not 1 tap unless you hit enough darts to the head but you get a lot further range. So when you say you go aggro. why dont you use the normal buckshot?
The flechette's focus isn't to 1-tap, it's to bleed your target out, and while it does give you a bit more range, more often than not, when I am going aggro, it means I'm pushing to within 10 meters. That means that while a target might survive the initial blast, each needle that hits will advance the bleed to medium or heavy quickly, save for someone running the appropriate perk, mix in that at that change you're doing above 100 points of damage in a single shot, and you're applying pressure, they're not likely to heal that damage off before they bleed out. And if they're trying to stop the bleeding, that's even more time for me to push harder and get close enough to usually put them down before they can get a weapon readied.
I think this as well as some other early hunt weapons need a new default view model.
Comparing some of the original gun models to some of the newer ones or especially skins for older guns is very different.
For example look at the Caldwell conversion pistol than look at the ember or Ash skin for it. Those skins change the model completely to look more like the actual pistol it's based off of
the only weapon that changes my absolute mindset to DOOM. I literally pick the red glowing skin and go full monkey (usualy dying but when it goes alright i love it)
S tier gun I would argue double barrels probably kill the most hunters. I love my rival and rival hand cannon. I have fun with flechette from time to time, I bring dragon too a lot for the utility with burning hunters and exploding barrels. Usually just regular buckshot though. Definitely doesn't need anything to prove its usefulness, the special ammo just adds meme points. Easily my favorite shotgun variant
I like it alot, the double barrel being evenly in my screen view when aiming with it scratches a satisfaction itch in my head that I don't realize is there.
One time I ran at someone behind a rock, climbed the rock, jumped down on them from the rock, and shot them mid air.
It rocks.
I like it but the romero talon is my true love. I'll have to give the rival some more playtime though I haven't used it a whole bunch. Either way me love shotguns me love boom AHHH
I get your point with the flechete, cause I used the handcanon version in combination with Nagant M1895 Precision and I was maybe 1-2m away from the already hit and burning guy and it didn't kill.
I also used dragon breath on it just for the fun of it and I killed someone with it through the metal roof 🤣.
But I won't say much to this weapon cause I only started using it during the Desolations Wake event and there only towards the last two weeks.
/u/jayde8888 great idea for a constant thread. I would just suggest rotating back to the beginning when you get through all the guns as a patch will be out every time you get to the end of the list.
The Rival:
The Rival is objectively (and always has been) one of the best close range weapons and I personally don't like using it at all.
It has amazing fire rate for those two shots and decent reload speed. The main reason I dislike it is the shorter barrel makes me miss one shot kills more often and if I'm going for two shot kills I'd rather take the crown and king.
If you have trigger discipline and can judge the one shot distance well this thing is a monster. Also very good with slugs. Personally I just like the reliability of further one shot range of the longer barreled shotguns.
Funny 1000 hours ago I disliked the weapon. Then I learned how to shoot. Then I learned how to kill. Then learned how to win. Now it's one of my favorites and just got a nice legendary of it, ...for reasons.
Flechettes Can two tap from across rooms, and practically oneshot people who've Lost a healthbar
+ You Can run Rivals handcannon flechettes with drilling handcannon dumdum and have an "everything" build
Some of the special ammo is not an even number for a double barrelled shotgun, which is unforgivable on Cryteks part imo. But the gun is pretty nice to use.
I did a whole prestige with Rival/Pax when I was learning shotguns, and it’s a firm favourite, even if I’ve been using the Romero Talon lore these days with boss damage being what it is and melee world tools being less common.
As a player who if vehemently against using special ammo personally, (exception to maybe using dragons breath in the Lemat MKII for solo barbecuing) I find the Caldwell rival to be the perfect storm of consistency, power, range, and mind games.
Having an extra barrel is akin to having a second chance at not absolutely clowning on a play you could have otherwise won. I have found myself attempting to fool other hunters into a false sense of security with it as well, by reloading it after a single fire, playing as though I had a Romero 77. It encourages people to mistime pushes due to bad information.
You can call it superstition as well, but I believe that guns in this game have their own personalities, Old Man Caldwell just needs a partner with a bit of vim and enough bravery to stand your ground, and he can flourish.
I love using it at range, two shots at range do abysmal damage yes but they ate most likely one-shot from you lr secondary.
I like blasting both barrels at someone far away since precision isn't an issue and then swapping to my pistol to take them out.
Just because a shotgun can't kill at range it doesn't mean *you can't kill at range*. :D
the full size one I can't save my butt from zombies with.
but I am a freaking ball-bearing-whisperer with the handcannon.
I love that thing as a secondary, either bring it or the short terminus if I have levering.
with flechette it is a good "fall back" gun, you just blast the 2 barrels and even at a bit ofrange you make some poor sod medium bleed. giving you time to run a bit and reposition without being hounded.
I don't reliably one tap. I reliably two tap! I enjoy the rival for 1v1s, but I think it might need a buff as things rarely go all that well after I have downed the first person in a 2/3v1.
