1. Gunslinger Sharpshooter tree: A powerful burster that should be dropped quickly and is useful in raids but is hampered by low mobility.

 

2.Sharpshooter Gunslinger: out and out one of the most powerful classes I have played I chew through mobs quickly and even in PvP where I am out geared by a lot I find my self able to deal large amounts of damage versus players in Warhero gear versus m recruit gear.

Play as a 50 saboteur gunslinger.

 

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

Every other 50 gunslinger I know is sharp-shooter specced and don't even consider saboteur. Since it's not widely played, it doesn't get the appreciation it deserves. When I run ops as a sab others are shocked at the amount of damage I dish out, but still stick to their sharp-shooter tree.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

Great AoE, great single-target, decent mobility for a cover class. I was surprised how much damage I could dish out and thought for sure sharp-shooters would do more, but I hold my own just fine against them. Great fun, especially with all the fire we get to throw around.

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

 

Sab Spec Gunslinger.

1. Due to being the Achilles heal of the Marauder class [current FOTM] and there being so many of them in Warzones I believe the community wrongly accuses Gunslingers of being OP. Gunslinger in general is perceived as the support DPS class i.e hold center (huttball), sit on that ledge and shoot anything that moves (Alderaan) AOE that objective (huttball,Voidstar and Denova).

 

2. I believe we are in a good place at the moment (cover bugs aside) we have the ability to kill and to be killed.

Our survivability has improved since the early months of the game and I am happy with most changes with exception of the ever-changing Sharpshooter top abilities which has made me give up choosing that spec in fear of yet another change.

1. I went from SS to DF tree to improve what I saw as a reduction in DPS since the latest changes. I am solely a PvE player (I do no PvP at all).

2. I think we are perceived as a good ranged dps class, that can wear medium armor, which helps our survivability (in contrast to dps specced sages), but our overall dps is perceived as having dropped from what it used to be. I agree with that assessment. Burst dps for DF is not as good as when I went SS, and I find my over-all dps to be lower than I expected it to be.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Talyndor

I am Saboteur spec.

 

1. I think others see my spec as a bit foolhardy or selfish. AOE attacks are a great way to get agro and break crowd control in group content. Wouldn't it serve the group better to just burn down the tank's target?

 

2. I see this spec as useful for soloing, for the above reasons. The AOEs are great for handling groups of weak enemies.

 

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

 

Immobile but highly damaging. I think that the cover mechanic still has some perception as difficult to use and unwieldy at times and this would not necessarily be incorrect. I think ranged DPS holds more premium than most melee DPS in much of the most recent content (Lost Island, Explosive Contact). For PvP, I think we are often misconstrued as an easy kill do to a higher barrier into truly effective play than some classes.

 

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

Possibly among the most balanced specs in the game. What we make up for in ranged burst, we pay in a lot of areas. It is difficult spec to play well, because many players do not always use their in and out of cover bonuses (like Ballistic Dampers) to their advantage. But when the mechanics open to us are clear, we can do a lot of damage. Yet, it our capabilities never seem completely unfair. Our burst is offset by cast times and the need for set up. Although I will say that some of the recent additions to our damage output never seemed overly pressing on my mind. The spec already had a lot of stopping power.

I agree a bit on the dps stuff, Scoundrals could use a bit of a buff. Gunslingers are great but they are made of paper from what I see as a healer. We are on par and not over any class when it comes to heals. If you think we are over powered on heals then your not playing your healer correctly. I see to many complants to nurf our heals on this forum. In my guild we have all 3 classes healing and we think that everything is on par and no one thinks anyone is over powered. Please no more nurfs.

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

Sharpshooter Gunslinger: In pvp, easy to kill. I am targeted by many 1st.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

Sharpshooter Gunslinger: I enjoy the playstyle of this spec greatly. But I believe the damage output tends to be very low. This could be because of the abundance of certain other specs currently popular in pvp who deflect/block the Sharpshooters weapon damage (white damage).

Edited July 16, 2012 by Spuck

Lvl 50 Saboteur

Advanced PvP and PvE Gear

 

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

Answ: I think most other specs view Gunslingers and in particular Sharpshooters as sitting ducks. A Sharpshooter has to remain in cover to do any major damage and half of that time you are being stunned or knocked back. The Saboteur build is much more respected now in PvP and I become a target most of the time and still end up on top.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

Answ: I played Sharpshooter for quite a while, but found it way too susceptible to damage in PvP so I switched to Saboteur. I enjoy the nice long term damage aspect as well as survivability due to the great shielding the spec provides. The key is knowing how to best optimize your abilities in various situations. I do think the end-game gear is poorly speced for any Gunslinger especially Campaign gear. The stats do not seem correct and are often downgrades from Black Hole gear.

Dirty Fighter here:

 

Other people generally expect me to produce some insane dmg and in general i don't disappoint them neither in PvE or PvP.

