Gunslinger Handbook: PF2 Class Guide – RPGBOT (2024)

Introduction

The Gunslinger is a weird, complicated class. It’s a martial Striker whichcan branch out as a Face and Scout depending on your skills. But if you lookat the Gunslinger and think “this is a fighter with guns (or crossbows,technically)”, you’re missing a lot of what makes the Gunslinger special.

The fundamental difficulty with using Firearms, much like crossbows, is thatit costs actions to reload them. The Gunslinger goes to absurd lengths toStretch the action economy (and the hand economy in some cases) in order tomake firearms as effective as using a bow. Gunslingers will frequently haveturns where they do 5 or more Actions worth of things. Several of those thingsare reloading, but it’s still pretty cool.

Between the diversity of firearms and the four subclasses published in Gunsand Gears (5 if you count the Spellshot archetype), there are enough optionsto cater to a wide variety of gunslinger concepts and builds, and there isplenty of room to experiment with different weapons as your characteradvances.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Gunslinger Class Features
• Subclasses – Gunslinger’s Way
• Ability Scores
  • Conventional All-Dexterity
  • Drifter, Vanguard, and Kickback Weapon Enthusiasts
• Ancestries
• Backgrounds
• Skills and Skill Feats
  • General Skill Feats
• Feats
  • Gunslinger Feats
    • 1st Level
    • 2nd Level
    • 4th Level
    • 6th Level
    • 8th Level
    • 10th Level
    • 12th Level
    • 14th Level
    • 16th Level
    • 18th Level
    • 20th Level
  • General Feats
• Weapons
  • Way of the Drifter Weapons
  • Way of the Pistolero Weapons
  • Way of the Sniper Weapons
  • Way of the Vanguard Weapons
• Armor
• Archetypes

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

Gunslinger Class Features

Key Ability: Dexterity.

Hit Points: 8+ hit points is plenty for aback-line Striker like the Gunslinger. You won’t hold up if enemies focustheir attacks on you, but at least you’re not running 6+ hit points like awizard.

Initial Proficiencies: Gunslingers areoffense-heavy, but with only light armor, 8+ hit points, and poor Will saves,they’re vulnerable both to focused attacks and to many spells.

• Perception: Among the best progressions inthe game, though a few classes like the Ranger and the Rogue hit proficiencyadvances earlier than the Gunslinger.
• Saving Throws: Roughly average Fortitudesaves, really good Reflex saves (not quite as good as the Rogue), and amongthe worst Will save progressions in the game. Don’t neglect your Wisdom.
• Skills: A total of 4+Int Trained skillsat level 1, which is average.
• Attacks: You match the Fighter for thebest weapon proficiency progression in the game, though only for firearmsand crossbows. You even get Advanced firearms and crossbows, but theproficiency progression is one step behind Simple/Martial firearms andcrossbows. Proficiency with other weapons is also one step behind firearms,and the Singular Expertise feature prevents you from changing that.
• Defenses: Light armor and medium, butthe Gunslinger is totally dependent on Dexterity, so light armor is yourbest option. Your proficiency progression is typical for most non-tankyclasses.
• Class DC: The Gungslinger’s class DC is used for very featthings, but the Critical Specialization Effect for firearms calls for aFortitude save and gives the target Stunned 1 if they fail, which is reallygood. Crossbows don’t care about your class DC.

Gunslinger’s Way: Subclasses – Gunslinger’s Way, below.

Gunslinger Feats: See Gunslinger feats, below.

Singular Expertise: Your non-firearm andnon-crossbow weapons are always one step behind your firearms and crossbows.That’s not a problem for many gunslingers, but it’s a problem for difters andfor some vanugards. You get a very modest +1 circ*mstance bonus to damage, butcirc*mstance bonuses are common and the bonus doesn’t scale.

Skill Feats: Standard for everyone except the Rogue.

General Feats: Standard.

Skill Increases: Standard for everyone except the Rogue.

Stubborn: More Will saves and a secondattempt to resist Control effects like the spell Dominate.

Ability Boosts: Standard.

Ancestry Feats: Standard.

