Each custom ammo type has been adjusted to serve different purposes, in order to enable all shotguns to be useful on all difficulties through their use (yes, even One Down). Right now I just want to see how people take to these changes, so I haven't adjusted ammo pickup rates for the different ammo types. The exact changes I made are below.
Installation: Just extract into your mods folder. Requires BLT. You will not be marked as a cheater for using this mod, but some hosts might kick you if you don't inform them why killed enemies are flying through the air (check HE notes).
Slugs
+100 Damage
+40 Accuracy
-20 Stability
-Max Ammo (not too hefty, but still considerable)
Notes on Slugs: Slugs are now pinpoint accurate and are (unrealistically) capable of hitting enemies at very long range (snipers). They still pierce through shields, through enemies and body armor, and through walls/objects. They can make the weaker shotguns very formidable, and when used with high base damage shotguns they will absolutely destroy specials.
Their high damage increase means you don't need to take every possible damage buff skill to make great use of them, allowing for a wide array of builds with either a primary or secondary shotgun using slugs and plenty of points to use elsewhere for team utility and other forms of craftiness.
HE Shells
+10 Damage
-4 Accuracy
-12 Stability
+ Enhancement: Now fires 4 explosive projectiles with each shot.
Notes on HE: The damage bonus provided to HE shells is a hidden one. HE shells now fire a cluster of 4 explosive micro-charges. You will do less damage when hitting enemies directly on the body, and should fire at their feet to do the highest amount of damage via the explosive AoE, which can deal the explosive damage of all 4 projectiles to the same enemy. You can still fire directly at shields to kill them, and bulldozers to break their face-plate. Firing at the feet of bulldozers will do the highest damage to them, and you CAN kill bulldozers with HE shells straight up now, though it will take a lot of shots to do so.
You can now send enemies flying through the air on kill when you hit at the proper angle (up close to mid range) and these crazy physics are visible to everyone no matter if you are host or client. HE is now great for crowd control at a distance and extremely lethal up close, to everyone, not just cops...
This change means you can do considerable friendly-fire damage (including to yourself) if you fire these shells with the explosive blast within reach of teammates (read: walls and the floor; tasers can really fuck up everyone's day), so be very mindful of where you are shooting and where your teammates are. Don't be a dick and grief your team.
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Flechette Shells
+30 Damage
-8 Accuracy
+20 Stability
- Ability: Shots now pierce through enemies
+ Enhancement: Now fires 18 projectiles with each shot
Notes on Flechette: Due to the way the Far Away skill works, I thought it was unnecessary for flechette to be built around high accuracy, so I increased the number of projectiles with each shot to 18, and gave them the ability to pierce through enemies and body armor, but not through shields or walls/objects. Now you can rip through crowds of enemies in chokepoints. It is recommended to reduce your shotgun's accuracy to around 40 to get a wide spread on your shots.
Dragon's Breath Shells
+20 Damage
-24 Accuracy
-12 Stability
+ Enhancement: Now fires 24 projectiles with each shot
+ Enhancement: Fire dot total damage increased
Notes on Dragon's Breath: The effectiveness of dragon's breath has been greatly enhanced. The fire dot has been changed to deal 70 damage every half second for 3 seconds. This equates to 420 total damage when the fire dot has run its course. As a result of this increased power, the dot has an 80% chance to trigger (down from 100%) and can trigger at a much further range than vanilla.
Dragon's breath can still pierce through shields and body armor, but not enemies or walls/objects, making it an excellent damage dealer and strong crowd control option when your team needs to push or transition to a new location. It is recommended to reduce your shotgun's accuracy to around 30 to get a very wide spread on your shots.
000 Buckshot Shells
+20 Damage
-8 Accuracy
-4 Stability
+Max Ammo (considerable ammo boost)
Notes on 000 Buckshot: I mostly left this ammo type alone, but increased the maximum ammo (which is based on the ammo pool of the shotgun you have selected) so if you wanted to run this ammo type as a stylistic or role-playing choice it can be used to have a higher ammo pool than normal to open up various builds with a low ammo primary or secondary. I have considered making this type laced with poison, but I will decide on that later. Let me know what you think I should do with this ammo type.
Notice: I used Blaze's Weapon Rebalance as a starting template for this very simple mod. My LUA skills are very limited, but I'm learning. I will add special ammo types for sniper rifles next.
