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Welcome to the Gunslinger/Sniper Advanced Class Guide! This is the go-to compendium of knowledge for The Fanatical Swordsman on the Gunslinger and Sniper advanced classes. This is a work-in-progress, and will be updated as much as possible. For the most up-to-date information, the original article this is based on is here. The Gunslinger is my main, and I find it an extremely fun playstyle, especially if you like ranged DPS. While difficult to play well in PvP, the Gunslinger/Sniper can be a potent force if played correctly. For readability sake, since it is my main, I will use the term Gunslinger as the overall descriptor of this class-type, especially for things that are true of both classes, such as discussions of general tactics. However, I will refer to the specializations by both their names, and I will show builds for both the Smuggler and the Agent, and I will refer to skills in a manner as such: Smuggler skill name/Agent skill name. All builds are links to my website, TheFanaticalSwordsman.wordpress.com and the articles which I have written about the builds. Included with the actual builds are step-by-step analyses of the talents I took and why. Oftentimes, sacrifices in one area must be made for another area's advantage, and I spell those out there. Also, some builds are accompanied with strategies for their use. Any and all constructive comments and questions are welcome! Roles and Overview The Gunslinger is a DPS class, pure and untainted. The class is primarily focused around using the Cover mechanic and is somewhat dependent on it. When a Smuggler chooses the Gunslinger as its advanced class, it gains some important upgrades, the greatest of which is increased range on most, if not all, blaster attacks. This range is the largest in the game, at 35 meters. Another bonus is Portable Cover (the energy shield on the ground). This grants 20% ranged defense even when in the open, and it makes attacks uninterruptable by damage. Cover For a Gunslinger, cover comes in two varieties. Use of actual cover (the kind you "roll" into, like rocks, crates, etc.) grants the ability for ranged attacks against you from enemies standing in the cone of cover to actually be completely mitigated, at least while you aren't firing shots of your own (which is when you will get the 20% ranged defense). Portable Cover simply gives you 20% ranged defense. However, rolling into actual cover can lose some positional advantage. Use each wisely. Energy The Gunslinger/Sniper's resource is called Energy. Starting out, without any additional talents, Gunslingers and Snipers only have 100 Energy. Taking the Saboteur/Engineering Tier 1 ability Bravado/Energy Tanks gives 10 extra energy with all 2 points in it. Several level 50 sets (both PvP and PvE) have an additional 5 Energy as a set bonus. The Energy regeneration rates decrease as Energy levels go down. The Energy regeneration rates are as follows: 0%-19%: 2 energy per second 20%-39%: 3 energy per second 40%-59%: 4 energy per second 60%-100%: 5 energy per second The 3 Specializations There is a talent in the Sharpshooter/Marksmanship tree that increases Energy regen by 1 while in cover. This is certainly a talent one would want for PvE, and perhaps even in PvP, if you are generally good about staying in cover for extended periods of time, which the mobility demands of PvP don't usually allow. There are three options when it comes to the way Gunslingers and Snipers do DPS. Sharpshooter/Marksmanship Saboteur/Engineering Dirty Fighting/Lethality Author's Favorite Spec: Sharpshooter/Marksmanship In my personal opinion, Cover is a powerful tool that when used correctly can make a huge difference in your game. While there are definite benefits to the other two trees, I like that Sharpshooter/Marksmanship has a great number of tools that can be used in many situations. It is obviously good for PvE, as the channeled shots and induction skills lend themselves to stationary play. It has very high DPS, especially when taking the extra abilities like Tier 4 skill Foxhole/Sniper's Nest, which increases the energy regeneration rate while in Cover, and Burst Volley/Sniper Volley, which increase Alacrity for a short time, which increases DPS. In PvP, there are several aspects of this tree that make it desirable. The Ballistic Dampers skill (same name for both classes) is incredibly useful for getting that extra defense just for going into Cover. Diversion (same name for both classes) is a great tool for staying alive because it reduces your target's accuracy by a significant amount. Lay Low/Pillbox Sniper decreases the cooldown of Hunker Down/Entrench, which should be up as much as possible in PvP. Here is one of my favorite builds: Focused Sharpshooter/Marksmanship 30/2/9. I like that it has a good balance of CC and anti-CC options, as well as defensive bonuses where available. This build is pretty versatile, and I have used it with success in PvP on Ilum and in Warzones and in PvE on Eternity Vault. PvE Strategies Cover placement should be in range of all the mobs you are going to need to kill, because you don't want to have to move. Ideally, use Scrambling Field/Ballistic Shield when your group is about to take a ton of damage. Strategic use of this skill can save the group from a wipe. Diversion