Hiya! Sorry for the long comment beforehand, but I have some feedback. I think you should really nerf the HEDP ammo because they have busted stats for their class. For example, the standard 12-gauge HEDP has a sharp penetration of 35.00 RHA and blunt penetration of 85.20 MPa, and for reference, the heavy Centipede mech only has 5.00 to 20.00 RHA and 11.25 to 45.00 MPa, respectively, depending on the body part.

A pawn with a Mossberg can consistently damage a Centipede mech and kill it with a couple of shots because not only does his shot penetrate the armor, but it also deals bullet and bomb damage types.

But it also works in reserve; the Militor mech uses wave tactics and shoots a mini shotgun that uses a .410 bore shell. If they by chance use the HEDP ammo type, they can be hard to deal with because they will have a sharp penetration of 15.00 RHA and blunt penetration of 21.36 MPa and deal 12 bullet and 15 bomb damage on top of it. Any industrial Kevlar armor will be perilous against them, and it will wear out the armor too because it deals massive bomb damage.

I really think you need to heavily nerf them; maybe check Ammo Variety - Shotguns ( https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2855211167 ) for reference. Sorry again for the long comment. I and many CE Discord members really like your mod and want to see it improve! Cheers!

One question: If I were to make them(HEDP shells) not spawn on random pawns would this be less of an issue?

I ask that because the intention for these shells was indeed for them to be quite powerful, able to take down centipedes and harder DLC/mod enemies, shotguns have abysmal range/armor pen and I figured they needed a strong comeback lategame (I was not aware of how potent EMP shells can be against mechs at the time I made this mod)

It might be a while until I update this mod, as I am working on a content drop for it and the rest, but I am certainly going to look into the matter, thanks!

I like the idea of shotguns having a comeback because short-range damage dealers are really fun early to midgame, especially in urban settings, but these ammo types are too strong to be used on lower-tier shotguns that use common shells like 12 gauge. And about making militors use them less is a good start; here is my proposal.

I think you should make an upgrade recipe on the fabrication bench that unlocks after researching "Advanced Fabrication" that consists of "Remington M870 + Reinforced Barrel" that produces a reinforced shotgun with a name like "Remington M870 (Reinforced)" with the same graphics but with different stats that make it able to use HEDP.

Gameplay-wise, it fits with the research tree because it's close to the spacer tech tree but still in the industrial era and has a reinforced barrel requirement, making them more valuable and hard to come by, and lore-wise, it makes sense why the shotgun doesn't explode the moment it fires its shells.

Or maybe if you add a new shotgun, you can make a specialized shotgun that uses this unique ammo and go wild with it. Cyberpunk 2077 (4-gauge shell is the bare standard in that universe) has a few good shotgun designs that shoot explosives, flechettes, incendiaries, homing missiles, EMP, and more. Making that the late industrial/spacer equivalent of boom sticks that are effective in the later stage of the game.

I prefer the second option, to be honest, making a line of new advanced shotguns altogether that use advanced shells. But it takes a lot of work; maybe the first option is more viable. Both make the HEDP shell still in its full glory but with a larger prerequisite to get it. So what do you think?

Sorry for the long post again! I wish I could give something in return.

The options im considering atm are:

-Removing HEDP shells altogether (I will atleast be redoing how they're integrated, as the current way of overwriting the xml seems to bother alot of people in the CE discord) OR removing part of them (say any under 12ga,).

-Significantly nerfing them, atm im looking at: giving them half the blunt pen and bullet damage of the same caliber slug, reducing explosive damage and sharp pen slightly and also making them more expensive; you get 100 shells per, instead of 200. And also reducing their speed to be similar to EMP shells.

-Limiting them to a "niche" shotgun such as the KS-23.

I have nothing against adding futuristic shotguns but I do dislike the idea of limiting them to some "reinforced type" since 1. I want the option to use your favorite shotguns again, 2. they're just small shaped charge shells so the strain on the weapon would not be that different and it feels quite forced, plenty of low tech rifle caliber weapons that can use sabot and HE rounds.