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The Geth Plasma Shotgun is a shotgun in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect 2[]

Description[]

This three-barrelled geth weapon fires miniature but potent cluster rounds of superconducting projectiles and has a longer range than standard shotguns. A two-stage trigger system allows for either quick-fire capacitors or a charge-and-release attack to electrify the projectiles as they exit the weapon. As the rounds hit the target, they fragment and electricity arcs between the pieces, flash-converting the air to conductive plasma. The resulting impact, heat, and electrical charge overloads shields and barriers and causes massive trauma to unarmored targets.

Acquisition[]

Available through purchase of the Firepower Pack DLC. An e-mail from the Illusive Man appears if the weapon was acquired in this fashion.

Geth Plasma Shotgun

Shepard,

A cell of ours acquired an interesting weapon from the geth. It's much like a shotgun, but it's higher tech -- something to do with the firing superconductors that create plasma on impact. Its ammunition is more specialized than those of our shotguns, but it's not hard to make or modify. I've arranged delivery of a few of these weapons to the Normandy.

In the Legendary Edition, it may be purchased from Kenn's Salvage on Omega.

Squad Use[]

This weapon can be used by Grunt, Jack, Jacob and Tali.

Player Notes[]

  • This weapon fires 3 plasma balls instead of the standard 8 pellets. The second and third plasma balls will do only 30% base damage if they hit the same target as the first. This means that all 3 plasma balls, with full-charge, on a single target, will do only 556.4 base damage instead of the expected 1043. To maximize damage on paper, one should aim to hit a different target with each pellet, though in practice this is difficult.
  • If fired while aiming down the sights, the plasma projectiles will seek enemies slightly, making it one of the few shotguns truly effective at mid-to-long ranges.
  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun has a charged-shot feature.
    • A full charge can be "held" by simply holding down the fire button, and then released when desired. Sprinting, using powers, and even being staggered or stunned by enemy attacks will not interrupt this; however, using tactical pause or opening the game menu will. A fully charged shot expends two ammo instead of one.
    • Starting to charge a shot by holding down the fire button causes the damage to ramp up quickly, though it takes some time to reach the maximum charge for maximum damage; maximum charge can be heard from the sound of the charging effect reaching a plateau and also seen visually; only fully charged shots will expend two ammo. The damage increase from holding down a charge even for a fraction of a second is substantial and doing this will expend the same amount of ammo as totally uncharged shots, meaning it's almost always worth charging every shot to some extent.
    • If only one shot is left in the sink, the charged shot will only expend that one remaining round. This will still do the same damage of a normal fully charged shot that expends two rounds. In other words it is possible to fire off three fully charged shots from a single five round magazine without damage penalty before reloading.
    • If this weapon is charged while Shepard is clinging to cover, it will force Shepard to pop out or lean out. To minimize exposure to enemy fire while charging a shot, the player should stand around corners, behind tall cover, or face away while behind short cover.
    • Squadmates are incapable of firing charged shots with this weapon, however, as even uncharged shots are powerful and squadmates don't suffer accuracy penalties, the Geth Plasma Shotgun is still an effective weapon for them.
    • By firing a regular shot then briefly charging the second shot, two shots can be fired in quick succession. This can also be done by performing a melee attack while firing a partially or fully charged shot, or through extremely careful timing. However, due to the required charging interval, this will not increase DPS.
  • With all shotgun upgrades and either Heavy Disruptor Ammo or Heavy Warp Ammo, this weapon is extremely effective against shields and barriers. With damage-increasing armor parts (notably the Kestrel Armor) and an appropriate ammo power, a fully-charged shot can kill most ordinary enemies even on Insanity difficulty.
  • Due to this weapon's innate bonus against shields and barriers, it's often a good idea to use an ammo power that is effective against armor or health to maximize the damage efficiency of shots after any barriers or shields have been eliminated. However, if you are attempting to go for one-shot kills on targets using charged shots and a damage enhancing power such as Adrenaline Rush or Tactical Cloak, it's best to use an ammo power effective against shields or barriers as an ammo power's buff to the total damage of a single shot will be calculated based on only the first protection layer hit.
  • Charging a shot with the Geth Plasma Shotgun before triggering Adrenaline Rush or Tactical Cloak and then releasing the shot during either of those powers will allow the shot to benefit from any damage bonuses. Only starting to charge a shot will break Tactical Cloak, so releasing a shot that was already charging before cloaking will not break invisibility.
  • Neither charged or uncharged shots with the Geth Plasma Shotgun benefit from bonus headshot damage.
  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun is unable to destroy certain "environmental destructibles" such as the geth hubs in Legion: A House Divided.

Mass Effect 3[]

Description[]

This three-barreled geth weapon fires miniature but potent cluster rounds of superconducting projectiles and has a longer range than standard shotguns. A two-stage trigger system allows for either quick-fire capacitors or a charge-and-release attack to electrify the projectiles as they exit the weapon. As the rounds hit the target, they fragment and electricity arcs between the pieces, flash-converting the air to conductive plasma. The resulting impact, heat, and electrical charge overloads shields and barriers and causes massive trauma to unarmored targets.