Gunslinger Weapon Mastery: Master at level 5is really good, and you get critical specialization effects for firearms andcrossbows, so you’re both more likely to score a crit and you get morebenefits for doing so.

Vigilant Senses: The Gunslinger’s Perceptionprogression is excellent. More is always great.

Weapon Specialization: More damage on weaponattacks, and since your proficiency is already Expert or Master with weaponsthat gunslingers care about, you’re getting a better damage bonus than mostclasses.

Advanced Deed: Varies by subclass.

Gunslinger Expertise: More class DC.

Evasion: Reflex saves are the most commontype of “Basic Save”, and often Basic Saves are the ones where the differencebetween a Success and a Critical Success is the most significant. This willprotect from a lot of damage from area effects like fireballs and breathweapons.

Gunslinging Legend: Legendary at level13.

Medium Armor Expertise: More AC is alwayswelcome.

Greater Deed: Varies by subclass.

Greater Weapon Specialization: You’reLegendary or Master in the weapons which you care about the most, so this is abig damage boost.

Juggernaut: Better saves are alwaysgreat.

Shootist’s Edge: More class DC, and you canattack at much longer range than normal before you need to worry aboutpenalties.

Incredible Senses: Legendary in Perceptionfeels really good, and you’ll use it almost constantly.

Medium Armor Mastery: More AC is alwaysgreat. You get this a few levels behind martial classes like the Champion andthe Fighter, but you also need it less than they do.

Subclasses – Gunslinger’s Way

Way of the Drifter^GaG

Drifters are built to fight in or near melee using a melee weapon in one handand a firearm in the other, most commonly a rapier and a pistol of some sort.

Get a pair of Blazons of Shared Power as soon as fundamental runes become anoption. You’re going to use two weapons (sword and pistol, etc.) andenchanting both is prohibitively expensive compared to Blazons of SharedPower.

Because the Drifter and the Vanguard are both built for melee, it’s easy todraw comparisons between the two. Drifters use two separate one-handed weaponsand generally focus more on damage output, while vanguards use two-handedweapons and are typically more durable.

• Slinger’s Reload: Reloading Strike:Unfortunately, this doesn’t remove the Manipulate trait from the Reloadaction, so if you’re in an enemy’s reach you may provoke Reactions. Thatmakes this difficult to use safely unless you’re using a reach weapon like awhip or a gnome flickmace. If you can manage to use this safely, you caneasily switch between melee and ranged attacks, using Reloading Strike whilein melee to reload your firearm before moving out of melee to get back toshooting.
• Deeds:
  • Initial Deed: Into the Fray: As manyas three free Actions whenever you roll initiative. It won’t matterbeyond your first turn, but it also means that your first turn can besomething more interesting than drawing weapons and getting intomelee.
  • Advanced Deed: Finish the Job: You’regoing to miss with attacks. It’s just a reality of the game. This takessome of the sting out of missing, especially if your first attack in aturn misses despite not having a Multiple Attack Penalty.
  • Greater Deed: Drifter’s Wake: Thefree Stride is nice, and I love that you can attack at any point duringthe Stride, but there are some frustrating limitations due toammunition. First, you have no way to reload during all of this. If youstarted your turn without your crossbow/firearm loaded, you’re down tojust melee attacks. Even if you were already loaded, most likely you’reonly going to make one ranged attack. Your best bet is to use your oneloaded shot, use the Stride to move so that you’re flanking, make yourtwo remaining Strikes with your melee weapoon. You might use yourremaining movement to move out of melee reach, or you might stay inplace so that you’re helping an ally flank. On your next turn, reloadyour firearm with Reloading Strike unless you’re happy to make threemelee attacks then Stride away.
• Way Skill: Acrobatics: While notincredibly useful on its own, Acrobatics lets you qualify for Cloud Step andImplausible Infiltration, both of which are spectacular.

Way of the Pistolero^GaG

Simple to play, effective, and perhaps the most iconic version of theGunslinger dating all the way back to its original publication in Pathfinder1. With a small dependence on Charisma, pistoleroes can serve as a Faceoutside of combat, and they have just a splash of debuff options on top oftheir role as a Striker in combat.

