L-69 Zhuo

L-69 Zhuo

Class	Shotgun
Type	Smart
Ammo	Shotgun Ammo
Headshot	+35%
Armor Pen	25%
Lock-On Time	1.15 s
Projectiles	8

The L-69 Zhuo is a Kang Tao smart shotgun, a gun that does most of the aiming in close-range fights. Each shell bursts into a spread of smart pellets, and every pellet can lock onto a target of its own. One trigger pull can hit several enemies at once, even if they are spread out or half behind cover. It works best in a build that mixes Body shotgun perks with Intelligence smart weapon perks. It is the base gun for the Iconic shotgun Ba Xing Chong. Weapon shops in Night City sell the Zhuo, and enemies drop it. A smart shotgun build can start with it at most stages of the story.

Combat

The Zhuo fires eight smart projectiles per shell from a four-shell magazine. With a Smart Link, the pellets home in on locked enemies instead of flying in a fixed cone. Smart rounds can bend around obstacles, so an enemy crouched behind a crate can still be hit.

It is a heavy weapon. While it is drawn, V moves a little slower and jumps a little lower. With only four shells per magazine, reloads come often. Each pellet can track its own target, so one shell can still hit several enemies before the next reload.

How to Get L-69 Zhuo Guide

Buy the L-69 Zhuo from a weapon shop in Night City.
Loot it from enemies who carry one.
Buy the crafting spec from a weapon shop and craft it.

L-69 Zhuo Map Location

The map shows the 2nd Amendment weapon shop in Little China, one of the weapon vendors that sell it.

L-69 Zhuo map location:

Map credit by Map Genie.

Compatible Mods

11 weapon mods are compatible with L-69 Zhuo.

Name	Image	Effect
Better Half		Raises crit chance with the second half of the magazine
Condenser		Tighter pellet spread, less damage per pellet
Equalizer		More damage against Elite enemies
Gambiteer		Faster bullets and more armor penetration, less homing
Hackatomy		Hits can apply a quickhack effect based on the body part hit
Headhopper		More lock-on targets, faster lock-on and more headshot damage
Kneel!		Leg shots can dismember and kill instantly
Panorama		Larger smart reticle that holds a lock longer, slower lock-on
Pax		Makes the weapon non-lethal, more damage outside combat
Shuffler		Drawing the weapon refills part of the magazine
Vivisector		More dismemberment, then more torso damage for a short time

Crafting Spec

Weapon vendors sell the L-69 Zhuo spec. The spec lets V craft L-69 Zhuo in the crafting menu. Every spec in the game is listed on the Crafting Specs page.

The table shows what crafting L-69 Zhuo costs at each tier.

Tier	Components
Tier 3	30 Tier 3 components
Tier 4	30 Tier 4 components
Tier 5	30 Tier 5 components

Upgrades

A stronger Zhuo comes from a higher tier. Stock and loot scale with V's level. A crafted Zhuo is identical to a bought one of the same tier. Its crafting spec turns crafting components into a new shotgun at V's current tier.

Character Builds

The Zhuo uses perks from two attribute trees, Body and Intelligence. Body holds the shotgun perks. Die! Die! Die! adds crit chance and fire rate as Stamina drops. Spontaneous Obliteration adds damage against nearby enemies. It can also instantly kill and dismember targets with low Health. Like A Feather removes the movement penalty of heavy weapons such as the Zhuo. Rip And Tear links the shotgun with quick melee attacks. Shotgun blasts and quick melee attacks each boost the damage of the next. Intelligence holds the smart perks. Acquisition Specialist speeds up lock-on, and Targeting Prism adds an extra locked target. Smart Synergy grants instant locks and extra damage on hacked enemies during Overclock.

The Smart Link is the key cyberware. It turns on the smart targeting that makes the gun special, and it adds crit damage with Smart weapons. Its mod slots take shotgun and smart weapon mods. Headhopper adds lock-on targets and faster locks. Condenser makes the pellet spread tighter, but each pellet deals a little less damage. Vivisector raises dismemberment chance and gives a burst of torso damage after a dismemberment.

Select a Build

Net-Gunner Build

Each fight starts with Overclock, then a control quickhack, then a combat quickhack. Smart guns lock on and finish the hacked enemies while Dashes and air Dashes keep the character moving. Silenced Smart guns and stealthy quickhacks also handle quiet gigs.