is useful to debuff accuracy on all mobs in PvE except for Operation Bosses, as of Patch 1.1.2. Flourish Shot/Shatter Shot debuffs armor by 20% and should be kept up on the main DPS target at all times. It is on a very short cooldown, and does not have a prohibitive energy cost. Quickdraw/Takedown has a low energy cost and is very damaging. As soon as a mob gets below 30% health, it should always be kept on cooldown. Remember that your energy regenerates more slowly at lower levels. Keep it above 50%, and you probably won't run out. Every PvE build should consider having the following abilities, as they are all Tier 1: Dirty Fighting/Lethality Black Market Mods/Deadly Directive (2 points) - Increases Alacrity by 4%. This means more DPS. No Holds Barred/Lethality (3 points) - Increases crit on ranged and tech abilities by 6%. This is ALL of your skills. [*]Saboteur/Engineering Streetwise/Gearhead (3 points) - Increases Cunning by 9%. Main stat increase, /heckyes Bravado/Energy Tanks (2 points) - Increases total energy by 10. Now you can use more skills before running empty. [*]Sharpshooter/Marksmanship Steady Shots (2 points) - Increases damage done by Charged Burst/Snipe, Speed Shot/Series of Shots, and Wounding Shots/Cull by 6%. These are all skills we use frequently, and this is useful regardless of spec. Sharpshooter/Marksmanship (3 points) - The namesake skill in this tree increases accuracy by 3%, which doesn't matter much in PvP, but in PvE it is extremely useful. A straight-up way to increase damage across the board is to hit more often. PvP Strategies Hunker Down/Entrench should be used immediately after going into Cover when in the middle of a firefight, and especially when going 1v1. The first thing people like to do is take you out of the fight by using a CC skill. Hopefully, they blow its cooldown and can't use it when you aren't actually CC-immune anymore. Watch the Resolve meter above your opponent's head. When it is all white, the target can no longer be CC'd, and that includes knockbacks. Roots do NOT add to or respect Resolve, so feel free to start the fight with your root. Use Defense Screen/Shield Probe when you are out of CC skills and knockbacks, or when your opponent has a full Resolve bar. You want that mitigating as many attacks as possible, so the sooner you pop it after starting to take consistent damage, the better. If you are dead and you still have the little probe guy around you, you waited too long to pop it, because it could have been protecting you longer. In Huttball, save your roots for when the ball carrier is crossing the fire. Also, having your knockback ready is a good way to give your team more time by knocking the carrier off of the higher ramps into the pit. Remember that when you are in cover, Warriors and Knights cannot Force Jump to you and Troopers and Bounty Hunters cannot grapple pull you. Remember that you have no auto-attack, so be spamming that Flurry of Bolts/Rifle Shot when running around. Be tabbing around for enemies under 30% health to make use of Quickdraw/Takedown, which is a great skill to use on the move for a high amount of damage. Every PvP build should consider having the following abilities, as they are all Tier 1: Dirty Fighting/Lethality Black Market Mods/Deadly Directive (2 points) - Increases Alacrity by 4%. This means more DPS, and faster execution of your skills means you get more skills off before you have to move. No Holds Barred/Lethality (3 points) - Increases crit on ranged and tech abilities by 6%. This is ALL of your skills. [*]Saboteur/Engineering Saboteur's Utility Belt/Engineer's Tool Belt - Reduces the cooldown on Flash Grenade/Flash Bang and Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade by 15 seconds and 3 seconds, respectively. [*]Sharpshooter/Marksmanship Steady Shots (2 points) - Increases damage done by Charged Burst/Snipe, Speed Shot/Series of Shots, and Wounding Shots/Cull by 6%. These are all skills we use frequently, and this is useful regardless of spec. Cover Screen (2 points) - Grants the 20% ranged defense buff from cover for 6 seconds after leaving cover. Crew Skill Selection Crew skill selection can be important to a class' progression. Only one crafting skill may be trained at a time, and the options that are really useful for a Gunslinger/Sniper are Armstech, Cybertech, Armormech, and Biochem. Artifice and Synthweaving are mostly useless, though Artifice can make Enhancements and Color Crystals and Synthweaving can make medium armor Custom armor pieces that a Gunslinger/Sniper could mod with Cunning mods. You will find that Armormech has more class-specific equipment, though. For a Smuggler, the best two options are Armstech and Cybertech, as their companions have the best bonuses in the game for those two. Agents are best suited for Armormech and Slicing, due to their companion bonuses. Related Articles on The Fanatical Swordsman PvP Talent Build: DoTs and Bleeds Gunslinger 0/10/31 PvE Talent Build: Sustained Gunslinger 31/5/5 PvP Talent Build: Survival Gunslinger 7/31/3 PvP Talent Build: Focused Sharpshooter Gunslinger 30/2/9 Quest Advice: The Lightspring PvP Strategy: Gunslinger's Dampers Defense Expect Excellence PvP Talent Build: On-The-Run Hybrid Gunslinger 29/5/7 Beginner's Guide: The MMO Trinity - DPS SWTOR Beta Top 4: The Smuggler Class

