Discover everything you need to know about the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76, including the best perk cards and weapons.

Ghouls in Fallout 76 are humans who have survived a nuclear holocaust and exhibit a zombie-like appearance. They are resistant to radiation damage and have enhanced regeneration. With the arrival of a recent update, Ghoul received 28 new Perk cards and 2 legendary Perk cards. The Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76 is designed to maximize the effectiveness of shotguns in close-quarters combat. Shotgunner is the best perk to unlock for the Shotgunner build because it increases the damage by 30%, which is essential to boosting your damage output. This setup is a great choice for fast-paced, high-damage combat with Shotguns while maintaining your health. Choosing the best perk, attributes, armor, and weapons is crucial as your gameplay mostly depends on them. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76, including some valuable tips and tricks and the best perks.
Everything About Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
A Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76 excels in close-quarters combat, where the shotgun’s damage output can really shine. This is a unique setup that focuses on high close-range damage using shotguns. Strength, Perception, and Endurance are the best attributes that you should invest your points in. Expert Shotgunner and Master Shotgunner are the perks to unlock, as they enhance the effectiveness of your weapons, allowing you to deal more damage. Life Giver, Bloody Mess, Concentrated Fire, Action Girl, and Ghoulish are also the best skills to unlock while running a Shotgunner Ghoul build. Combat Shotgun and Gauss Shotgun are the best weapons that we include in this build to deal massive damage. Shotguns paired with VATS are deadly, especially when combined with Concentrated Fire. However, this build is limited to close range and consumes more ammo in fights.
Shotgunner Ghoul Build Pros | Shotgunner Ghoul Build Cons |
---|---|
High Damage Output | Limited to Close Range |
High Survivability | High Ammo Consumption |
Tanky Playstyle | Vulnerable in Open Areas |
Best Strategy For Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Focus on close-quarters combat by using weapons like the Gauss Shotgun and Combat Shotgun. Choose the perks that complement your playstyle and build. Equip the armor like Secret Service Armor and Civil Engineer Armor to protect your character from the incoming damage on a battlefield. Strength, perception, and Endurance are the best attributes to invest your points in. Strength is essential for shotguns, effectively increasing damage and reload speed. Use the Gunslinger and Enforcer for additional shotgun damage.
Perception is crucial for accuracy and critical damage, especially with VATS. While you disrupt enemy lines with your Shotguns, your teammates can deal with long-range or healing. Keep a heavy damage weapon with you while fighting the enemies in melee combat. Equip the Toughness perk to further enhance your damage resistance. Choose the mods that increase damage, accuracy, and AP cost reduction for your chosen weapons. Ghoulish Perk is an essential perk that increases your health regeneration when irradiated.
Best Weapons For Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Here are the best weapons for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
Combat Shotgun
- Damage: 90
- Level: 50
- Fire Rate: 20
- Range: 36
- Accuracy: 16
- AP Cost: 35
Combat Shotgun is considered the best weapon for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76. It is the premier rapid-fire, high-capacity shotgun, which can be semi-automatic or fully automatic and has a large magazine capacity. You can find the Combat Shotgun at the Scorched at Tyler County Fairgrounds. This is a useful weapon when used with a V.A.T.S./crit-focused build. You can modify it with various perks and mods, allowing for customization and optimization. It can also be upgraded with a 12-round extended magazine or a 32-round drum magazine. This shotgun is much more effective against tougher enemies. The semi-automatic nature of this weapon allows for quick follow-up shots.
Gauss Shotgun
- Damage: 140
- Level: 50
- Fire Rate: 67
- Range: 36
- Accuracy: 26
- AP Cost: 35
The Gauss Shotgun is another best weapon for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76. This is a powerful shotgun with damage superior to other firearms in its class. It can be charged to increase the damage of fired rounds. You can purchase the plans for Gauss Shotgun from Samuel for gold bullion. The Gauss Shotgun deals significant damage, especially when paired with perks like Science and Demolition Expert. Its explosive rounds can deal AOE damage, making it effective against a cluster of enemies. Use the Prime Receiver to increase damage against scorched enemies. The Gauss Shotgun excels in close to medium-range combat. Use VATS to negate the spread of the shotgun, allowing for constant headshots in combat.