• Raconteur’s Reload: Create a Diversion isgreat, but it’s hard to make it work more than once in an encounter unlessthe targets’ Perception DC is absolutely awful. The Confabulator skill will helpwith this, but it’s not infallible. Similarly, Demoralize willonly affect a target once, then they’re totally immune to your Demoralizefor 10 minutes. In lengthy encounters, that means that you either need tochange targets or repeatedly use Create a Diversion and hope for the best.And, to complicate things further, Create a Diversion’s benefits end at theend of your current turn, so you can’t use it to be hidden between turns unlessyou spend another Action to either Hide or Sneak.Either way, this is going to lock you into Deception and/or Intimidation.
• Deeds:
  • Initial Deed: Ten Paces: +2 toinitiative (it’s a Circ*mstance bonus so it doesn’t stack withIncredible Initiative), draw a weapon for free, and Step 10 feet at thebeginning of your turn so you don’t accidentally start in melee.
  • Advanced Deed: Pistolero’s Retort: Afree attack outside of your own turn. Multiple Attack Penalties resetevery turn (not every round) so no matter how many attacks you made onyour turn you can still make this attack if your crossbow/firearm isloaded. Just remember that you need to have your weapon reloaded at theend of your turn, and if you’re attacking melee you might provokereactions from other enemies when you do so.
  • Greater Deed: Grim Swagger: Thisshould be the first thing you do (except for your free Steps from TenPaces) at the beginning of every single encounter. Frightened 2 is ahuge debuff, but you might also cause enemies to spend their first turnFleeing, which puts your party at a massive action economyadvantage.
• Way Skill: Deception or Intimidation: Bothgood Face skills, and you need either or both to make Raconteur’s Reloadwork.

Way of the Sniper^GaG

Where pistoleros are brash, in your face, and use one-handed weapons, theSniper is generally more reserved, fights at longer range, and uses thebiggest two-handed weapon they can manage. Without the reliance onCharimsa-based skills, snipers make excellent Scouts, and in combat they’re apure Striker with few frills.

• Covered Reload: The sniper’s whole deal ishiding and shooting stuff before going right back to hiding. Since reloadingtypically takes an Action, you can Strike, Hide and Reload at the same timeusing Covered Reload, then still have an Action to do something else. Athigher level you’ll frequently use Sniper’s Aim and Vital Shot as your go-toattack options.
• Deeds:
  • Initial Deed: One Shot, One Kill:Draw a weapon and deal a little bit of extra damage on your first Strikein each encounter. Keep in mind that you need to use Stealth forinitiative, so you need to be really consistent about hiding beforecombat starts.
  • Advanced Deed: Vital Shot: Persistentdamage is really good and can add up very quickly, especially since thiscan apply up to 3d6 of it. Most creatures can’t heal themselves tocounteract this, so given enough time this is guaranteed death for mostcreatures. Ideally, you want to spread this around during combat so thatevery enemy worth the time is bleeding.

    To clarify how the damage works here: The amount of bleed damagematches the damage dealt by One Shot, One Kill, so it’s 1d6, 2d6, or3d6 depending on your level. It doesn’t have any actual interactionwith One Shot, One Kill. It just uses the damage progression.

  • Greater Deed: Ghost Shot: CoveredReload allows you to hide and reload with one Action, so hiding usuallydoesn’t cut into your action economy very much unless you’re using aweapon with Capacity (an air repeater, a repeating crossbow, etc.), butthat’s not the entire benefit. Ghost Shot allows you to not give awayyour location, which prevents enemies from moving to where you don’thave cover, and it makes it hard for them to know where to Seek to findyou. You can make multiple shots in quick succession with a Capacityweapon, but even if you just use Ghost Shot, reload load, then use GhostShot again that’s still a good turn.
• Way Skill: Stealth: You’re going to behiding a lot.

Way of the Vanguard^GaG

The Vanguard tries to turn the Gunslinger into a melee-adjacent Defender.While there are some good ideas, the Vanguard doesn’t give the Gunslinger ameaningful reason to be in melee in the first place, and if you’re not inmelee, you’re not using the Vanguard’s features, so why bother being avanguard at all?

