S4 Tactical Combat Shotgun

The Throne S4 Tactical Combat Shotgun is a pump-action close-quarters weapon found on the Talos I orbital research station during the gameplay of Prey (2017) and on Pytheas station during Prey: Mooncrash.

Overview
The S4 is a standard pump-action shotgun with a tube magazine that holds 4 rounds if stock, 10 rounds if fully upgraded. There's really nothing special about it. The only futuristic feature is the ammunition counter on the side.

Primary Acquisition Locations (Talos I)
Location 1: On Nash Underwood's body in the Talos I main lobby near the entrance to the Neuromod Division.

Location 2 (Nightmare Difficulty): On the desk near the Holding Room in the Talos I main lobby.

Performance and Value
The Throne S4 is a security weapon and therefore can only be fully upgraded via weapon upgrade kits with the Gunsmith I and II neuromods. On Pytheas, which lacks upgrade kits or their fabrication plans, standard and advanced shotguns are made directly from their fabrication plans, and have their upgrades built into them. The performance and recycle/dismantle values are listed below.

Stock Performance

 * Firepower: 41
 * Recoil: 100
 * Ammo Capacity: 4
 * Reload Speed: 100

Upgrade L1 Performance

 * Firepower: 44
 * Recoil: 75
 * Ammo Capacity: 5
 * Reload Speed: 120

Upgrade L2 Performance

 * Firepower: 54
 * Recoil: 50
 * Ammo Capacity: 6
 * Reload Speed: 145

Upgrade L3 Performance

 * Firepower: 59
 * Recoil: 10
 * Ammo Capacity: 8
 * Reload Speed: 175

Upgrade L4 Performance

 * Firepower: 66
 * Recoil: 10
 * Ammo Capacity: 10
 * Reload Speed: 175

Recycle Value

 * 1 Mineral
 * 0.25 Synthetic Material

Dismantle Value

 * 2 Spare Parts

The Margrave
The Margrave is a special Shotgun only available through the Cosmonaut Pack DLC with only cosmetic differences to the ordinary shotgun. The Margrave is then found in Morgan's office.

Inspection

 * "Designed especially for Catherine Yu's participation in the Centennial European Shooting Championship, the Throne "Margrave" is a masterpiece of firearm craftsmanship. Mahogany stock, a proprietary metal alloy barrel and a 24 karat gold inlay combined with superior electronic gun control systems deliver the ultimate shooting experience."

Standard S4 Tactical Combat Shotgun
On Pytheas, standard shotguns are more effective than the basic stock ones, and can be found in various locations, as can their fabrication plans. Their background color in the inventory is green, and their built-in upgrades are randomized. Some have elemental attachments, which modify their shot so that they deliver extra damage, be it electrical, fiery, corrosive (possibly etheric), or psychic.

Advanced S4 Tactical Combat Shotgun
On Pytheas, advanced shotguns are more effective than the standard ones, and can be found in various locations, as can their fabrication plans. Their background color in the inventory is blue, and their built-in upgrades are randomized. Some have elemental attachments.

Usage
The shotgun is useful when confronting enemies in small spaces or when facing a tough opponent. Unless a swarm of weak enemies are encountered, it is typically better to reserve shotgun ammo for larger threats like the Phantom and use the wrench or pistol on smaller threats like the Mimic. The shotgun deals very high damage at close range but suffers from a rapid damage fall-off at longer ranges.

A useful combination when using the shotgun against a threat like a Phantom is to immobilize the enemy with the GLOO Cannon and then enter close range to deal maximum damage with the shotgun.

Shotgun ammunition is rarer than pistol ammunition and therefor more expensive to manufacture with a Fabricator. As a result, it can be rather difficult to keep the shotgun supplied with enough ammo to use it as a main weapon, and it is best saved for more powerful enemies. Shotgun shells take up one inventory slot for every 48 rounds carried.

The shotgun can be an extremely powerful weapon when fully upgraded and the Firearms I and II neuromods are installed. This brings the firepower all the way up to 98, allowing it to kill most enemies within three shots in most cases; if a critical hit is dealt it can even bring down the Nightmare in just 2-3 shots at close range on normal difficulty.

On Pytheas, standard and advanced pistol variants' elemental attachments can be used to compensate for lack of other specialized elemental abilities or weapons. For example, you can compensate for lacking fire Typhon abilities if you have a fiery elemental attachment, as it causes the shot that are shot past it to deal fire damage damage, which makes the shot more effective against certain enemies, like telepaths, which are vulnerable to fire attacks, although less effective than specialized fire powers like superthermal.

Trivia

 * The Throne S4 Tactical Combat Shotgun bears a similar appearance to the Full-Barreled Shotgun from The Evil Within 2.
 * During the prologue, Demetri Bowser can be seen using it to take care of the Mimic attacking Dr. Sylvain Bellamy, making it the only weapon that can be physically equipped and used by another character.

Gallery
Schrotflinte