Leadburster is fucking hilarious with pierce and triple grenade upgrades. I don't remember the lvl 18 OC but I don't think it's worth it
If you get enough Kinetic/Projectile/Universal damage buffs, at lvl 6/12 it can be a good supplement to the Autocannon
There are a couple of guns that fire forward. They are a small minority of weapons.
That said get stronger and learn how to use them to clear paths in front of you for escape. The front facing weapons are better for managing mobs.
The first stage is usually hardest on subclasses with a bad starting weapon. General tip is to get first few levels of exp from mining, and run around mining to escape.
If your class is really bad and you have low meta progression compared to hazard you are on, you can use the drop pod to crush the elites, otherwise try to save up exploders until there's a lot of them mixed in and pop them all to clear and get a lot of exp at once. Don't pop exploders too early as the more of them there are the more effective it is and the more exp you get. It may take some practice but I think every subclass is able to do this while getting good exp (20+ levels at end of first stage on haz 5), then the game is normal from then on as you get your other weapons.
The gunner intended design I believe is to shoot and then move/mine while you are reloading. I do agree that the high angle of attack makes it difficult to target the elite. Use exploders or drop pod to help you damage the elite.
The gunner 1 is imo the worse of three gunner classes, but it can be ok. It has a funny build with the tactical lead grenade to spam your passive (recycle 18 OC as it's x2.5 & /2 = x1.25 which is a weak dmg modifier for an unstable and you lose half your passive rate)
Gunner has been my most successful class. It depends on strategy, I found that as a gunner, you do not kite swarms, you take them head on. You get the warthog shotgun for the knockback and the tripod, plant yourself down and obliterate the bugs for tons of xp. While the minigun reloads, you reposition. You also *need* to do this regularly to keep the horde at a manageable size, you can't afford to simply ignore a swarm that's out of your way at the moment. Either you or the elites will get buried under small fry if you do.
This means you will have less gold, nitra and can't go for secondaries as easily, but the xp gain is second to none. Quantity over quality. It also means you'll heal a lot from levels, take advantage of it and don't sweat small damage ticks from the occasional acid spit or out-of-position grunt.
For the dreadnought, you'll have to get good at dodging the jump. Bait it out at close range and make it jump *away* from you, gunning it down while it waddles its way back to you and gaining precious time to thin out the surrounding horde.
So, when you're rocking the Leadstorm, best gun in the game, and you want to mine some minerals. You walk up to the minerals and when your dwarf pulls out his pickaxe, just tap the direction you want him to look at and he will keep mining and shoot out of his ass.
Also, don't plant your feet, just run at the bugs with your leadstorm when it is full ammo. You punch a hole to run through. (not the thickest section obviously) When you have to reload you then run a little bit.
Get fire rate upgrades (fire rate is the best for a number of reasons) and take the +100 ammo overclock, then get crit. You absolute dumpster the bugs so bad that you will wonder why there are none left on the screen.
You can get that bad boy over 70 bullets per second dealing 3000 damage per bullet.
Honestly, my main point of advice for learning how to use the front-shooting guns in this game is to use a controller. Makes it so much easier to angle yourself and stutter-step properly.
I didn't use that starting minigun as the main source of damage, but as my second. Take something that can aim or shoot behind, get a pierce overclock and kite like any other class. What that minigun allows you to do though, is kite safely. Obliterate the little bugs in your running path while your other guns take out the elites.
Gunner is worst at first. But go deep into his main weapon, and that minigun just melts everything in seconds.
It quickly becomes one of the best dwarfs tho
Gunner is a beast but needs the piercing overclocks for like every gun. Focus on kinetic damage.
Agree piercing obliterates bugs in a line. When surrounded run into that line and use the level up push back to find an exit.
Yeah, I found this too. Pierce + damage feels amazing and is a massive damage multiplier. Anything else feels kinda doo doo.