• Clear a Path: Using Shove to push anenemy away from you before you reload means that reloading won’t provokeReactions (provided that you successfully Shoved the creature). You get abonus to the Shove if your previous action was a ranged Striked wit hthesame weapon, but that attack likely already triggered Reactions, so thebenefits of the Shove are minor in that case.
• Deeds:
  • Initial Deed: Living Fortification:Great protection if you roll poorly on Initiative. The Mithral Tree is agreat example of a firearm with the Parry trait. Unfortunately, you haveno way to activate this later in combat.
  • Advanced Deed: Spinning Crush:Hillarious, but only situationally useful. Because this will deal lessdamage than a regular Strike with the majority of your weapon options,especially over the course of multiple possible strikes, you generallyonly want to use this when you can affect 3 or more enemies at once.
  • Greater Deed: Siegebreaker: Thisshould become your go-to attack option. The damage is good, the actioneconomy is good, and it makes it hard for enemies to forcibly moveyou.
• Way Skill: Athletics: Necessary for theShove attack made with Clear a Path.

Ability Scores

Conventional All-Dexterity

Str: Dump. If you’re worried about bulk,there are cheap magic items to solve that problem. Avoid Kickback weapons.

Dex: All Dexterity all the time.

Con: Hit points and Fortitude saves.

Int: If you’re dumping Charisma, you canafford a bit of Intelligence for the extra Trained skills.

Wis: Gunslingers get excllent Perception,but with a bit more you can consistently act early in combat in order to getinto an advantageous position.

Cha: Pistoleroes need Charisma to back upDeception and/or Intimidation, but other gunslingers can dump it.

Drifter, Vanguard, and Kickback Weapon Enthusiasts

If you’re going to be swinging a weapon in melee or using a weapon with theKickback property, you need a bit more Strength than a typical gunslinger.

Str: You need 14 for Kickback, 14 if youwant to use Large Bore Modifications, and 18 if you want both. You couldignore that issue if you want to deal with a stabilizer like a bipod, but theAction cost to do so can be a huge nuisance. If you plan to also make meleeattacks (the Drifter and the Vanguard are expected to do so), you’ll want someamount of Strength to make those attacks effective, though you don’t need aton of it if you plan to use a Finesse weapon like a reinforced stock or arapier.

Dex: Still your Key Ability and essentialfor both your AC and your firearm attacks. You may not need to max it out ifyou’re splitting focus between Strength and Dexterity, but you still want ithigh.

Con: More important for close-quartersbuilds than for gunslingers planning to fight from long range.

Int: You may want a bit for skills.

Wis: A bit to pad your Will saves and yourPerception, but you likely can’t afford to invest heavily here.

Cha: Dump.

Ancestries

Catfolk^APG: With boosts to Dexterity and Charisma, the Catfolk makes a naturalpistolero. Unfortunately, the Catfolk’s Ancestry Feats don’t offer any uniquesynergies for the Gunslinger. There’s always the Cat’s Luck feat tree, butotherwise you’ll want Adopted Ancestry or a Versatile Heritage.

Dwarf^CRB: Put your free Boost into Dexterity, make sure you start with 14 Strength,and you’re ready to play a drifter or vanguard. Dwarves get access to theDwarven Scattergun, which is an upgrade from the Blunderbuss. Other gunslingersubclasses are hard to fit due to the Dwarf’s ability boosts. CombiningToughness and Dwarven Stoutness adds a big pile of hit points, which is veryhelpful for gunslingers on the front lines.

Elf^CRB: With high Dexterity but poor Constitution and low ancestry hit points, theElf is a natural sniper. Cavern Elf for Darkvision or Seer Elf for the widerSeek cone are both good Heritage choices. Unfortunately, the Elf’s AncestryFeats won’t do much to help you, so look into Adopted Ancestry or take aVersatile Heritage.

Gnome^CRB: Putting your free Ability Boost into Dexterity gives you perfect abilityscores for a pistolero, but access to the Gnome Flickmace also makes gnomesuniquely appealing as drifters. The Gnome’s Ancestry Feats can get you accessto uncommon weapons like the Gnome Flickmace, a familiar, and a handful ofspells.

