Want to mess around with gunblades....

[serenade]

all i ever seem to find anymore are gunblades, (i've found everyone so far except cruel coffin and the newest one) and i figure i may as well give them a spin (havent even touched them at yet). i see more and more people using them and was hoping to get some advice on using them more extensively.

so here's a few quick questions:

- Which class would utilize them best as a main weapon, Hunter or Ranger?
- Which PA's are most effective to use for said classes?
- Are gunblades viable damage dealers and worth trying to main?
- What is a good build to use for best damage output?

[Dinosaur]

1. Hunter is the best GS user.
- Every HU skill compliments GS except for Guard(because GS can't Guard)

2. Each GS PA has its uses, unlike other weapons that have a "one and only go-to" PA.

3. The damage is good enough.

4. http://ryuhiroshi.ry.funpic.de/pso2/hunter.html?01HU!IOI2ebIoqnGKcA6
- You get five extra SP to spend.

[IndigoNovember]

In addition to what Dinosaur said:

Hunter's Fury Stance increases both S-ATK and R-ATK, so using it in conjunction with Gunslash is the only way to take advantage of the R-ATK bonus. Hunters will also be more likely to be able to use the strongest Gunslash out right now Jyareido (ジャレイド) since it has a S-ATK requirement. For Hunter's, Serpent Air (サーペントエア) is a good Photon Art since it is all S-ATK and floats which helps you hit boss weak points.

For Ranger's, you can take advantage of the suriraapuroodo (スリラープロード) Photon Art whose grenade explosion allows you to hit weak points quite easily as well.

Gunslash's attacks and Photon Arts execute quite quickly, so they are capable of being high damage dealers by hitting a lot of times in a short period.

A decent strategy as a Hunter might be to try using a mix of the gun mode for normal shots to regain PP in between Hunter Photon Arts.

[Silver Crow]

In my opinion Ranger is the best if you use 'Aimed Shot' and 'Thrillsplosion' PA's which are fully Ranged dmg. I also think these 2 PA's are the best out of all. I have a Hunter and Ranger.

[Lumpen Thingy]

I think ranger is better because of the weak hit advance 1 and 2 which makes the damage output very very good for any gunblade

[sekkai]

Am i the only one who prefers the gb to the rifle on rangers xD?
I probably just use the rifle for weakshot nowadays

[Lumpen Thingy]

Am i the only one who prefers the gb to the rifle on rangers xD?
I probably just use the rifle for weakshot nowadays
I did till my rifle did way more dps then my gunblade

[sekkai]

Do you still use your gunblade or it has faded into useless division?

[NoiseHERO]

Gunblades are awesome, you're not exactly gimping yourself whipping one out over your other hunter weapons. (For ranger I'm not too sure though.)

They're fast, they make weak spots your bitch, all the PAs are awesome AND look cool, and it's extremely useful to just swap to gun mode in a lot of situations, especially during a PSE burst.

That's my summary and opinion on it. It's definitely my favorite weapon on hunter even though I main wiredlance because there's no GS gear...

[sekkai]

As a hunter yes. Trying to see people opinion on the ranger class :-P

[JeyKama]

Gunslashes are pretty useless as RA.

1) RA dodge is garbage - plus you're stuck with HU short-range dodge, so it's even more garbage. Unless you specced deep into dive roll advance for some odd reason, you are a glass cannon wielding a sub-par weapon standing in melee range. That is, if you use it as a melee weapon. Oh, and you can't cancel gunslash PAs.

2) If you use it as a gun - well, if you keep your rifle up, your rifle is better. Gunslash autoattacks might be slightly stronger, but all the useful rifle and launcher PAs are superior. Charging up Aiming Shot? just use a launcher... Thrillplode? the range on that PA makes me lolz (though it's nice for being a multi-hit aoe, but damn that range...). The rest of the PAs are melee-based and leave you quite vulnerable to attacks, so... I wouldn't recommend any other PAs unless you like to style.

I have an Alba Hatchet that I'm casually ranking up to 50 element just for kicks, but its damage is still terrible at +340 R-ATK.

The only times I pull it out is when Lisa and Josef force me to for their stupid weapon orders, or if a single mob or a tight cluster of mobs happens to be right next to me and I feel like styling with Thrillplode (it does look really cool...). Or maybe a wall respawned and I can rage-dance it for kicks.

But yeah, Kyatadransa solo with a gunblade as an RA? Most boring fight ever, especially without poison. Thanks Lisa, I almost liked you in an ironic way.

[FallingGuy]

I use the gunblade as a Force. I dunno, I think it's more useful and high-damaging, while I can still place my spells in the hotbar to use them in case (Mostly the heal and anti), while I melee everything in sight.

That's definitely not something I should do, but hey! It's fun. And no waste into healing items ; infinite healing with magic.

So yeah, I don't get anything to boost my gunblade damage on Force, but all I can say is ; it depends of which point of view you're seeing it. Of course, Hunter will make it better to use melee, Ranger will make it better to use ranged. And high DPS for Force without having to use PP all the time, keeping it for your healing spells when you really need it. Long range attacks without wasting PP. It doesn't do as much damage, but rather infinite and instant hits.

Well, maybe I'm out of subject with this, but wanted to share what I thought.

[Inazuma]

Force here.

I switch to my gunslash almost every time I run out of pp. Trying to hit enemies with my rod is very difficult because other players kill them before I can get close enough.

If I need to dodge while using the gunslash and I have more than a split second of time available, I switch back to rod and then dodge.

All of this is possible because I use the shortcuts for weapon changing. I'm actually considering replacing my rod melee attack button with a tech, since I barely use it anyway. After we get more techs, I might end up doing that.

And even though my rod is extremely strong, my low level gunslash seems to do roughly the same damage (comparing gunslash bullets with rod melee).

[Acel]

Ranger!

Step 1:
Get surrounded.

Step 2:
Lay an Upper Trap.

Step 3:
Thrill Explosion away.

Step 4:
Activate trap.

Step 5:
Lob in a stun grenade.

Job done stylishly! :P

[Haseokun]

I use Gunslashes as a Hunter. I currently use a +10 Alva Scissors and am looking to get either the Gunslash Zero or Neigling Zero. I actually have my character build around crits, with a DEX/Ability Mag that has 30 S-Atk on it and 70 DEX/Ability. I'm focused on Fury Stance and Fury Critical right now. I have 7 points into Fury Stance, and of course 0 into Critical so far, HP Boost I lv5, Step Advance lv3, Step Attack lv1, Just Reversal lv1, JA Bonus 1 lv3, Guard lv1, Step lv1, Partizan Gear lv1, and Wired Lance Gear lv1. At lv40 I will have 5 SP left to put into either HP Boost I, Step Advance, or JA Bonus 2. I plan to get Fury Critical to 10 next, then put points into JA Bonus 2, and the rest into Fury Critical.

[NoiseHERO]

Ranger!

Step 1:
Get surrounded.

Step 2:
Lay an Upper Trap.

Step 3:
Thrill Explosion away.

Step 4:
Activate trap.

Step 5:
Lob in a stun grenade.

Job done stylishly! :P

Yeah traps can wipe out a whole mob like nothing...

But that's still only 10 mobs... ;o;