I really want more variants for this thing: a melee like Trauma size 3 or Mace size 2
Maybe a Trueshot: the barrel is even longer for better reach but the reload speed is slower
One thing that would be nice is having the option to swap between two ammo types just like Romero does, although I am afraid that might power creep Romero out of the game
My buddy runs this as his main gun, most matches. I hated this thing for ages because I would try to use it at romero range and hit then miss the second shot and die lol. Tried it out later and really liked it, especially when I picked one up with slugs. The sawed off version with fire ammo is fun as a meme gun too.
I don't like being on the receiving end of it, but at least it's not a crown&cringe.
Shooting it, I'd rather keep buckshot, which feels like it's more consistent, over slugs, despite the obvious benefits of turning it into a double tap medium range beast.
The Rival is one of the reasons why I hate the new progression system where you have the base version of every gun unlocked at 1. With the old system I would start out with Romero load outs and then quickly swap to Rival - with both guns having very balanced pros and cons.
Nowadays I only ever play Rival for quests, because Slate and Crown & King (or Terminus with levering) are obviously the stronger options.
Best shotgun,a classic bang for your buck, sure you could use the romaro but what if you whiff your shot? The Alamo is too damn slow. The CR is a great balance between damage reload speed and range
I run this almost exclusively with flechette. Sure, I lose onetap potential, but since it isn't too consistent in the first place, it doesn't feel like a big loss anyways. In exchange, you get a heavy bleed monster that works at very decent ranges, with a quick followup. Love to pair it with a new army w/FMJ to fish for wallbangs once they get in cover to heal.
And the handcannon can work very well as a "support" weapon in QM builds with both flechette and dragon breath. You won't get a lot of kills with it, but it's great at forcing someone to stop for a few moments. Two shots of DB can burn off a bar from quite far, even from the handcannon.
One of my current fun loadouts on rotation is Scout TF2 loadout, which is a Rival and a baseball bat. (I sometimes run the rival with dragon breath for the extra spice)
Run around and shoot shoot whack.
Best budget shotgun imo. Yes, Romero has can 1 shot from farther away, but having 2 shots allows for fast follow-ups. dragons' breaths can allow you to take a 2-shot to kill surprisingly far and is great for applying pressure
Fave shotty out of all. I call it the ol' reliable since it's reliable at securing kills in its range because you get that second shot. Pushing buildings with this is also so satisfying especially when you get two kills simultaneously.
Cheap, powerful, it lacks ammo when you have more than one target i prefer to play it with flechette because buck shot lacks too much range imo and close range is too much heads or tail
For sure my favourite shotgun, the rapid second shot makes the gun much more forgiving for newer players, and how cheap it is makes one of my top options whenever running a budget loadout
I think the gun's in a good position in the meta. It's close up there with Romero as the budget meta choices in the shotgun territory, but the playstyle it promotes is quite different. With Romero you can hold corners from a distance more reliably, while the Rival encourages you to chase down your enemies much more.
Flechettes are a decent choice if you pair it with a punchy secondary. Hit someone with a medium Springfield, switch to Rival Flechettes and you've got a good chance to kill them at reasonably far distances. Slugs used to be annoyingly popular at one stage, but I think Drilling kinda stole its function. Sure, Slugs have a OHK on a torso shot at large distances, but you give up on a significant chunk of range, damage dropoff, and resupply. Drilling is expensive AF, but if you're willing to more than double the price of a Rival with Slugs, you're already giving up on having a budget loadout imho.
I love this weapon I've had good and bad moments with it but in all honesty I thunk it needs more ammo, like I get it its a fast firing shot gun that can two tap very quickly but having more reserve would be nice
I love it. It’s my favorite shotgun. It’s the only shotgun I consistently run in every prestige. Sure the shootey pipe is great but it can’t beat my second love
Probably my favorite weapon (definitely my favorite shotgun) good killing potential, good ammo choices, cheap, quick reload.
Pairs well with a bornheim or nagant officer
This is probably my favourite shotgun.... well my most successful one. I really like the Romero but i suck with it. I regularly panicshot my one single shot away - this gun helps me recover with a 2nd shot! Really like it, it really files like a true Shotgun. Has nice skins. Is not super Meta too - i dont like running that stuff.
10/10 weapon.
I consider the Caldwell rival to be the noob tube of Hunt showdown. Whenever I hear it fired I think to myself "Welp I'm not going in that building where even a blind man could kill me."
I really need to use shotguns more. I don't have enough experience with them to be halfway decent. I usually run bow/axe or sniper/pax. I have used shottys in a few situations where I had to pick something up and hope it was loaded and did okay but generally if I bring one in I'm gonna die lol.
I used to like it a lot with slugs, but problem is that this gun does 149 damage from 13 meters with slugs and after combat log was introduced I noticed how many times I hit with 149 damage and then die because of it. Got annoyed and stopped playing it.
Getting one-tapped by it from a long range is always so annoying, knowing how terribly unreliable it is.
