Key Takeaways
Ba Xing Chong is an Iconic Smart Shotgun whose identity comes from combining shotgun-range area damage with Smart Weapon targeting. Its most important trade-off is that its value depends on both access to the Iconic crafting path and the cyberware and perks used to support Smart Weapons.
Iconic Smart Shotgun
Ba Xing Chong is an Iconic shotgun in the Smart Weapon technology family. It is designed for close-range engagements while using Smart Weapon targeting rather than relying solely on conventional aiming.
Explosive smart ammunition
Its defining weapon-specific behaviour is the use of explosive projectiles. Hits can affect more than the directly targeted enemy, giving the weapon an area-damage role in groups rather than making it only a single-target shotgun.
Smart Link support matters
A cyberware setup is important for accessing the weapon's intended targeting behaviour. Builds that do not support can still treat it as a shotgun, but they do not fully leverage its defining system.
Its acquisition is tied to Adam Smasher's content
The weapon is obtained through its Iconic crafting specification associated with Adam Smasher's stash on the . This makes the route dependent on reaching the relevant story content and recovering the specification, rather than finding the finished weapon as ordinary loot.
Strong against clustered enemies
Explosive rounds make Ba Xing Chong particularly suited to encounters where several enemies are close together. The same area-damage emphasis can be less attractive when the priority is precise, efficient damage against a lone target.
Its progression follows Iconic crafting
Ba Xing Chong is built and improved through the Iconic crafting system. Its tier and upgrade state therefore need to be treated separately from the weapon's base identity; the finished weapon should not be described with a single tierless damage value.
A Smart shotgun, not a general-purpose Smart rifle
Compared with Smart rifles and other longer-range Smart firearms, Ba Xing Chong trades reach and precision for shotgun impact and explosive area coverage. The comparison is therefore about combat role as much as raw displayed statistics.
Overview
Ba Xing Chong is an Iconic Smart Shotgun in , distinguished by explosive smart ammunition that combines guided targeting with area damage. It is a late-progression weapon whose value comes from controlling groups at close to medium range rather than from ordinary shotgun impact alone.
Ba Xing Chong occupies an unusual place among Cyberpunk 2077’s Iconic weapons: it is both a shotgun and a Smart weapon. That combination gives it a different combat identity from conventional shotguns, which rely on manually aimed pellet spreads, and from ordinary Smart firearms, which generally emphasize guided single-target fire. Its projectiles retain the shotgun’s close-range pressure while adding explosive impact, making the weapon relevant when several enemies are clustered or when a single target is protected by surrounding threats.
The weapon’s defining behaviour is its explosive Smart ammunition. The Smart system assists with target tracking when the relevant targeting conditions are met, while the explosive payload gives successful hits an area-of-effect component. This makes Ba Xing Chong less dependent on carefully placing every pellet against one enemy than a standard shotgun, but it also means that its practical performance depends on positioning, target grouping, and access to the cyberware or combat setup required for Smart weapons. Those interactions belong to the weapon’s handling and build sections; they are part of its identity rather than a reason to treat it as a generic shotgun.
Ba Xing Chong is best understood as a late-game Iconic choice rather than an early replacement for the first shotguns a character finds. Its acquisition is tied to the main game’s high-level progression and an associated crafting-spec route, so it is normally considered after a character has established a build and can support Smart weapon use. The weapon does not require a -only identity to be understood, although the post-2.0 progression framework and any applicable expansion-era crafting rules determine how its tier and upgrades should be evaluated.
The clearest alternative is a conventional shotgun for players who want immediate, manually aimed close-range force, or a non-shotgun Smart weapon for players who prefer guided fire without a broad explosive impact. Ba Xing Chong instead suits a player who wants those two roles combined: guided attacks for more forgiving target acquisition and explosions for pressure across a compact group. Its Iconic status and distinctive ammunition make it a specialized progression weapon, not a universal recommendation or a substitute for every shotgun or Smart build.
