Difference between revisions of "Gunslinger Guide"

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Introduction

Specializing as a gunslinger is very useful. As a gunslinger you are able to keep your enemy at range while still dealing damage to them.

Since you are at a distance, you dont take as much damage as up close combat like swordfighting, which means you do not die most of the time. A gunslinger also has the advantage that many guns deal full specialized damage, which means more critical damage dealt from a gun.

Some of this material will be applicable to anyone who uses a gun, but the page as a whole is written for players who use mostly guns or only guns.

The Basics

Guns generally do less damage than swords, but make up for it in range. this immediately means two things:

• Having specialized damage weapons is more important for gunslingers.
• Gunslingers have the potential to take very little damage, being able to easily stay at range from enemies.

Starting out you might as well skip normal damage guns and go straight into specialized damage. This is because once you have two specialized damage types, you are guaranteed to be able to deal at least neutral damage to all six monster types and critical damage against four types. If you were to make a normal damage gun and one specialized damage gun, you would be able to do normal damage against all six types, but critical damage against only two types.

Guns have a magazine size, after which you must stop and reload before firing again. During this time you also can not shield and move at 55% speed. What this means is that reloading is the most vulnerable time for a gunslinger. Also note that one line of guns which have larger magazines are autofire, and require you to stand still and shoot the entire magazine which also leaves you vulnerable.

As a gunslinger you can also take shots at enemies that might otherwise not be as exposed. For example, if a silkwing were healing a lumber, and several other enemies blocked it on either side, you could pull out your Magnus and snipe a few shots at it.

Controls

Controls are important because unlike a swordsman, a gunslinger will more often move and attack in different directions. And unlike a bomber, our attacks have direction. With that in mind here is an example of how you could set up your controls to help you be an effective gunslinger:

Techniques

There are situations when you just can't afford to take damage. At times like that, it is important for a gunslinger to avoid reloading so they stay out of danger, still able to move at normal speed and shield. In this case, it is best to follow a shot pattern as follows to avoid reloading:

shoot all but one bullet->pause->shoot all but one bullet->pause

You can avoid having to shoot before charging your weapon by using this pattern:

shield->hold attack key->release shield

Quick weapon switching can be accomplished by using this trick to cancel the switching animations:

switch->shield

If your shot hits between two monsters who are directly next to each other, you can do damage to both. To do this it helps to turn off your autotarget, which by default you can do by pressing and holding your left shift button.

Weaponry

Generally the handguns that deal a single damage type are best to use. This is because if a weapon (like Silversix) does split elemental and piercing damage, it will only do 50% critical damage against enemies that are weak to elemental or piercing.

If the enemy is neutral against the other damage type, than you will get less damage total than if you had used a weapon that solely deals what the enemy has a weakness to.

If the enemy is strong against just one of the two damage types, your damage output will be crippled by a 1/2 resistance.

In the end it might be a good idea to use a weapon that does split damage if you have just one or two weapon slots for guns, but to maximize damage it is best to equip three guns, one of each specialized damage type.

Alchemers

Alchemers are a line of handgun which are altogether useful. There are five alchemers, four of which deal elemental damage and one which deals shadow damage. All of these have a 2-shot magazine. As you upgrade your alchemer to higher star levels, the bullets begin to break and ricochet around upon impact or reaching maximum range. The ricochets of an alchemer have a chance to cause a status effect just like the first shot. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the ricochet, it is possible to set off explosive blocks or trip switches by accident.

It is important to note that the mark II alchemers will always ricochet to the left of the direction your character is facing.

Elemental Damage Handguns

Elemental damage is good against constructs and undead. Gremlins and beasts are strong against elemental.

Cryotech Alchemer

Cryotech Alchemers deal elemental damage and also have a chance to freeze its targets. Ricochets however may break the freeze.

• Hail Driver

Be Aware

• Can refreeze Ice Cubes
• Can extinguish Oilers

Firotech Alchemer

Firotech Alchemers deal elemental damage and also have a chance to light its targets on fire.

• Magma Driver

Be Aware

• Can ignite Oilers.
• Can melt Ice Cubes

Polaris

The Polaris has a three shot magazine, and can shock its targets. It shoots bullets that expand and deal significant AoE damage, knocking back enemies.

