What attachments should I use on the DAO-12 in Battlefield 3?

The DAO-12 is the current baby of the TDM/metro/shotgun crowd. Since the drastic nerf of the USAS in the last patch the DAO-12 has

been the goto for those wanting close in stopping power with higher ROF than the 870MCS shotgun.

Higher rate of fire is desirable due to the current problems of hit registration on shotguns at close range. Prior to the patch I was liking the 870, but now its slow ROF makes it unreliable because hits may not register in close. While the DAO and other semi auto shotguns are also effected by the bug, their higher rate of fire allows them to still be useful – spam it, if the first shot does nothing the second one should – fingers crossed. In addition suppresion causes all sorts of randomness with shotguns that rate of fire goes a long way to making up for.

Thanks for the shotgun history lesson, but what attachments should I use on the DAO

This should be easy – without extended magazine the DAO12 runs 8 cartridges. 8 is not terribly bad compared to other shotguns, for instance the M1014 which starts with 4 rounds and is also semi-auto. However combined with a hellishly slow reload it means most players will opt for extended mags. This seems to be typical route for attachment progression with shotguns.

1. Obtain extended magazine.
2. Equip extended magazine.
3. Never change attachment.

Note: Reloading cannot be interrupted by aiming down sights, I have died several times waiting ADS to break the reload animation. Firing will break it so do that instead.

At the intended use range, 0-20m (or less) eight rounds are sufficent for dropping 2-3 enemy players. Even for players with bad aim this is plenty of leeway, if you are incapable of dropping two players with eight shots an extra four are not going to help out overly much.

So the first attachment you will probably take is extended magazine, we will come back and discuss this later.

What ammo type should I pick for the DAO-12 Shotguns?

The second selection you receive is the ammo type. The default 12G buckshot rounds are good and individually deal the most damage, you could roll with these for you entire career if you wanted to as they are great. If you have the physical warfare pack (what is this, I have it, no idea where I got it) you also start with the 12 Gauge Flechette rounds. Not sure if you can unlock these without the physical warfare pack. These rounds are packed with what equate to nails. They deal slightly less damage than 12G buck but have the benefit of additional penetration. Originally I was trying to shoot players through walls with zero luck. In Battlefirsld 3 penetration refers to penetrating other players, sounds dirty hey.

flé·chette: a small, dartlike metal projectile used as shrapnel in antipersonnel bombs and shells.

With 12G flechette rounds you will hit both players if they line up behind each other. The intended use of the shotguns is generally up close and personal and it may seem that players do not line up often, but once you roll with shotguns in nosehair TDM shipping containers you will see just now often it does occur! The other benefit of penetration, even if you do not damage the second player much, is suppression.

12G Frag rounds are unlocked at 50 kills and are really nothing to write home about. They perform ok and are sort of fun to splash players around corners – hit markers, theres a guy there! But beyond this they do not have the stopping power of buck or flechette rounds.

The last choice is slugs, which I don’t rate for semi-auto shotguns because of the recoil, spread and the fact that the other rounds work so much better.

The choice between buck and flechette is up to the user.

Will you be using it where players may double up from time to time?
Will you be seeing individual players frequently and no multiples?
Will you even care that you don’t hit the second player, preferring to drop the first player faster?

All these questions can only be answered by you, and the gametype + map + player size are all factors here.

On Noshahr Canals TDM I would pick flechette as players often line up between the shipping containers in mid. 24-32player TDM on Noshahr is probably the best way to grind unlocks, especially as reson. Run into the containers, setup TUGS, watch the minimap and profit. Pre aim the edges of containers after using the minimap.

On Caspain 64p I would pick buck when spawning to attack hilltop.

On firestorm I would not take a shotgun in many situations as there is not a great deal of close range fighting. The only time may be if I am trying to act as the spawn point for my squad and want to make sure I don’t die. In this situation hiding and staying alive is important. Single players will probably find me and so taking 12G buck makes sense.

And so on. These choices apply to all the semi-auto shotguns, Saiga 12K, M1014, Jackhammer and the USAS-12. The MCS870 is slightly different because of its high damage per shot and lower rate of fire. Apparently the MCS870 with slugs is single shot kills to upper chest/head since the big patch.

Ok back up a bit, you seemed to imply that an attachment different to extended magazine might be ok?

The DAO-12 defaults to 8 shells. This is enough to drop many players at the intended range. If you are managing to kill more than 2-3 players in an encounter you are some sort of BF3 god and should probably stick to the not-nub assault rifles and carbines.

The laser sight, unlocked at 70 kills seems like an odd choice for a shotgun. However it offers a little-known benefit; it reduces the size of the fire cone for each shell.

Sidebar: ADS also reduces the fire cone and shotguns do not gain spread when aiming down sights and moving, unlike assault rifles.

Why would you take a laser sight on a shotgun? Because pellets from each shot are grouped tighter giving you a longer effective range. If this stacks with the ADS cone reduction then you are sitting on top of a virtual.. something. Shotgun for sniping? To 30m?

Laser sight gives your one shot kill range an increase and overall effective range an increase.

So thats it? Laser sight is the only other attachment option? Kind of disapointed.

No way! Given the intended close in use of shotguns and the somewhat large basic magazine of the DAO-12, a flashlight is a worthwhile investment. Blind those suckers, cause rage and basically own some suckers.

What about DAO-12 sights

Because this is a close in weapon the only options are iron sights – RDS – Holo.

More about sights explains why I would take irons or RDS every time over holo, even more so for shotguns.