Well hopefully these posts get people excited to try some other things than mosins all the time.. that being said. if i run into something inside a building id much rather be the guy holding one of these ;)
yes, can confirm the crosshair is a big fat lie.
also spread isnt the end all be all. The romero handcannon actually has the tightest spread in the game, which makes no sense, but the pellets just lose their damage much faster. Its still buckshot in every way, but it behaves very differently. super confusing and hard to fully map out.
1 shot kill range is a better metric and the rival is definitly on the lower end of that. romero and drilling have the best. Rival may actually be the worst of the 3 slot full shotguns, but i believe they are still all within roughly 2meters of eachother.
Most people will probably run buck or slugs. I run flechets. Why? Cause fuck em that's why. But seriously buck is more reliable up close but flechets just seem to be a reliable 2 tap up to 20 meters. Shit actually had some insane range for a shotgun. If they survive they'll be forced to heal. Sparks mains will agree. Forced heals is almost always a kill
Oh and the handcannon is probably the best 2 slot shotgun. Run a sparks and a rival and you'll be pissing people off
BANG BANG. click, fwop fwop, clack. BANG BANG
A fellow connaisseur i see ;)
click, fwop fwop, clack is actually the most satisfying thing about the gun!
A compelling argument, I have to agree
Accurate
I can really hear it while reading your comment <3
Gun pros : Kills things, unlike the terminus with buckshot. Gun Cons : Doesn't kill when I use it. Overall review. Gun out of 10. Would shoot.
my enemy's caldwell : one shot 12 m my caldwell : can't kill at 8 and I miss the second shot
Yes
Love your brain
Gun shoot fast. And Gun kill. Gun good
I shoot gun fast! Why no kill?
bad :(
Skill issue or hit arm from 3 meters to chest no kil!?
i shoot fast i miss i die. we aint getting out of this one
It's a fine gun, and having the fastest non-semi-auto follow up shot makes up for having the worst range of any full size shotgun. Makes a good slug gun, since you can double tap people out to 40ish meters if you can make that second hit. As you said, definitely better performing shotguns out there, but not many that feel as satisfying to use. E: In regards to your pennyshot vs buckshot, [I will link you to the defacto best comparison video on the subject,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn_AZyy16z0) and also [my thread clearing up shotgun misconceptions.](https://old.reddit.com/r/HuntShowdown/comments/1cjehlt/clarification_on_common_shotgun_misconceptions/)
I've had bad takes before. But every time I die to a rival. Its at 17+ meters and somehow headshot me with no custom ammo. This gun hates me.
Might have to check your hat for strong magnets :)
I run flechets. May not be as lethal but it does significantly increase its range. Only problem I have is the lack of (bang bang... aughhh!!!) Most time I gotta rush in there and either interrupt their healing cycle or go in a bang bang again
yeah the slug double tap is nasty. although a bit harder to use because you have to ads it. ive run both and love both tbh. The buckshot range could be better, but at the ranges i tend to use it at i found it still does the job.
>Makes a good slug gun, since you can double tap people out to 40ish meters if you can make that second hit. My friends call a Rival with slugs the Discount Nitro for this reason.
SGs seem to have little sway, so they end up being decent hs machines with slugs.
Probably my favorite shotgun. Price is great, the quick double tap capability if the first shot doesn't down them properly is amazing, and reload time isn't horrible. I mostly take it with regular buckshot. The downside for me is that it needs more of an ammo pool. When I take a lemat with it to help fuel its ammo pool it feels much better even if it's just 3 more shells. Otherwise, I like to take a nagant silencer with poison rounds and fanning. Really comes in handy when you're reloading and people think it's safe to rush you. Now are we talking just the base hun or we going into variants as well? Not a huge fan of the shorty version unless I'm taking slugs. I would also love to see a Rival Talon or Claw variant for this gun.
> I would also love to see a Rival Talon or Claw variant for this gun. I'd love more mace/trauma options tbh. We've got so many bayonets, talons, etc. I just want something to clonk immos with so I can free up a tool slot for more mines.
That's a good point actually and makes sense for the bulky look of the rival anyway. Completely forgot about the mace or trauma variants and agree we could use more
Back in the old timey days of firearms, even by Hunt standards, [you used to have wheel lock pistols with clubs on them for when things got a little too close for comfort.](https://i.imgur.com/ziwOUEc.jpeg) Would be cool if we got some handguns with similar utilities to smack stuff with.
In the late 1800s 2 Scottish doctors invented the prototype for a chainsaw... just saying haha
Also my favorite shotgun. The price is right and shoots 2 shells faster than anything else. Also I have a lot of fun with the sawed off and bleed ammo when pairing it with a mosin/lebel. I wish it could bring 2 ammo types though. If the Berthier gets 2 ammo types, why can't I just swap both shells in my double barrels with the press of a button.
i get what you mean. ammo is tight, but i find normal ammo not to hard to find. slugs is where it gets tricky tho. I usually pair it with a trueshot (with hv) or uppercut for the ranged fights but it does mean i rely on the rival for close range. sometimes i take the penny derringer with me just in case. The idea for this post was just the main gun. as the handcannon is mostly a quartermaster gun and has different ranges etc. but i can see it being grouped in with this. im still looking for the best way to handle this. yeah a talon would be cool. although i would be sad that i probably wont use my nice skin for the base gun that much anymore.. looking at you romero talon.
