How's the PVP with the gunslinger?

[Bosseking]

Because the few games I did in bg's felt quite horrible. I know, lots of l2p problems still at this stage, but considering we can't kite at all and with very weak self defence when someone gets or just comes close, how the hell are we gonna survive? Then add the incredibly awkward cover playing style (sometimes your char wants to make an epic jump behind a pillar or out of range) where half of your moves are active only when you are at standstill in cover, it all just felt... bad. Sometimes I just kept trying to get in cover while getting pounded.

 

I was eaten alive mostly, because unlike a hunter in wow for example, there's no way to escape and keep distance. I have one stun that breaks on damage, one shot that stops my opponent for 2 seconds if I keep damage on him, one knockback that has to be done from cover and with my sharpshooter spec aimed shot that knockbacks an enemy. Most of the classes seem to have an ability to break away from moving impairing effects anyway.

 

So the question is, how is gunslinger pvp at lvl 50? I know it's pretty stupid to draw conclusions at lvl 23 when you don't even know what you are doing, but it certainly wasn't the best first impression I got.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Bosseking

[Boonah]

Gunslingers have decent mobility. You have the stun grenade and the nut kick.

 

You should try to kep range where possible, 1v1 you will do fine. if you see a group though, best not to engage.

 

I am literally always top 3 on damage done on the slinger.

[ThreeCards]

I'm only level 25, but I've had quite a bit of success with the Gunslinger in PvP. I am always top 1-2 damage (usually by a significant margin). I did have some problems when I started, though.

 

First off, the Gunslinger is not a class designed to kite effectively. We have very few stuns, slows, and knockbacks and the class is designed to root itself in place to do maximum damage. Trying to kite is generally going to get you killed. Running into a group of enemies is also going to get you killed.

 

The class works best when you sit on the sidelines, peppering low-health enemies with quick combos to drop them quickly. Charged Burst, Aimed Shot, and Quickdraw are your go-to abilities. Quickdraw specifically should be spammed on anyone that's sub 30% any time the CD is up. If they live then tap Quick Shot a couple times to drop them ASAP.

 

Don't engage is fights you can't win or where you're unsure of victory. This is generally good with any class in PvP, but especially so with fragile "Glass Cannon" type classes. Always have a plan of attack (and escape, ideally). Best case scenario is to engage in a battle where allies already have the enemy's attention. Just drop cover and blast them into nothingness.

 

I hope that gives you a little direction. If you're struggling it can help to change up your hotkeys to make sure you have access to as many abilities as possible. Also, by default (on my system, anyways) hitting "F" will drop cover instantly. This frees up a hotbar slot for another ability. A good first step if you're struggling would be to stock up on the PvP gear sold at the Fleet, by the way... -

 

Tryvan - The Swiftsure

[StealthNerf]

First off, the Gunslinger is not a class designed to kite effectively. We have very few stuns, slows, and knockbacks and the class is designed to root itself in place to do maximum damage. Trying to kite is generally going to get you killed. Running into a group of enemies is also going to get you killed.

 

 

A dirty fighting gunslinger can reduce the move speed of enemies in an area by 30% for 6 seconds, every 12 seconds. They can gain a 30% move speed buff for 4 seconds every 15 seconds.

 

They should be able to get away from an opponent.

 

I do agree that at the lower levels, DPS will be the best option, since you won't have many escape skills.

Edited December 19, 2011 by StealthNerf

[Askysoblue]

Thus far, Ive had a surprising amount of success with Gunslinger. Heres my thought process in PvP...

 

First, let others go in first. This should be obvious, but Im an anxious player in PvP yet this class is designed to do the most harm when people dont realize they are doing such harm. Let the fight start while you wait in the wings, set up cover, aim for a half health squishy, and make their healer say "***...?". Keep blasting and popping cooldowns from a vantage point, preferably with a hazard between you and the enemies (for example, I like to cover behind the acid pool in Hutt Ball. It totally screws over people who leap at you.) If and when your team gets overwhelmed, dont be a hero. You CAN NOT deal with groups of enemies, especially as sharpshooter. You are a single target burst with great damage sustain and range -- the single most important PvP aspect of this class.

