Questions about the GUNNER

[N-Sunderland]

Yeah, as a gunner you should never be leaving your gun unless the captain specifically asks you to, or you're switching to another gun. It's generally best to take the Pipe Wrench to get a balance of repairs and rebuilds, but I sometimes go for the spanner to get the gun back up quickly and at least have some limited firing ability before an engineer fixes it. This works best on the Goldfish, since there should be an engineer available to help most of the time.

[RearAdmiralZill]

what about playing engineer as a gunner?

by that I do not mean pretending to be something you're not, but how do you guys tackle repairs as a gunner? do you just try to stick to maintaining guns, or only repairing when prompted by captain? which repair tool do you bring? (I can only assume spanner or pipe wrench)

I'd like to play a dedicated gunner but my gut always forces me to tend toward minding my ship, I get the sense that a little bit of self restraint is necessary, and its certainly evident in the number of newer gunners I've seen banging away on the armor at the same time as their engineer buddy(ies).

As a gunner, your job is to keep a gun firing on the enemy. It took me ages to get it in my head. I bring a pipe wrench and repair my own gun during reload. If the captain says so, Ill repair something that he dictates. The only time I leave a gun to repair something nearby is when I have no firing arc. And i say nearby because you want to get right back on that gun when arc does get there.

[Helmic]

Nothing is more infuriating than a gunner that misses a chance to kill the other ship because he wanted to help whack something that the engineer was already whacking, or worse yet man a gun that isn't facing the enemy in a vain attempt to get an achievement.  It's acceptable to whack something nearby in between Manticore volleys but your team cannot win if it doesn't keep up its DPS.  The other ship WILL damage your ship faster than you can repair it, your job is to make sure you're doing the same to them and doing it faster.  Have faith in your teammates, they'll let you know when you're needed to go into turtle mode.

It's actually why I feel a little insulted when the captain goes engineer when there's already two competent engineers, it's like they're implying you're incompetent and can't be trusted to do your own job, that you must suck so much that it's worth not being able to dodge well just to redundantly whack a part while having the ship travel in a straight line with its engines exposed.

[Pickle]

It's acceptable to whack something nearby in between Manticore volleys

Even with a Manticore, a Gunner should stay on his gun during the entire reloading sequence.  If he's not using Heavy Clip on the Manticore he's wasting 2/3rds of the volley at medium/long range, if he's not using Burst at close range he's not doing maximum damage.  If he's not on the gun during reloading it will default to standard damage with no ammunition - unless he manages to time his dash to whack something, get back on the gun and press the hot key for his chosen ammunition all before the loading sequence ends.


There are ships where the Gunner has a bigger engineering role, the best example I can think of being the Junker.  The Gunner on a Junker is relatively isolated on the lower deck and must be prepared to fix his own guns during combat phases and the main engine during recovery phases.

[Meneldour]

...
- unless he manages to time his dash to whack something, get back on the gun and press the hot key for his chosen ammunition all before the loading sequence ends.
...

I honestly thought of this a a standard procedure, with the long reload time I consider it a waste of time, just watching it reload. Quick return is a must though (obv).

[N-Sunderland]

I honestly thought of this a a standard procedure, with the long reload time I consider it a waste of time, just watching it reload. Quick return is a must though (obv).

The only ship where I could see this happening would be on the Galleon, in order to repair your other gun.

[Meneldour]

I honestly thought of this a a standard procedure, with the long reload time I consider it a waste of time, just watching it reload. Quick return is a must though (obv).

The only ship where I could see this happening would be on the Galleon, in order to repair your other gun.

Well what I meant was, that on low-speed-reload guns there's no reason not to do that. Usually even a hit with a hammer/mallet helps with repairing your gun so it's more effective during the next round. As an example we could you the usual noob friendly hwacha goldfish. Between the rounds, you can easily repair a baloon, side gun or the front gun instead of just sitting there.

[N-Sunderland]

I honestly thought of this a a standard procedure, with the long reload time I consider it a waste of time, just watching it reload. Quick return is a must though (obv).

The only ship where I could see this happening would be on the Galleon, in order to repair your other gun.

Well what I meant was, that on low-speed-reload guns there's no reason not to do that. Usually even a hit with a hammer/mallet helps with repairing your gun so it's more effective during the next round. As an example we could you the usual noob friendly hwacha goldfish. Between the rounds, you can easily repair a baloon, side gun or the front gun instead of just sitting there.

But on the Goldfish you already have two engineers repairing things. If the gunner needs to go repair the balloons, the engines, or even a side gun, then the engineers probably aren't doing their job properly. If the ship is falling apart all over, though, the captain might want you helping out with the engines or something.

[Pickle]

A N-S has said, the Goldfish is the ship you're least likely to switch to repair mode whilst the Hwacha reloads.  I prefer one Gunner on a Goldsfish and he stays on the gun at all times, unless the ship has no maneouvering engines - in which case his gun is highly unlikely to be able to bear unless he helps out fixing them.  With two Engineers, plus the Pilot able to run back to the Balloon, the Gunner shouldn't have to concern himself much with fixing.  I even prefer the Gunner to *not* use the side mounts and to leave them for an Engineer to cover.

[Meneldour]

This might be caused by my lack of experience, but I still don't see any downside for using the reload time to do something else.

Well, let's leave it at that and not spam the thread more with semi-OT discussion.

[N-Sunderland]

Well, let's leave it at that and not spam the thread more with semi-OT discussion.

That's a very good attitude to have

[Helmic]

It's not OT, it's fairly relevant to the discussion.  The reload time gives you more than enough time to get at least one repair mallet in or two spanner whacks before heading back to your seat and either keeping your current ammo or switching to the other type, and you can often get more than that if your gun is at all damaged as the reload takes even longer than normal (just remember to repair it first before running off and remember it'll start to reload faster).  I do it regularly without fail and it's a skill that I think all gunners should try to learn, the more pressure you take off your engineers the less likely they'll be coming to whack something just for the hull to spontaneously implode.  If you're the only one on the bottom deck of a Galleon, in fact, you can shoot BOTH guns while having them loaded with special ammo at full HP and full reload speed by just running as soon as the firing animation ends.

[Meneldour]

Well put, that's what I've been trying to say (did not have time to write it down completely though, can't slack that much at my job, heh)!

[HamsterIV]

Have faith in your teammates, they'll let you know when you're needed to go into turtle mode.

That is a little much to ask for some times. I don't go gunner class because I have so little faith in some of the crews I fly with. A good engineer can make up for a bad pilot or a bad gunner, a good pilot can make up for a bad gunner (point blank engagement FTW), but a good gunner needs a good pilot and a good engineer or else they are quite ineffective.

[Shinkurex]

I actually disagree to the gunner needing both.... a good pilot and a good gunner can win with just the AI engies.... now it's more difficult granted, but still pretty effective