I suppose it might be good in confined spaces but even with the perk it seemed useless. I tried to kill mutants with it while running backwards and it wasn’t as good as an automatic rifle.
It was pretty lethal at 100% and in sewers. I cleared out the heavy deathckaq infested places with it - was the perfect choice.
I'm not a huge fan of the shotguns either. They're decent early in the game for killing ghouls and raiders, but that's pretty much it. You need guns with more range and better accuracy to take on super mutants and the Enclave. I've found Lincoln's Repeater and the Blackhawk to be best for taking out deathclaws. The BlackHawk will kill a deathclaw in two shots up close. I've also heard the dart gun is quite good, but I haven't made one yet. The big problem with Lincoln's Repeater and the Blackhawk is that the ammo is scarce. But that's not a problem once you finish the Pitt.
Combat Shotgun was amazing. In terms of non special weapons I'd say the Chinese assault rifle was my weapon of choice, shame you had to keep loads to give to that one guy instead of using them for repairing. I remember the android's plasma rifle was a beast, I killed so many things with that gun.
It seems to have a really high chance of getting a critical hit. A lot of things will just vaporize into a green puddle of goo in one or two shots.
It's got to be one of the all round best guns in the game. Obviously the alien weapons are the kings of guns, finding ammo after I finished zeta wasn't a problem since i had many thousands of rounds lol.
I had mixed feelings about the alien guns. They did a lot of damage, but they weren't terribly accurate. I ended up just putting them in storage in my house in Megaton after awhile.
Broken Steel was short (and glitchy) but good. I thought it gave the game a better ending. I'd rank the DLCs: 1. The Pitt (Best) - awesome setting, really interesting and complex moral choice 2. Broken Steel - gave the game a better ending and raised the level cap 3. Operation Anchorage - gives you some of the best loot in the game. World War 3 setting is a nice change of pace, but it's very short and completely focused on combat. 4. Mothership Zeta - neat idea, but it drags on too long and gets horribly repetitive 5. Point Lookout (worst) - lame quests, lame setting, no good loot, absolutely pointless