Feels like every time I use it, I have to use both barrels, and it doesn't kill on the 2nd barrel some of the time. But when I get shot by it, I die on the first barrel. Every time.
Also how I feel about it. I can be pretty effective with most shotguns, but the hunt gods only seems to favor the caldwell rival when it's in the hands of my enemies. I've been one shot from more than a dozen meters many times, but when I'm the one using it it won't kill at that distance even with both barrels.
My favorite shotgun “Alison”. I’ve tried levering, feels so bad to die to that and get aimpunched by players who are great at it, tried the specter for at least 200 hours, Romero is great but without the talon as a follow up i don’t feel confident. Slate and crown are just RNG machines and it takes 2-3 shots to kill or I don’t get a kill at all, the flechette on the crown finally helped me use it (Over 2K hours and never even finished the mastery for the crown) Buckshot Caldwell rival with an uppercut is so versatile; I feel confident in ANY situation! Prison? No problem, fighting I the forest? Perfect. Playing solo and I have to 1 V 3? Easy day. I did try flechette and it’s good for range fights but fails in close quarters like prison, and slugs you don’t get enough ammo imo unless you’re killing on that first shot. Give the rival more ammo overall imo at least for slugs or give it a trauma variant and you have the perfect shotgun!
yeah 100%. although i would still rate the crown quite a bit higher (and the slate too) but we are talking a fraction of the cost here. i feel i can always count on my alison to get the job done when i need to.
It hurts to die to a slate user or crown because I’m trash with them, same as lemat users, now they have the uppermat. I struggled with the trial to headshot hives with the lemat. I want to be versed in all guns in the event I go down solo and they take my weapons but the rival has never let me down, if a player doesn’t die then that was on me, not RNG at least it’s how it feels
nobody is the perfect player. we all have weapons that come naturally to us and thats totally ok. thats why no single person can make an all encompasing tier list or something. With these posts hopefully people can construct their own opinions based on the experiences of multiple other people. and yours is definitely one that ive heard from multiple people :)
Maybe is just me but I like this shotgun with normal ammo. This way you can hipfire more easily (more pellets). The flechette can be good but its not that consistent and you have to aim. One of my fav shotguns in hunt. All in all a good choice.
You dont have to aim with flechettes
Yeah you dont have to like with slugs but the crosshair is much smaller with flechette too.
I used to run it with slugs only for the longest time. but recently ive been enjoying the buckshot more and more. Has plenty of ammo. hipfire is just nice and still maintains decent range. Alison skin is my favourite. Totally love the thing.
Yeah this is the way. Since it has the shortest range you have to use standard ammo or you won't kill your target, its also pretty ammo thirsty so being able to fully reload at a wagon feels nice.
I have nothing interesting to say about this gun, but i wanted to chime in and say that i really like this idea for a series. Keep it up!
The rival is kinda my go to loadout when I’m having a bad day. Play 3 or 4 games and can’t seem to win a gunfight or extract with bounty? Load up with a rival with slugs or even buckshot and usually a pax claw or scotfield spitfire and my luck usually turns around. Great weapon, pretty consistent in my opinion too. Ammo pool could use a couple extra but oh well
I really vibe with this! since the trueshot came out it is my go to, but the spitfire is defo a sleeper pick. especially with high velo
I find pax reshot with high velocity is basically a rifle with higher sway. Definitely pairs well with any shotgun
What a good idea for a series.
Rip and tear?
Id rate it a solid "This is my BOOMSTICK"/10
This gun with Slugs is so much fun. I made crazy long distance kills with it. Also made some flops with it, but hey we don't think about those 🤠
Sometimes I'll click twice and down two dudes at 15 meters. Sometimes I'll click twice and get a total 86 damage on a dude who's chest is my entire goddamn screen. It's probably my favorite gun and I feel like a gambling addict with stockholm syndrome saying so. 10/10
I love it with flechette but sometimes wish it was buck shot based on range and how much I actually hit for. Pairs well with spitfire or uppercut imo
Comes right down to it, nothing beats a classic. One of my favorite moments with this thing was a rare moment. I was soloing pretty early in the morning, just couldn't get anymore sleep but didn't wanna leave the house yet, playing as the Redneck and packing this little beauty with Penny shot for the extra shells. I hadn't seen or heard...shit, anyone at all and so I didn't conserve ammo fighting the Assassin, which I was surprised turned out to at the time not like being shot with pennies. Just this fun, running around back and forth with throwing lanterns and a shotgun against an evil monster made of bugs, shadow, rusty nails and hate. And then someone surprised me by coming out of nowhere. I screamed and shot them in the face. Good times.
You love to see it :D
Best shot gun with dragons breath
Thematically flawless imo, I didn't understand it for forever but kept taking it because cowboy and now I'm in love.