Attributes: Body 18, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 20, Cool 3.

The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.

PerksCyberwareMods

Name	Level	Effect
Painkiller	Body 4	Slow Health regeneration in combat
Adrenaline Rush	Body 15	More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode
Optimization	Intelligence 4	Faster RAM recovery
Embedded Exploit	Intelligence 9	Quickhacks hit harder on controlled enemies
Precision Subroutines	Intelligence 9	Smart weapon accuracy scales with max RAM
No Escape	Intelligence 9	Shooting a fading lock resets it
Recirculation	Intelligence 9	Smart weapon kills restore RAM
Acquisition Specialist	Intelligence 15	Wider Smart reticle and lock kept through reloads
Overclock	Intelligence 15	More quickhack damage and the Overclock mode
Power Surge	Intelligence 15	Overclock heals on activation
Sublimation	Intelligence 15	RAM recovery heals during Overclock
Target Lock Transfer	Intelligence 15	Wider Smart reticle and locks kept on swap
Targeting Prism	Intelligence 15	Lock onto more targets
Terminal Velocity	Intelligence 15	Faster Smart rounds after a kill
Smart Synergy	Intelligence 20	Instant lock and more damage during Overclock
Spillover	Intelligence 20	Quickhacks spread during Overclock
Dash	Reflexes 9	Unlocks the Dash and makes it cheaper
Ready, Rested, Reloaded	Reflexes 9	Cheaper rifle and SMG fire and faster reloads
Sharpshooter	Reflexes 15	Faster aim and stacks that ease Stamina use
Air Dash	Reflexes 15	Dash in midair
Submachine Fun	Reflexes 20	SMG swaps reload and raise fire rate
Tailwind	Reflexes 20	Stamina back from Air Dashes and double jumps
Glutton For War	Technical Ability 4	Kills recharge Health items and grenades
Health Freak	Technical Ability 9	One more Health item charge and faster recharge
All Things Cyber	Technical Ability 9	Stronger cyberware stats
License To Chrome	Technical Ability 15	Stronger cyberware, more armor and a Skeleton slot
Edgerunner	Technical Ability 20	Cyberware past the capacity limit for a small Health cost

Name	Slot	Effect
Blood Pump	Circulatory System	A Health item that heals over time
Heal-On-Kill	Circulatory System	Health back from each kill
Memory Boost	Frontal Cortex	Kills restore RAM
Smart Link	Hands	Turns on Smart weapon tracking
Defenzikov	Integumentary System	Mitigation after Kerenzikov ends
Reinforced Tendons	Legs	Double jump
Kerenzikov	Nervous System	Slows time when aiming during a slide or dodge
NeoFiber	Nervous System	More Mitigation Chance and Strength
Visual Cortex Support	Nervous System	More crit chance at long range
Militech Paraline	Operating System	Cyberdeck with Smart weapon bonuses
RAM Recoup	Skeleton	Damage taken restores RAM

Name	Image	Effect
Headhopper		More lock-on targets and more headshot damage

Notes

Ba Xing Chong is the Iconic variant of the L-69 Zhuo.

Weapon Categories

All Shotguns

Every shotgun is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.

Iconic Shotguns

Name	Headshot	Armor Pen	Location
Alabai	+85%	25%	Dogtown
Amstaff	+150%	25%
Ba Xing Chong			Northside
Bloody Maria	+85%	25%	Little China
Dezerter	+85%	75%	Dogtown
Guts	+85%	75%	Corpo Plaza
Mox	+85%	25%	Kabuki
Order	+50%	100%	Dogtown
Pozhar x-MOD2	+85%	25%	Dogtown
Sovereign	+85%	75%	Japantown
The Headsman		25%	North Oak

Standard Shotguns

Name	Headshot	Armor Pen	Location
Carnage	+85%	50%	Downtown
Crusher	+135%
DB-2 Satara	+85%	50%
DB-2 Testera	+85%	50%
DB-4 Igla	+85%	25%	Northside
DB-4 Palica	+35%
L-69 Zhuo	+35%	25%
M2038 Tactician	+85%	25%
VST-37 Pozhar	+85%	25%