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The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The subject of this article appeared in Zombies mode The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Strike Team
For the buckshot variant, see KSG 12.
For a similarly named submachine gun, see GKS.

The KSG is a bullpup pump-action shotgun featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Strike Team.

Campaign[]

"Pump-action shotgun. High ammo capacity and strong damage output."
— Description


This shotgun appears in the mission "Karma" in a security weapons cache. After completing the mission "Odysseus", the player can select it for use anytime before a mission. In the campaign, it fires buckshot (just like the KSG 12 in Modern Warfare 3), unlike its multiplayer and zombies counterparts, which fires slugs.

Multiplayer[]

"Pump action slug shotgun. Fires a single slug for high damage at longer ranges."
— Description


The KSG is unlocked at Level 34. It is the third shotgun available to unlock.

The defining aspect of the KSG is its damage profile. The KSG fires a single slug with every shot. At any range short of 13.75 meters, the KSG will deal 200 damage per slug, allowing for a one shot kill. Between 13.75 meters and 31.25 meters, the KSG will deal 75 damage per slug, needing two shots to kill. At 31.26 meters, the KSG will deal 45 damage per slug, needing three shots to kill. The KSG does no damage past 13.26 meters. The range at which the KSG is a three shot kill is so short that it essentially does not exist. Unlike most other shotguns, the KSG deals 50% extra damage on a Headshot. When dealing 75 damage per slug, a headshot will be a one shot kill. The KSG can also shoot through walls and other non-glass objects, unlike other shotguns. The KSG has medium penetration power. With the KSG's ludicrous 200 damage benchmark, one shot kills through walls are possible so long as the slug retains half of its damage, and on a headshot through a wall, only 1/3rd of the damage needs to be retained through the wall to secure a kill. The KSG has significantly more range than any other shotgun and is capable of being used at ranges that other shotguns can only dream of being used at. However, the fact that only one projectile is fired with each shot highly reduces the margin for error when using the KSG, and it makes hip-fire significantly less consistent than it'd otherwise would be.

One of the KSG's biggest weaknesses is its fire rate. It has the slowest fire rate of all shotguns, firing at 77 RPM. The user must wait 0.77 seconds in between shots. This is only slightly slower than the Remington 870 MCS, but it is still far slower than the non-pump action shotguns.

The KSG is a very precise weapon, unlike other shotguns. The iron sights are simple to use. The KSG has heavy recoil per shot, but the very slow fire rate and 1000 centerspeed will counteract recoil entirely in between shots. More importantly, the KSG has zero shot spread when aiming down the sight, with the slug going exactly where the point of aim is when aiming down the sight. The KSG also has by far the tightest hip-fire spread of any shotgun, with tightness on par with an SMG. However, the KSG's need for precision compared to other shotguns means that hip-fire is much less consistent in practice than it is on paper.

The KSG handles decently. The KSG allows users to move at 100% of the base movement speed, or strafe at 80% of the base movement speed. The KSG takes 250 milliseconds to aim down the sights. The KSG reloads shell-by-shell. Depending on how many shells are loaded, the KSG can take anywhere from 0.6 seconds to 9.44 seconds to perform. The KSG can cause some extremely long reloads unless the user diligently keeps the tube topped up.

The KSG's shell capacity is great, as it can hold up to 14 rounds in the tube. Although the M1216 slightly bests this, in practice, the KSG's 14 shells will last very long, and in many cases, the user will die before they even need to consider reloading the KSG. The KSG provides a huge starting ammo loadout of 42 rounds. Both are very good considering the KSG's characteristics.

The KSG has the standard assortment of shotgun attachments on offer, but the KSG's wildly different attributes from other shotguns will warp the value of certain attachments considerably.

The Reflex Sight is normally useless on other shotguns, but on the KSG, it is worth considering, as the aim down sight function needs to be consistently used on the KSG. Those that don't like the look of the iron sights may find the Reflex Sight to be valuable in assisting with shot placement. The Millimeter Scanner holds similar value because of that, while also providing the ability to detect stationary enemies behind walls. The KSG can actually make great use of the Millimeter Scanner due to its enormous damage and ability to shoot through walls, allowing for the player to better place their shot to get a one shot kill through a wall.

