Overview
The Gunslinger is a versatile build which is capable of dishing out devastation in a variety of scenarios. He has powerful AOE as well as single target damage and can act dynamically to suit the situation. The build possibilities are numerous, but the basic premise of the Gunslinger is a sling / handgonne / throwing axe and javelin hybrid.
Introduction
For me, it’s the Gunslinger. Few other classes are capable of such adaptability and raw damage output. He sees nobles? He giggles. He sees orcs? He chortles. He sees nachzehrers / wiedergangers / webknechts? His sides are in orbit. The handgonne absolutely mops the floor with tightly-clustered enemies, but that’s not all. The Gunslinger uses quick hands to swap to throwing axes or javelins when the time for focusing down the single targets arises. The distinguished player will recognize these advantages, and to maximize their fun will do as I have done and field a full backline of Gunslingers (minus the bro with the banner) for peak effectiveness.
Tactical Overview
True to its namesake, the Gunslinger starts the fight with a sling, and finishes it with a gun or throwing axes or javelins. The sling has synergy with throwing mastery and allows for a couple of rounds of volleys at the start of the fight, on account of the 6-tile throwing range. The handgonne and other throwing weapons come into play once the enemies are within 2-4 tiles.
Why not make a crossbow / handgonne / throwing weapon hybrid?
The crossbow and handgonne have overlapping ammunition slots which cannot take advantage of the quick hands perk.
Why not make a pure crossbow / throwing weapon hybrid?
The handgonne is OP in certain situations and is a lot more fun to use in my opinion. The build also functions as a crossbow / throwing weapon hybrid should you decide to forgo the use of the handgonne at any time, or limit the use of the handgonne to 1 or 2 total or any variation thereof.
Why not make a pure bow / throwing weapon hybrid?
Show me a bow that does mass AOE damage.
Why slings?
As mentioned, they share a mastery perk with other throwing weapons, have a longer range, and cause the dazed effect, which can be exploited by qatal dagger wielders. Slings are an effective tool for softening up the enemy before they enter the range of your handgonnes. They also use no ammo, unlike other throwing weapons.
The rest is up to the discretion of the player, but the general tactics are as follows:
-Open the fight with the handgonne equipped to pre-load it
-Fire the sling as the enemy approaches
-Swap back to the handgonne when the enemies are clustered
-Swap to throwing weapons when focus-firing high priority targets
-Swap back to the sling if you run out of ammo, need the extra range, or want to set up for qatal dagger deathblows
Alternative:
-Swap to a melee weapon and/or shield for brothers on the periphery, or if you’re fighting enemies who tend to engage with the backline, and pack your bags accordingly
Perk Overview
Bags & Belts:
All a man really needs is a place to put all his stuff. This perk enables you to carry a sling, a handgonne, a stack of throwing axes, a stack of throwing javelins, and a melee weapon.
Executioner:
This perk is optional, but increased damage means things die faster. You can get it at level 2, which can be helpful in the early game when you’re fighting mostly brigands, and it maintains its effectiveness later in game vs orcs and chosen. The only drawback is that it’s useless vs undead, but I still consider it a bread & butter perk for everything else.
Quick Hands:
A favorite among those of high IQ, quickhands is an essential perk which goes on every brother. This is the perk that lets you quickly swap between your weapons, representing a more abstract increase in damage because it allows for certain tactical advantages.
Crossbow & Firearms Mastery:
Handgonnes can be fired more often, which expedites the AOE damage. Overlapping handgonners can distribute a tonne of damage in a short amount of time with the aid of this perk. This perk also allows your bros to switch from using handgonnes to crossbows between encounters.
Throwing Mastery:
Higher damage dealt to enemies either engaged with or approaching the frontline. The extra damage helps when focusing down high priority targets, and the reduced fatigue penalty is key because we’ll be doing a lot of throwing.
Overwhelm:
Another optional perk which helps to mitigate incoming damage. It can be spread over multiple targets by firing the handgonne for wholesale debuffing, or focused on single, high priority targets through the use of throwing weapons.
Nimble:
Greatly increases survivability and as such is considered to be a mandatory perk.
Killing Frenzy:
This gets the gears of the steamroller in motion. Proc the effect by killing weaker targets, then focus on the tougher targets with the added damage.
Berserk:
The pain train has now left the station and is crushing everything in its path.
Duelist:
At last, we have ascended to our final form. By increasing our armor-ignoring damage, we increase the likelihood of dealing injuries through armor with our throwing weapons, creating further synergy with executioner, thus killing more targets, thereby triggering killing frenzy and berserk, to such a degree as to create a positive feedback loop of complete and utter destruction.