 

I personally am happy, not just with this spec but also with all the other ones we currently have access to. They are all pretty viable and shine each one in certain scenarios. If I had to mention the worst thing about those specs it would be that the talent "Nice Try" gets you into combat everytime it procs (slowing you down or preventing you from regenerating).

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

 

I think my Dirty Fighting spec is perceived as a high damage class with lots of utility, great for both single target focus fire and area of effect damage support.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

I think the mobility that my Dirty Fighting spec provides allows me to be a "competitor" in a warzone match by giving me enough utility to play anywhere on the field, and well rounded offensive and defensive capabilities. I feel that lowbie Gunslingers hit way too hard in warzones with the Bolster buff applied. They hit for 4-5k Aimed Shots when the majority of people have 10-12k HP, and that's not realistic of what Gunslinger PvP is like at 50.

Edited July 16, 2012 by DimeStax

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

 

Being an almost purely PVE player, most other players view Gunslingers as having high-damage output. Other players tend to view Gunslingers as a high difficulty class in part due the lack of healing, the cover mechanic (the need to actually think about set-up), and the abundance of widely varying types of abilities and approaches. I am Dirty Fighting, which is also perceived as having little or no burst, but a very high sustained DPS. Some people I know have referred to Gunslingers as glass cannons.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

Dirty Fighting is a set-up spec with high mobility. I don't open with a 3k or 4k crit. The dots go up, then the high damage output begins. Even with most of my key abilities being instant and increasing mobility over SS, you still have to turret with two of our main attacks. All in all, Gunslinger has a wide variety of different types of abilities and approaches to the class. If I ever get bored with DF, both Sabateur and SS have great appeal. It is very difficult to lose interest with this class.

 

DFis also the hardest of the three specs to use in solo play. To maintain Energy levels, you have to use a strict rotation. This leads to loss of DPS compared to SS or Sab, and is my only real disappointment with the spec.

 

Also, 'glass cannon' is completely wrong. Gunslingers are masters of CC and have good defensive CDs with more options than anyother AC except maybe a Scoundrel.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Thistlecairn
SP

1.) Smuggler gunslingers are always welcome in any group and are perceived by the community as a strong dps class.

2.) The smuggler for me is a well balanced class and is exactly where I wish others lay. Its got a good mix of survivability aswell as constant dps if managed correctly. My only fear is the constant changes being implemented with sharpshooter will lead to this spec going badly just like arsenal spec for BH. It is important that Bioware has some responsibility in the changes they introduce especially as our advanced classes are set for life, remember you may have the option of chopping and changing we can only make an informed decision based on facts at the time.

Sharpshooter tree.

 

1) Burst, good DPS, powerful AoE's, low mobility.

 

2) Pretty much the same. I like that I have enough tools to avoid damage.

I play a hybrid spec primarily for PvP but works well in PvE with the right companion. It’s close to this: http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/smuggler/gunslinger/#::f8df12cf2e2fe4fe4fe2fef2ef8e3f2e3:

 

 

 

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

 

In PvP I’m a decent priority target. They know if they can keep me on the move I am far less effective. When they’re capturing a node, I’m a high priority due to my ability to harass effectively with AoEs.

 

 

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

I see my gunslinger as the stranger from nowhere, run and gun, shoot from the hip and then empty your clips type of western hero. In reality, it’s more like run and unpack the wagons, unload as the enemy approaches, pack up and move (or get knocked back) and unpack again. I would love to see greater on the move damage instead of greater cover damage and let cover be more for defense and moving for offense. Currently, it works great for the Sniper to buff up offense while in cover, but should be the opposite for Gunslinger.

Edited July 17, 2012 by InnerPieces

1) An obvious target thanks to the screen pointing the arrow at my head which is ridiculous to have in the first place since I shoot pistols not a rifle. Big damage but a quick easy kill if jumped on which is why there are so few.

 

2) Great class but I would trade some of the big damage for some defense any day. I also would prefer running and gunning to hiding behind a shield that really only a sniper should need in the first place.

1. I believe we are welcomed in PVE, not so much in PvP due to limited mobility.

 

2. Similar to above I love it in PVE but no so much in PvP.

1. They do a lot of damage and have a lot of defensive cooldowns making them invaluable in PvE and very tough to beat in PvP.

2. I don't like the lack of mobility, but the burst damage is very high.

saboteur:

 

1. very few of them around, people are oblivious to what kind of abilities and damages they do. aoe aggro machine, pvp nuker.

 

2. superb aoe damage, still decent single target capabilities if aoes are included but will trail behind if no aoes are allowed/target moves around. pressures group pvp well and holds the ground, but still drops quickly under fire even if the spec is arguably the most resilient.

Dirty Fighting

 

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

In PvP it's considered a good spec for pure damage output, however overshadowed by the obvious leader - Assault Vanguard. This means we have less chance of getting into Ranked team because we don't have any utility (like guarding objectives, scoring in Huttball, etc.) and are supposed to bring maximum DPS, in which we cannot surpass the Vanguards. In PvE it's considered on par with most other classes.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

It's the best PvP spec for Gunslinger at the moment because the other choice - Sharpshooter - is easier to counter by other classes (although it generates similar numbers). In PvE all specs are viable.