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In replying to this post here, I ended up writing a frickin' guide on our defenses. This is updated for 5.1, so I am posting it here, with plans for updating the parent post at some point soon. You have seven main defensive abilities, not counting Utilities. The format is Gunslinger (Sniper). Defense Screen (Shield Probe): Incoming damage shield with a hidden health (so it can be popped when it gets enough damage). This is basically a proactive medpack. Dodge (Evasion): Increase chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks by 200%, as well as reducing force and tech damage you take by 75% (this is from the Hold Position passive). Really short, really potent. Scrambling Field (Ballistic Shield): AoE protection of teammates, 20% damage reduction. Hunker Down (Entrench): CC immunity while in cover for 20 seconds baseline. Hightail It (Covered Escape): a mobility roll that can help reposition away from melee and in better line of sight areas. Also, while rolling, +100% chance to avoid attacks. Pulse Detonator (Cover Pulse): PBAoE knockback that can get melee off your back. Bag of Tricks (Imperial Preparation): Resets the cooldown on the above skills, as well as Surrender (Countermeasures). So you have a lot of options. Now when do you use them? Take for example your best skill, Dodge (Evasion). This only lasts for 3 seconds, so you really need to time it correctly. For this to be as useful as you'd like, you need to know what is going to happen from the enemy. You can just pop it when you are getting focused, and that will help, but the ideal time to use it depends on who you are facing. For example, Vanguards (Powertechs) will place their Assault Plastique (Thermal Detonator) on you, which ticks for a couple of seconds, then explodes. Good ones line up their burst, so right as that explodes, they often hit you with High Impact Bolt (Rail Shot). They might be on you for a couple of seconds before their burst hits you. If you panic and hit Dodge (Evasion) too early, it won't help you that much. I don't even know how many seconds after they put the charge on me it takes, I am just aware of the sound, so I hear the escalating ticks and then the release of Rail Shot, and I've gotten used to it, so I automatically know when this will happen. An alternative is to hit Hightail It (Covered Escape), since that will also save you damage. Either one of these works. So long and short of it, you have to be aware of what skills and cues the other classes have, so you know what to avoid and what to wait out. It isn't enough to just know what your skills do, you need to also know what their skills do. There are also a number of CC skills that you have, as well as Diversion, which helps lower the damage you take by limiting the damage output of the enemy team. There are also a lot of Utilities that help, as well as Disciplinary talents. Sharpshooter (Marksmanship): Level 24 talent extends Diversion effect 3 seconds beyond when the targets are in the Diversion field, Level 52 talent increases the duration of Hunker Down (Entrench) 3 seconds, and you get Hunker Down (Entrench) after using Hightail It (Covered Escape) for 3 seconds. Saboteur (Engineering): Extra stun and longest range stun in the game in Incendiary Grenade/Shock Charge/Sabotage combo (Plasma Probe/Interrogation Probe/EMP Discharge). Not that long of a stun, and a pain in the butt to set up, but there it is. It used to be much better. Dirty Fighting (Virulence): Level 56 talent gives you 30% damage reduction against periodic effects. Level 60 talent gives your Scrambling Field (Ballistic Shield) 5 seconds more duration. Utilities: Skillful Ballistic Dampers: Gives three charges of 30% damage reduction. Can be refreshed every 6 seconds (i.e. 4 attacks). Getting out of cover and back in quickly can help keep you alive (this is called cover hopping). Cool Head (Vital Regulators): Don't take this for PvP. You are having problems with burst, and this is a slow heal over time. Too little, too slowly. Masterful Heads Up (Seek Cover): Speed boost from leaving Hunker Down (Entrench) is great synergy with a great skill. Also makes you immune to roots while you run. Pandemonium (Stroke of Genius): Along with a boost to Charged Burst (Snipe), this makes Pulse Detonator (Cover Pulse) even better, as it adds a 20% Force and Tech resist chance to a skill you'll be using anyway. Every bit helps. Note that this is resist chance, not damage decrease like with Dodge (Evasion). That means that there is a 20% chance you won't be hit at all by a Force or Tech ability, which includes CC. Reset Engagement (Reestablish Range): knocks back people with Speed Shot (Series of Shots) or their replacements in the Sharpshooter (Marksmanship) tree, which is great for keeping melee off your back. Also, you get a speed boost and root/snare cleanse with Surrender (Countermeasures), which is reset by Bag of Tricks (Imperial Preparation) as mentioned above. Lumbering Impact: Flash Grenade (Flash Bang) leaves behind a 20% accuracy debuff, which can be helpful on a well-performing DPS. Not the best, but not terrible. Heroic Lay Low (Pillbox Sniper): Reduces cooldown of Hunker Down (Entrench) by 15 seconds, which is amazing. Adds even more synergy. In Sharpshooter (Marksmanship), this lasts for 23 seconds out of 45, and you get more of it on your rolls. Amazing value. Holed Up (Siege Bunker): Hunker Down reduces AoE damage you take by 60%. Good if in that kind of meta (we aren't right now, I don't think). Hold Your Ground: Defense Screen (Shield Probe) cooldowns are reduced by 5 seconds, you get 30 seconds off of your CC-breaker, and a minor ranged defense buff after you leave cover. Overall, fine, but not great. Defense Screen (Shield Probe) is not as amazing as one would think, so while a lower cooldown is nice, I like speed boosts better for movement and learning line of sight and positioning better. Hotwired Defenses (Augmented Shields): increases Defense Screen's (Shield Probe's) damage absorption cap by 30%. Not to 30%, by 30%. If you would take 20k damage before it broke, it would now break after 26k. An increase, but not that much. I don't know the actual numbers, they've changed with every expansion, as I believe they are tied to your Mastery stat as if it were a heal. Legendary Shield Reserve (Defensive Safeguards): this is a relatively new talent, and this is very tempting. For each enemy within the shield, you gain an additional 5% to the 20% damage reduction you already have, up to 40%. You also heal for 3% of your maximum health every second (not every 3 seconds like Cool Under Pressure (Vital Regulators) up in the Skillful tier). You are also immune to being pulled or knocked back, which Hunker Down already does, but still, you don't always have it up. This is an amazing talent. Bait and Switch (Tactical Retreat): Hightail It (Covered Escape) heals you for 10% of your max health and Dodge's (Evasion's) duration is increased by 5 seconds. I don't think I have to tell you how amazing this talent is, it is brilliant. Definitely a powerful combination. Riot Screen (Deployed Shield): Reduces damage taken while in cover by a flat 5%, as well as reducing the cooldown of Scrambling Field (Ballistic Shield) by 30 seconds. Some definite synergy possibility with Shield Reserve (Defensive Safeguards), but a bit weaker than some of the other talents in this section, IMO. Perfect Scheme (Over-Prepared): Reduces cooldowns on Bag of Tricks (Imperial Preparation) by 45 seconds, and adds a 15% damage reduction effect to it for 15 seconds. This is an excellent talent. Honestly, it adds so much value, it seems like a must-take in many situations. Okay, so I think that is a comprehensive list of all of our defensive abilities. Obviously, being aware of line of sight and positioning is important to becoming better at the class' defense. Learning the other classes' abilities is important to learning how to use your skills to counter theirs. Watch youtube videos of other people explaining how to play each class, so you can learn the rotations and the best skills for each class so you know what to look for. You can also watch really good snipers and 'slingers to see how they play in each warzone, where they sit, who they focus, why they move if they do.

