Hey guys, been pondering this for a while and everywhere I look is telling me different things about the gunslinger builds, which is why I wanted to ask all the gunslinger players here: Which build is better between Time to Hunt and Peacemaker with the current content? I always appear to be on the lower side of the DPS spectrum even though I hear nothing but praises for gunslinger’s damage and I’m questioning whether I’m playing a build I shouldn’t, whether the other is better for current or in general, and was hoping to hear other gunslinger’s opinions on the matter. Mostly asking as I want to improve, not just to beat other people DPS wise but to ensure I’m at least pulling my own weight, I hate feeling like someone else is carrying me through content which is why I asked this question.
Time to hunt is for gunslinger alt since it is cheaper and easier to play.
You can play Time to Hunt on your main, but why?
Peacemaker gives you better DPS, but the engraving itself isn’t that great(that’s why only lv1 is recommended in most guides). Missing the shotgun in Time to Hunt is a big deal.
IMO, gunslinger shines with Keen Blunt weapon (with >70% crit chance), and enough Galewind runes for the long animation skills. Gunslinger performs the best with a right team compsition since she needs “everything”(she wants crit, spec, & swiftnss, oh, also very squishy, haha); buffs from teammates scale much better on a gunslinger.
Gunslinger is fun and great for clearing horizontal content(high mobility), but it does need a lot of investment(time & $$$) in order to hit her high DPS ceiling.
The biggest reason I ask is because, while most of the damage does obviously come from shotgun and rifle, hitting with those abilities (especially with the animation locks, while running guardian raids with my scrapper friend who is also T3) is really difficult with the boss constantly moving or stunning me, which I feel is leading to a very noticeable DPS decrease, which begs another question: in situations like that, when is the best time to use the shotgun and rifle? I feel like I have to sacrifice DPS for mobility to survive the fight for the most part, which then leaves me so little time to use the shotgun and rifle that I’m starting to feel the shotgun may not be worth it until the later content arrives (legion raids) or I hit the current “end game” content (Argos), which makes us return full circle to the original question that I should also clarify more: what are most gunslingers running between time to hunt and peacemaker given the current content we have?
Peacekeeper
Because I am the peacekeeper
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Peacemaker is strictly better. Missing the shotgun stance is a huge DPS loss, not to mention you only need Lv1 in peacemaker, meaning you can get other engravings to further boost DPS.
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Standard dmg cycle should be applying CR buff from handgun stance → shotgun / CR buff from handgun → rifle.
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Positioning is very important as a gunslinger. It is also why you have 4 mobility skills on top of your spacebar. Being good at identifying where is a safe place and time to go into your shotgun stance will go a long way when playing gunslinger.
With the rifle though, should I CR buff Into rifle when the boss is stunned or when shotty stuff is on cd?
Not sure what this means but for me I run peacekeeper and Ive setup a neat Boss Killer skill preset with stagger and weakpoint.
according to data from KR/RU server, i think only 10-15% player use Time to Hunt and even then they still use lvl 1 Peacekeeper.
So far if you want to have tons of damage as Gunslinger is pretty much simple, you have to try to use every single one of your ability on cooldown. Yes that is easier said than done but that is the core gameplay for Gunslinger.
For most classes it’s fine to hold your skill for burst phases but Gunslinger doesn’t have a burst phase so you have to keep spamming abilities non-stop.
Thanks for all the responses guys, one last question though, which awakening should I be using in regards to guardian/abyss raids? I’m being told high calibur HE bullet, yet whenever I look up a guide for the fight and they are a gunslinger they use the other awakening, which has me wondering if I’m using the right one or not
Eye of Twilight deals more damage to single target so always use that for endgame content. For chaos dungeon you want HE bullet since it’s easier to use.
Awesome thanks for the heads up, Maxroll needs to fix that up haha, they told me to go the reverse lol.
I’m using both cause I don’t care about shotgun, and my GS is totally fine like that. I also believe there are some other advanced classes that can benefit from both class engravings used simultaneously.
Speaking of engravings, which ones should I equip when it comes to Peacemaker? I’ve seen a few gunslingers not even run their class engravings and just run, for instance, precise dagger/adrenaline/keen blunt weapon, so I was wondering which ones should I actually have equipped in the gear screen?
