Hey all

Im sure I am not the first to say this, but its really bugging me and its my first ever forum post so here goes. But I was really disapointed with the whole Gunslinger mechanic. It just doesn't feel right! The whole use of shields just for me doesn't go with the ethos of what I belive the Gunslinger should be. And to me is a stand up shooting on the move (with bags of style naturally) gracefully moving about the battlefield avoiding the incoming fire maybe in the style of 'Gun-Karta' in the film equilibrium? ( btw if you not seen the film its awesome! Well worth checkout!). Use the cunning stat as their version of dexerity to avoid damage maybe.So I am sure it will not change anytime soon but I think the Gunslinger class is less because of the static nature and feel of the shields issue.

 

So thats my very first two pennies worth.

My biggest issue was that I would get somewhere, and know i was having to fight after a cutscene then try get to cover asap after it finished often resulted in a quick death then a restart from a better position.

Cover was nice at the start then got tedious

I will admit, the shields stuff doesn't feel quite as Gunslinger-y. Might work better if re-animated as more dodgey type avoidance rather than techy shields.

 

But it also depends on your spec, as well. If I remember correctly, Dirty Fighting is more mobile, and might be more up your alley.

 

And to the second poster, while cover may seem like a pain at times, oh man can it save your butt. I've been able to tank ranged bosses in f'ing hard modes with cover. 100% immunity (to most ranged attacks) is a beautiful thing. With a healer (or at least Guss), it can be your "oh crap, need to regain some health" move.

I recommend DF or Sab tree for those that want to be mobile. Granted for end game you'll probably want to throw some points into the defensive abilities at the start of the sharpshooter tree, otherwise you'll die real fast.

 

If bioware sped up the gcd for gs, df would be a fun tree. In its current state though both SS and Sab trees are much more effective in both endgame pvp and pve. Dirty Fighting is pretty terrible in pvp because it takes too long to put your dots (3 skills for max effect) then hit them with wounding shots (cast time of 2.5 seconds) any player that knows what they are doing would have murdered you, cleansed your dots, or LOS'd your wounding shots. If you cast wounding shots not in cover then you risk the player choosing to interrupt you as well.

 

SS you can just drop into cover for instant charged burst, get up and move around and hit them with trickshot all day long and do good damage.

Sab you can spam shock charge hit them with incend grenade for a stun + slow, and spam thermal grenade.

I think gunslinger is cool, but its obviously not what you were expecting. Have you tried mercenary? Two guns, some instant-cast abilities, never takes cover.

My slinger is valor 84 now and my opinion is the class should be called gunturret, not gunslinger...... I sure didnt expect the class to be immobile. If you want mobile ranged dps there is always the trooper..... Edited July 23, 2012 by Whyld
typos

Commando Trooper Gunnery Specced is also a turret.

My slinger is valor 84 now and my opinion is the class should be called gunturret, not gunslinger...... I sure didnt expect the class to be immobile. If you want mobile ranged dps there is always the trooper.....

 

Neither trooper classes are Mobile and Ranged.

 

Commando can do ranged DPS if left to freecast but very immobile.

Vanguard is very mobile but mainly 4-10m combat.

 

If you want a class that has some Ranged and Mobility it's definitely Sage/GS

Just to through this out there. No gunslingers are not as mobile as they should be imo. I agree though the cover ability is extremely handy when versus other ranged classes/npcs. If you do want something that is more mobile look into either going dirty fighting (its not as bad as people make it out to be) or go with a commando. If you do choose a commando they are more mobile than a gunslinger (again doesn't make sense to me since they have a giant cannon to haul around). Gunnery as a commando requires more stand still time to use your abilities. Assault commando is great for being mobile they have a lot more time to run around. The thing you may not like is that the gunslinger has more instant cast abilities than the commando so its just finding that class you really like.

Actually in Sharpshooter you want to get up and reset your cover every 6 seconds or so to reproc your defenses and snap shot. While getting up you can weave in non-cover abilities. I often duck in cover to get my snap shot and then get back up and use my trickshot as I continue running. I just switch quickly between cover and mobility unless I really need to focus down some targets.