Goblin^CRB: The Goblin’s ability boosts are perfect for the Pistolero, and GoblinWeapon Familiarity gets you access to an unusually large number of weapons,including the Dogslicer (useful for drifters), the Flinglenser (effectively aworse blunderbuss), the Goblin Spoon Gun (effectively a Dragon Mouth Pistolwith +10 feet of range and Modular instead of Concussive), and the Big BoomGun (effectively a dueling pistol with better Fatal, worse range, and Modularinstead of Concussive). Even better, you can use Junk Tinker to make them allout of garbage. Take class feats like Munitions Crafter, Alchemical Shot, andShattering Shot, then combine them with the Goblin Ancestry Feat Burn It for adamage boost. Goblin Scuttle can help you get out of melee if you’re not builtfor melee. I would go for Pistolero first, but drifter and sniper would alsowork well.

Halfling^CRB: Halflings get poor ancestry hit points, but that’s easy to offset withToughness, and with boosts in Dexterity and Wisdom and a free boost, it’spretty easy to make any variety of gunslinger work. Distracting Shadows isappealing for snipers so that you can hide behind allies while reloading, butremember that your allies might move, so you may be forced to move, too. Thatstops being a problem once you can get Ceaseless Shadows at high level and youcan just Hide wherever you’re standing. The Halfling Luck feat chain works onbasically any character, but none of the Halfling’s other Ancestry Feats haveany unique synergy for the Gunslinger, so sniper is your best option.

Human^CRB: Two flexible boosts works for any variety of gunslinger. UnconventionalWeaponry can get you access to weapons like the Dwarven Scattergun and theSpoon Gun, and Natural Ambition is always greatThe Half-Orc’s Orc Ferocity and Orc Sight are both good. Youmight also look at Adopted Ancestry or a Versatile Heritage.

Kobold^APG: The Kobold’s Ability Boosts work great for a pistolero, but other thanCringe I don’t think the Kobold has any Ancestry Feats that work for theGunslinger. I would go for the Catfolk or the Halfling first unless you’reabsolutely dead set on playing a kobold.

Orc^APG: The Orc’s Abilty Boosts and Ancestry Feats heavily predispose them tofighting with melee weapons, and while the Drifter does that a bit, yourreally need to be Dexterity-based unless you just want to be a disappointingFighter.

Ratfolk^APG: Very similar to the Elf with similar options. Like the Elf, the Ratfolk hasfew Ancestry Feats which appeal to the Gunslinger, so consider AdoptedAncestry or a Versatile Heritage.

Tengu^APG: The boosts work for any gunslinger, but there aren’t many feats here.Squawk might be helpful with the Pistolero’s Raconteur’s Reload, but otherwisethere’s nothing particularly useful here.

Backgrounds

You want a background that complements your subclass’s important skills, such as Deception for the Pistolero and Athletics for the Vanguard. You also want boosts to related ability scores and Dexterity, so many of your best background options will have a secondary ability score as the fixed boost, leaving you to put the free boost into Dexterity.

If you’re having trouble deciding, here are some suggestions:

• Criminal (Sniper)
• Gambler (Pistolero)
• Martial Disciple (Vanguard)

Skills and Skill Feats

You get Skill Increases at 3rd and 5th level to raise skills to Expert, increases at 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th level to raise skills to Master, and increases at 15th, 17th, and 19th level to raise skills to Legendary. That means that you can maximize at most three skills, and the rest of your skills might not advance beyond Trained.

You get Skill Feats at even-numbered levels, giving you a total of 10 Skill Feats (and maybe another from your Background) by 20th level. Generally, you want to invest these feats in the same skills which you are choosing to maximize, though in some cases you may want to grab feats from skills which don’t require that you be more than Trained.