Best Amour For Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Here is the best armor for a Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
Civil Engineer Armor
- Damage Resistance: 144
- Energy Resistance: 287
- Radiation Resistance: 181
Civil Engineer is the best medium armor in the Shotgunner Ghoul build because it provides excellent protection to your character in the game. A complete set of this armor adds a 10% chance to deal 150 Fire damage over 3 seconds to melee attackers. You can find the plans of the Civil Engineer by completing quests like All the World’s a Stage, Honor Bound, and Sins of the Father. However, the armor type doesn’t really matter for a Ghoul. What matters are the mods that you put on your armor for your playstyle. You can have chameleon as your one star, strength as your two stars, and three-star burning. If you don’t have a flaming sword or another fire-dealing weapon, you don’t need to invest in the burning mod.
Secret Service Armor
- Damage Resistance: 250
- Energy Resistance: 220
- Radiation Resistance: 220
Secret Service Armor is another good choice if you’re running a Shotgunner Ghoul build. It provides high damage resistance, especially for ballistic and energy attacks. It helps you stay alive longer in combat with its capability to reduce the effect of incoming attacks. You can improve the armor’s effectiveness with mods that increase damage resistance. It also gives you the ability to equip a jetpack. What makes it a versatile choice is that it provides high resistance against physical, energy, and radiation damage. You can modify the chest piece with a jetpack mod that increases mobility and traversal options. The armor set also provides a bonus that reduces weapon durability drain by 35%.
Best Perks Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Master Shotgunner is the best perk for the Shotgunner Ghoul build because it makes your weapons like Combat Shotguns and Gauss Shotguns deal more damage in combat. You can transform into ghouls with the recent The Ghoul Within update. This build allows you to deal massive damage with Shotgunner weapons that increase combat effectiveness. Here are the best perks for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Master Shotgunner- Your shotguns now do +20% damage.
- Expert Shotgunner- It allows your shotguns to deal additional 20% damage.
- Ghoulish- Radiation now regenerates even more of your lost Health!
- Life Giver- Gain more max HP per point in END.
- Bloody Mess- 15% bonus damage means enemies may explode into a gory red paste.
- Concentrated Fire- Focus fire to gain high accuracy and +3% damage per shot.
Best Perks Beginner Build in Fallout 76
Shotgunner is the best perk for the beginner build because it allows your shotgun to deliver more damage while fighting the enemies. At the game’s early stages, you need to increase your survivability to progress smoothly, so choose the perk that lets you live longer. Selecting the right perk for the beginner Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76 allows you to increase your character’s abilities and survivability. Here are some of the best perks to consider for your beginner build.
- Shotgunner- Your shotguns now do +20% damage.
- Scrounger- Find more non-explosive ammo based on your Luck.
- Junk Shield- Gain Resistances based on your LCK and amount of junk held.
- Lone Wanderer- Gain Resistances and AP Regen based on your CHA while not on a team.
- Action Girl- Action Points regenerate 45% faster.
- Blocker- Take 45% less damage from your opponents’ melee attacks.
- Ironclad- Armor provides 25% more protection. Double if wearing a matching set.
Best Main Stats Perks for Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Enforcer is the best main stat perk for Shotgunner Ghoul build because it allows your shotguns to gain a stagger chance and a chance to cripple a limb. Focus on increasing your survivability, damage output, and utility. You can allocate a total of 56 SPECIAL points to increase your character’s stats. You start with 1 point in each of the 7 SPECIAL attributes for a total of 7 points. And you gain 1 SPECIAL point every time you level up. You’ll have a total of 56 SPECIAL points to spend at level 50. Here are some of the best maintenance perks for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Concentrated Fire- Helps you focus your shots on a single enemy, increasing accuracy and damage.
