flying gunners

[iroh]

recently unlocked gunner and was planning to float around like in all of the vids I watched, but I can only stay in the air for about 5 seconds and with no height at all. Anyone have tips on how to do it successfully?

[blace]

Practice around with the shift action and time it so that you gain more height than lose it.

I haven't used it much since it no longer gives you that huge boost to height, but Aerial Shooting can get you pretty high.

[Kiyobi]

I recommend Bullet Squall if you want to stay in the air. It's also useful if you want to float since it shoots at foes below you.

[La'Haryl]

Sounds like my partisan wielding flying hunter :P

[o0Kais0o]

Aerial shooting to launch yourself, shift action, keep firing and use the shift action to get back a little height every now and then. Works for me at least.

[Syklo]

(Just) Flip > Just-flip > Cancel with normal fire > Repeat.

That way, you don't lose the height gained due to the lack of cancellable frames in the 3rd/final slow-mo flip.

Btw, this is also susceptible to the relative height limit cap like with daggers, meaning there will be a point where you can't shoot for the cancelling part.
This also means you can't fly out of funji traps (I'd know, cuz I tried).

[Khorin]

Aerial Shooting > Bullet Squall for a showy combo where you still remain on the air for shift-firing.

Other than that, taking everyone's suggestion here, Aerial Shooting > Flip fire > Flip fire > Cancel w/ normal shoot > flip fire > flip fire... you get the point.

[Limbo_lag]

Just to note, they did nerf that kick PA a while back.

[blace]

I did mention that in my post where the height is nowhere near as high as it used to be.

Anyway, practice, practice and practice with the flips. You can't get hit if you're out of their range and if they have a vertical attack flip to the side. Just be wary of the skybox limit forcing you to fall a short distance before you can flip around again.

[ARChan]

There are a few things that you must know:

1) Dead Approach is your mid-air forward action PA, not unless you want to do it with Messiah Time. Both work just fine, but which do you prefer, staying in the air with more DPS or placement for you to use your other PAs for DPS?

2) There are a few PAs that help you gain air. They are Reverse Tap, Bullet Squall, and Aerial Shooting (uncharged). Reverse Tap is more preferred if you want a ground-aoe hybrid PA string. Bullet Squall is perfect if you have a RA class involved because of its Weakpoint Advance skill. Aerial Shooting is a bit iffy of a PA. It doesn't really do much on a large enemy but it keeps a small enemy in the air with you a bit longer than the other two. However, you'll find that Aerial Shooting is a bit on the terrible side of these other PAs due to being unable to keep the damage going unless you charge it. It's not a bad PA, though. There are times when you accidentally drop because of losing track of your PP, which is when you can use Aerial Shooting (charged) to get back up there.

3) Your DPS attack should also be in the PA string, not unless you're good about switching your PA string in midair. The ones that produce the best results are Reverse Tap, Elder Rebellion, Messiah Time, and Satellite Aim. It's okay to have two Reverse Taps in your PA string, but just beware that it guzzles your PP and the damage isn't as worth as the PP involved. Still, there are times when a random Aginis or Dagacha tries to sideswipe you in midair, which is why this is ideal. Elder Rebellion is... Okay, I admit, Elder Rebellion just totally eliminates the fact that you need to stay in the air, tbh. You're gonna find that this is the worst PA to use when you're in midair due to its lack of burst damage and immediate AOE capability. Sure, chain trigger is its forte. However, you'll find that you're most likely not going to go to midair fights when a trigger is up and that you want to go where the aggro is at and FAST. Messiah Time has a pretty high damage rate if all the bullets hit their target, and there are invincibility frames to boot. Perfect for when you're accompanied by enemies with anti-air ability. However, you'll find yourself hiking through your target quite a few times. Also, if the target is not in an ideal position, just cancel it with a dodge and try again. Satellite Aim is pretty ideal. 25pp usage allows this PA to be spammed over and over again and the damage/range/speed is pretty worth it.

4) There are attacks that make you drop. They are Infinite Fire and Aerial Shooting (charged). Forget these PAs if you're willing to stay in the air.

Now, for some tips:

-You should always put the forward-action PA first in the PA string. It's so that you can immediately move forward after dodging.

-Enemy moving away from you? Chase it. Forward-action PA. Dead Approach only if it's a boss or if you're in a group full of RAs, GUs, or FIs. Messiah Time fits into all situations but slow to chase.

-Losing air? Use one of the skills listed in #2.

-Losing PP? It's okay to stall in midair with a volley of normal and dodge shots to recover your PP. Remember, PP is for your damage and ESPECIALLY to keep you in midair.

-Enemy moving away from you? Forward-action PA not enough? Just [PA > Side dodge > repeat] until you're in position then resume damage.

-Enemy moving away from you? Lost your lock on the enemy? Easier than it looks. Stall in midair and activate TPS mode. Then, use [PA > Side dodge > repeat] until you're within locking range. Then, you deactivate TPS mode and lock onto your target. It's a bit annoying when you can't lock onto your designated target, but you got all the time you need as long as there's a target to hit.

-Only use PAs for their designated purpose. Dead Approach is terrible when it comes to damage per PP.

-Know when you can cancel the attack animation. I'll let you figure this out and why this is important.

-Reverse Tap is for air-air or air-tall purposes; Bullet Squall is for air-ground purposes.

[Nikoshae]

I do have quite a bit of fun staying in mid-air for an entire fight, such as the Persona in the limited Chaos mission. It's what attracted me so much to Twin Daggers. That being said, the only problem with such a practice is that I'm not able to perform Weak Bullet or Chain Trigger while midair lol ... but sometimes it's fun just being a torrent of death from above, especially when someone else has already slapped WB on the enemy.

Anywho, definitely have fun. I have Dead Approach ~> Bullet Squall ~> Bullet Squall set up as a combo for this particular trick. Remember that autoattacking will shift your PA action around, so obviously 66% of the time Bullet Squall will be up to do higher damage and keep you airborne, while Dead Approach ... your re-positioning PA ... will require more awareness.

[ARChan]

Dead Approach is a tricky PA to use, really. I just hope they change the whole knock up-and-away thing gets changed.

[Nikoshae]

Dead Approach is a tricky PA to use, really. I just hope they change the whole knock up-and-away thing gets changed.

Ah, I use it really only for bosses and tough I want to get close to. It's kind of moot for normal enemies. Usually an Elder Rebellion or two winds up taking care of a whole swarm of random enemies without putting myself into harm's way.

[ARChan]

Haha... Elder Rebellion? Taking out a swarm? Lol. [Reverse Tap > Bullet Squall] gets it all done faster and with less PP consumption. Elder Rebellion is Chain Trigger's bitch and is meant for single-target kills.

I just wish that Dead Approach can be used on smaller enemies... It just bugs me when I see the potential of it not knocking enemies back and then using some other immediate attack!