• Polaris

Be Aware

• This gun has slow bullets and can supercharge Quicksilvers.
• May blind party members causing them to take damage.
• Significant knock back may cause enemies to go to an undesirable place.

Prismatech Alchemer

Prismatech Alchemers deal elemental damage, but have no status effect. In exchange they deal slightly greater damage.

• Nova Driver

Voltech Alchemer

Voltech Alchemers deal elemental damage and also have a chance to inflict shock on its targets.

• Storm Driver

Be Aware

• Can supercharge Quicksilvers

Shadow Damage Handguns

Shadow Damage is good against slimes and gremlins. Undead and Fiends are strong against shadow.

Biohazard

This gun can poison your enemies. It has a three shot magazine. Its charge attack fires a bullet that 'sticks' to and orbits an enemy, which can be detonated by its normal attack, causing a sizeable explosion for each orbiting charge.

• Biohazard

Be Aware

• This gun has very slow bullets.

Shadowtech Alchemer

Shadowtech Alchemers deal shadow damage, and have no status effect. They deal damage comparable to the Prismatech Alchemers.

• Umbra Driver

Piercing Damage Handguns

Piercing damage is good against fiends and beasts. Slimes and constructs are strong against piercing.

Blitz Needle

The Blitz Needle is one of three five star versions of the Autogun. Blitz Needle shoots in rapid bursts, and can fire two bursts before reloading. The bursts are a tight random spread of 6 fast piercing bullets. The charge attack fires 15 shots in a sweeping pattern and is followed by a reload animation. The Blitz Needle is also the best DPS gun for Lord Vanaduke. With two Elite Trueshot Modules equipped, it will take only 6 charge attacks to defeat a body phase while solo, resulting in extremely fast victories.

• Blitz Needle

Be Aware

• You cannot move or turn while firing this gun.

Callahan

The Magnus line shoots very fast bullets that have a chance to cause stun. It can interrupt attacks by knocking down enemies. However, the shooting animation leaves you standing still for a fraction of a second. At the five star level there are two guns that come from the Magnus line. One is Callahan, which deals piercing damage and has a chance to stun. Its charge attack launches the user backwards and is followed by a reload animation.

• Callahan

Be Aware

• You cannot move while firing this gun.

Plague Needle

The Plague Needle is one of three five star versions of the Autogun. Like the Blitz needle, it deals piercing damage and fires rapid bursts, but it deals slightly less damage and has a chance of inflicting Poison.

• Plague Needle

Be Aware

• You cannot move or turn while firing this gun.
• This item is obtained as a PvP reward.

Normal Damage Handguns

These weapons are less popular for dedicated gunslingers, but work well as a fourth weapon for gunslingers or as a sidearm for swordsmen or bombers.

Iron Slug

Iron Slug has a two shot magazine and requires you to stand still a moment to shoot. It has some splash damage when bullets impact an enemy or reach maximum range. Its charge attack launches the user back, and may stun the enemy. This gun is also from the Magnus line.

• Iron Slug

Be Aware

• You cannot move while firing this gun.

Neutralizer

Neutralizer fires bullets with a magazine size of 3. Its charge attack fires a bullet that 'sticks' to and orbits an enemy, which can be detonated by its normal attack, causing a sizeable explosion for each orbiting charge.

• Neutralizer

Be Aware

• This gun fires very slow bullets.

Supernova

Supernova has a three shot magazine. It fires bullets that expand and deal significant AoE damage to all nearby monsters, as well as knocking them away from the center of the explosion.

• Supernova

Be Aware

• This gun fires slow bullets.

Valiance

Valiance shoots fast bullets (not as fast as any antigua or autogun) in the form of small, bright blue energy orbs. Each shot will knock back enemies and if well aimed can hit multiple enemies. The charge attack releases a very large orb of energy that can hit multiple enemies and knock them back a significant distance. It has a magazine size of three.

• Valiance

Volcanic Pepperbox

The Volcanic Pepperbox operates like the Blitz Needle, but its attacks deal normal damage and have a chance of inflicting fire. Its charge attack will draw an enemy in towards the source so that more damage can be dealt to the targeted enemies. Although it can works quite well with gunslinger, the Volcanic Pepperbox works better with a Gunner-Bomber setup.

