The Most UNDERRATED Shotgun?! Terminus Mastery | Hunt: showdown 1896

Intro

Hi guys, Rex here! The Terminus is a 3-slot shotgun that is very often overlooked, despite being an absolute beast! It’s the only lever-action shotgun in the game, and while it didn’t see any direct changes with the 1896 update, all shotguns did receive a buff shortly afterward — which makes the Terminus even more interesting to revisit.

It comes in a 3-slot full version and a 2-slot Shorty variant, priced at 238 and 218 Hunt Dollars respectively, making it one of the more affordable options. On paper, it performs worse than most other shotguns, but this is where many players underestimate it. With the Levering trait — which costs 7 trait points — the fire rate skyrockets, turning this shotgun into a close-range monster that can shred multiple enemies in seconds.

The Terminus can run five different ammo types:

• First we have Buckshot – The default ammo for all shotguns. It deals heavy damage, can penetrate wooden walls, and is generally consistent across the board. Exactly what you’d expect from a solid shotgun.

• Next up, Flechette Has a very tight spread and applies bleeding on impact. This is a great option for double-tapping at range or applying pressure, and pairs nicely with longer-range secondaries. The downside is it has no penetration power.

• Third, Dragon’s Breath Sets enemy hunters on fire and burns through health chunks, lowering their maximum health until they recover their lost chunks using recovery shots, a full restoration medkit, or burn traits like Rampage or Remedy. Hunters killed with Dragon’s Breath ignite instantly, and you can also use the ammo type to ignite downed hunters that are not yet burning. The tradeoff is low base damage and no penetration, making it more suitable for applying pressure and wearing your enemies down rather than landing one-taps.

• Fourth, we have Penny Shot, which performs similar to Buckshot but with a wider spread and no penetration power. It’s useful in open areas, but it struggles when enemies take cover. Its big perk is utility, as it can one-shot Immolators without triggering their explosion, and it’s also highly effective for killing Meatheads and bosses thanks to its high damage. It also has incredible value for blasting open doors when you need to make a quick entry.

• Finally, Slugs are single high-damage projectiles and is the only shotgun ammo type capable of landing headshots. Slugs are great for accurate shots, but less ideal for the Terminus specifically. The main benefit of the Terminus is the Levering fire rate, and Levering only works in hipfire, making slugs harder to use effectively. You can still ADS or hipfire at close range, but other shotguns like the Slate or Auto-5 are more optimal for slug gameplay.

As mentioned, the Terminus comes with a 3-slot and a 2-slot version. The Terminus Shorty is very similar to the full-sized version and can also be levered. It works great as a sidearm for any 2-slot weapon, or alongside a 3-slot weapon if you take the Quartermaster trait. It’s incredibly powerful up close, just like the full-size version, though overall stats are slightly worse.

Alongside the 3-slot Terminus, I mostly ran the Uppercut. Shotgun fights are almost always close-range, so the Uppercut covered me nicely for mid-range situations with its 65-meter drop-off and high damage. Plus, being long ammo, it penetrates wood and metal, which is incredibly powerful if enemies seek cover where the shotgun would be less effective.

For the 2-slot Shorty, I often paired it with the Drilling Shorty. This gave me mid- to long-range coverage and the flexibility to either stack extra shotgun ammo through the Drilling’s reserve or run Buckshot on the Terminus with Levering and Slugs on the Drilling for more versatility.

The Terminus performs partial reloads, ejecting a round each time you reload. Without Levering, it works like this: when you fire, the spent shell is ejected automatically. But if you reload with rounds still in the chamber, you’ll eject a live round first before topping up. You can avoid wasting ammo by cycle reloading: either reload immediately after firing, or hold the trigger after firing to keep the action open until you’re ready to insert a new round.

With Levering, this changes. Since Levering cycles the weapon automatically, holding the trigger will fire continuously until the gun is empty. That means cycle reloading doesn’t work at all when Levering is active. Because Levering is the main reason to play the Terminus, you’ll almost always run into this issue. That’s why the Bulletgrubber trait is so valuable here. For just 4 trait points, it lets you recover ejected rounds automatically, meaning you waste no ammo, which is why this trait is highly recommended for Terminus loadouts.

In this video I am putting the terminus and it’s shorty variant to the test. At the end of the video I will share my thoughts and recommendations for this weapon, so stay tuned – but without further ado, let’s dive into it!

Thoughts & Recommendations

After having played the Terminus for a couple of days, here are my thoughts! As expected, and as was my experience when I did my original Terminus mastery – this weapon is a complete powerhouse! It hits like a truck and is incredibly fun to play. This weapon often gets overlooked for reasons that I do not fully understand. From what I can tell, the weapon has a reputation for being terrible, but my experience has been anything but that.

One of the main drawbacks could be that you generally need the Levering trait for this shotgun to be viable, and possibly even Bulletgrubber as well to preserve ammo when using Levering. This means you’ll be investing between 7 and 11 trait points just to bring the shotgun to its full potential, which is a huge investment compared to other shotguns that perform well with no traits required. And since new hunters only start with 10 trait points, there are usually more important picks like Necromancer or Resilience — which makes Levering a luxury trait you can usually only grab after surviving a match or two.

As for ammo, I generally stuck to Buckshot, but I also messed around with Dragon’s Breath just for the hell of it (pun intended). And honestly? It’s hilarious — but also incredibly frustrating if you’re on the receiving end. In my opinion, Crytek really needs to rethink the burn mechanics. Health bars are the most valuable resource in the game, and even just a couple of Dragon’s Breath tags can be more punishing than being downed multiple times. That said — if you can’t beat them, join them! Playing “budget flamethrower” Terminus was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend you give it a try. Can’t believe I just said that…

In terms of sidearms, both the Uppercut and the Drilling Shorty were excellent pairings and have recently become new favorites of mine. I highly recommend trying the loadouts I suggested earlier if you want to mix things up.

So what’s the final verdict? Under the right circumstances, the Terminus has the potential to be one of the strongest shotguns in Hunt. There, I said it. It is INCREDIBLY fast and INCREDIBLY fun. The drawbacks — mainly the heavy trait investment — are real, but once you unlock Levering and Bulletgrubber, it transforms into an absolute powerhouse. If you’ve been avoiding this shotgun, I highly recommend giving it another shot — you might be surprised!

But now I want to hear YOUR opinion. What do YOU think about the Terminus? Is it underrated, or actually as bad as people claim? Let me know in the comments — and until next time, I’ll see you in the Bayou!