I said something similar on the oce discord server, but a reasonable rotation for peacemaker gunslinger is something like:
spiral tracker → quick step → dex shot → rifle → target down → focused shot → pistol →
spiral tracker → quick step → dex shot → shotgun → dual buckshot → sharpshooter → shotty rapid fire → pistol →
spiral tracker → quick step → dex shot → rifle → perfect shot → pistol filler until target down and focused shot are ready again
If you’re running a build that’s got a stat spread of 50:25:25 crit:spec:swiftness, you should be able to roll that rotation pretty much constantly (especially if you have conviction/judgement on spiral tracker and dex shot respectively). Timing it so that your rifle shots/shotty skills are during the boss’s downed phases or countered phases is just something that comes with encounter/boss knowledge, so getting used to switching back and forth after buffing with spiral tracker and quick step is something you should practice (try hopping into Trixion and using Beatrice’s training zone for practice).
You might also delay some skills or switch them around based on stagger checks etc, but the above rotation is something that I personally have found fairly comfortable to run, both on my RU T3 (1370) gs, as well as on my western T2 (~1k) alt gs.
As for engravings, you cant go wrong with Hit master 3 (shotty skills should be taking the non-backattack tripods, and rifle skills dont have positionals), + Peacemaker 1. You might also consider adding Adrenaline (1-3 scales linearly so it’s good at all levels), and also extra damage in the form of grudge/cursed doll (recommend level 3 for both of these), or keen blunt (if you have Argos crit rate gear). Edit: should defs have at least peacemaker lvl 1 though :p)
Not quite what I asked haha, I knew what engraving levels to have the issue is i’m unsure on whether the “equipped engraving books” ones should be peacemaker/Hit Master or if I should roll a different set of engraving books haha, although I should say cheers for the more insightful information 
oh books, yeah what I personally would recommend is just buy the whole set of all the combat engravings used by gunslinger up until epic since they’re pretty cheap atm with the event.
that way, depending on what you get as drops and what you have on your ability stone, you can just switch them in into the slots as necessary
personally, i have hit master and peacemaker on my alt equipped, though i’ld want to switch to probably having class engravings on the accessories and then having +9 to hit master/keen blunt equipped in the slots
I mean for books right now I’m running Hit Master + Peacemaker, but I’m not sure if I should be doing that or using say Hit Master + Adrenaline and get the Peacemaker level 1 off of accessories or if what I’m running is actually fine, that’s my major issue there, that uncertainty when it comes to the ones equipped
as long as you hit the pips required to activate your engravings, it doesnt matter if its equipped via ability stone/accessories/book slots. c: dw too much about whether people have them equipped in the slots or not, just worry more about whether you’re hitting the levels or not
Awesome thanks for the help
Hi, I am using the Time to Hunt but only using it to only have the two weapons. My reason for doing this is if is cannot use my rifle due to close range incoming or moving etc., it is already too late FOR ME to use my shotgun (I’m nearly 60years old and my reflexes are not as quick as they used to be). So far, I have never had an issue due to my rotation I have (only use 3 skills normally)
This is how I have my Gunslinger setup:
I have maxed these 3 skills in particular which are my main rotation:
FIRST: EQUILIBRIUM with: High-Speed Shot; Enemy Raid; Burn Effect.
SECOND: BULLET RAIN with: AOE Fire; Rapid Fire; Flame Shot.
THIRD: DEATH FIRE with: Keen Strike; Flame Bomb; Infinite Decimation.
I use OVERWHELM runes on each for stagger.
I have these 2 engravings maxed to 15nodes:
All-OUT ATTACK (for the DPS) and
HEAVY ARMOUR (for defense increase, 100% bonus)
And TIME TO HUNT at 5 nodes (so it disables the shotgun)
I use these types of gems: (as high as you can afford or craft)
Cooldown for each of the 3 main skills
Attack for each of the 3 main skills.
As for Cards used, I am still fiddling with them so will not advise on this bit.
If I want to use any skills as fill-ins (normally due to me pressing the wrong button at the wrong time) I use METEOR STREAM (leveled to the max) and SPIRAL TRACKER (leveled to the max)
Hope this helps.