- Escape Artist- Sneak to lose enemies, and running no longer affects stealth.
- Life Giver- Gain more max HP per point in END.
- Bloody Mess- Increases your overall damage output and has a chance to cause explosive damage.
- Lone Wanderer- Gain Resistances and AP Regen based on your CHA while not on a team.
- Enforcer- Your shotguns gain a 15% stagger chance and a 30% chance to cripple a limb.
Best Skill Perks for Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Adrenaline is the best skill perk for the Shotgunner Ghoul build because it enhances your damage with each kill. Here are some of the best skill perks to consider for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Feral Presence- Reduce your target’s damage output by 15% after you attack for 5 seconds.
- Adrenaline- increases your damage with each kill, stacking up to 3 times.
- Grim Reaper’s Sprint- Any kill in V.A.T.S. has a 35% chance to restore all Action Points.
- Jaguar Speed- Allows you to sprint faster when your Glow is high.
- Bone Shatterer- It provides a chance to cripple enemies, allowing you to decrease their mobility.
- Concentrated Fire- V.A.T.S. targets limbs. Focus fire to gain more accuracy and damage per shot.
Best Combat Perks for Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Master Shotgunner and Serendipity are the best combat perks for a Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76 because they enhance your damage effectiveness and allow you to avoid damage below health. These perks must synergize with the unique abilities and mechanics of the Shotgunner Ghoul. Here are some of the best combat-focused perks for the Shotgunner-Combat Ghoul build.
- Master Shotgunner- Increases shotgun damage by 30%. When combined with the other Shotgunner perks, this gives you a total of 90% more damage with shotguns.
- Serendipity- Gain a chance to avoid damage while below 35% health.
- Radioactive Strength- It increases melee damage by 150%, significantly enhancing close-quarters combat effectiveness.
- Concentrated Fire- This allows you to target specific enemy body parts in V.A.T.S., enhancing your accuracy and damage with each shot.
- Escape Artist- Sneak to lose enemies, and running no longer affects stealth.
- Radicool- The greater your Rads, the greater your Strength (max +5 STR)!
Best Potions For Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Here are the best potions for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Toxic Goo- Deals a high amount of radiation damage (125 rads) to the player but also provides a significant health restoration effect.
- Orange Mentats- +10% V.A.T.S. accuracy.
- Blight Soup- +100% critical hit damage.
- Nukashine- Grants a 100% melee damage increase.
- Canned Coffee– Quick AP regeneration for faster V.A.T.S. use.
Best Tips and Tricks for Shotgunner Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Here are the best tips and tricks for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Use the Combat Shotgun and Gauss Shotgun to eliminate enemies.
- Equip the Civil Engineer Armor to protect your character from the danger in the area.
- Shotguns can have slow reload times, so consider using Action Boy/Girl to help increase your reload speed.
- Use Life Giver to increase your maximum health and further boost health regeneration. You can also pair it with Ghoulish to make you extremely resilient in battle.
- Shotguns consume a lot of ammo, so be sure to gather plenty of ammo.
- Invest points in Agility to maximum combat effectiveness.
- Use agility perks and movement to avoid damage and reposition for better shots.
- Use mods like larger magazines, extended barrels, and refined receivers to enhance the weapon’s damage and effectiveness.
- Use Ammo savvy to mitigate the amount of ammo consumed with each shot.
FAQs about the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76
What is Ghoul in Fallout 76?
Ghouls in Fallout 76 are humans that are mutated by the radiation of the nuclear wasteland. Becoming a ghoul is a permanent change unless you manually revert.
What are the best perks for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76?
Expert Shotgunner, Maser Shotgunner, Life Giver, Bloody Mess, Concentrated Fire, Action Girl, and Ghoulish are the best perks for the Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
Which is the best weapon for a Shotgunner Ghoul build in Fallout 76?
Combat Shotgun and Gauss Shotgun are the best weapons for a Shotgunner Ghoul build because they have the capability to deal massive damage in medium to long-range combat.
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