The Long Barrel increases the KSG's range benchmarks by 16%. The KSG needs this attachment a lot less than the other shotguns, but Long Barrel is still an excellent attachment that should almost always be used, as it will make the KSG much more likely to get one shot kills at medium ranges. Conversely, the KSG can withstand the range penalty of the Suppressor a lot better than most other shotguns, especially considering that it is only a 10% range penalty, but any amount of one shot kill range lost is a major detriment for such a slow-firing weapon. The KSG is particularly good at taking advantage of either of these attachments due to the wealth of range it already has by default.

Fast Mag modifies the reload so that it reloads two shells with each shell inserted. This makes partial top ups significantly easier to perform when the time calls for it, and makes it significantly easier to fill a close to empty tube. Conversely, Extended Clip increases the KSG's shell capacity to a gargantuan 20 shells and gives the KSG a huge starting ammo loadout of 60 rounds. However, one must be careful of letting the tube magazine go too low on the KSG, as a reload can now take up to 12.84 seconds if the tube is completely empty. The KSG doesn't have much need for Extended Clip due to its already large shell capacity being more than enough, but Fast Mag could be very useful.

The Laser Sight tightens the KSG's hip-fire spread by 37.5%. While this makes hip-fire extremely precise, the KSG's emphasis on one shot kills means that this should only be used as a countermeasure to close quarters fights where careful aim isn't possible.

The Adjustable Stock increases the KSG's strafe speed to 88%. Seeing how it gives just an 8% strafe speed boost over the default strafe speed, this is arguably the worst attachment in the KSG's attachment pool and can be safely ignored.

The Quickdraw Handle is of enhanced importance to the KSG. Many make frequent use of the aim down sight function when using the KSG, and the Quickdraw Handle reduces the aim down sight time down to 150 milliseconds, making the KSG much quicker to react.

Overall, the KSG is wholly unique among shotguns, to the extent that it can't really be directly compared to them. The KSG brings an entirely different playstyle to the table, providing unparalled one shot kill consistency and unparalleled effective range, but the KSG demands exacting precision in order to hit its targets, due to the nature of the KSG's slug rounds. The KSG allows users to transform their playstyle, as they are much less reliant on positioning and mobility compared to the other shotguns, and instead relying more on precision and shot placement. Alongside the extra high need for precision, the KSG has poor capability for dealing with multiple enemies at once due to its poor fire rate. The KSG's wildly different characteristics make it a very polarizing weapon, even when compared to the other shotguns.

The KSG is the fourth weapon tier in Gun Game, where it is equipped with the Quickdraw Handle attachment.

Attachments[]

Zombies[]

In Origins, the KSG is available for purchase from the Mystery Box for 950 points (10 points on a Fire Sale) or received for free from the dig spots if the player has a Golden Shovel (although the chances of digging it up are slim). Just like the Multiplayer counterpart of the weapon, it shoots slugs instead of buckshot rounds, reducing the pellet count to 1, but trading it off for increased damage that lets it remain effective in the later rounds if aiming for the head. In addition, it has a very high amount of ammunition, at a total of 70 slugs, counting all of the slugs that are first inserted in the weapon.

When Pack-A-Punched, it becomes the Mist Maker, resulting in a doubled magazine size and reserve ammo capacity of 28 and 112, respectively, as well as the ability to load two shells at a time when reloading, the addition of a Reflex Sight, and higher damage. With Double Tap Root Beer and headshots, it is a one hit kill until around rounds 30-32, making it one of the most powerful weapons that is not a Wonder Weapon, and subsequently one of the most powerful shotguns featured in Zombies. The reason why the Mist Maker is very powerful in comparison to the Pack-a-Punched regular weapons (i.e. Executioner/Voice of Justice) in terms of overall power is that it fires a highly concentrated slug rather than multiple buckshot pellets, making for a very high damage in a single shot, and it has a very high ammunition capacity for its power. It can shoot for a maximum of 5000 damage per shot, and a minimum of 3750.

KSG vs Mist Maker[]

KSG Mist Maker
KSG BOII Mist Maker Origins BO2
Damage 800-100 1000-200
Fire mode Pump-Action Pump-Action
Rate of fire 77 RPM 77 RPM
Magazine size 14 28
Max ammo 56+14 84+28
Extras Double magazine capacity, more ammo, Reflex Sight, higher damage, reloads 2 shells at a time


Gallery[]

For camouflage images, see KSG/Camouflage.
For attachment images, see KSG/Attachments.

Trivia[]

  • Below the iron sights, there appears to be a diamond on it; this is easier to see while aiming down the sights.
  • While the reload shows green shells (slug rounds) being inserted, a red shell (buckshot rounds) is ejected when the gun is pumped.
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