Welcome to the Gunslinger/Sniper Advanced Class Guide! This is the go-to compendium of knowledge for The Fanatical Swordsman on the Gunslinger and Sniper advanced classes. This is a work-in-progress, and will be updated as much as possible. For the most up-to-date information, the original article this is based on is here. LAST UPDATE: Update 3.0.2 The Gunslinger is my main, and I find it an extremely fun playstyle, especially if you like ranged DPS. While difficult to play well in PvP, the Gunslinger/Sniper can be a potent force if played correctly. For readability sake, since it is my main, I will use the term Gunslinger as the overall descriptor of this class-type, especially for things that are true of both classes, such as discussions of general tactics. However, I will refer to the specializations by both their names, and I will show builds for both the Smuggler and the Agent, and I will refer to skills in a manner as such: Smuggler skill name/Agent skill name. Most builds are links to my website, TheFanaticalSwordsman.wordpress.com and the articles which I have written about the builds. Included with the actual builds are step-by-step analyses of the talents I took and why. Oftentimes, sacrifices in one area must be made for another area's advantage, and I spell those out there. Also, some builds are accompanied with strategies for their use. Any and all constructive comments and questions are welcome! Roles and Overview The Gunslinger is a DPS class, pure and untainted. The class is primarily focused around using the Cover mechanic and is somewhat dependent on it. When a Smuggler chooses the Gunslinger as its advanced class, it gains some important upgrades, the greatest of which is increased range on most, if not all, blaster attacks. This range is the largest in the game, at 35 meters. Another bonus is Portable Cover (the energy shield on the ground). This grants 20% ranged defense even when in the open, and it makes attacks uninterruptable by damage. Cover For a Gunslinger, cover comes in two varieties. Use of actual cover (the kind you "roll" into, like rocks, crates, etc.) grants the ability for ranged attacks against you from enemies standing in the cone of cover to actually be completely mitigated, at least while you aren't firing shots of your own (which is when you will get the 20% ranged defense). Portable Cover simply gives you 20% ranged defense. However, rolling into actual cover can lose some positional advantage. Use each wisely. Energy The Gunslinger/Sniper's resource is called Energy. Starting out, thanks to a passive skill acquired with the class called Bravado/Energy Tanks, Gunslingers and Snipers have 110 Energy. The Energy regeneration rates decrease as Energy levels go down. The Energy regeneration rates are as follows:: 0%-19%: 2 energy per second 20%-39%: 3 energy per second 40%-59%: 4 energy per second (tooltip says 3, but I think it is a typo) 60%-100%: 5 energy per second There is a talent in the Sharpshooter/Marksmanship tree called Foxhole/Sniper's Nest (level 32) that increases Energy regen by 1 while in cover. This is certainly a talent one would want for PvE, and perhaps even in PvP, if you are generally good about staying in cover for extended periods of time, which the mobility demands of PvP don't usually allow. Regardless, this doesn't actually increase energy regen by 1 across the board, but rather at the top end, then proportionally down the line, like so: 0%-19%: 2.4 energy per second 20%-39%: 3.6 energy per second 40%-59%: 4.8 energy per second (tooltip says 3.6, but I think it is a typo) 60%-100%: 6 energy per second The 3 Disciplines With the coming of Update 3.0, massive changes to the talent system made hybrid builds impossible. The talent trees were hacked apart and restructured to have the best talents for each specialization made exclusive to that specialization. Talents that were more universal were made into Utility Skills. This section will cover the Disciplines, the differences between them, and which ones are best for which content. The Utilities will be covered in the next section. NOTE: I will sometimes use the word "specialization" when I mean "Discipline." This is because I am lazy and don't want to change all the times I used it pre-Update 3.0. Sharpshooter/Marksmanship Saboteur/Engineering Dirty Fighting/Lethality Utilities Most of the defensive, mobility, CC, and quality-of-life talents were moved to the Utilities section. The way it works is you get to pick up to <strong>seven</strong> Utility talents, and you get Utility points to spend at levels 11, 19, 27, 35, 43, 51, and 60 (every 8 levels until the stretch from 51 to 60). The Utility talents are sorted into three tiers called Skillful, Masterful, and Heroic. You must pick at least three talents from Skillful to be able to pick any in Masterful, and you must pick at least five in either Skillful or Masterful to open up Heroic. Therefore, the highest number of Heroic talents you can have is two. I will summarize and rate each of the talents below. Skillful Masterful Heroic Builds With builds now being restricted to Utilites only, there aren't as many variations. That being said, I do have some that I like. Some of my favorite combos work off of various synergies, as well as trying to get a more defensive situation for my defensively-strapped Gunslinger. Here are my favorites. NOTE: I am going to use Gunslinger terms. I'm sorry to my Sniper readers, but I have defined all of these talents and skills above for you. It just reads so much better without all of the this/that nomenclature. PvP Mobility Build Recommended Discipline: Dirty Fighting Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Snap Shot, Reset Engagement Masterful: Heads Up, Lay Low, Dirty Trickster Heroic: Hold Your Ground This