In this guide, I'll outline what constitutes a strong Fallout 76 shotgun build for players above Level 50. Making an shotgun build in Fallout 76 requires considerable preparation, but the outcomes are highly rewarding. These insights include important information to enhance your leveling experience of the game.

Legendary Perks

Here's a breakdown of the recommended perk cards for an effective shotgun build in Fallout 76.

Perception-Based Perks

Concentrated Fire: This perk allows you to target specific limbs on enemies, aiding in staggering targets. Whether you aim for legs to cripple or arms to disarm, or go for optimal damage by targeting the head, the Concentrated Fire ensures critical hits. In V.A.T.S., the hit chance applies to all 8 shotgun pellets, making it a valuable asset even without a full V.A.T.S. build.

Grenadier: This perk doubles the explosive damage radius, significantly increasing the area of effect of explosive shots.

Strength-Based Perks

Shotgunner: The Master, Normal, and Expert Shotgunner perks grant a total of 60% more damage, significantly enhancing your shotgun's firepower.

Heavy Gunner: It specifically enhances non-explosive heavy weapons. Using the Heavy Gunner perk with explosive heavy weapons like the auto grenade launcher would be ineffective.

Charisma-Based Perks

Tenderizer: This perk adds 10% more damage to your attacks after hitting a target, lasting for 10 seconds. However, with a shotgun build's high damage output, the duration may not always be necessary.

Agility-Based Perks

Enforcer: Enforcer provides a 15% stagger chance and a 30% chance to cripple a limb, synergizing well with Concentrated Fire. While not every enemy may require limb crippling, it can be advantageous in certain situations.

Adrenaline: This perk offers a bonus of 10% damage per kill, accumulating up to 60% extra damage, enhancing your combat effectiveness as the fight progresses.

Luck-Based Perks

Bloody Mess: It adds a vital 15% bonus damage to all your attacks, amplifying your overall damage output.

Class Freak, Starched Genes & Strange In Numbers: These perks are essential for maintaining and maximizing the benefits of mutations, which are integral to many optimized builds.

Ricochet: It provides additional survivability by offering an 18% chance to avoid incoming damage. Instead, the target receives the damage they would have inflicted on you.

Intelligence-Based Perk

Demolition Expert: Providing a substantial 60% bonus damage to explosives, Demolition Expert greatly enhances the destructive power of explosive shotguns.

Which Shotgun To Choose?

When it comes to which kind of shotgun we use, the combat shotgun excels at handling tanky enemies, while the double barrel shotgun is more effective in clearing out groups of foes. I particularly appreciate the versatility of the double barrel shotgun, especially when equipped with quad explosive mods.

This configuration grants us 8 shots, providing greater combat viability. In terms of magazine capacity, it almost rivals that of the combat shotgun. However, what sets the combat shotgun apart is its magazine attachment, offering +40% armor penetration, a feature that doesn't consume a legendary perk slot.

When all 8 bullets hit the same target, consecutive hit procs, granting a stacking damage bonus. With each hit contributing +5% damage, the cumulative effect can reach up to 40%, despite displaying a cap at 45%.

Similarly, when running the Vampire's legendary effect on shotguns to have the Vampire's Combat Shotgun, each pellet contributes to health regeneration, amounting to a substantial 16% health gain in a single shot.

Ultimately, whether you prefer a tanky shotgun build or favor a more aggressive running gun style, both vampires and consecutive hits offer valuable benefits. Consecutive hits are particularly effective with c like the combat shotgun, enhancing overall damage output.