The Terrible Shotgun

The Terrible Shotgun is a weapon that only appears in Fallout 3.

Characteristics

 * The Terrible Shotgun is a unique variant of the Combat Shotgun and has the highest base damage of all weapons in the Small Guns category.


 * The weapon has a far larger spread than normal shotguns, and full damage is only done if all pellets hit, making it the most effective weapon in close-quarters.

Strategy

 * The best way to use this weapon is for point blank shots. Be prepared to charge headlong into enemy fire if this is to be a primary weapon.
 * Shots from ten feet away throw pellets so randomly that it will occasionally dismember different body parts of the victim, even though the player might be aiming for the head of an opponent. Although there is a large cone-like spread of fire that is released when the trigger is pressed, a high concentration of the burst must hit the target to deliver maximum damage.
 * If using The Terrible Shotgun in V.A.T.S. aiming for the chest is always a tactical choice. The spread of the shotgun will most likely hit some kind of vital appendage, still dealing maximum damage.
 * Its ideal usage is either for fast moving animals (Deathclaw or Yao Guai), room to room fighting, or for other near point-blank confrontations. In other words, this gun is best suited for use in urban environments with occasional application in wilderness. Urban encounters with Super Mutants work well with the weapons wide spread, since they are a rather large target.
 * Critical hit damage with this weapon is actually applied individually on each pellet the weapon fires in a shot outside of V.A.T.S.. If all nine pellets critical hit at the same time (such as in a point-blank sneak attack critical attack), the weapon's total critical damage is 9 x 40 = 360! And with the Better Criticals perk, it can go up to 540. Add in the base 80 power of the weapon, and then double the whole thing because of the sneak attack bonus, and the weapon's total damage turns 1240, quite close to that of the Fat Man itself! In fact, if the damage is increased further with a head shot, this weapon's destructive power against a single target becomes even greater than the Fat Man, being able to kill even a Super Mutant Behemoth with a single sneak attack critical head shot!

Obtaining the gun from Smiling Jack

 * You can kill him (no Karma effect) and get not only his gun but all his inventory, in which case you should sell him as much of your inventory first as he has caps (and even have him repair some of your gear if it's possible), then you get back your stuff and the money (which will be located in his locker, for which he has the key)
 * You can engage him in combat, the goal being not to kill him, and just shoot it out of his hand, and picking it up before he does. Leave the Bazaar and come back after a minimum of 72 hours. This is the time it takes for an NPC or group of them to "forget" about the trouble a player might have caused. Return, and you still have a valuable business partner.
 * Possibly the most effective and quickest way of obtaining the shotgun, pickpocket his shotgun ammunition, leave the Bazaar, save the game then reload and re-enter the Bazaar. The gun will then be an available item in his inventory and can now be pickpocketed (confirmed).
 * Its also possible to break the Terrible Shotgun with an aimed-shot, then put your weapon away to end the fight, at this point you've forced the gun into Jack's inventory. You can now trade for the item at no cost and have him repair it.

YouTube Videos
Obtaining The Terrible Shotgun Gz57ZM2eDfA

Related videos:
 * | How to get The Terrible Shotgun