• Volcanic Pepperbox

Be Aware

• Can ignite Oilers. This is a BAD thing. You do NOT want to be around on tier 3 when this happens.
• You cannot move or turn while firing this gun. See, that just makes igniting the oilers worse. Summary: Don't take this thing on any Vanaduke runs.

Split Damage Handguns

These guns are much less popular for dedicated gunslingers, as split damage will always deal less damage to a target than a specialized weapon. For this reason, when carrying 2-4 guns, you are almost always better off with a specialized handgun. In other words, this section is only for swordsmen and gunning n00bs.

Argent Peacemaker

This gun shoots fast bullets that deal piercing/elemental damage, and has a magazine size of six (6).

• Argent Peacemaker

Be Aware

• This weapon is decent against Undead and Fiends

Sentenza

This gun shoots fast bullets that deal piercing/shadow damage, and has a magazine size of six (6).

• Sentenza

Be Aware

• This weapon is decent against Gremlins and Beasts

Armor

Gunslinger

Gunslinger protects against normal and piercing damage. It has a low handgun attack speed bonus per piece.

• Gunslinger Hat
• Gunslinger Sash

Sunset

Sunset protects against normal and piercing damage, and offers a low handgun attack speed bonus per piece.

• Sunset Stetson
• Sunset Duster

Deadshot

Deadshot protects against normal and shadow damage. Each piece offers a medium damage vs undead bonus as well as a maximum resistance to curse.

• Deadshot Chapeau
• Deadshot Mantle

Justifier

Justifier protects against normal damage and piercing. It has a medium handgun attack speed bonus per piece.

• Justifier Hat
• Justifier Jacket

Nameless

Nameless protects against normal damage and elemental. It has a medium handgun attack speed bonus per piece.

• Nameless Hat
• Nameless Poncho

Shadowsun

Shadowsun protects against normal and piercing damage. It has a low handgun damage bonus per piece, but maximum weaknesses to both curse and poison.

• Shadowsun Stetson
• Shadowsun Slicker

Special Stats

Handgun Attack Speed

Handgun attack speed affects your handguns' maximum rate of fire and speed of the projectile. It does not affect the speed at which you reload your weapons.

PvP

Lockdown is difficult for gunners. This is because most of the ANNOYING swordmasters carry Barbarous Thorn Blades or Final Flourishes and kill everything in sight. If you want to fight them, read on:

STRIKER

Striker is okay, but the health reduction means you tend to die very quickly. It's perfect for swords, though, so watch out for those BTB spamming Vog lovers. This would be for gunners that

A. have a lot of health

B. want to skip the fighting and just capture lots of bases.

or C. want to get a flourish and hit the annoying swordmasters (see above) with their own medicine.

If you are not one of these gunners, keep away from striker.

GUARDIAN

No. Just no. Absolutely not. The Guardian Shield's medium Attack Speed Reduction for guns kind of makes this a no-brainer. Still, I wanted to tell you.

This is another good one for gunners who are giving up being gunners while in Lockdown just to annoy the swordsmen with more swords. (which might be a good idea, see below)

RECON

All in all, I think this class is the best choice. It has medium ASI for guns, but don't use swords with it because it's got a bad speed reduction for those. This is good for pure gunners and gunner/bombers. Bombs have medium CTR with recon...

Use it if your sword is not your main lockdown weapon. Otherwise, stick with Striker.

Clockworks Depths

Different guns/strategies to use with different depths.

Beasts: Wolvers are evil. Bring Magnus(not tested), Blitz Needle, or Flourish. Swords are pretty much neccesary with beasts on tier 3, because if you shoot at them they dodge like mad. If you wish to use guns though, try to wait until they warp behind you, then when they make that weird barking noise shoot them with a round of Blitz Needle.

Constructs: Retrodes, somehow, manage to be more evil than Ash Tails on this level. I suggest Polaris for elemental damage and knockback.

Undead: Zombies are easy. Alchemer/Polaris. No problem. Kats are annoying but not as evil as Wolvers. Testing strategies.

Everything else is still in progress. I will get back to you with more results.

Tutorials & Guides
Starting Out | New Player Briefing | User interface | Useful Links
Bombing Guide | Gunslinger Guide | Swordmaster Guide
Shieldbearer Guide
Hybrid Guide