• Acrobatics (Dex): While not incrediblyuseful on its own, Acrobatics lets you qualify for Cloud Step andImplausible Infiltration, both of which are spectacular. Snipers may alsoenjoy Kip Up because being prone allows you to Take Cover, so you can easilydrop prone and Kip Up as needed.
• Arcana (Int): You don’t have theIntelligence or spare skills to justify this.
• Athletics (Str): Important for manythings that the Vanguard does, including both grappling and shoving.Consider Assurance, especially if you’re not going to invest heavilyin Strength.
  • Assurance^CRB: Relying on Assurance for your Athletics checks can make them veryreliable and removes the need to invest heavily in Strength, items, etc.to improve your bonus. It also removes the compulsion to fire yourranged weapon in melee to get the Vanguard’s item bonus to thecheck.
  • Titan Wrestler^CRB: Crucial for vanguards beyond low levels so that your subclass doens’t shut down when facing an oversized enemy.
• Crafting (Int): If you’re going to riskmisfiring, you need Crafting to repair your broken weapons. Otherwise, youcan skip this.
• Deception (Cha): Essential forpistoleros, but otherwise you can skip it.
  • Confabulator^CRB: Essential for Pistoleros since you’ll be using Create a Diversion frequently.
  • Lengthy Diversion^CRB: Tempting for pistoleros, but problematic due to the wording of thefeat. The GM gets to determine how long the diversion lasts, which makesthis feat entirely subjective. Your GM could determine that they’re sickof your nonsense and that the Diversion doesn’t last any longer than theminimum (then end of your turn), in which case this is totally uselessin combat.
• Diplomacy (Cha): Pistoleros will haveenough Charisma to make them a Face, but Deception and Intimidation are moreimportant, so prioritize those first.
• Intimidation (Cha): Essential forpistoleros, but otherwise skip it.
  • Intimidating Glare^CRB: The penalty for intimidating creatures that don’t share a languagewith you will get annoying quickly.
  • Terrified Retreat^CRB: A pistolero should expect to Demoralize every enemy creature in everyencounter (unless your allies kill them first), and forcing an enemy tospend a turn fleeing puts your party at a huge advantage in the actioneconomy. It won’t work every time, but it will work often enough tomatter.
• Lore (Int): You don’t have the Intelligenceor spare skills to justify this.
• Medicine (Wis): Many gunslingers havedecent Wisdom, so Medicine is a good skill choice. Gunslingers aren’tabnormally skilled with Medicine, but if no one else in the party has it,you’re a good candidate.
• Nature (Wis): An essential knowledgeskill, and most gunslingers can afford a bit of Wisdom to back it up. Iprobably wouldn’t go past Trained.
• Occultism (Int): You don’t have theIntelligence or spare skills to justify this.
• Performance (Cha): Not particularlyuseful. If you’re eyeing Pistol Phenom you will want this, but otherwiseit’s not worth having.
• Religion (Wis): An essential knowledgeskill, and most gunslingers can afford a bit of Wisdom to back it up. Iprobably wouldn’t go past Trained.
• Society (Int): You don’t have theIntelligence or spare skills to justify this.
• Stealth (Dex): Essential for snipers, butany gunslinger should have enough Dexterity to make Stealth an effectivechoice. Most gunslingers don’t need to maximize it to use in place ofPerception for initiative since the Gunslinger’s Perception progression isso good.
• Survival (Wis): Only rarely useful, butyou might make it Trained if you don’t know what else to take.
• Thievery (Dex): Any gunslinger shouldhave enough Dexterity to make Thievery work, and every party needs someonecapable of handling traps and the like.

General Skill Feats

• Assurance^CRB: Pistoleroes rely heavily on Deception and Intimidation, and vanguardsrely heavily on Athletics. Consider Assurance for those crucial skills.

Feats

Gunslinger Feats

1st Level

• Blast Lock^GaG: This is really cool, but I don’t know why it needs to be a feat. You’realmost certainly dexterous enough to use Theivery, so put a Skill Increaseinto Theivery instead.
• Cover Fire^GaG: A decent counter to enemies attacking at range. If possible, save thisfor a second or third Strike in a round so you’re not giving the target anAC bonus against your most effective attack that turn.
• Crossbow Crack Shot^GaG: A very modest boost to damage, and only after you reload in that sameturn, which makes it exceptionally hard to use this more than once per turn.
• Dual-Weapon Reload^GaG: Basically only useful for Pistolero, but if you want to dual wieldpistols, this is essential.
• Hit the Dirt^GaG: Only works against ranged attacks, but it’s really good. Leap gives you abunch of free movement even if you’re not heavily invested in Athletics,plus the Circ*mstance bonus to AC is good.
• Munitions Crafter^GaG: Basically free ammunition and low-level bombs. Not hugely impactfulunless you also advance your Advanced Alchemy level. But for an alchemist,this is an amazing feat to get via multiclassing.
• Sword and Pistol^GaG: Useful for the Drifter.

