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Shotguns offer the closest to a full melee playstyle in Once Human — mostly because of their abysmal range. Still, they compensate for this “shortcoming” by dealing all the devastation they can at almost point-blank range, and the king of this notion is the Doombringer. It’s a fitting name, given how it’s a double-barrell shotgun. If you want to bring doom to any Deviant in front of you, we recommend this Once Human Doombringer build.
Best Weapon for the Once Human Doombringer Build
You already know the recommendation here. This build simply will not work without the DBSG – Doombringer shotgun which is a Gold/Legendary weapon from the Wish Machine. There are other shotguns, such as the Corrosion, but their damage pales in comparison.
The secondary weapon also plays a big role here, and you would want something that also triggers The Bull’s Eye effect or compensates for the Doombringer’s lackluster range. With that in mind, here’s what I recommend for your essential weapons and their respective mods:
| Weapon Name | Mods |
| DBSG – Doombringer | Vulnerability Amplifier <Violent> |
| AWS.338 – Bingo / DE.50 – Wildfire | Vulnerability Amplifier <Precision> |
Personally, the Wildfire is the more appealing option since it can serve as a backup weapon and also has a decent range, but use what’s available to you or what you can afford.
More importantly, make sure to recalibrate the Doombringer with either of the following:
- Heavy Style (Gold) with 2x Weakspot
- Lightweight Style (Gold) with 2xWeakspot
Previously, the meta was Lightweight Style to overcome Doombringer’s long reload time, but that has been nerfed. So here’s the alternative and it’s still good and powerful. You can still use the Lightweight Style if it’s the only thing you have.
Best Armor for the Once Human Doombringer Build
Moving on to armor options, you can still go with the obvious choice. Armor sets that give a Reload Speed bonus will do wonders for Doombringer, especially in PvP. But regardless of your armor choice, the mods will do most of the heavy lifting here and will bring the build online.
With that in mind, these are my recommendations for the armor pieces and their respective mods:
| Armor Name | Mods |
| Helmet: Renegade | Precise Strike <Precision> |
| Mask: Renegade | Targeted Strike <Precision> / Most Wanted <Precision> |
| Gloves: Renegade | Weakspot DMG Boost <Precision> |
| Shoes: Renegade | Covered Advance <Precision> |
| Top: Bastille | Munitions Amplifier <Precision> |
| Pants: Bastille | Three Strikes <Precision> |
Try to get every mod to at least 4/5 Enhancement, but ideally, max them out to 5/5. You also want Gold Weakspot DMG for all of them (ideally), but you can settle for Blue or Purple. As you can imagine, this is a full DPS setup.
If you want something tanky, use a 4-piece Savior set (drop Renegade) and slot in the Lifeforce Boost Mod on the Helmet. You will lose DPS with this alternative tanky setup, of course.
Memetics Cradle Choices for the Doombringer Build
Thankfully, this build is flexible and your choice of Deviation doesn’t matter much. However, I recommend the following top Deviations:
- Lonewolf Whisper
- Festering Gel
- Mini Feaster
I recommend Festering Gel for boss fights to help you tank hits since you’re practically in melee range thanks to the Doombringer nerfs.
As for the Cradle choices, pick these below. They also have PvP alternatives.
| Cradle Choices | Effect |
| Handgun Enhancement | DMG +20% when holding pistols or shotguns. Reload 1 ammo from reserve upon defeating an enemy. |
| Deviation Master / Agility (for PvP) | Having it fight alongside grants DMG + 50% against Great Ones. |
| Sprint | Movement Speed +5%, Running Stamina Cost -15%. |
| Tactical Combo | Weapon DMG +25% for 4s after switching weapon or reloading. |
| Steady Hand | While in Fortress Warfare or Fast Gunner status, Weakspot DMG +40%, Weakspot DMG to the Bull’s Eye +20%. |
| Rapid Aid | Reduces the cooldown of healing items by -30% and increases the healing effect by +15%. |
| Bounty Hunter | After defeating a unit you marked, Weapon DMG +25%, Weakspot DMG +35%, lasting for 15s. |
| Master Tactician / Brawl Boost (for PvP) | After using a tactical item, DMG against the Great Ones (bosses) +25% for 15s. |
In any case, the key Cradle perks are Handgun Enhancement, Steady Hand, and Bounty Hunter. Tactical Combo also works well in Doombringer’s favor.
Playstyle for the Once Human Doombringer Build
This rotation is more suited for PvE since PvP is chaotic and other players won’t let you pop out all your buffs. You will want to perform this in every boss fight to ensure that you don’t waste your precious ammo and your risky melee range.
- Bring your combat Deviation out.
- If you’re fighting a boss, throw a Molotov or a Grenade (no need to hit them). We just need to trigger Master Tactician. For regular mobs, skip this step.
- Using the Bingo or the Wildfire, hit an enemy’s weakspot to trigger The Bull’s Eye buff.
- Switch to the Doombringer, aim for the weakspot, and shoot.
- Avoid taking damage to keep Covered Advance’s buff active.
For PvP, take advantage of cover, and for enemies that are too far for Doombringer’s measly range, use Wildfire or Bingo. That should cover all your bases well enough.