build takes advantage of the speed boost/movement-impairing effects immunity from Hunker Down and the speed boost from Blaster Whip. Hold Your Ground gives us the CC-breaker cooldown reduction, and Dirty Trickster helps break us out of roots and snares if Hunker Down is on cooldown. PvP Survivability Build Recommended Discipline: Dirty Fighting Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Snap Shot, Reset Engagement Masterful: Hotwired Defenses, Lay Low Heroic: Hold Your Ground, Riot Screen This build takes my favorite talent, Ballistic Dampers, which gives us frequent 30% damage reduction. We get a better Defense Screen with a lower cooldown, thanks to Hotwired Defenses and Hold Your Ground, respectively. Riot Screen makes cover a 6% shield, as well as giving us more use of our Scrambling Field, which is 20% damage reduction. Dirty Fighting also gives DoT protection with Concussion/Toxic Regulators (level 56). PvP Arena Build Recommended Discipline: Dirty Fighting or Sharpshooter Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Snap Shot, Flash Powder Masterful: Hotwired Defenses, Lay Low Heroic: Hold Your Ground, Riot Screen In Ranked PvP, Gunslingers are perceived as weak and easy to kill. Because of this, people focus them, and go figure, they die. We can boost our defenses and help our teammates by using Ballistic Dampers, Hotwired Defenses, Lay Low, Hold Your Ground, and Riot Screen just like in the Survivability Build, but I also take Flash Powder to debuff the hardest hitter of their side. PvP 1v1 Build Recommended Discipline: Dirty Fighting or Sharpshooter Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Snap Shot, Flash Powder Masterful: Hotwired Defenses, Lay Low Heroic: Hold Your Ground, Plan B & C Low cooldowns on defense skills and CC’s is the name of the game for this build. 1v1s tend to be more focused on surviving and out DPS-ing, so it has similar parts to previous builds, but it has a low cooldown on the debuffing power of Flash Grenade. Anti-CC Build Recommended Discipline: Sharpshooter Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Snap Shot, Reset Engagement Masterful: Heads Up, Lay Low Heroic: Hold Your Ground, Holed Up Hunker Down and Escape are the primary focuses of this build. Everything that buffs those two skills is taken. CC Build Recommended Discipline: Dirty Fighting Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Snap Shot, Reset Engagement, Flash Powder Masterful: Trip Shot Heroic: Plan B & C, either Compounding Impact or Kneecappin’ Buffing Flash Grenade, along with Leg Shot, is the focus of this build. The final point can either be used to buff the slow from Speed Shot/Penetrating Rounds or used to buff Leg Shot so it has a slow when you break the root. With the former, you’ll be using Speed Shot/Penetrating Rounds anyway, and with Reset Engagement, it will knock back melee and they’ll be stuck with an 80% slow. On the other hand, with Kneecappin’, the already great skill Leg Shot has a lower cooldown AND a slow. Muy bueno. PvE DPS Build Recommended Discipline: Sharpshooter Skillful: Ballistic Dampers, Cool Under Pressure, Snap Shot Masterful: Pandemonium, Heads Up Heroic: Hold Your Ground, Riot Screen We’ll talk more about rotations in a bit, but for now, think of this as your double-instant-cast Charged Burst build. About every other time you do Charged Burst x2 -> Trickshot to get the cast-time buff for Aimed Shot, you can do two instant-cast Charged Bursts. Also in here are Cool Under Pressure to help healers a bit, as well as Riot Screen for a more frequent Scrambling Field. Heads Up is nice so you can move around fast in moving phases. Notable Skills The Gunslinger has some unique skills that can change the way you think about the class. Some changes that came in recent patches also make it worth reexamining some of the skills you have grown to love. Hunker Down/Entrench Hunker Down has always been a favorite of mine, but it is just insane how many buffs you can get for it. The fact that you can use it as a high-uptime 50% speed boost, plus mitigate 60% of AoE damage, is just amazing. Let’s also take a moment to think about how many skills there are in the game that actually make you immune to CC on command. I can think of one, and that is the Shadow/Assassin’s Resilience/Force Shroud, and that only lasts for 5 seconds max. We can have 26 out of 45 seconds of un-CC-able time, if we use all the buffs. We can spend over half our time CC-immune. Huge tactical tool. Vital Shot/Corrosive Dart Vital Shot is our DoT, and it is fine damage-wise, but the newest, coolest thing about it is that it has a Ranged damage debuff attached to it now. Thanks to the passive skill Crack Shot/Imperial Targeting, you apply the debuff Marked to the target for 45 seconds (see this article for more info on debuffs). Scrambling Field/Ballistic Shield One of our best raid-utility skills, Scrambling Field gives a 20% damage reduction buff to allies within the area. You no longer lose it when you get knocked out of cover too, so you can not worry quite so much about moving around under it. Smuggler’s Luck/Laze Target Smuggler’s Luck/Laze Target is a straightforward skill. It used to give Charged Burst/Snipe a 100% chance to crit, but now it is way better. It gives a 100% chance to crit to Aimed Shot/Ambush, Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe, and Wounding Shots/Cull, so there is one skill for each Discipline that is buffed. The tier 6 PvP gear bonus gives you two charges as well, so you can get two big crits as fast as the skills come off cooldown. Flourish Shot/Shatter Shot A good skill, this basically just debuffs the target for -20% incoming healing. Instant-cast, low energy, good results in PvP. Illegal Mods/Target Acquired This is your “time to kick