Only reason I personally give shotguns credit is because against me personally if you are just running at me with a shotgun you aren't gonna get very far. The range, while insane sometimes, is still close range and can't touch rifles. Handcannons are just outside of their range and have high impact so I go tlw. Fusion rifles I don't like because of the size of the reticle combined with its range which beats a shotgun and does the same damage with the same size reticle.

Yeah slight differences between the two but Shotguns are still super powerful when within range. Fusion Rifles have the better range and insane impact but there is still the charge cycle giving chance to avoid. Unless it's Plan C then yeah game over.

Just habit now I make fusion rifles miss their first shot by hiding or w/e. If they miss their first shot they usually fxck up after that.