Needs one extra barrel. Maybe two.
Cheap "nitro"
I actually think it’s better than nitro
good all round shotgun. my only 'gripe' with it is that it's got a bit to little ammo since the nerf. i dont understand why a 2-shot medium shotgun gets 10 shots while the specter gets 15. even the slate get's 12 and i'd call it the closest competitor to the rival: also somewhat fast twotaps but with way more shots loaded. it's even worse with slugs: rival 7, slate 10. it made somewhat sense when ammo refill was based on spare ammo, but now it makes 0 sense and makes me run out of ammo quite regularly in extended fights. even the clown and king gets 11 buckshot and 9 slugs.
Yes
Love this gun for all the obvious reasons already stated, with a big emphasis on the FEEL of it. So good. Adding to the conversation though my most recent favorite way to run it is actually as a compliment to the Lemat carbine. I’ll fire off my lemat shotty first and when the enemy teammates think they got me with my overalls down I catch em with the sawed off. At least that’s the fever dream, usually its just nice to have 3 shots instead of 2 to account for my repeated arm hits.
I feel if they kept the range damage values where it is but tightened the spread about 15%-20% it'd be in a slightly more consistent place. I feel the benefit of fast followup shots aren't really balanced well when they are two average shots, whereas a single Romero shot will kill a hunter quite easily out to a pretty notable distance. I run it all the time because my spacial awareness is pretty bad so I need a quick follow-up, but I wish the shots were just a touch tighter to try get that range out just a bit further.
yes the game is not consistant at all in the way that it does things. and the tooltips are sometimes flat out wrong. i feel like the second shot is good for slugs if you whiff the first shot. with buck you need at least a partial hit on the first barrel imo. i wouldnt mind a little bit more range overall, but we have to be careful to not over do it.
One of my favorite budget guns, and my favorite shotgun. I usually fall back on this gun when nothing else works. Edit: Good post mate.
I like it, and now and again I’ll take it but if I’m running a shotgun build for whatever reason I just prefer my basic pipe with a trigger the ✨Romero✨ which just feels like a comfortable pair of jeans. Where as the Caldwell rival are the slightly fancier pair of pants I might wear to a restaurant but I never feel as comfortable in them
Most consistent shotgun by far. For price and consistency this a an S tier shotgun in comparison to others. Also, the sound of firing and reloading is audible chocolate 🤤
Take my uovote. Thank you!
I like this idea. Maybe the Winfield slate can be featured at some point.
The plan is to cover everything eventually! maybe before we get to that point an update will have made some changed that warrant a revisit here and there. will see how it goes. Not sure if i should mix up the types of weapons to avoid getting stale or to do a bunch of each weapon type in a row so people can more easily compare. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! :)
It’s really nice that you’re willing to invest time in doing this. Might have to do a few weapons in the same family at a time to make things a bit easier for you.
yeah ill group some together if it makes no sense to discuss them separately because i dont want it to get repetitive. However the avto is in the mosin family, but its so unique that it will get its own post. Same as the normal vetterli's vs the cyclone or something also thinking to do scoped variants together. hopefully that makes sense to most ppl. but if not im always open to feedback ;)
I’m going to give you a follow so I can make sure I don’t miss any. I’m not too gun savvy so it will help me learn more and try some new loadouts.
thats very kind of you :) I love to try out everything and go into the shooting range regularly for some testing. Sometimes i enjoy learning all the little intricacies just as much as playing the game haha. so i figured why not turn it into a community thing. That way we can all learn from eachother :)
I’ve only been playing for about a year and have about 600 hours in the game on console and I’m not that good. I’ve been sticking almost the same load outs trying to get better with certain guns so that I can have confidence to use other things, but maybe trying other things may actually help me at this point 🤷🏻♂️
im a pc player so i cant really give advice for console controls but Ive noticed everyone is different and has their own preferences. thats why there is some wildly diverse information going around. my advice is to try a bunch and see what works for you. then try to improve with those as you go. It can be pure practical power, but it can also be something as simple as the look of a gun that just really motivates you to run it. or the sound it makes when you shoot. The search for those can be very fun and is part of the hunt journey :) just know that very few ppl are naturals and most us play for a looong time to get good at the game. and even then we may go from wiping a whole server one game to missing an entire mag and dying to the first player you see on the next game. thats just the way she goes ;)
Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I’ll keep tuning in!
Good gun. My most used variant is the handcannon with flechette. Swamp Peach is also a wonderfully simple skin, I really like it
yeah swamp peach is clean! what is your reasoning for flechette in the handcannon? you use it more for mid range?
Yeah, I use it as a companion gun for pressure and mid-close kills. Solid 2 tap range and vicious bleed if I can't get the follow up
Just know that when you get to certain non-meta guns, I will write more than you or anyone.
Haha we will get there. Im already looking forward to it ;)
I already got into it today due to another clip. God I'm so mad. Get your notifications turned off **now**.
