The Fanatical Swordsman

LAST UPDATE: Update 1.1.5

This is a PvP build for the Gunslinger. This will mainly utilize the Sharpshooter specialization, but also has some balance involved.

This build is mainly conjecture from the perspective of what worked in Beta in PvP. This build will more than likely change, and I will put up more builds as I experiment more. This is just a taste of what is to come.

Note: This build was created with the Darth Hater Talent Calculator. The link to view this build is here. Numbers have been left out of my discussion, as values may change in patches before launch. The idea of each ability is usually more important than the qualitative numbers associated with it.

Class: Gunslinger
Primary Focus: Sharpshooter
Secondary Focus: Balanced between Dirty Fighting and Saboteur
Purpose: PvP
Goal: This build is about getting in cover, making people mad because they keep dying, then when they actually finally come after you, getting the heck out of Dodge to continue your sniping.

LAST UPDATE: Update 1.1.5

All points allocated are the maximum allowed for each ability, unless otherwise noted.

Sharpshooter (29)

Cover Screen (2/2) – Gives a ranged-defense buff to you when you exit cover. This is especially important for combat vs. bounty hunters and agents.

Steady Shots (2/2) – Increases the damage of Charged Burst, Speed Shot, and Wounding Shot. You will use these skills a lot, so any straight up damage boost is good.

Sharpshooter (3/3) – Increases accuracy, which unless you are capped in accuracy, means more DPS. Getting off those skills and missing is annoying in PvP, because that can sometimes tip the battle.

Percussive Shot (1/1) – A must have, this skill adds knockback to Aimed Shot (big sniper-shot) when used within 10m. This distance is the approximate distance of “Oh crap, that Sith Marauder is RIGHT on top of me.” This skill puts them back at range, a very good thing for you.

Ballistic Dampers (2/2) – This grants 3 charges of a damage-eliminating shield upon entering Cover, which means that you will take less damage. Good thing in PvP. I have developed a PvP strategy called the Dampers Defense (which works well in solo PvE situations as well) that uses this ability extensively.

Sharp Aim (2/2)  – Aimed Shot ignores some of your enemies’ armor, which means your hard hits hit harder.

Trip Shot (2/2) – Reduces cooldown of Trip Shot, which is our main slow. This skill kept a Sith Marauder at distance when I was trying PvP, and it was probably what helped me beat him.

Snap Shot (2/2) – Entering cover has a chance to make Charged Burst able to be activated instantly, which means Cover = instant damage to your enemy.

Diversion (1/1) – Reduces accuracy of the target and pops them out of Cover. This will be great against Imperial Snipers, and they will probably use it on you too. The best thing is it reduces accuracy, so 1v1s will be helped greatly with this.

Quick Aim (2/2) – On crits, Charged Burst and Speed Shot reduce your next Aimed Shot’s activation time. This means faster deliverance of death.

Slick Shooter (2/2) – Increases critical hit chance of Charged Burst, Speed Shot, and Trickshot.

Spacer (0/2) – Increases knockback distance of Pulse Detonator, which is good, but you will have other options, so this is expendable. It also reduces cooldown of XS Flyby, which I don’t know how useful will be in PvP, so I don’t have this ability selected, but I will see if it is worth it at some point.

Burst Volley (3/3) – Aimed Shot has a chance of giving a buff to Alacrity, and subsequent uses of Charged Burst apply another stack to this buff, up to 3 times. Basically, the more they let you hit them, the more dangerous you become.

Foxhole (0/1) – Increases energy regeneration by 1 per second while in Cover. Depending on my energy consumption, I may swap this in at some point, but for now I have left it out.

Recoil Control (2/2) – Reduces energy consumption and cooldown of Trickshot, a key skill.

Trickshot (1/1)  – Gives a high-DPS skill that is only usable within  4.5 seconds of Charged Burst or Aimed Shot.

Lay Low (0/2) – Reduces cooldown of Hunker Down and XS Freighter Flyby. Tempting, because Hunker Down grants immunity to CC effects for a while, but I don’t have it slotted at the moment.

Deadeye (2/5) – Increases critical damage from Speed Shot, Quickdraw, and Trickshot. For this build, I have it at 2/5, but it is a neat ability, and I may tinker with more points here later. The extra crit damage is not worth functionality in other ways to help PvP. For a PvE build, I would have this at 5/5.

Rapid Fire (0/1) – Since this build only has 29 points in the Sharpshooter tree, this Tier 7 ability isn’t able to be selected, but it grants a skill that immediately ends the cooldown on Speed Shot and makes the next Speed Shot have no cooldown. More tinkering with this tree later will see if this skill is worth it.

Dirty Fighting tree (7)

Black Market Mods (2/2) – Increases Alacrity, which means faster DPS and less time for your enemy to see you behind Cover and ready to kill them.

No Holds Barred (3/3) – Regardless of your build, this is a great ability, as it increases crit chance. This is especially good for us since we have a few abilities in the Sharpshooter tree that require crits to proc.

Dirty Escape (2/2) – This ability reduces the cooldown on Dirty Kick and gives a run speed buff following Dirty Kick. This is a great escape skill for when that guy just keeps coming to get you out of Cover.

Flash Powder (0/2) – This is a very tempting ability, which I don’t have selected. This reduces the accuracy all targets affected by Flash Grenade for a while after the daze ends. This would be very nice in PvP, but its use is diminished by enemies that are more spread out.

Saboteur (5)

Saboteur’s Utility Belt (2/2) – Reduces cooldown of Flash Grenade and Thermal Grenade. Normally I wouldn’t suggest lowering cooldowns on AoE skills in PvP, but having Flash Grenade available more often means that you have a great instant CC ability to help you escape when someone tracks you down in Cover.

Streetwise (3/3) – This ability increases Cunning by a percentage. This is never a bad thing, and I would recommend this ability, regardless of the build, PvP or PvE.

Cool Under Pressure (0/2)  – This is tempting, because it is a self heal, but because it only is useful when you have your Cool Head cooldown up, I don’t recommend it for this build.

Hot Pursuit (0/2) – This is another ability I would love to have, but don’t have the points for. This grants a chance for Charged Burst to be able to be used out of Cover for a short period after exiting Cover.

Underworld Hardships (0/2) – This increases Endurance by a percentage, which if I had the points, would be great. However, because your main job is to kill or run, health is less of a concern. You want the enemy to be hitting you as little as possible, so you will rely more on CC, slows, and knockbacks to get the enemy away or to give you time to run.

Last Updated: 1/11/12

Be sure to check out the Gunslinger/Sniper Advanced Class Guide.

For past builds, see the following links:

Saboteur

Survival Gunslinger

Sharpshooter

Leveling Sharpshooter/Saboteur

Sustained Gunslinger

Focused Sharpshooter

On-the-run Sharpshooter

Dirty Fighting

DoTs and Bleeds Gunslinger