A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide (Guide 1)

EDIT: After playing more, I've realized how rapidly the metagame is changing and how my gunner is changing, so I'll be releasing an updated guide in the future. This guide is still helpful though, and I really recommend giving it a read.

I've been playing the gunner as my main class and can honestly say it is the most devastating class in this game. I've racked up a 2.6 k/d and a top 500 leaderboard spot with it (Not to mention top 15 sudden death blitz as a gunner). Enough bragging anyway. In this guide I will go over a few things-
-Endorsements
-Ability Breakdown
-Buy Order
-Match Ups (Vs Each Race)
-Gameplay

So without further adu, I present my guide.

1. Endorsements
GOLD- My Choice: Armor
As a gold endorsement, you should choose armor or critical shot. Your main objective as the gunner is to be able to lock down and control certain areas of the map. With gold armor, you can take shots from any class and deal back damage from your already powerful minigun. I choose armor as my main endorsement simply because critical shots are random, and armor is a sure thing 9/10 times an armored gunner will beat the critical gunner to the the health boost. Also, this boost saves you from being 1 hit-killed by assassins from behind.

SILVER- My Choice: Critical Shot
For your silver endorsement, critical shot gives your bullets that extra kick to take down opponents quickly. Criticals are fairly common with the silver endorsement.

BRONZE- My Choice: Speed, Reload, Clip Size
You have a bit of diversity with your 3rd endorsement. It doesn't have as big of an effect as the other 2, so choose whatever fits your playstyle the most. I usually use speed so I can get across the map to vantage points quickly. Reload speed is helpful if you reload in the middle of your clip a lot, and clip size gives you extra bullets if you like to spray more. Skill recovery is not a priority, as deploy is your most used and only takes about 6 seconds in between uses. Slam recovers quickly when upgraded all the way, and grapple is less than desirable. Accuracy is not a problem, as you can kill your opponent quickly already, and deploy mode grants you an accuracy boost if needed.

2. Ability Breakdown
SLAM- Slam creates a large radius around the player that damages and stuns opponents for a short period of time (similar to the jack bot's). This move is very helpful against assassins, tanks, and assault, or anyone else who decides to get too close. It's best use is to stun them so they can't run away, then finish them with a minigun. It's also handy for ring=outs near the ledge.

DEPLOY- Hands down your most useful ability. It increases crit chance, accuracy, and gives your face a shield from snipers when fully upgraded. It also prevents you from being grappled, slammed, or charged. Start shooting before you deploy, because you can keep shooting while it sets up. Never deploy close up, because the enemy will most likely run around you and shoot you in the back.

GRAPPLE- Not very useful, as it has a short range and does minimal damage, and using slam is a much better option.

GUNNER- Each upgrade of this skill increases the power of your minigun.

3. Buy Order
I buy my upgrades in the following order-
1. Gunner 2
2. Deploy 2
3. Gunner 3
4. Deploy 3
5. Slam 2
6. Slam 3
I use the remaining money to upgrade turrets/spawn bots.

Off the start of the game, I upgrade my gunner and deploy to level 2 immediately. Upgrading gunner increases the strength of your gun and deploy increases your effectiveness while deployed. I then upgrade my gunner to 3, so my minigun is at max power, and increase my deploy to 3, so I get a shield over my face and even more damage/accuracy while deployed. After these are taken care of, I finish my slam to increase the damage and recharge rate.

4. Match Ups-
ASSAULT- Assaults are quicker than you, but pack less firepower.Try to keep them at medium range. Their AR can outshoot you up close,they can run circles around you, and they can charge/grapple you. Keep them at a safe enough distance, but watch out for C4 that they might throw at you. The assault's best option against you is the charge/grapple. ALWAYS keep an eye out for this move. Be ready to jump/fly as soon as 1 gets close, because it's the 1st thing they'll try to do. Don't slam them unless you've already dodged their charge. They can still charge right back you while you are recovering from your slam.

ASSASSIN- The easiest to kill. As soon as they get anywhere near you, go for the slam. They will have nowhere to run and will be easy targets. You can survive an assassination with full armor, so if they get you, slam the ground as soon as they finish and unload. Slamming also makes them visible from camo if they are close, so do it as soon as you sense them near you.

SNIPER- Your greatest enemy. It's unwise to even challenge a sniper from mid-long range without your deploy maxed out. Try to get close before attacking, or depend on your teammates to take him out. When approaching, always look out for ice traps. If you see any, fly over them to avoid getting caught. Once your deploy is at level 3, your visor is active and will save you from headshots. Be careful though. Only use this if they are in the open. Otherwise, the can hide behind a wall and slowly wear you down while you are immobile.

GUNNER- Against other gunners, just be the first to deploy and start shooting. 9/10 times the one to shoot first wins. Always, always deploy to be sure you are doing max damage.