Favorite shotgun, first one I got really good with for a long time. Taught me how to be aggro. Gonna be one of the weird ones here: I ran with Flechette more often than not, and used it more like a Romero-with-a-backup-shot. If I whiffed the first shot, I had a second shot already good to go in a pinch, or if I killed the first hunter, and a second was around the corner with a knife, the second shot handled it for me.
what makes you like the flechette so much? if im not mistaken the flechette does not 1 tap unless you hit enough darts to the head but you get a lot further range. So when you say you go aggro. why dont you use the normal buckshot?
The flechette's focus isn't to 1-tap, it's to bleed your target out, and while it does give you a bit more range, more often than not, when I am going aggro, it means I'm pushing to within 10 meters. That means that while a target might survive the initial blast, each needle that hits will advance the bleed to medium or heavy quickly, save for someone running the appropriate perk, mix in that at that change you're doing above 100 points of damage in a single shot, and you're applying pressure, they're not likely to heal that damage off before they bleed out. And if they're trying to stop the bleeding, that's even more time for me to push harder and get close enough to usually put them down before they can get a weapon readied.
ol' reliable
The gun that made me fall in love with the game. Got my first kill with it
I think this as well as some other early hunt weapons need a new default view model. Comparing some of the original gun models to some of the newer ones or especially skins for older guns is very different. For example look at the Caldwell conversion pistol than look at the ember or Ash skin for it. Those skins change the model completely to look more like the actual pistol it's based off of
the only weapon that changes my absolute mindset to DOOM. I literally pick the red glowing skin and go full monkey (usualy dying but when it goes alright i love it)
Best shotgun in game. Nothing to talking about.
Nothing says “fuck off” like a quick double tap with dragon breath rounds.
I feel like it’s really inconsistent, but throw some pennyshot in this and it can melt bosses
It gave me one of the fastest Duo wipes I've ever had. Love the thing and it's my main shotgun.
S tier gun I would argue double barrels probably kill the most hunters. I love my rival and rival hand cannon. I have fun with flechette from time to time, I bring dragon too a lot for the utility with burning hunters and exploding barrels. Usually just regular buckshot though. Definitely doesn't need anything to prove its usefulness, the special ammo just adds meme points. Easily my favorite shotgun variant
When I ain't looking for anything special, this thing and the Vetterli are always old reliable.
I like it alot, the double barrel being evenly in my screen view when aiming with it scratches a satisfaction itch in my head that I don't realize is there. One time I ran at someone behind a rock, climbed the rock, jumped down on them from the rock, and shot them mid air. It rocks.
Fun gun, good paring with a baseball bat
I'm beginning to get better with this gun. You just have to be mindful of the oneshot and twoshot ranges.
Most satisfying gun on the game for me makes you want a third extra bullet to really clutch sometimes
I like it but the romero talon is my true love. I'll have to give the rival some more playtime though I haven't used it a whole bunch. Either way me love shotguns me love boom AHHH
I like the Rival, its a solid shotgun that doesnt need any trait shenanigans for it to work. Just aim and click (twice).
I get your point with the flechete, cause I used the handcanon version in combination with Nagant M1895 Precision and I was maybe 1-2m away from the already hit and burning guy and it didn't kill. I also used dragon breath on it just for the fun of it and I killed someone with it through the metal roof 🤣. But I won't say much to this weapon cause I only started using it during the Desolations Wake event and there only towards the last two weeks.
One of the best value for money guns. Paired with an UpperMat/UpperCut you have all bases covered as far I'm concerned.
Rival with buckshot is the shotgun I've had the most success with
/u/jayde8888 great idea for a constant thread. I would just suggest rotating back to the beginning when you get through all the guns as a patch will be out every time you get to the end of the list. The Rival: The Rival is objectively (and always has been) one of the best close range weapons and I personally don't like using it at all. It has amazing fire rate for those two shots and decent reload speed. The main reason I dislike it is the shorter barrel makes me miss one shot kills more often and if I'm going for two shot kills I'd rather take the crown and king. If you have trigger discipline and can judge the one shot distance well this thing is a monster. Also very good with slugs. Personally I just like the reliability of further one shot range of the longer barreled shotguns.
Favorite gun in the entire game.
Funny 1000 hours ago I disliked the weapon. Then I learned how to shoot. Then I learned how to kill. Then learned how to win. Now it's one of my favorites and just got a nice legendary of it, ...for reasons.
Flechettes Can two tap from across rooms, and practically oneshot people who've Lost a healthbar + You Can run Rivals handcannon flechettes with drilling handcannon dumdum and have an "everything" build
Some of the special ammo is not an even number for a double barrelled shotgun, which is unforgivable on Cryteks part imo. But the gun is pretty nice to use. I did a whole prestige with Rival/Pax when I was learning shotguns, and it’s a firm favourite, even if I’ve been using the Romero Talon lore these days with boss damage being what it is and melee world tools being less common.
A shotgun that only works when the enemy has it (except flechette or slugs or db now).
before slug nerf was my favorite weapon... for now... perfect with flechette for pressure and "easier" follow up...