2nd Level

• Defensive Armaments^GaG: Great for gunslingers using weapons like the Mithral Tree in closequarters.
• Fake Out^GaG: Great if you’ve invested in making Aid effective. The +1 for success isn’t especially impactful, but you do this as a Reaction, which is a great use for an underutilized resource in your action economy. This isn’t essential by any means, and you might retrain it once you better uses for your Reaction, but it’ll keep you busy almost every round. If you want to lean into this, the Cooperative Soul feat is a must.
• Pistol Twirl^GaG: Only helpful if you have other things that care about the target beingFlat-Footed. Making targets flat-footed reduces their AC by 2, but that’sjust not enough to consume an entire Action unless you get some otherbenefit.

  Also see the Pistol Phenom Dedication feat, which is effectively just abetter version of this.

• Quick Draw^GaG: All four of the published gunslinger subclasses allow you to draw atleast one weapon as a free action when you roll initiative, which means thatthis is only useful if you need to draw a different weapon later in combat.At early levels before fundamental runes become available, you could usethis to rapidly draw and fire weapons without reloading them, but doing soprevents you from using other, often more impactful actions.
• Risky Reload^GaG: Unless you’re facing a crowd of enemies of much lower level and cantherefore guarantee a hit, I wouldn’t risk this. The risk of misfiring yourweapon is simply too high, and the cost of that misfire negates the actionssaved by using the feat. You can combine this with a Gunner’s Bandolier to mitigate the Action cost by switching weapons, but the use case is still unusual and the feat and gold cost to make this work is steep.
• Warning Shot^GaG: Definitely effective, and negating language barriers is nice, butremember that you’ll likely need to spend an Action to reload, so the realcost of this is more likely 2 Actions than 1.

4th Level

• Alchemical Shot^GaG: Neat, and persistent damage is great, but you misfire if you roll afailure, and that feels high risk so you don’t want to throw this around inevery fight. If you do want to use this, it’s clearly intended to workalongside Munitions Crafter so that you have an easy supply of bombs. If youdo make this work well, you could rotate through bomb types and stackpersistent damage effects on a single target over several turns.
• Black Power Boost^GaG: Very cool, but invest skill feats in Athletics to improve your jumpsbefore you consider this.
• Instant Backup^GaG: Only useful if you use an action that causes your weapon to misfire. Eventhen, in most cases you’ll want to quickly fix and reload your firearmbecause you’ll be more effective with it than with your backup weapon. Ifyou do want to use Instant Backup, be sure to get a pair of Blazons ofShared Power to cut the cost of maintaining your second weapon.
• Paired Shots^GaG: If you’re using two pistols or two one-handed crossbows, removing themultiple attack penalty from your second shot is good on its own. Applyingresistances only once to the two attacks is an added benefit. Be sure totake Dual-Weapon Reload so that you can reload after doing this. Of course,at that point you might realize that just using one pistol is much lesseffort and not significantly less effective.
• Running Reload^GaG: Always useful. For ranged builds, step away and reload. For melee builds,move closer to melee and reload. Literally any firearm user can use this togreat effect.