 

That being said, Gunslingers have a good amount of CC, but a majority of it is not meant for kiting, its meant for an escape. With this in mind, always have an escape ready. Dirty kick, flash grenade, leg shot, it is all meant for a short term incapacitation to escape or buy enough time to prepare the energy or cooldowns for a deadly burst to destroy a chaser.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is you do get more ranged defense bonus when behind environment (like using Gumby to take cover). BUT, as is, Aim Shot is pretty bugged when rolling to cover so the best thing to do is SHIFT F to drop your cover shield behind some sort of barrier. This way you get the ranged defense bonus without the bugginess.

 

Lastly, as Im sure you know by now, this class is meant to be a turret. The way PvP is, this isnt always an option. Find skirmishes and nuke behind cover but dont wait for the action. If you have to fire off non cover, low damage shots while following the Hutt Ball action, dont hesitate to do so. Dont neglect your cover abilites but also dont neglect playing the objective. Winning is more important than big numbers.

 

Anyways, TLDR; This class has a high skill cap and learning curve but lays down massive destruction in PvP.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Askysoblue

[CubeB]

I PVPed for the first time on a Gunslinger last night, and I did pretty well for having no idea what I was doing. But from what I found, my strategy was pretty similar to what has been said earlier. A huge part of Gunslinger PVP is taking the enemy off guard.

 

During my first PVP match, I focused on enemies that were distracted or weakened. Voidstar, at least, tends to involve a lot of people swinging lightsabers at each other. It's Chaos. Which, fortunately, is what Smugglers deal with best.

 

Things like an Aimed Shot or a Smuggler's Luck boosted Charged Shot can do a lot of damage without drawing a lot of attention to yourself. I've also found that Sabotage Charges can do a good amount of damage without alerting the enemy. They're in the middle of a saber duel when all of the sudden they've taken a few thousand extra damage.

 

I've found that Inquisitors love to try and sneak up on you with Force Lightning. I think a good thing to do in that situation would be to pop Escape, then use Pulse Det and something like Flash Grenade or Dirty Kick to hold them off. If they're still on you, hit them with a Leg Shot to slow them down, then pepper them with instant abilities to try and hold them at bay.

 

Grenades are somewhat situational. Flash Grenade I only recommend as a Smokebomb. Tossing it into an active fight won't work, since everyone will break out instantly. During events where a large group of enemies are moving in unison, you can probably use it to slow them down for a few seconds.

 

Thermal Grenades are a bit different. They don't do a lot of damage, and they tend to draw attention to you. If you throw one, I recommend you immediately try and make yourself scarce. It's a good shock tactic though. Grenades are big, flashy, and obvious. They damage the enemy just enough to get their attention, and they force the enemy to change tactics. If a fight isn't going well, a Grenade is a good way to soften up the enemy, but be prepared to shake off some heat.

[Shrilokka]

I **** face. Basically just stay as far away from people as you can and use deploy cover a lot. If you can't stay away you have flash bangs, nut kick, hit F quick and use concussion grenade or whatever and move. Gunslinger rocks in PVP if you can play it okay. 99% of the slingers and snipers I have seen get destroyed by melee though.

 

Bigger font for emphasis.

 

I am level 30 and just started PVPing yesterday and already have like 1600 warzone commendations

Edited December 19, 2011 by Shrilokka

[Lariuss]

As someone who played sentinel/marauder all I can say - freaking easy mode, nerf this crap! Killing people was never easier and the stupefying amount of cc gunslingers get makes them unkillable. Toping damage and kills in every scenario.

[Bosseking]

Maybe I emphasised the wrong part. Sure you can just hang behind a group and spam your abilities there, but I wasn't trying to make that point, rather how would this class do in an 1v1 situations or wow-like arena games with such a little survivability and not too many escape mechanics.