butt” skill. It increases Ranged and Tech accuracy by 30% and armor penetration by 15% for 10 seconds. Diversion The former level 20 Sharpshooter/Marksmanship skill (pre-Update 3.0) was called Diversion (both the Smuggler’s skill and the Agent’s skill have this name). It was an anti-cover skill to use against other cover-users, as it knocked the target out of cover and prevented them from re-entering cover for 6 seconds. It also reduced the accuracy of the target by 45% for 9 seconds. The new-and-improved version of Diversion is a skill given to Gunslingers as a base skill at level 22, and is now a ground-targeted AoE ability that removes anyone in the area from Cover for 8 seconds, as well as debuffing anyone in the area for -45% accuracy for 8 seconds. This won’t work against Operation bosses. Hightail It/Covered Escape The Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion brought a new skill at level 51 called Hightail It/Covered Escape. This skill is a 18m roll in the direction of your camera that deposits you in Cover at the end. While rolling, you have 100% chance to dodge incoming attacks. Each of the three specs buffs this skill differently. Sharpshooter/Marksmanship: With the talent Stay Low/Portable Bunker (level 52), after landing in Cover at the end of Hightail It/Covered Escape, you get 3 seconds on Hunker Down/Entrench, which can grant a speed buff if you immediately run if you have the Masterful utility talent Heads Up/Seek Cover. Saboteur/Engineering: With the talent Scatter Bombs (level 52, same name for both classes), Hightail It/Covered Escape drops five bombs behind you as you roll. If you time a roll correctly or roll into a wall next to your enemy, you can drop up to two of them on one target. Dirty Fighting/Lethality: With the talent Incendiary Mine/Corrosive Mine (level 52), Hightail It/Covered Escape will drop an AoE effect in the place you were before you used the skill. This effect will also slow the targets affected. Rotations Sharpshooter Saboteur Dirty Fighting Coming soon! PvE Strategies Cover placement should be in range of all the mobs you are going to need to kill, because you don't want to have to move. Ideally, use Scrambling Field/Ballistic Shield when your group is about to take a ton of damage. Strategic use of this skill can save the group from a wipe. Diversion is useful to debuff accuracy on all mobs in PvE except for Operation Bosses, as of Patch 1.1.2. Quickdraw/Takedown has a low energy cost and is very damaging. As soon as a mob gets below 30% health, it should always be kept on cooldown. Remember that your energy regenerates more slowly at lower levels. Keep it above 50%, and you probably won't run out. PvP Strategies Hunker Down/Entrench should be used immediately after going into Cover when in the middle of a firefight, and especially when going 1v1. The first thing people like to do is take you out of the fight by using a CC skill. Hopefully, they blow its cooldown and can't use it when you aren't actually CC-immune anymore. Watch the Resolve meter above your opponent's head. When it is all white (i.e. full), the target can no longer be CC'd, and that includes knockbacks. Leg Shot can still go through, but is subject to shielding. Use Defense Screen/Shield Probe when you are out of CC skills and knockbacks, or when your opponent has a full Resolve bar. You want that mitigating as many attacks as possible, so the sooner you pop it after starting to take consistent damage, the better. If you are dead and you still have the little probe guy around you, you waited too long to pop it, because it could have been protecting you longer. In Huttball, save your roots for when the ball carrier is crossing the fire. Also, having your knockback ready is a good way to give your team more time by knocking the carrier off of the higher ramps into the pit. Remember that when you are in cover, Warriors and Knights cannot Force Jump to you and Troopers and Bounty Hunters cannot grapple pull you. Remember that you have no auto-attack, so be spamming that Flurry of Bolts/Rifle Shot when running around. Be tabbing around for enemies under 30% health to make use of Quickdraw/Takedown, which is a great skill to use on the move for a high amount of damage. Crew Skill Selection Crew skill selection can be important to a class' progression. Only one crafting skill may be trained at a time, and the options that are really useful for a Gunslinger/Sniper are Armstech, Cybertech, Armormech, and Biochem. Artifice and Synthweaving are mostly useless, though Artifice can make Enhancements and Color Crystals and Synthweaving can make medium armor Custom armor pieces that a Gunslinger/Sniper could mod with Cunning mods. You will find that Armormech has more class-specific equipment, though. For a Smuggler, the best two options are Armstech and Cybertech, as their companions have the best bonuses in the game for those two. Agents are best suited for Armormech and Slicing, due to their companion bonuses. Update Log 01/14/15 - Updated for 3.0.2 04/25/13 - Updated for 2.0.0, added update log Related Articles on The Fanatical Swordsman Attacks, Damage, Buffs, and Debuffs in SWTOR Gunslinger Builds: Dirty Fighting Gunslinger Builds: Saboteur Gunslinger Builds: Sharpshooter Gunslinger Rotation Thoughts PvE Talent Build: Leveling Gunslinger 23/18/0 Patch 1.2 - What it means for Gunslingers PvP Talent Build: DoTs and Bleeds Gunslinger 0/10/31 PvE Talent Build: Sustained Gunslinger 31/5/5 PvP Talent Build: Survival Gunslinger 7/31/3 PvP Talent Build: Focused Sharpshooter Gunslinger 30/2/9 Quest Advice: The Lightspring PvP Strategy: Gunslinger's Dampers Defense Expect Excellence PvP Talent Build: On-The-Run Hybrid Gunslinger 29/5/7 Beginner's Guide: The MMO Trinity - DPS SWTOR Beta Top 4: The Smuggler Class