Acquisition[]

Single-player

The Geth Plasma Shotgun can be found during the mission Priority: Rannoch, on top of a crate after defeating the geth on an opposite, unreachable platform. It is also purchasable from Elkoss Combine Arsenal Supplies post-mission if it was missed.

Multiplayer

Weapons are randomly rewarded through purchases of item packs. The Geth Plasma Shotgun is categorized as rare and requires no multiplayer expansion packs.

Player Notes[]

General
  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun deals extremely high damage and is brutally effective at all ranges. However, it is not a hitscan weapon but instead fires projectiles with a travel time, similar to the Graal Spike Thrower and the Venom Shotgun. This carries both advantages and disadvantages.
    • The most obvious disadvantage is that moving targets must be led to have a chance of landing hits.
    • One advantage is a high degree of effectiveness against Phantoms, who do not block or dodge most weapons that fire non-standard projectiles.
    • Like many weapons that fire non-bullet projectiles, the Geth Plasma Shotgun's rounds reliably stagger most infantry enemies on impact.
  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun's projectiles have a very basic tracking capability and will sometimes group and curve slightly toward their target, even at medium range, provided the target was in the targeting reticule when the shot was fired. However, this tracking will not work for cloaked enemies.
    • If no enemy target is in the reticule when fired, the weapon's three projectiles fire in a wide triangular spread pattern. This pattern is always the same, with the bottom projectile firing downwards but perfectly centered with the reticule on the horizontal axis; the high accuracy of this one projectile can be used to hit stationary targets even at long range, such as Cerberus shield pylons.
    • The Shotgun Smart Choke does nothing for the weapon. Aiming down sights and the accuracy-boosting effect of a power like Marksman likewise provide no benefit.
  • Headshots are not possible with this weapon, so it gains no benefit from anything that increases the headshot damage modifier.
  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun ignores armor damage reduction and has no ability to penetrate cover, so there is no benefit from using mods that increase penetration and will only waste a mod slot. Armor-Piercing Ammo also does nothing to enhance penetration abilities.
    • Shot damage isn't blocked by enemy armor plates, and plating can also be destroyed by repeated hits.
    • The Geth Plasma Shotgun has a high chance of bypassing Guardian shields. The effect is not guaranteed for a given shot, but happens often enough to make the weapon reliable for taking Guardians out. This does not appear to be related to aiming for or hitting the "mail slot" in the shield.
  • Damage from the Geth Plasma Shotgun is not blocked by the shield gate mechanic.
  • Because the Geth Plasma Shotgun really doesn't need any mods beyond the Shotgun High Caliber Barrel to be effective against any target, there is a lot of freedom with the second slot for mods such as Shotgun Ultralight Materials or blade attachments for increased melee damage.
  • As in Mass Effect 2, the Geth Plasma Shotgun can fire charged shots by holding down the trigger and then releasing it for extra damage. The damage increases with the level of the charge reached before firing.
    • The shotgun consumes two rounds per shot when charged more than halfway. Despite this, it can still be charged even when only a single round remains in its magazine.
    • It is possible to release a charged shot in situations where it is impossible to shoot normally, e.g. while running, in the middle a melee attack, or while stunned from an enemy attack (Geth Hunters, who also utilize the Geth Plasma Shotgun, can also exploit this).
    • Like in Mass Effect 2, the Geth Plasma Shotgun's charged shot pairs beautifully with Tactical Cloak for incredible amounts of damage. Keep in mind that releasing a charge will not break cloak, but starting one will. This means an Infiltrator can fire off a powerful blast and still retain the cloak's damage bonus for a follow-up shot, grenade, or melee attack.
  • Compared to other high-damage heavy shotguns like the M-300 Claymore, the Geth Plasma Shotgun is superior in shot capacity and thus overall damage rate; however, the Claymore deals extreme burst damage in a very short time span.

Single-player
  • As with most chargeable weapons, squadmates will not fire charged shots.
  • Unlike with most shotguns, squadmates armed with this weapon keep their distance from enemies instead of closing in.
  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun can penetrate the shields of CAT6 Heavies.

Multiplayer

Trivia[]

  • The Geth Plasma Shotgun was designed to be an "unshotgun," allowing players to reliably deal damage at longer ranges than normally allowed. Wanting to preserve the "heavy hitting" aspect of shotguns, the overcharge ability was added to compensate for its lessened effectiveness at shorter range.[1]
  • In Mass Effect 3, when in the modification screen, the Shotgun High Caliber Barrel mod will only appear on the top-right barrel, whereas in-game, the mod shows up on both the top barrels.
    • Also, if a Shotgun Blade Attachment is added, it will seemingly be placed on the lower barrel, blocking it. This does not affect performance in-game.

References[]

  1. Christina Norman's blog Secrets of the Firepower Pack
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