1. Agreed. It can get alright with ok powerups, but it starts off reaaaaalllll slow which is hard (but also a fun challenge)
2. I think that's kind of the point? It's the best gun by far without upgrades so if those were tweaked to be powerful, it would be so OP. I find that getting run speed and reload speed with the shield makes shotgun runs a cakewalk
3. Lmao you are not super good at this game. The boss is not hard to beat with crossbow + fusillade, or a good enough ghost summon, really anything? pistol is hard and flame cannon impossible but it's not too hard IMO
4. Agreed, this is a cool idea (would be cool to get a tight shotgun or narrow the pistol after a projectile upgrade)
5. I honestly had no idea that there was a regen upgrade. The shield is essentially passive healing though, so not sure what you're talking about.