Combat Shotgun

Combat Shotgun
Lore/Real Name	S890
Based on	Benelli M4
Tier	2
Weapon Slot	Primary
Weapon Type	Semi-automatic shotgun

The Combat Shotgun is a Tier II primary weapon in World War Z based on the real-world Benelli M4.

Overview

The Combat Shotgun occupies a special place in this game:

• It is one of the few weapons that have penetration power of 2 by default.
• The unique "Eagle Scout" perk makes it one of the only 2 weapons capable of reaching unconditional penetration power of 3 without any class-related bonuses. The other weapon is the Crossbow with classic bolts (the "Piercing Bolts" perk). The Revolver with "FMJ Rounds I" and "On Edge" can achieve the maximum penetration of 3 only when the player's health is below 25%.
• It is one of the most accurate shotguns in the game without any equipped perks.
• The unique "Eagle Scout" perk makes it the most effective shotgun at long-range engagements.
• 3 classes that specialize in damage output (Gunslinger, Hellraiser, and Exterminator) let the player choose this shotgun as a starting weapon.
• It is one of the most commonly spawned shotguns in co-op campaign missions with the "Shotgun Fiesta" mutator.

Performance

The Combat Shotgun is more effective than the default pump-action shotgun at dealing with swarms of Zeke. Due to its superior penetration power, it lets the player kill or severely damage more Zeke per shot. Since it lacks the pump animation, it requires less time to fire the same number of shots.

The biggest weakness of this shotgun is its rather lengthy reloading cycle. No more than 2 shells get inserted into its tubular magazine each time the character performs a reload action. It takes more time to load 12 or 14 (with the "Extended Mag" perk) shells than to reload a weapon with a detachable high-capacity magazine, like the Assault Shotgun, especially with the "Custom Mag II" perk. There are multiple ways to mitigate this weakness, though:

• Gunslinger: the "Front Line Supply" perk returns some rounds directly to the magazine when the player kills zombies with headshots. Even if just a few pellets hit the head of a Zeke, it is considered a headshot. A series of headshots will artificially inflate the magazine and postpone the rather lengthy reloading process.
• Hellraiser and Exterminator: both of these classes have access to a perk that instantly reloads the shotgun for scoring 15 kills in rapid succession ("Third hand").
• Hellraiser and Exterminator: both of these classes have access to bonuses that increase the reloading speed. Hellraiser has the "Nimble Thumbs" perk that increases its reload speed by 50%. Exterminator has the regular "Nimble fingers" perk (a +25% reloading speed bonus for shotguns) and the Prestige 2 "Bullet Rain II" perk (additional 10%). However, the regular perks that improve the shotguns' reloading rate for both of these classes require the player to give up other impactful perks in the same column.

Weapon Stats

Early levels

Level 1–Level 4 stats
Level	Power	Accuracy	Handling	Fire Rate	Max Penetration	Magazine capacity	Max Carried Ammo
1	7	2	2	2	2	8	64
2	10	2	3	2	2	12	96
3	11	2	3	2	2	12	96
4	12	3	4	2	2	12	96

Base stats after level 5

Power	Accuracy	Handling	Fire Rate	Max Penetration	Magazine capacity	Max Carried Ammo
12	3	4	2	2	12	96

Perks

Unique perks

Name	Effects	Available at weapon level	Unlock conditions
Eagle Scout	+150% Shotgun range, each pellet can penetrate 1 additional target	6	Hellraiser prestige rank 2
On Edge	Load 1 more round per reload action while your health is lower than 25%	6	500
Sweet Leftovers	+25% Damage while you have less than 50% ammo left for this weapon	12	3 documents for Moscow 3: Battle of Nerves
Guardian	This weapon's reloading speed increases by 20% if one of your allies has less than 50% health	11	100

Common perks

Name	Effects	Available at weapon level	Unlock conditions
Extended Mag	+2 Magazine capacity	8	1 document for Rome 2: Call To Arms
Custom Sight	+2 Accuracy, -10% Reloading speed	8	500
Ergonomics II	+2 Handling, -1 Accuracy	9	Rome 2 (Call To Arms) completed on Extreme difficulty
Friend Not Foe	-25% Friendly fire damage (dealt and received)	10	500
Bounty Hunter	+15% Damage to special zombies	13	500
Combat Ready	Refilling ammo from an ammunition crate instantly reloads this weapon	14	500
Ammo Pouches	+10% Max ammo for this weapon	15	500

Weapon Progression

Unlock requirements by level

Level-up requirements
Level	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
XP	200	350	550	750	750	800	800
	150	500	750	1000	1000	1250	1250
Level	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
XP	850	850	900	900	950	950	1000
	1500	1500	1750	1750	2000	2000	2000

History

March 28, 2024 patch (the "Thrill of the Kill" update):

• A new unique perk is introduced: "Guardian".