TANK- Tanks can take a lot of damage, so you should be careful against them. Deploying is iffy, because they can railgun you from afar or product nade you will you are still.Try to keep them at medium range because a tank close up has many options. If they get close, try to slam them and back up out of jet-gun range. Usually you will need the support of a teammate to take down a tank easily.

SUPPORT- Never get close to a support. A support with bronze critical can kill you in 2 shotgun shots. If a support is paired with anyone else, kill the support first, then focus on the person. If a support is alone, they usually have a firebase nearby, so be wary. Don't deploy, because they can air strike you easily. Try to stay at medium range and hurt them, then push once they are weak and finish them. If you deploy vs their firebase, you will always outshoot it, so use that once you've taken out the support.

5. Gameplay- As a gunner, you should try to control the map from up top. Shoot down at anyone who tries to pass through. Your deploy is your best friend at medium-long range, but you should never try to shoot someone from ridiculously far away. Always slam people who try to get close. Try not to get distracted by 1 person, always be aware of everyone around you. Lastly, get in there when the money ball shields are down. Your minigun deals the most amount of damage more quickly than any other weapon.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope it helps! If you have any questions, feel free to post a reply, or add me on XBL. My GT is MCxShammas.
Good Luck!

Watch my live games at http://www.justin.tv/mcxshammas

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

You're cool. Thanks for the guide! I always overlook deploy because PSH when am I ever going to want to be vulnerable for that long. I'll definitely be giving your advice a try.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

This has not been my experience. With armor 3 on, assassins are still 1 hit killing me from the back when they get their sword, unless I have 100% over heal. Did they change it or is something wrong with my gold armor endorsement?

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I just finished a session and can confirm that the OP's advice is awesome. In my experience though, I'm getting a lot of kills but not making that much money. Any further advice on how to take down more bots or is the Gunner just a big ganking machine?

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

If you are playing as a team, the tank is much better at taking out bots. The gunner's role is more along the lines of keeping the other team pushed back. I think you get lots of money for shooting clips into the money ball, but I still haven't figured out how all the mechanics work yet. Usually when I play with my friends, I'll have the 2nd or 3rd most money and around 30 kills while they have around 10 kills but more money from killing bots and making turrets.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I'm streaming live right now at www.justin.tv/mcxshammas if anyone wants to watch.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

You should make sure to utilize your mortar as well. I play gunner quite differently, utilizing primarily my mortar and using my chaingun as back up. This isn't to say that one style is better or worse than the other, but that you should always be getting both of your guns into play. The mortar does a great job of taking down bots and turrets at long range, and with practice can harass and even kill pros at long range.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I always upgrade my passive gun to max right off the bat to get my dual miniguns. However, I've noticed something odd lately. Every once in a while, it seems that my bullet count is doubled and my target crosshairs are significantly smaller. Is this a side effect of overtime or is there some upgrade that I am getting and just don't realize it?

Thanks!

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I like your guide and found it useful but I disagree with your buy Order
You Said:

I feel that gunner 3 should be less of a priority needs to be put in the 5th slot and be replaced by slam 2 to balance the strenghts better.
Here is why:

Gunner

*Rate of Fire (Minigun)
Gold: 400 bullets in 10.6 secs or 2,264 bullets per/min
Silver: 400 bullets in 10.9 secs or 2,202 bullets per/min
Bronze: 400 bullets in 12.1 secs or roughly 1,983 bullets per/min
Default 400 bullets in 13.2 secs or 1,818 bullets per/min

Found the stats above Under general dissucion>endorsement details viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1228

See how Gold is not that much better than Silver? It's only 3 points of a second better! Get your other skills up first. Gold is only a marginal improvment, I suggest it's better to upgrade this late. Thats my input! )
~Xbox Tag CaliEye

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

That data shows the rate of fire endorsement. Upgrading your gunner skill to 3 gives you dual miniguns. Today i changed up my endorsements and did:
Gold- Armor
Silver- Health Regen
Bronze- Clip Size

It seemed to do fine and not having criticals wasn't a big setback.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

My rough start as an assassin left me with a 0.57 K/DR. My dominance as a Gunner has brought that up to over 2.0. I usually have 20 kills per match, have had over a dozen with 30 or more kills, and my best game is 49 kills, 24 assists, and 13 deaths. Yeah, I'm pretty good too. As a matter of fact, I have consistently beaten the other known gunners, such as BoOsive, every time I've gone head-to-head with them. I'm in the top 400 for kills and that's without playing nonstop around-the-clock. So yeah, I've got some insight, too.

I agree.

I strongly disagree. Silver should be accuracy. The added range and clustering of your shots achieves far more damage output than crits. At least, thats what Ive seen.

Reload Speed. The clip is large enough that I can take out 3-4 opponents without reloading. If I take out half of the other team, I have an opportunity to reload quickly without worrying.

