AT-12 Raider

This article is about the shotgun from Mass Effect 3. For the outlaw enemy from Mass Effect: Andromeda, see Raider.

AT-12 Raider
Type	Shotgun
Location	Bonus item Namakli: Leviathan
Fire Mode	Semi-Automatic
Weight	80%
Capacity	20%
Fire Rate	20%
Damage	70%
Accuracy	2%
Ammunition
Clip Size	2
Reserve	18
Type	Shotgun
Location	Multiplayer Store
Fire Mode	Semi-Automatic
Weight	80%
Capacity	20%
Fire Rate	20%
Damage	70%
Accuracy	2%
Ammunition
Clip Size	2
Reserve	30

The AT-12 Raider is a shotgun that appears in Mass Effect 3.

Description

Carried by the batarian military's notorious Special Intervention Unit, the Raider is a semi-automatic shotgun that loads slowly but fires rapidly, with tremendous force. Short-range even for a shotgun, the Raider has a large pellet spread. Rather than eliminating recoil, its integral compensators instead make it predictable and vertical.

Acquisition

Single-player

The AT-12 Raider was initially available as a bonus item on PC to players who pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 on EA's Origin service. An e-mail from James Vega appears when obtaining the weapon in this fashion.

New Shotgun Hey, Commander: Ever try out the AT-12 Raider? It's a shotgun. Hell of a kick. Can punch a hole through almost anything. Some contacts I made on Omega a few months back are shipping a crate out to the Normandy. My treat. James

It was later available on-disc of the Wii U version, and eventually for all platforms in Mass Effect 3: Leviathan. It can be found on a corpse during Namakli: Leviathan near the first group of enemies encountered.

Multiplayer

The AT-12 Raider is randomly rewarded through purchases of item packs. The AT-12 Raider is categorized as rare and requires no multiplayer expansion packs.

Player Notes

• General
• Single-player
• Multiplayer

General

• The AT-12 is a two-shot shotgun whose main strength is its very high firing rate. This, coupled with its very damaging shot (nearly as powerful as the M-11 Wraith's), makes it well-suited to popping out from cover to fire off a quick burst of two shots to take out an infantry target or deal heavy damage to larger targets before returning to safety to reload. This two-shot burst can deal more damage than the single shot of the M-300 Claymore.
  • The Raider has high recoil, so a practiced user will be ready to compensate for the crosshair-climb of the first shot before firing the second.
  • Generally, when attacking infantry targets the first shot should be carefully aimed to be as on-target as possible, with the second shot saved as insurance in case the first shot is not fatal.
• The AT-12's major weakness is its wide pellet spread, making it almost useless except at very close range.
  • The spread pattern of a Raider shot is ovoid with none of the eight pellets firing towards the center of the crosshair.
  • The Shotgun Smart Choke does produce a fairly noticeable decrease in crosshair width, making the weapon effective at slightly longer ranges, but it will not fundamentally change the Raider's nature as a close-range weapon.
  • The Raider's spread shape and width make it impractical for landing headshots except at point-blank range.
• The Raider, like all conventional shotguns, suffers very little damage loss from shield gates and so is very effective against shielded infantry; however, it will deal very little damage to armored targets like Brutes especially on higher difficulties unless mods like the Shotgun High-Velocity Barrel or the Shotgun Shredder Mod are equipped, certain ammo powers/ammo bonuses are used, or enemy armor is weakened by powers such as Warp or Cryo Blast.
• Adrenaline Rush's instant-reload function can be exploited to fire off four shots in quick succession for extreme burst damage. This can quickly take out medium or hard targets even on higher difficulties.
• Due to the Raider's low extra thermal clip capacity, you might want to consider using the Shotgun Spare Thermal Clip mod.
• The Raider is heavier than the Wraith, weighing the same as the Venom Shotgun and Graal Spike Thrower.

Single-player

• Squadmates will almost never fire the Raider at ranges short enough to be effective, and they do not take advantage of its full firing rate.
• The Raider's wide spread and two-shot magazine makes it inadvisable to use to stop Dr. Eva during Priority: Mars.

Multiplayer

• Armor-Piercing Rounds enable shooting through cover, Guardian shields, or enemy armor plating with no damage penalty if the piercing mods are not equipped; such mods are basically made redundant by high level Armor-Piercing Rounds anyway.
• As the Marksman power allows for instant reloading on cast and drastically reduces projectile spread, the Raider can be a good option for the Quarian Marksman Soldier or the Turian Soldier; the latter can benefit from the stability bonuses available to the turian classes.