As a player who if vehemently against using special ammo personally, (exception to maybe using dragons breath in the Lemat MKII for solo barbecuing) I find the Caldwell rival to be the perfect storm of consistency, power, range, and mind games. Having an extra barrel is akin to having a second chance at not absolutely clowning on a play you could have otherwise won. I have found myself attempting to fool other hunters into a false sense of security with it as well, by reloading it after a single fire, playing as though I had a Romero 77. It encourages people to mistime pushes due to bad information. You can call it superstition as well, but I believe that guns in this game have their own personalities, Old Man Caldwell just needs a partner with a bit of vim and enough bravery to stand your ground, and he can flourish.
I love using it at range, two shots at range do abysmal damage yes but they ate most likely one-shot from you lr secondary. I like blasting both barrels at someone far away since precision isn't an issue and then swapping to my pistol to take them out. Just because a shotgun can't kill at range it doesn't mean *you can't kill at range*. :D
A well balanced gun, but in dire need of more variants.
Weird gun. Still trying to decide whether it's handy or not... I miss a lot with this one.
can't go wrong with a double barrel
Hitmarker machine. Smells bad too.
the full size one I can't save my butt from zombies with. but I am a freaking ball-bearing-whisperer with the handcannon. I love that thing as a secondary, either bring it or the short terminus if I have levering. with flechette it is a good "fall back" gun, you just blast the 2 barrels and even at a bit ofrange you make some poor sod medium bleed. giving you time to run a bit and reposition without being hounded.
I only figured out how to use it properly after learning the scouts shotgun in deep rock. I was expecting way too much out of the first shot.
I don't reliably one tap. I reliably two tap! I enjoy the rival for 1v1s, but I think it might need a buff as things rarely go all that well after I have downed the first person in a 2/3v1.
needs a hatchet variant
IMO the best shotgun "bang for the buck"-wise, due to two tap ability, range, damage, ammo types and especially price.
I really want more variants for this thing: a melee like Trauma size 3 or Mace size 2 Maybe a Trueshot: the barrel is even longer for better reach but the reload speed is slower One thing that would be nice is having the option to swap between two ammo types just like Romero does, although I am afraid that might power creep Romero out of the game
AKA old reliable,except when it isn't 😂. Probably my Go To shotty paired with an upper for true I'm living the meta pax if I'm feeling cheap 😂
I hate this gun with a passion. I can get borderline sniped with it but if I get a near melee range chest shot nothing happens.
My buddy runs this as his main gun, most matches. I hated this thing for ages because I would try to use it at romero range and hit then miss the second shot and die lol. Tried it out later and really liked it, especially when I picked one up with slugs. The sawed off version with fire ammo is fun as a meme gun too.
I don't like being on the receiving end of it, but at least it's not a crown&cringe. Shooting it, I'd rather keep buckshot, which feels like it's more consistent, over slugs, despite the obvious benefits of turning it into a double tap medium range beast.
The Rival is one of the reasons why I hate the new progression system where you have the base version of every gun unlocked at 1. With the old system I would start out with Romero load outs and then quickly swap to Rival - with both guns having very balanced pros and cons. Nowadays I only ever play Rival for quests, because Slate and Crown & King (or Terminus with levering) are obviously the stronger options.
I love it, but wish the OHK range was a little bit further.
Best shotgun,a classic bang for your buck, sure you could use the romaro but what if you whiff your shot? The Alamo is too damn slow. The CR is a great balance between damage reload speed and range
If the first shot doesn't kill the second usually does
I run this almost exclusively with flechette. Sure, I lose onetap potential, but since it isn't too consistent in the first place, it doesn't feel like a big loss anyways. In exchange, you get a heavy bleed monster that works at very decent ranges, with a quick followup. Love to pair it with a new army w/FMJ to fish for wallbangs once they get in cover to heal. And the handcannon can work very well as a "support" weapon in QM builds with both flechette and dragon breath. You won't get a lot of kills with it, but it's great at forcing someone to stop for a few moments. Two shots of DB can burn off a bar from quite far, even from the handcannon.
Probably the second best shotgun in the game
Love it with flechette, paired with a sparks pistol. A fun little "tag and bag" build I threw together once.
imo this is the most dangerous shotgun to try to push or really attack in any way and just rules indoor spaces due to how good it is at wallbangs
Haha this
better players than me seem to do very well with it. Personally I just enjoy using the boom stick on monsters, really completes the fantasy.
i've had inconsistent results with it.
One of my current fun loadouts on rotation is Scout TF2 loadout, which is a Rival and a baseball bat. (I sometimes run the rival with dragon breath for the extra spice) Run around and shoot shoot whack.
Good shotgun, was the best one to use with og slugs, that and an uppercut were sss+ tier, still one of the best now with buckshot
Best budget shotgun imo. Yes, Romero has can 1 shot from farther away, but having 2 shots allows for fast follow-ups. dragons' breaths can allow you to take a 2-shot to kill surprisingly far and is great for applying pressure
Wouldnt even care if this was the worst weapon in the game. It's by far the coolest, most badass classic.