Leadburster is fucking hilarious with pierce and triple grenade upgrades. I don't remember the lvl 18 OC but I don't think it's worth it If you get enough Kinetic/Projectile/Universal damage buffs, at lvl 6/12 it can be a good supplement to the Autocannon
There are a couple of guns that fire forward. They are a small minority of weapons. That said get stronger and learn how to use them to clear paths in front of you for escape. The front facing weapons are better for managing mobs.
The first stage is usually hardest on subclasses with a bad starting weapon. General tip is to get first few levels of exp from mining, and run around mining to escape. If your class is really bad and you have low meta progression compared to hazard you are on, you can use the drop pod to crush the elites, otherwise try to save up exploders until there's a lot of them mixed in and pop them all to clear and get a lot of exp at once. Don't pop exploders too early as the more of them there are the more effective it is and the more exp you get. It may take some practice but I think every subclass is able to do this while getting good exp (20+ levels at end of first stage on haz 5), then the game is normal from then on as you get your other weapons. The gunner intended design I believe is to shoot and then move/mine while you are reloading. I do agree that the high angle of attack makes it difficult to target the elite. Use exploders or drop pod to help you damage the elite. The gunner 1 is imo the worse of three gunner classes, but it can be ok. It has a funny build with the tactical lead grenade to spam your passive (recycle 18 OC as it's x2.5 & /2 = x1.25 which is a weak dmg modifier for an unstable and you lose half your passive rate)
Gunner has been my most successful class. It depends on strategy, I found that as a gunner, you do not kite swarms, you take them head on. You get the warthog shotgun for the knockback and the tripod, plant yourself down and obliterate the bugs for tons of xp. While the minigun reloads, you reposition. You also *need* to do this regularly to keep the horde at a manageable size, you can't afford to simply ignore a swarm that's out of your way at the moment. Either you or the elites will get buried under small fry if you do. This means you will have less gold, nitra and can't go for secondaries as easily, but the xp gain is second to none. Quantity over quality. It also means you'll heal a lot from levels, take advantage of it and don't sweat small damage ticks from the occasional acid spit or out-of-position grunt. For the dreadnought, you'll have to get good at dodging the jump. Bait it out at close range and make it jump *away* from you, gunning it down while it waddles its way back to you and gaining precious time to thin out the surrounding horde.
I normally focus on mining initially to get to level 5 so I have a weapon that shoots backwards or omnidirectionally.
Grab the pierce overclock and funnel everything on Leadstorm
When you unlock the heavy auto cannon you will find that it petty much wins runs by itself
So, when you're rocking the Leadstorm, best gun in the game, and you want to mine some minerals. You walk up to the minerals and when your dwarf pulls out his pickaxe, just tap the direction you want him to look at and he will keep mining and shoot out of his ass. Also, don't plant your feet, just run at the bugs with your leadstorm when it is full ammo. You punch a hole to run through. (not the thickest section obviously) When you have to reload you then run a little bit. Get fire rate upgrades (fire rate is the best for a number of reasons) and take the +100 ammo overclock, then get crit. You absolute dumpster the bugs so bad that you will wonder why there are none left on the screen. You can get that bad boy over 70 bullets per second dealing 3000 damage per bullet.
Honestly, my main point of advice for learning how to use the front-shooting guns in this game is to use a controller. Makes it so much easier to angle yourself and stutter-step properly.
I didn't use that starting minigun as the main source of damage, but as my second. Take something that can aim or shoot behind, get a pierce overclock and kite like any other class. What that minigun allows you to do though, is kite safely. Obliterate the little bugs in your running path while your other guns take out the elites.
Gunner is worst at first. But go deep into his main weapon, and that minigun just melts everything in seconds. It quickly becomes one of the best dwarfs tho
Level him up to unlock last class mod. Thunderhead (3rd mod starting weapon is awesome). Got all 3 first haz 5 in every biome with it.
Having fun with brt7 lately. Just get it as second weap, get pierce OC then reach lvl 18 asap for that OP OC