ARC Raiders Shotgun Choke II Guide: How to Fix the

If you’ve spent any time in the PvP zones of ARC Raiders, you already know how terrifying a shotgun can be in the right hands. But you probably also know the frustration of landing a point-blank blast, only to watch half your pellets fly completely wild and leave your target with a sliver of health. That is exactly where the Shotgun Choke II comes into play.

As an uncommon weapon modification weighing in at a light 0.5 kg, this attachment is a literal lifesaver for close-quarters combat. Its primary function is straightforward but incredibly impactful: it slaps a flat 20% reduction onto your weapon's base dispersion. In plain terms, it tightens your pellet spread, transforming a loose, unpredictable cloud of lead into a dense, concentrated punch. By narrowing that cone of fire, you naturally extend your effective damage range and stop wasting damage on empty air.

The Real Math: Why 20% Matters
To understand why this mod is so essential, we have to look at how shotguns actually perform under pressure, especially following recent balance updates. Let’s take a look at the two compatible platforms for this attachment: the reliable Il Toro and the high-tier Vulcano.

Before Embark Studios rolled out Patch 1.20.0, the Il Toro was an absolute monster dominating the meta. However, the developers stepped in to address its overperformance, specifically when paired with a choke. They pushed the Il Toro's base dispersion out from 4.5 up to 6. This means that without any modifications, your shots scatter significantly more than they used to, making it much harder to land clean two-taps at medium-close range.

When you screw on the Shotgun Choke II, that 20% reduction strips 1.2 points off the Il Toro's new base dispersion of 6, bringing it back down to a much tighter 4.8. Combine that with the weapon’s raw pellet damage (which sits at 7 per pellet post-patch), and you drastically offset the weapon’s 50% damage falloff at distance. Instead of a wide, forgiving spray that chips away at armor, you get a tight cluster that forces more pellets to hit the torso or head.

For the Vulcano—which already boasts a unique, highly consistent diamond-shaped spread pattern and a lightning-fast fire rate—the 20% tightening turns the weapon into a laser-focused shredder. It ensures that during frantic 1v2 or 1v3 team fights in tight hallways, every single ounce of your high DPS is concentrated directly onto the enemy’s critical zones rather than bouncing off the surrounding scenery.

Scoring the Blueprint
Knowing how good the mod is doesn't do you any good if you don't have the recipe to craft it at your Speranza workshop. Because of the heavy RNG layers built into the game's loot tables, hunting for this specific schematic can be a test of patience.

You can bypass the tedious grind entirely if you choose to use third-party marketplaces like U4N, where players frequently trade rare schematics, or search to buy arc raiders blueprints online to get your workshop fully upgraded without relying on lucky drops.

However, if you prefer the thrill of the extraction run, you need to optimize your route to maximize your odds. The Shotgun Choke II blueprint has a weight profile of 0 kg when carried as a schematic and sells to traders like Tian Wen for a solid 6,000 coins once unlocked. Statistically, your absolute best bet is to farm three core areas:

Buried City (The Space Travel Building): This area holds the highest historical drop rates for weapon schematics, sitting at around 57%. You’ll want to systematically clear the office cubicles on the 5th floor and the high-density residential rooms on the 6th floor. Keep your eyes peeled for weapon cases, lockers, and ordinary residential drawers.

Blue Gate (Confiscation Room): Coming in at a 29% drop probability, this route requires you to push underground through the dark tunnels leading away from the reinforced reception desk. You'll need to watch your back for enemy ambushes, but the concentration of high-tier military containers makes it well worth the risk.

The Dam (Ruby Residences): Holding roughly a 14% chance, this is a great backup loop. Clear every single floor of the apartments, opening every single cabinet and drawer along the way.

To truly tilt the odds in your favor, keep an eye out for specific environment modifiers. Running these zones during a Night Raid or a Cold Snap applies a massive 2x multiplier (50% probability shift) toward rare loot drops. If you can combine a night run with a locked gate key, your chances skyrocket. Just remember: the absolute second that blueprint lands in your inventory, drag it directly into your Safe Pocket. Even if a rogue squad catches you on the way to extraction, you will keep the blueprint, allow you to safely head back to Speranza, hit "Learn and Consume," and unlock the Shotgun Choke II permanently.