Statistics
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Class | Shotgun |
| Subtype | Shotgun |
| Technology | Smart |
| Ammo | Shotgun Ammo |
| Stat Scaling | Tier-dependent |
| Iconic | Yes |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Content Scope | Base game / free update |
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar shotguns
| Attribute |  Ba Xing Chong | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Shotgun | Shotgun | Shotgun | Shotgun | Shotgun |
| Technology | Smart | Power | Power | Power | Power |
| Ammo | Shotgun Ammo | Shotgun Ammo | Shotgun Ammo | Shotgun Ammo | Shotgun Ammo |
| Iconic | Yes | — | — | — | — |
How to Obtain
- Complete Chippin' In so the Ebunike location and its associated storyline are available.
- Defeat Adam Smasher during an available Cyberpunk 2077 finale route and loot the access token from his body.
- Phantom Liberty is not required for the Ebunike acquisition route; no New Game Plus requirement applies.
- 01Complete the main-job sequence that leads to the Ebunike and finish the encounter with Adam Smasher in the finale. Loot Adam Smasher's body afterward to obtain the access token used for his private room; the weapon itself is obtained as a crafting specification rather than as a finished shotgun.
- 02Return to the Ebunike, the cargo ship associated with the Maelstrom storyline, and use Adam Smasher's access token to open his private room. Search the locked chest inside for the Ba Xing Chong crafting specification. The specification is a guaranteed pickup once the room is accessible.
- 03Take the recovered specification to a weapon crafting station and craft Ba Xing Chong using the materials shown by the current crafting interface. This route does not require purchasing the finished weapon from a vendor, and the specification is tied to the base-game Ebunike route rather than a random enemy drop.
Availability
Cyberpunk 2077 base game — Story mode
Ba Xing Chong is obtained as an Iconic crafting specification rather than as ordinary vendor stock. Phantom Liberty is not required, and no separate character-level or attribute requirement is stated here.
- Requires
- Progress to the endgame Adam Smasher encounter and obtain the access needed for his stash.
Cyberpunk 2077 with Phantom Liberty
Its crafted result follows the current post-2.0 tier system, so the weapon's tier depends on the crafting context rather than a single universal availability tier.
- Requires
- The same base-game availability route applies; Phantom Liberty does not add a separate unlock requirement.
Mechanics and Handling
Ba Xing Chong is a Smart shotgun whose defining behaviour comes from its explosive ammunition rather than from conventional pellet damage alone. With a compatible , its projectiles can track locked targets; the explosion gives the weapon area impact, making clustered enemies and enemies behind the primary target part of its effective threat zone. Without the required Smart-targeting support, it does not provide the same guided-fire experience.
Explosive Smart projectiles
Ba Xing Chong fires explosive rounds instead of behaving like a standard close-range shotgun. A projectile can damage its locked target and produce an explosion on impact, so a shot can affect nearby enemies rather than being limited to one body. This makes target grouping important: the weapon is most efficient when several opponents are close together, while widely separated targets reduce the value of its area effect.
The explosive behaviour also changes how the weapon interacts with cover and positioning. The projectile still needs a valid target and path for Smart-weapon tracking, but the resulting blast can punish enemies standing close to the impact point. Treat the explosion as a weapon-specific effect, not as a universal property of or shotguns.
Smart targeting and close-range control
The weapon uses 's Smart-weapon targeting framework. A Smart Link is therefore part of its practical handling: target acquisition and projectile guidance depend on the character having the relevant cyberware support. Once targets are available to the system, Ba Xing Chong is less dependent on placing every shot manually than a conventional shotgun, but it still benefits from short-to-medium engagement distances where the explosive impact and shotgun pattern are easier to exploit.
Smart guidance does not remove the need to manage the encounter. Target switching, lock availability, intervening geometry and enemy spacing can all affect whether a shot reaches the intended opponent. The weapon is consequently more forgiving than a purely manual shotgun in some situations, but it is not a substitute for choosing targets or controlling range.