The Gunslinger
The Gunslinger is the generalist variant of the builds and is suitable for a majority of encounters. Optional perks are split between executioner and overwhelm for dealing with a combination of both living and dead opponents, respectively. Other perks are considered fundamental as we are aiming for a glass cannon build with high damage potential.
The Executioner
The Executioner is focused on fighting the living. That is, anything susceptible to injuries and morale penalties. The build is identical to the gunslinger, only this time we substitute fearsome for overwhelm in order to trigger mass morale debuffs with the handgonne, and single target morale debuffs with throwing axes and javelins.
This build is also appropriate for bros with low initiative as it lacks the overwhelm perk.
Bros with higher starting resolve will also benefit from using fearsome.
The Apostle
The Apostle is designed for dealing with undead opponents. He relies on damage mitigation and increased HP for surviving the attacks of the ancient undead through the use of the overwhelm and colossus perks. Not to mention, a full backline of handgonners can melt through ancient undead in fairly short order.
This build is also appropriate for bros with high initiative as they can benefit from overwhelm. You might also want to consider this build for bros with low HP for a bit of added survivability.
Loadouts
Early Game Loadout:
Start with a crossbow for added hit % and armor penetration. Focus on getting gambesons for your Gunslingers, while giving the leather drops to your frontline. Take executioner, quick hands, crossbow & firearms mastery, and throwing mastery for extra damage early on.
Mid Game Loadout:
Lamellar leather armor combines with the sallet helm for a perfect nimble bro that can carry you into the late game. Grab nimble as soon as it becomes available. Spend some time adventuring in the north while collecting heavy throwing axes and heavy javelins from barbarians. Start saving money towards the purchase of handgonnes, and travel to the south when you have enough saved up (you’ll want about 5,000 gold).
Patrician Loadout:
Keep an eye out for nomad slings as an upgrade from staff slings. Take the killing frenzy, berserk, and duelist perks to begin melting face. Continue clearing camps and saving gold in search of named items. Check the weaponsmith for named throwing weapons. Check the armorsmith for named light armor and helmets. Pray to the RNG gods that you come across a named handgonne at some point.
Periphery Loadouts or High Melee Engagement Potential:
These loadouts are useful for your ranged bros on the flanks, just in case they get engaged in melee. They’re also useful for encounters where your entire backline has the potential to become engaged (orcs, necrosavants, goblin wolfriders etc.). A spear or sword are both good choices for melee offhand weapons due to the added hit %. The firelance is a viable alternative to the regular spear or sword because its special attack scales off of your ranged attack skill.
Stat Priority
We want to choose our bros and level up based on the standard stat priority for nimble ranged units which has already been discussed ad nauseum elsewhere:
-Ratk
-Fat
-HP
Besides those 3 main stats, we do not care because the other stats are meme stats.
Tips & Tricks
-You can fire a loaded handgonne, then throw a throwing weapon in the same turn
-To loot heavy throwing weapons, kill barbarians while they have the weapons still equipped
-Get the last hit on a target to trigger killing frenzy and berserk. For example, open your turn by killing an orc young with a throwing javelin. This procs killing frenzy and berserk, at which point you switch to the orc berserker for big donkey damage
-When on the defensive, start the match by firing your slings once, then move your bros 1-2 tiles back for another round of volleys before the enemy engages.
-Fire the handgonne into large crowds of enemies, then swap to throwing weapons to finish them
-The handgonne has a huge advantage when being fired from a high ground position
-When attacking fortifications, the crossbow loadout is preferable to the handgonne
-Slings are clutch on the Lorekeeper skulls
-If you open the fight with your handgonne equipped, it starts loaded for free so you won’t have to waste a turn loading it later. You can quickhands to the Sling on turn one and save the loaded Handgonne for later. You can also use this to load a second Handgonne on turn 1 and setup for a double blast later, provided you have nothing better to do on turn 1 and don’t mind using a bag slot for a second Handgonne.
*tip courtesy of Turtle225*
Conclusion
Throwing weapons were nerfed but they are still OP. The handgonne is a new introduction to the game, and is also OP. The sling was just an afterthought to squeeze as much efficiency out of the build as possible, but it turned to be a very effective weapon in its own right. It is this combination of factors which have led me to pursue the legacy of the Gunslinger, which has so far been a legacy of wholesale destruction and evisceration where everything gets clowned on as I steamroll the opposition. I hope you have enjoyed my guide, please feel free to comment.
