There are many weapons in VALORANT, the tactical first-person shooter made by Riot Games. In order to become a master of the game, it's pivotal that you learn to master the weapons in it. That's why we've made a series of weapon guides for VALORANT weapons discussing the weapon cost, the weapon damage, and controlling the weapon's recoil. In this guide, we'll be talking about the Shorty shotgun.

Cost

The Shorty is the second cheapest gun in VALORANT, costing 200 credits. Only the Classic, which can be acquired for free, is cheaper. With a cost so low, the Shorty is a good option to be purchased in early rounds so you can also purchase some of your agent's abilities. Alternatively, you can play a round with the Shorty if you want to fill up your credit wallet by spending little in the current round, so you can purchase stronger guns in the round after.

Damage

As can be expected from a shotgun, the Shorty deals a hefty amount of damage at a short range. While each individual bullet does less damage than any other gun's bullets, the high concentration of those bullets at short range make for a highly impactful burst of damage.

In the table below, you can see the damage dealt by individual bullets of the Shorty at various distances in VALORANT:

The Shorty can shoot twice before needing to reload. Each shot with the Shorty shoots 12 pellets. This means that a close-range, fully hit body shot at your target deals a whopping 144 damage, taking out almost every enemy. Only people with full health and an intact Heavy Shield would survive the blast, and would take another hit to go down. However, the Shorty's damage drops off fast, dealing just 25% of its damage when the target is over 15 meters away.

Bullet spread

The Shorty doesn't suffer from recoil and you can fire its two shots without needing to readjust your aim. However, like every shotgun, the Shorty's subject to quite a bullet spread. When targeting something close by in VALORANT, the Shorty is extremely reliable. Even if you're moving, the Shorty will hit the target as the weapon isn't subject to movement inaccuracy like most other weapons are.

However, the inaccuracy drops off rapidly. Whereas from zero to nine meters you're guaranteed to hit what you're aiming at, the Shorty becomes incredibly unreliable quickly. At ten meters distance, a few bullets will already miss your target. From there on, it only gets worse. At long range, the Shorty's accuracy is so laughably bad that you're lucky if any of the twelve bullets hit the target at all.

To summarize:

The Shorty is a cheap weapon perfect for short-range combat. With low inaccuracy, incredibly high burst damage when shooting someone nearby, the Shorty is a reliable weapon to wait around corners with to blast your opponents with.  On maps like Split, which has many short hallways and close corners, the Shorty can thrive. However, if you're not "in the face" of your opponent when you're holding the Shorty, you might as well start running towards them or away from them—you're not going to win the battle otherwise.

Other weapon guides:

For more VALORANT content including guides, patch notes, and news, check out our dedicated VALORANT section!

Images via Riot Games