1. Annoing.

2. The best range in the whole game shouldn't have such high damage. Resource managment is too easy as well. Root, rooting knockback+3k snipe while you can't even get close. Wounding shot's absolutely melting people and dots that take 6-10k hp themselves.

Edited July 17, 2012 by SajPl

Dirty Fighter spec:

 

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

 

-- In PVP, well liked by friend and foe alike. Friends like it because of the damage I can deal, and foes like it for the damage they can deal to me and probably consider me easy kill (rightfully so).

-- In PVE just fine. I am welcome to any group and content. Due to being DF they don't protest about my mobility.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

-- PVP -- I gladly PVP on this char. The spec has a long setup (3-4 skills) so my target often dies before I reach full damage potential. That is DPS lost, so often I'm not much help when focusing targets.

-- PVE -- I like the damage I can bring to the group. I''m happy with the spec.

1. How do you think your Gunslinger spec is perceived by other classes?

 

Sharpshooter Descent DPS for pvp but lacks survivability. Rather take an operative in pvp or maurder.

 

2. How do you perceive your own spec?

 

If Cover was useful I would still play it. I have tremendous diffcultly staying at range against opponents who can leap/pull at 30m and I need to be at 30 meters to do dps. Needs way more survivability.

I'm one of the very few active PvP gunslingers on my server. I play an almost pure sharpshooter spec which works well for me.

 

1. How are we perceived by others?

PvP first:

By powertechs, assassins and marauders: Lunch. An easy kill. Of course, I'm a bit more skilled than most so I take out a fair amount of these but I've nothing to counter the dots of these classes. Eventually they will burn me down. Of course, this regens my energy and I come back and harass them again.

By juggernauts: An annoying gnat that keeps pushing me away. I'll burn them down but not before they get a dps to assist in beating me.

By sorcerors: WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED? I can burn down a sorc, even a healer, in short order. Sure they'll dot me up and I'll die eventually cause I have nothing to counter that but I will take them with me every time.

By Operatives: An easy kill. I get targetted by ops all the time. They learn quickly this is a mistake, but they just keep trying to do the very same thing with the very same result over and over again.

 

By rated groups: _____

 

Gunslingers are not welcome or wanted in rated overall in rated warzones.

 

 

PvE:

This is where we shine. A well-played gunslinger sharpshooter will tear apart bosses and trash in raids. We can hold our own against mindless adds. We aren't needy or paper like sages. We're solid and stable. But there are so few of us. I know maybe 10 on my entire server. Something MUST be wrong.

 

2. How do I perceive my own spec?

Now that I'm in pretty much pure augmented rakata, I'm very happy with my spec. I really wish that you'd stop messing around with the top two tiers in the SS spec. It wasn't broke, why did you "fix" it? BW claimed it was for playability reasons but now we have to activate everything. It isn't a bad thing, its just bloody annoying. I'm already watching my procs, the debuffs and dots I've placed on my enemies and my ability cooldowns... having to watch for rapid shots, illegal mods and lucky shots on top of this makes the game even less fun. These things should be procs not activated skills. Then again, watching for procs is why I don't play a DPS sage....

 

I love my spec in PvE content. I'm doing heaps of DPS and have great dots. My activated skills, despite my complaints, are useful. My raid boss loves it when I say I'll come along. He knows I'm great for the group. I feel like I'm doing great damage. My parses tell me I'm doing very solid numbers, although I don't trust them. I feel like I do better damage than MOX says I am. And honestly, the numbers MOX gives me are good. I just feel that I'm actually doing better than it says.

 

I have to say that playing a gunslinger is not the most fun experience that it could be. Cover is very limited and "take cover" is broken badly. Cover does not work around corners, it only works horizontally. We are limited in our movement by our skills. Coming out of crouch takes time that we do not have in ops boss fights. Our skills are either slow casts if not procced or channeled. Our gear is silly looking. I don't want to be a space pimp, thank you very much. And even the war hero set has such a distinctive, ugly color that its not worth wearing. It is an even bigger "kill me now" sign than the green beam of healing from commandos. Seriously, that heal beam NEEDS to be removed already. I feel bad for my commando healer friends.

 

I love my 'slinger, but she is far from perfect. Our skill set is fantastic but clunky. Our gear is horribly designed. Our survivability is low. You really need to be skilled to succeed as a 'slinger.

 

I love it.

 

Short version:

1. We're easily replaceable in pvp/pve. We are not wanted in rated warzones. We are too squishy and better replaced by dps vanguard.

 

2. Quality of life blows. Damage potential is intense but not user friendly. Gearing is horrible. Cover is broken. Movement is horrific. No one plays this class but me feeling is real.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Felli
Adding tl;dr version