You have the single greatest range of any of the advanced classes, so you are ideal for interrupts of caps, with a simple Flurry of Bolts. Voidstar and Alderaan are certainly where we shine. Strategic use of CC (i.e. knowing what Resolve is and how to work with it) can make or break a WZ, and you have a bunch of CC options, and long ranges too. Also, with a long range interrupt skill, Distraction, you can keep healers very busy. Played well, a good GS can do a lot for a group besides just straight up damage.

I want Malcolm Reynolds' jacket, and the hat from that trailer. No chinstrap that makes me look like a space-Mountie (no offense, friend Canadians).

If you are using natural cover, vs. Portable cover, it is a known issue that sometimes cover-activated buffs don't activate in natural cover, such as Snap shot or even Ballistic Dampers.

I should have put 30 GCDs, I miscounted lol. Yes, that is true, I forgot about the natural defense bonus. I see your point about a lesser benefit, but still, the fact is I can use that skill and have a bonus that affects my next 30 GCDs, which is a long time! No other skill really affects the fight for that long, so that to me is pretty powerful.

Melee Generally, against melee classes, Hunker Down, and then root when they are far away. I tend not to use "hard" CC like my Flash Grenade and Dirty Kick until farther into the fight, since their Resolve bar fills so much. Roots and knockbacks are more useful at first. When they are too close for comfort, Dodge as soon as possible, because they like to throw the big attacks first. Flourish Shot early to be taking advantage of it. Charged Burst and Trickshot a bunch. Speed Shot if you have 3 seconds or more of Hunker Down going. If the melee is an Operative, don't even bother with Dodge, because their attacks are Tech, which goes right through it. Be sure to use Defense Screen. Against Juggernauts and Marauders, Diversion still helps, as they need accuracy to hit in melee. Ranged If it is an Arsenal Mercenary, then interrupt an early Tracer Missile to thoroughly confuse him. They just don't know what to do when they don't have that. Unless you are being hit with blaster attacks, don't use Dodge, it is worthless against Tech, which is missiles and flamethrowers etc. If you can get to real cover (not portable, environment), then do so. Again, only useful against ranged attacks, not Tech, but more useful than portable. Diversion is only really useful against Snipers here, since Tech and Force attacks are not affected much at all by accuracy debuffs. Interrupts are really key here with ranged, especially healers. I save my interrupts for heals on Sorcs and Mercs. Hope this helps somewhat, main thing is getting them down past 30% health so you can use Quickdraw. Aimed Shot, Quick Shot, and Trickshot are your friends.

Yes, but think of the following: 1v1 against an opponent, in Sab spec, you can keep heals and defenses up for a while, so a fight might last a minute or longer. Flourish Shot has a 45 second duration. That is approximately 15 GCDs. Also, looking at the numbers: We'll say a 45% reduction of damage by heavy armor on a Juggernaut, which is a little lower than armor values from full Rakata (this is from sithwarrior.com). 20%*45% = 36% now So instead of my Aimed Shot doing ~2000*55% = 1100, it will do 2000*64% = 1280. Speed Shot, which says ~3000 damage would do 3000*55% = 1650 with their full armor. Instead, it will be 1920. Roughly 200-300 difference on these. Obviously, the effect is less pronounced on more weakly-armored classes, but then again, it is easier to kill them because of that.