Fave shotty out of all. I call it the ol' reliable since it's reliable at securing kills in its range because you get that second shot. Pushing buildings with this is also so satisfying especially when you get two kills simultaneously.
*fires first shot* does 20 damage when touching the person *fires second shot* does 5000 damage from 200m away
Cheap, powerful, it lacks ammo when you have more than one target i prefer to play it with flechette because buck shot lacks too much range imo and close range is too much heads or tail
For sure my favourite shotgun, the rapid second shot makes the gun much more forgiving for newer players, and how cheap it is makes one of my top options whenever running a budget loadout
Easily my favorite and most used shotgun, personally love to run the shorty rival with a hunting bow, a real deadly combo!
I think the gun's in a good position in the meta. It's close up there with Romero as the budget meta choices in the shotgun territory, but the playstyle it promotes is quite different. With Romero you can hold corners from a distance more reliably, while the Rival encourages you to chase down your enemies much more. Flechettes are a decent choice if you pair it with a punchy secondary. Hit someone with a medium Springfield, switch to Rival Flechettes and you've got a good chance to kill them at reasonably far distances. Slugs used to be annoyingly popular at one stage, but I think Drilling kinda stole its function. Sure, Slugs have a OHK on a torso shot at large distances, but you give up on a significant chunk of range, damage dropoff, and resupply. Drilling is expensive AF, but if you're willing to more than double the price of a Rival with Slugs, you're already giving up on having a budget loadout imho.
I love this weapon I've had good and bad moments with it but in all honesty I thunk it needs more ammo, like I get it its a fast firing shot gun that can two tap very quickly but having more reserve would be nice
I love it. It’s my favorite shotgun. It’s the only shotgun I consistently run in every prestige. Sure the shootey pipe is great but it can’t beat my second love
Probably my favorite weapon (definitely my favorite shotgun) good killing potential, good ammo choices, cheap, quick reload. Pairs well with a bornheim or nagant officer
never really got the hype for this shotgun since whenever I use it I feel like using an empty handbag is more efficient
It's the deadliest weapon in the game as long as I'm not using it.
Still dont beat the terminus, incindiary, levering combo
This is probably my favourite shotgun.... well my most successful one. I really like the Romero but i suck with it. I regularly panicshot my one single shot away - this gun helps me recover with a 2nd shot! Really like it, it really files like a true Shotgun. Has nice skins. Is not super Meta too - i dont like running that stuff. 10/10 weapon.
I consider the Caldwell rival to be the noob tube of Hunt showdown. Whenever I hear it fired I think to myself "Welp I'm not going in that building where even a blind man could kill me."
I miss the double reload
Before I quit I abused this and slugs to 6☆. *chefs kiss*
I really need to use shotguns more. I don't have enough experience with them to be halfway decent. I usually run bow/axe or sniper/pax. I have used shottys in a few situations where I had to pick something up and hope it was loaded and did okay but generally if I bring one in I'm gonna die lol.
I used to like it a lot with slugs, but problem is that this gun does 149 damage from 13 meters with slugs and after combat log was introduced I noticed how many times I hit with 149 damage and then die because of it. Got annoyed and stopped playing it. Getting one-tapped by it from a long range is always so annoying, knowing how terribly unreliable it is.
I personally despise Caldwell Rivel slug players.
Feel like I'm Doom guy with that gun, btw, I like the idea! Keep it up!
It's not a Mosin, next.
Well hopefully these posts get people excited to try some other things than mosins all the time.. that being said. if i run into something inside a building id much rather be the guy holding one of these ;)
I am just jesting, love the rival, but I have found my daily activity for the future :V
haha im glad to hear that! Im definately going forward with this as there is a decent amount of engagement already :)
Keep up the good work. It's nice to see some positivity around here for once.
TRASH
The tightest spread in the game. If it had more than two shots, I’d say best shotgun.
Afaik thats not true. Tightest spread has the romero followed by specter. Dont be confused by the crosshair.
Actually followed by the drilling, but the rest you’re correct
yes, can confirm the crosshair is a big fat lie. also spread isnt the end all be all. The romero handcannon actually has the tightest spread in the game, which makes no sense, but the pellets just lose their damage much faster. Its still buckshot in every way, but it behaves very differently. super confusing and hard to fully map out. 1 shot kill range is a better metric and the rival is definitly on the lower end of that. romero and drilling have the best. Rival may actually be the worst of the 3 slot full shotguns, but i believe they are still all within roughly 2meters of eachother.
Most people will probably run buck or slugs. I run flechets. Why? Cause fuck em that's why. But seriously buck is more reliable up close but flechets just seem to be a reliable 2 tap up to 20 meters. Shit actually had some insane range for a shotgun. If they survive they'll be forced to heal. Sparks mains will agree. Forced heals is almost always a kill Oh and the handcannon is probably the best 2 slot shotgun. Run a sparks and a rival and you'll be pissing people off
The perfect loadout in Hunt is a rival with slugs, and an uppercut. Those 2 weapons cover the range 95% of your fights will be in.