Dismemberment and fight flow
Ba Xing Chong's Iconic behaviour is associated with explosive rounds and an increased tendency to dismember enemies. Dismemberment is a combat outcome rather than a separate ammunition resource, so the weapon does not require a special explosive-ammo reserve to activate this property. The effect is especially relevant when breaking up groups at close range: explosions can stagger the immediate fight while dismemberment may remove an enemy's combat capability or finish a weakened target.
Its handling therefore favours aggressive area control over precise single-target damage testing. Fire into a compact group when the blast can reach multiple enemies, and avoid wasting the weapon's defining advantage on isolated targets at distances where tracking or spread makes follow-up shots less reliable. Exact damage, reload behaviour and other tier-sensitive values belong to the weapon's versioned stat context rather than to this mechanics summary.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Its explosive smart-shotgun ammunition can damage clustered enemies rather than limiting each trigger pull to a single target, giving the weapon useful area pressure in confined fights.
- Smart targeting helps its projectiles track eligible targets, reducing the need to place every pellet manually when enemies are moving or partially exposed.
- The shotgun platform gives Ba Xing Chong a strong close-range burst role, while the explosive impact can contribute against several nearby targets at once.
- As an Iconic weapon, its defining explosive-projectile behavior gives it a distinct role from conventional shotguns that rely only on pellet spread.
Weaknesses
- Smart-weapon tracking depends on the relevant Smart Link setup; without it, Ba Xing Chong loses the targeting assistance that defines its handling.
- Explosive projectiles are a poor fit for precision engagements where collateral damage, spread, or blast placement could compromise a carefully controlled attack.
- Its shotgun-range role makes it less dependable against distant or widely separated enemies than a rifle, precision weapon, or other long-range option.
- Area damage does not remove the need to manage positioning: firing at close quarters can expose the user to danger while also making missed shots less valuable against evasive targets.
Best uses
- Use it in dense indoor encounters, chokepoints, and other spaces where explosive impacts can reach multiple enemies or punish grouped positioning.
- Pair it with a Smart Weapons-oriented setup when reliable target tracking is more valuable than manual precision and long-range control.
- Choose it for aggressive close-range pushes against groups rather than for sustained single-target damage at rifle distance.
- Keep a conventional long-range weapon available for open areas, separated targets, and situations where explosive area pressure offers little benefit.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Attribute | L-69 Zhuo |  Hercules 3AX |  Guts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class and technology | Smart shotgun; non-Iconic baseline for this comparison | Iconic Smart shotgun from Phantom Liberty-era content | Iconic Power shotgun |
| Distinctive role | A general-purpose smart shotgun for close-range fights, using target-seeking ammunition rather than Ba Xing Chong's more specialized explosive identity. | A close role match for players comparing high-end smart shotguns and their unique behavior rather than switching technology families. | A close-range alternative that trades smart targeting for Power-weapon behavior and a different risk-and-reward handling profile. |
| Best fit | Players who want the smart-shotgun handling profile without building around a unique Iconic effect. | A Smart Weapons build that wants another Iconic shotgun option and has access to Phantom Liberty content. | Players investing in Shotgun perks who prefer direct close-range fire and do not need Smart-targeting support. |
| Trade-off versus Ba Xing Chong | Less specialized: it does not occupy the same explosive-area-damage role as Ba Xing Chong. Its value is flexibility and availability within the smart-shotgun category. | Its handling and unique effect differ from Ba Xing Chong, so the better choice depends on whether the encounter rewards its behavior or Ba Xing Chong's explosive output. | It does not provide Ba Xing Chong's Smart technology or its explosive weapon identity, but it is a practical alternative when the build or encounter favors Power shotguns. |
Used In
- Chippin' InBa Xing Chong's crafting spec is found during the post-mission exploration of Adam Smasher's area after the confrontation aboard the Ebunike.
- Adam SmasherThe weapon's crafting spec is associated with Adam Smasher's personal vault on the Ebunike; it is not treated as a standard boss-drop weapon.
- EbunikeThe cargo ship serves as the location for the Adam Smasher encounter and the vault containing Ba Xing Chong's crafting spec.
