The M1901 Mastiff Combat Shotgun is a Pilot anti-personnel energy semi-automatic shotgun manufactured by Lastimosa Armory that appears in Titanfall 2[1] and Apex Legends. It feeds from an underbarrel tube magazine.
Overview
Edit
The Mastiff can be considered easy to use, yet difficult to master. On one hand, it boasts several outstanding characteristics, such as low falloff, high range and damage, and (perhaps most uniquely), a completely flat spread.
On the other hand, it is not without its drawbacks - a slight, yet noticeable travel time, a low magazine size of four rounds, and a delay between shots to compensate for the high recoil. It's possible to miss shots even at close range by forgetting to take travel time into account.
When reloading from an empty mag, Pilots load in a single shell through the ejection port. This takes slightly longer than pushing shells through the loading gate, preventing players from loading in a single shell then firing while in emergency situations.
Lore Edit
The M1901 Mastiff Combat Shotgun was developed specifically for low-gravity close-quarters engagements. the kinetic energy produced when fired in low-gavity can severely unbalance a Pilot with massive recoil, so the engineers at Lastimosa Armory incorporated a muzzle velocity dampening system which mitigates that energy and greatly reduces recoil.
Intended for low-zero gravity ship boarding and clearing operations, the Mastiff gained notoriety throughout The Frontier as a reliable and devastating combat shotgun. Shells can be fed through the under-mounted magazine or with the optional drum magazine upgrade. Troops from the 401st often refer to it as the "Mobile Claymore" as its high rate of fire proved to be devastating.[2]StrategyEdit
- As with all non-hitscan weapons, lead your targets! As mentioned before, it's possible to miss shots even at close range with the weapon.
- The Gravity Star pairs with this weapon nicely. It's capable of bending the trajectory of the Mastiff's projectiles, allowing you to get kills from behind cover. On a more mundane note, the Gravity Star will also negate most of the issues related to the Mastiff's travel time if an enemy is stuck.
- Avoid reloading from a completely empty magazine - the last round being loaded into the Mastiff's ejection port takes noticeably more time.
- The Mastiff's projectile bears heavy resemblance to the SA-3 Mozambique, indicating they operate on the same basis.
Weapon ModsEdit
| Image | Name | Description | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Increased ammo capacity. | ||
 | Shoot while sprinting. | ||
 | Faster reload. | ||
 | Fast transition into aiming down the sights. | ||
 | Faster transition when switching to this weapon. | ||
 | Pilot kills increase Tactical availability (Faster cooldown). |
Weapon AttachmentsEdit
| Image | Name | Description | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Stock sights. | ||
 | Holographic gunsight. | ||
 | Enhanced zoom scope. | ||
 | Makes enemies easy to spot by applying an AR overlay to them. Warning: Disables extra mod slot. | ||
 | Attachment that displays lifetime weapon XP count for the weapon. |
Apex Legends Edit
The Mastiff returns in Apex Legends as a weapon available to competitors in the Apex Games, remaining relevant after the end of the Frontier War. It is one of only three legendary/gold-quality weapons in the game, alongside the Kraber sniper rifle and the L-STAR EMG.
The Mastiff cannot be found on the field; it is only available from a random supply drop that lands on the map. It cannot be reloaded with any ammunition found on the map - it comes equipped with its own stash of ammo built into the weapon - and it is incompatible with all attachments; once it runs out of ammo, the gun is useless and should be discarded. This level of rarity and self-contained one-time-use nature is designed to balance the fact that the Mastiff is explicitly one of the most powerful weapons in the game. It maintains its behavior from Titanfall 2 as a semi-automatic shotgun with heavy recoil and a horizontal spread that deals monstrous damage if its projectiles can be put on target.
TriviaEdit
- After firing, two segments of the barrel appear to fold backwards. Given that the Mastiff fires a perfectly horizontal energy wave, we can only assume that it's to spread out the beam.
- Technically it only holds three rounds rather than four - one is loaded directly into the breech of the shotgun through the ejection port. In firearms terminology, the Mastiff holds 3+1 rounds.
- The Mastiff's tubular magazine is hexagonally shaped, and if you inspect the shells in the loading animation, they have a hexagonal body.
- The Callsign Breacher can be unlocked via playing with the Mastiff. The Breacher XL callsign can be unlocked via advocate gift and Mastiff For Life can be bought in the Monarch's Reign pack.
GalleryEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Titanfall 2 Official Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer
- ↑ Titanfall 2 Concept Art
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