Yes. This is fine at its default level. Never waste cash advancing this.

Completely disagree. Deploy is almost useless. I only deploy during overtime when I have full juice. I get above an enemys moneyball and across from their spawn, start shooting, deploy, and then juice, spawncamping simultaneously if I can. I usually take out half of the moneyball before Im killed.

Other than that, deploy leaves you way too vulnerable. Youre stuck looking 90 degrees in front of you and you cant move. Snipers destroy you. Opponents double-team you. Deploying makes you dead. The face shield doesnt help that much.

Agreed. I dont have a single Grapple kill.

I go Gunner 2, Gunner 3, and Im done. The rest of my $ goes towards annihilators and turrets.

Ill address the match-ups another time if this threads still active.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I've taken a different approach for my Gunner and it's served me well so far.

Gold : Rate of Fire
Silver : Clip Size
Bronze : Accuracy

This build is the most offensive Gunner in the game. I routinely take out other Gunners, even when they've gotten the drop on me. The only thing stopping me from complete domination is re-loading and my admittedly soft armor.

I eat through bots like they're made of cotton candy, and when deployed against a Jackbot I make a serious dent right away.

Yes, Assassin's do come at me from behind and kill me before I can re-act. However, if I see them and hit Slam, they either Ring Out or I mop them up with my dual mini-gun.

At the start, the first thing I do is upgrade to Gunner 2, and then buy up a Lazer turret to lvl 3 (normally one shielded by a wall).

I then buy bouncers until I get $400 to get my Gunner 3. I continue buying bouncers, then upgrade to Slam 2 and then Deploy 2. From then on I alternate from building turrets (when needed) and bouncers.

Believe it or not, this is an easy, and successful strategy. I'm often the top or second scorer on my team. Sometimes with 20+ kills, and regularly with 20+ assists, with my deaths between 5 - 10.

My 2 cents.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

The new build I've had lots of success with today was RoF, Accuracy, and armor. When this game gets a private match system, I can't wait to see what competitive builds evolve from it.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I never use my secondary. Any suggestions when to use it effectively?

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

Whenever they go behind glass and just stare at you. Especially weaker classes and especially when you have them hurt. I'm going to create a new updated guide in a couple weeks and just call this my starter guide for now. My gunner is changing rapidly and so is the metagame.

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

I use my secondary when people go behind glass you can sometimes score a kill, or on bots and turrets. It can kill turrets pretty fast in like 5 shells or so.

I agree with Frankie Godskin on most of his comments. Deploy is near useless and will more often than not get you killed as you just accentuated your biggest disadvantage already - speed.

I go all out offense for my endorsements. The most I'll say is that if you haven't tried RoF, you should. And I think Armor is pretty much a waste. Kill things faster and position yourself well and you don't need to worry about it. RoF increases your damage output.

In GvG cases, you're putting out more damage per second than the other guy. You have to manage your shots a bit better as you're really unloading. But it really brings the mortar to the forefront as a super useful weapon.

I'll have to try out not investing in L2 Slam. Otherwise I am on the same page as Frankie, L3 Gunner is about all I focus on. Deploy and throw are pretty much pointless to invest in. The rest goes into ejector/annih/juice

Secondary is great for snipers, people hiding behind objects, bots/turrets for cash (takes about 5 shells), and for incoming players. Eg: If you see assault/assassin/gunner coming your way, shoot 2 rounds at them (goes by quick with RoF gold) and switch to gun and start unloading. Your rounds will give you a good headstart, make them panic some, and set you up for the kill. It also works well on Support combos (Support/Gunner, Support/Tank, Support/Turret) when you get up to 3 shells (from Gunner L3).

Re: A Comprehensive GUNNER Guide

Mortar does much better DPS against turrets, Jackbot and waves of bots. Targets that can't move get brutalized at medium to long range by layered AOE damage. Mini-gun is better for dueling pros, and for point-blank shots at a turret... but even then I think the mortar will kill them faster. ALWAYS get the Gunner upgrade. The triple mortar wrecks house.

Just went 42 and 9 with a toooooooon of assists . I love the gunner!

I would've been 42 and 7 but come overtime I rushed into their spawn and died two times.

For my gunner, I use :

Gold : Armor
Silver: Accuracy
Bronze: Reload(still slow...) or Regen(slow and often useless on the battlefield) or Clip (maybe the less useless in bronze?)

I only play with my passive skill at 3 and slam 1.

Assassin kill me with back stab with my gold armor. So, maybe it's better to put Gold accuracy and silver armor ? I have tested Rate of fire, but it wasn't good :'(.

Secondary of minigun, I discover it today but don't really know what it does : more power ? more accuracy ? I think it's a little more powerful and faster but I don't have any number to verify this.

Finally, mortar is sooooooo gooood. Destroy turrets with this is priceless.