I totally agree with OP. To me, gunslinger feels like a smuggler turned self-trained republic agent/sniper. He is not the daring do sci-fi western gunman I had hoped for. Everytime I play on Imperial side and see Vette, I envy her; she gets to run around on her two feet and fire charged bursts and aimed shots.

The trailer where a smuggler walks towards Imperial commandos, firing his two guns, promised us something else than what we got

I totally agree with OP. To me, gunslinger feels like a smuggler turned self-trained republic agent/sniper. He is not the daring do sci-fi western gunman I had hoped for. Everytime I play on Imperial side and see Vette, I envy her; she gets to run around on her two feet and fire charged bursts and aimed shots.

The trailer where a smuggler walks towards Imperial commandos, firing his two guns, promised us something else than what we got

 

Have you tried Dirty Fighting tree?

While "Gunslinger" as a term might give the image of a highly mobile Cleric John Preston-esqe one man army, its only actually referring to the fact that you have 2 guns. Regardless, in the right hands, the GS is absolutely one of the most powerful ranged classes, being pure DPS.

 

I roll in the SS tree on my slinger, and talented right, you actually don't really need to move all that much. Ballistic Dampers upon entering cover, instant Charged Burst, and a HUGE single point hit from Aimed Shot available more frequently due to reduced cooldown. Plus Hunker Down reduces area damage by 60%, which in conjunction with Defense Screen, will render enemy AOEs trivial when you have a healer around.

 

The GS is actually designed to be a semi-stationary ranged F-stuff-up class. Although, like an above poster mentioned, you should ideally switch locations once in a while to re-gain Ballistic Dampers and the instant Charged Burst and also avoid advertising to enemies in PvP where you like to set up.

 

Plus, cover gives you the Unshakable buff for the duration you're in it and prevents Powertechs and Warriors from charging you. Pretty damn useful unless someone knocks you out of cover.

Have you tried Dirty Fighting tree?

 

I must admit that I haven't, since by reading the specs, I don't get the impression that DF is more mobile. But maybe I'm wrong about this? Will give it a try then.

This is why when the game was released wehad more snipers than gunslingers. Sniper players knew exactly what to expect.

I must admit that I haven't, since by reading the specs, I don't get the impression that DF is more mobile. But maybe I'm wrong about this? Will give it a try then.

 

The general consensus is that in terms of mobility

 

Dirty F > Sabotage > Sharpshooter

 

Ideally the best 'slinger is the one that the enemy doesn't notice.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Veniras

I agree with the OP, except for one little thing. Cover prevents Force Charges. That's why it's there. It makes the Sithies run to you through a hail of blaster bolts rather than just leaping straight to you and cutting you down with a glow stick. If you could figure out another way to fix this problem, I'm all ears. The simple fact is that GSs would get their faces rocked in pvp without cover. I mean yeah you can use a stun here or a scattergun there... you can get some burst damage on them but more or less you won't survive (I know there will be those who say you can survive if you l2p your class, but over the long-run the sith will win far more than you will).

personally, my gunslinger feels great and has felt great since I started playing her. By far my favorite toon.

My GS is pretty mobile with the DF spec. That said, I don't have a problem with the cover mechanic nor the stationary nature of most of the class's abilities. It may have to do with my lowered expectations: I just wanted a class that could dual-wield pistols and look cool while shooting. I got what I wanted. Edited August 7, 2012 by Chestnut_Bowl

All other classes would sell their soul for the defensive mechanics of cover - immunity to leaps, pulls and interrupts, and with Hunker Down - immutiny to everything they may throw at you. Cover is not a burden, it's a tool to be used. Even in the DF spec which is indeed quite mobile you do want to use cover to defend vs. leaps, interrupts, etc.

 

Also, where do you see the mobile ranged DPS class? Commandos are quite stationary, especially in the Gunnery spec. Sages are stationary in the TK spec, and as for Balance.... are you sure you want to spam TK throw until the end of the world?

I mostly agree with op although I still enjoy my gunslinger. I've been wondering whether the adaptable armor choices available would make it possible to create a mercenary bounty hunter as this type of toon. Or are there custom heavy armor choices out there that look like medium armor to make this possible? I suppose the key factor is whether or not an appropriate hat can be found...

I dunno, it feels pretty good to me.

 

And after years of playing as melee it feels good to be able to sit still for once