 

Many people suggest that topping the damage in a bg is somewhat tied to how good the class is, which I find weird since it's matter of objectives. Of course we can top the damage, we are a dps only class, but what's our serious viability other than as soon as someone gets near trying to get the hell out and switch nuke some other low hp target?

[Polutornick]

His survivability is fine once you get all the defensive abilities, namely Hunker Down and the absorb bubble.

[Veridious]

Try to keep out of sight as much as possible until enemies are engaged with other friendlies, then start laying down some fire, if anyone peels off on you, stun/root, and try to keep distance. Also dirty-fighting has some great things for pvp for gunslingers.

 

Gunslingers aren't gonna go rambo mow down 5 people in a row, but if you can keep ranged and pick good targets, you can be extremely effective.

[junkfunk]

I love how undervalued Gunslingers (and Snipers, for that matter) are in warzones. Just because we don't have a lightsaber, players write us off... that's a very bad decision. Too often I find myself not being messed with while I bring the pain. Speaking on behalf of the Republic side, do yourselves a favor and take out Snipers ASAP. As a Gunslinger, some of my most favorite and memorable fights thus far have been 1v1s against Snipers.

 

The following perspective is from someone who is generally successful in warzones, based on both winning percentage and consistently being top 1-2 in DPS. Every time.

 

I can't stress this enough - your #1 priority should be ranging down low-health targets. If enemies are all around the same health, go after the lowbies (teen levels). Other than that, I usually try to place myself at a higher ground (especially in Huttball, if the enemy lets you get situated on one of the platforms, look out!) and from there, always keep an eye on how close/far your support is. Gunslingers are surprisingly good at running and gunning, so if you get flushed off of your perch, head to your closest group of teammates, pray for a couple heals, and set back up.

 

Besides target selection, the biggest thing Gunslingers need to practice is anticipation. Always pan around your screen, find your enemies, and plan ahead. Being somewhat squishy, you need to recognize when it's time to leave, and if your cooldowns are up, they certainly can buy you some time.

[Solantharius]

See sig for a vid of some gunslinger if ye haven't. Its from the last beta build but nothings really changed since then when it comes to mechanics and such except Aimed Shot actually worked right heh. Personally though I love Gunslinger PVP. We got plenty of defensive boosts and abilities while in cover as well as multiple knockbacks and roots to keep melee off us and such. It's definitely not the easiest of the class to PVP with but its amazing if ye get it down.

[engrpunk]

tends to involve a lot of people swinging lightsabers at each other. It's Chaos. Which, fortunately, is what Smugglers deal with best.

 

This has to be the understatement of the century on my server. You can't swing a stick, or throw a grenade with out hitting a dozen dudes with lightsabers. This is IDEAL for the gunslinger, as has been said before, hang back a bit wait for the Jedi to all run in and start zapping and whacking at each other, discretely drop cover and blow the them out of their boots. Most don't figure out whats happening until the match is already lost to them.

 

Occasionally you'll run into a player without total tunnel vision that will see you and attempt to close distance. Let them. Then kick them in the nuts, or blind them and let the Jedi they were fighting with re-engage them. Or simply circle strafe them to death if its 1v1. Ive yet to find a glow-sticker I can't annihilate 1v1.

 

Btw my first toon was a sentinel, fun class I guess but wanted to get away from the herd so to speak. Have loved PvPing with my gunslinger since my first match at lvl 10.

[Kazzuk]

I **** face. Basically just stay as far away from people as you can and use deploy cover a lot. If you can't stay away you have flash bangs, nut kick, hit F quick and use concussion grenade or whatever and move. Gunslinger rocks in PVP if you can play it okay. 99% of the slingers and snipers I have seen get destroyed by melee though.

 

Bigger font for emphasis.

 

I am level 30 and just started PVPing yesterday and already have like 1600 warzone commendations

 

 

Umm... you do realize there is a 1000 commendation cap?

[ReRuined]

So far, the thing I've noticed is don't try to 1v1 sorcerers. They have too much CC.

[Acupunk]

Umm... you do realize there is a 1000 commendation cap?