I have been playing recently with http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/smuggler/gunslinger/#::f8ef23efefecf2e4f2e10ce2: which is a 7/31/3 build primarily designed around survival. I'd be interested to see what y'all think, though I have liked it so far. I may adjust later to see about getting more punch with AoE, but I am primarily using this on Ilum in 1v1s, so AoE is not a concern, but the Cool Head 6% health back a minute is really nice for survivability (which incidentally made me get top heals in a Warzone once lol. It was with no dedicated healers, but still pretty funny).

To me, especially in PvP, it is a matter of mobility. Portable Cover allows me to pop down cover, fire off the instant Charged Burst and absorb a hit with my Ballistic Dampers, then pop up and keep moving while firing off the Trickshot and DoTs. Rolling into cover sometimes takes you where you don't want to go.

And since the smuggler is remarkably Malcom Reynolds (part of the charm, I'll admit), this seems appropriate. Corso is a bro in some ways. He's a great wingman (I play a male smuggler). Also, being from Texas, I appreciate the homegrown chivalry and politeness that is exemplified. He has a few flavors of Han Solo, people, embrace it!

I would agree that many classes have to deal with resource management, but I disagree that any are harder, as someone who has a 50 GS and a 30 Commando. I think the regen issues are about the same: they take practice. The Trooper does seem to have more talents specifically designed to reduce the costs of commonly used skills for each tree. Gunslingers, however, have very few of those. Haha, this may be true, but all I know is there was a Merc that pulled 500k in a WZ the other day and he was using Tracer almost exclusively. This is the main issue for me. The only class on Republic side that has weaker defenses is possibly the Sage, but they are able to Force Shield themselves and use all of their heals. I have a friend that can keep himself up with 5 guys on him in a WZ. I get two and I am in trouble. Dodge needs to last longer than 3 seconds. The set bonus on the Enforcer gear needs to do more than add 1 second to it as well; it should add more like 3 or 6. I honestly feel pretty balanced against everyone except Operatives, Sorcerers, and Assassins. I don't even last long enough to burn down one. I think it would help if Dodge avoided Tech and Force attacks as well as melee and ranged, because the Operative shouldn't be able to Vibroknife me while Dodge is up.

The gunslinger/sniper and sentinel/marauder are the only classes that are strictly bound to do only dps. The sentinel does have the ability to heal the group moderately through Juyo form's burns. Do you have any plans for improving the gunslinger/sniper to have more group utility besides just dps?

*claps* This is exactly right, well put. Not fully utilizing cooldowns is a big problem I see fairly often. Thinking you should stay in cover at all times is also a problem I see. PvP is about movement, and using your "Dampers Defense," as I like to call it, is very important. When your Ballistic Dampers are all used up, you move and set up cover again to refresh them. Hunker Down only lasts 20 seconds, and you have about 20 more before it comes back up, so movement is good when the CC has been tried and is on cooldown. In the bunch of WZs I've been in, I have been able to solo kill every other class at least once. Sometimes, they solo kill me. If they are an Agent, then it's oftentimes... And a quick /rant for a pet peeve of mine: And to all the people that say it is "just like a hunter in WoW," no it isn't. It is a separate entity that just so happens to be ranged. I know a lot of people who say the Hunter in LOTRO is "just like the Hunter in WoW." They are also wrong. There are similarities, sure, but unless it is the Hunter in WoW, it is impossible for it to be "exactly the same as the Hunter in WoW." Evaluate the GS for the class it is IN THIS GAME. /rantover Hope that didn't offend anyone Cheers guys.

You also forgot - kill 10 enemies - kill 25 enemies And I agree, Scrambling Field should work, and it would encourage people to sacrifice the mobility to protect the team more often.

I loved the Get Smart reference in the quest Heist of the Millennium, when facing a Imperial soldier: Lieutenant Palinx: <something about if I am going to accomplish this alone> Me: "I've got two dozen heavily armed mercenaries in that ship, with blaster rifles targeted on you. Let me pass, or I give them the signal." Lieutenant Palinx: "Someone like you could never put together that kind of force. You're bluffing." Me: "Would you believe a dozen mercenaries? An intergalactic bank robber and his idiot savant partner?" That one, and the previously mentioned "Well, you are just the shiniest bounty hunter I have ever seen!" are the two greatest lines IMHO. Great thread!

I love the Gunslinger, but I don't think it is unreasonably unbalanced with the other classes I have been playing with or against. I am sometimes top of the charts, and sometimes, there is a Vanguard or a Sentinel (just for example) that is doing better dps. It really depends on the situation and who you are up against. I have had matches that I have been on a roll, with two or three solo kills in a row, sometimes I go for two or three deaths without seeing a kill all the way through. Pretty good distribution of classes and levels too. If I make a big mistake or have a lag spike, or I'm up against a much better player, then I am going to die. If I do everything right and play smoothly, then I might fare well even against a level 50 (and I'm level 30s atm).