So, which one in your opinion is better?

Personally I prefer The Terrible Shotgun, but thats because I prefer the more traditional weps than the energy weps. Also it is one of my favourite weapons because for one thing it's so easy to maintain, and anything that can take down a Deathclaw with one shot, no matter the difficulty setting, deserves respect.. :bowdown:

I find though that the Shotgun is better at close-range than the Blaster simply because it has 80 dmg, where the Blaster has 55 and doesn't really make up the difference by firing slightly faster. You don't want to have to take 2 shots for a kill when at close-range. Also the Blaster is between a mid-range and a close-range weapon so if I was picking weapons to compliment it I'd still only feel comfortable having a mid-range wep (fully automatic) and a close range wep (with a high single-shot dmg distribution) with me as well. Where-as I would be more than happy just having The Terrible Shotgun and Xuanlong Assualt Rifle and nothing else.

But that's just me, it depends on your style of play. I play either from a distant distance hid behind a tree or something, or I'm so close that the only thing you feel before I put a bunch of shells through your skull is my breath upon the back of your neck. :ninja: :gun:

Edit: Correction - Any weapon that can take down a Super Mutant Behemoth with just one shot deserves respect.

From the FO3 bible itself http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/The_Terrible_Shotgun

"Critical hit damage with this weapon is actually applied individually on each pellet the weapon fires in a shot outside of V.A.T.S.. If all nine pellets critical hit at the same time (such as in a point-blank sneak attack critical attack), the weapon's total critical damage is 9 x 40 = 360! And with the Better Criticals perk, it can go up to 540. Add in the base 80 power of the weapon, and then double the whole thing because of the sneak attack bonus, and the weapon's total damage turns 1240, quite close to that of the Fat Man itself! In fact, if the damage is increased further with a head shot, this weapon's destructive power against a single target becomes even greater than the Fat Man, being able to kill even a super mutant behemoth with a single sneak attack critical head shot!"

The Terrible Shotgun is my favorite weapon in the game hands down. Although the Metal Blaster is cool, small guns are the best IMO.

Metal Blaster

Fires a lot more shots before it breaks.
A lot more accurate outside of VATS.
Faster rate of fire, Larger magazine.
Lighter weight
Uses less AP

Simply put it is a far superior weapon.

Neither, the Chinese Assault Rifle is superior to both :stare:

So the Terrible Shotgun is better for close range without VATS and the Metal Blaster is good for close/medium range with VATS...?
If this is the case, can't you just use A3-21's Plasma Rifle in place of the Metal Blaster?

Finally A great comparison, lets break it down
Terrible Shotgun/Metal Blaster

Damage per second – 123 / 116.6 check to TS (for the up close action)
Spread – 6 / 2.5 check to MB (giving the MB better range)
Mag Size - 12/24 check to MB (but probably a moot point; who the hell needs 12 or 24 shots?)

Critical Multiplier (my fav) – 1/1.5 check to MB
Critical Damage – 40/27 – check to TS
Damage per AP – 2.96/3.24 – check to MB
Durability – 350/1000 – check to MB (big check!)

I’m like a previous poster; I prefer “conventional” weapons. But if I could only carry one of the two, it appears the Metal Blaster would be a better choice. But who the heck only carries one weapon? For that up close and personal, when my ranged attack has let me down, nothing, I repeat, nothing beats the Terrible Shotgun!!! (Unless…. You’re on a long-term mission, with little or no chance of scavenging repair parts)

The Metal Blaster has the potential to do more crit. Damage so I'd usually go with that. Ultimately though it would really depend on whether I'm specializing in small guns or energy weps...

I'm going with the blaster. I've never used it in VATS. I can kick serious butt with this, both at medium and short range. I hate the combat shotguns personally. I carry a double barreled or the sawn off.

I haven't collected these Ingots for The Pitt, so I can't really pass judgement. But I can tell you the Terrible Shotgun is a monster up close, capable of taking out anything with one or two shots. Just a shame it degrades rather quickly, but Combat Shotguns are easy enough to find.

From the looks of things, the Metal Blaster seems better for middle distance, but I already have A3-21's Plasma Rifle so I don't see what need I'd have for it. A3-21's is durable, powerful, has a good crit chance and is easy to repair.

Not so. It has twice the chance of causing crit damage, but as Duco points out, it has the potential to do much, much more than twice the damage of a MB when it does crit. This 'crit adding to each pellet' is a reason why the straight comparison of the DPS etc stats of the two weapons as listed in the wiki is a suboptimal approach to comparison.

Though it's interesting that anecdotal opinion considers the shotty a more durable weapon...

Alrighty then, I think I'll go with the Terrible Shotgun. Since I already carry A3-21's Plasma Rifle, I don't want two weapons that use the same ammo. I'll limit myself to 3 weapons: The Terrible Shotgun, Lincoln's Repeater, and A3-21's. This way, I carry a long, short, and medium ranged weapon with me. I'll have to drop off Blackhawk at the Megaton House, and then my problem will be solved. It's funny, because those 3 weapons were the first unique ones that I got... :brokencomputer:

Now I have another question; Is it worth getting all 100 steel ingots? So far I have 52. I was thinking of maybe getting the Perforator, for when I'm not using VATS and want to be more quiet. I probably don't need the Tribal Power Armor; I much prefer Ranger's Armor and Vance's Longcoat.

Metal Blaster for sure. It has tighter spread and can fire way more than the Terrible Shotgun without running out of ammo or breaking. Plus I personally prefer Energy Weapons, so it's way cooler in my opinion.

Do you know how many pellets the TS fires? The MB fires 9 bolts, so I would think that the MB would do more crit damage due to less spread unless you're right on top of an enemy.

METAL BLASTER YAY!!!
Tell you're friends about it. It's awesome :whisper:

It's the same number of 'sub-shots', but the damage per pellet is higher. Admitted, outside jam-it-in-their-face range, you might not get all the pellets hitting, but as I understand the way armour works, the higher base damage of the shotgun will mean every pellet does more damage than the blaster.

I use the Metal Blaster. I think it 2-3 shots an Overlord with all of the multipliers I get.

I always use the metal blaster, it's my favorite gun.