 

ooops no wonder i am sitting at 1k. i better buy something

[Serai]

So far, the thing I've noticed is don't try to 1v1 sorcerers. They have too much CC.

 

Hit hunker down, they can't CC you then and you'll be free to snipe them unless they run away. Tactical positioning + hunker down > any sorcerer.

 

 

I love how undervalued Gunslingers (and Snipers, for that matter) are in warzones. Just because we don't have a lightsaber, players write us off... that's a very bad decision. Too often I find myself not being messed with while I bring the pain. Speaking on behalf of the Republic side, do yourselves a favor and take out Snipers ASAP. As a Gunslinger, some of my most favorite and memorable fights thus far have been 1v1s against Snipers.

 

The following perspective is from someone who is generally successful in warzones, based on both winning percentage and consistently being top 1-2 in DPS. Every time.

 

I can't stress this enough - your #1 priority should be ranging down low-health targets. If enemies are all around the same health, go after the lowbies (teen levels). Other than that, I usually try to place myself at a higher ground (especially in Huttball, if the enemy lets you get situated on one of the platforms, look out!) and from there, always keep an eye on how close/far your support is. Gunslingers are surprisingly good at running and gunning, so if you get flushed off of your perch, head to your closest group of teammates, pray for a couple heals, and set back up.

 

Besides target selection, the biggest thing Gunslingers need to practice is anticipation. Always pan around your screen, find your enemies, and plan ahead. Being somewhat squishy, you need to recognize when it's time to leave, and if your cooldowns are up, they certainly can buy you some time.

 

 

I can't stress how much I disagree - the slingers dps is amazing and should be used to scare away or kill the HIGH LEVELS, not the low levels. The highs will do objectives, bring tactical CC to their team and be a general pain, and a slinger can kill most targets in around ten seconds anyways - the LOW LEVELS only bring damage to the table, and most of the time its to the tank that can be healed.

 

Kill the high levels and healers, and the rest of the enemies will die or disperse, and you will win the cap.

 

 

In huttball however.. you can do whatever you want. I usually just pick away the carriers and weaker targets as slingers make for terrible support and carriers.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Serai

[Polutornick]

Hit hunker down, they can't CC you then and you'll be free to snipe them unless they run away. Tactical positioning + hunker down > any sorcerer.

 

All the sorc needs is to run behind a pillar, heal up, come back again etc.

[Navaris]

There is never not enough nuts to kick in PvP.

[Serai]

All the sorc needs is to run behind a pillar, heal up, come back again etc.

 

If he wants to spend 30 seconds behind a pillar, all the more power to him. In the meantime I've gotten two kills and gone away from the spot to a more tactical spot for killing him.

[Brene]

All the sorc needs is to run behind a pillar, heal up, come back again etc.

 

This.

 

While I absolutely LOVE playing my Gunslinger (always top damage, always top OBJ score, etc) WE ARE SEVERELY LIMITED BY OUR LACK OF MOBILITY. No other class is as limited in mobility as we are. Sure our damage makes everyone else look like a rubber bat wielding sissy, but that shouldn't mean we need to wear Iron Boots.

[Serai]

Overcome and adapt, its a team game - get your team mates to occupy/stun the sorc while you blast away. Leg shot works wonders here.

 

Besides, a sorc behind a pillar is effectively CCed from the fight, he might have reset your fight and is healing up, but you are getting healed up as well and you can change targets. This game isnt about killing as much as getting the objectives done. Let the melee hunt pillarhuggers, we've got more important tasks to complete.

[Moolah]

to all those saying smugglers cant kite; shock charge and shrap bomb beg to differ.

 

Also, if you are limiting yourself in cover you are doing something wrong.

[LoganOleary]

I'm still working out the kinks...seems on my server no Sith have tunnel vision, I'm always a priority target to those melee Sith. Now say all together....

"Eh..I'm gonna kick you in the nuts!"

"Ro shambo anyone?" (sp?)

"Respect mah authoritah!"

Edited December 22, 2011 by LoganOleary