6th Level

• Advanced Shooter^GaG: There are some very interesting advanced firearms and crossbows, and thisboth raises your attack bonus by +2 and improves the damage bonus fromfeatures like Weapon Specialization. If you’re using Advanced weapons, thisis essential.
• Cauterize^GaG: Only situationally useful. Typically having someone in the party trainedin Medicine or who can cast Heal will solve the same problem.
• Drifter’s Juke^GaG: Essential for the Drifter. 4 Actions for the price of 2. Your weaponneeds to be loaded before you use this, but Reloading Strike before or afterDrifter’s Juke will solve that problem nicely, allowing you to make a totalof three Strikes, two Steps, and reload once all in a single turn.
• Munitions Machinist^GaG: If you’re going to use Alchemical Shot, this is essential. Otherwise,this offers inexpensive access to ammunition which might otherwise be tooprohibitively expensive to use on a regular basis.
• Phalanx Breaker^GaG: Only situationally useful. Perhaps the best use for this is to knockenemies out of melee reach of your allies. The additional damage forknocking enemies into a solid object isn’t good enough on its own to justifythe 2-Action cost to use this.
• Pistolero’s Challenge^GaG: Decent, but risky. The scaling damage bonus also applies to you, so youneed to be sure that you’ll hit the target more than they’ll hit you.Hopefully an ally can stand between you and the target to keep them fromattacking you, in which case this is just a damage bonus for you. You wantto make as many attacks as possible as quickly as possible to capitalize onthis, so consider using an air repeater or a double-barelled pistol so thatyou can make multiple attacks in quick succession.
• Scatter Blast^GaG: The increased ranges are great, but this is extremely risky so you can’trisk using it frequently.
• Sniper’s Aim^GaG: Snipers are all about big single strikes. This makes it much easier touse weapons like the Arquebus and the Harmona Gun without dealing with astabilizer or investing in Strength.

8th Level

• Bullet Split^GaG: Very effective, but only situationally useful and it only works for Swordand Pistol builds. If you happen to be the sort of character that can usethis in a situation where this works, this is almost certainly your besttactical option.
• Grit and Tenacity^GaG: Rerolls are excellent, and this lets you reroll your two worst saves witha +2 bonus. Absolutely amazing.
• Leap and Fire^GaG: Very good if you’re facing range opponents, but it’s only usable whenyour weapon is loaded at the end of your turn, which can be difficult topredict.
• Smoke Curtain^GaG: A great way to give yourself and your allies Concealment. Combining thiswith Running Reload is a great way to move around while protected fromattacks. The misfire chance is a problem, but you if you’re worried you canshoot a low AC target like the ground.
• Stab and Blast^GaG: Very effective action economy, and you can potentially reload and do itagain in the same turn. A drifter can use this, reload with Slinger’sReload, then use it again to make a total of 5 strikes in one turn. Makesure that your weapons are Agile.

10th Level

• Called Shot^GaG: Head can cause spellcasters to lose spells, and Wings can bring flyingenemies close to the ground to get them into range of your melee allies. Iprobably wouldn’t both with Arms or Legs unless a critical hit was somewhatlikely, but if you can make it happen Enfeebled 2 for a full minute willreally mess with melee enemies.
• Deflecting Shot^GaG: Extremely effective, but don’t take this if it takes more than one Actionto reload your firearm or you’re giving up most of your next turn to preventone attack or reduce a crit to a regular hit.
• Penetrating Fire^GaG: Very cool, but too situational.
• Precious Munitions^GaG: In most campaigns, enemies which will require this ammunition are rareenough that it’s likely easier to just buy the ammunition you need. Devotingprecious reagents every day to ammunition you might not use is wasteful.
• Rebounding Assault^GaG: Very cool, but you’ll often find that your melee weapon is now sitting onthe ground at your enemy’s feet. The most likely user of this feat is theDrifter, so just use Drifter’s Juke. The extra d6 damage isn’t worth thestress or such a high-level feat.
• Redirecting Shot^GaG: Unless you’re in a large party, you are likely your party’s best rangedattacker. Spending your Reaction to use this and then later spending anAction to reload to replace the shot you fired is likely less impactful thanjust spending that Action to attack on your own.
• Trick Shot^GaG: Too situational and too subject to your GM playing along. There’s only somany times that you can convince your GM that an explosive barrel happens tobe sitting next to your enemies before they get tired of your nonsense. Thisisn’t a video game, and enemies don’t leave bright-red explosive barelsright next to them when fights begin for your convenience.
• Twin Shot Knockdown^GaG: Knocking an enemy prone causes them to fall if they’re flying, and ifthey’re not flying it will likely cost them an Action to stand back up. Butyou need to make two Strikes in a row with the usual Multiple AttackPenalty, so success is certainly not guaranteed.

12th Level

• Blood in the Air^GaG: A useful counter to enemies which you can’t see, this covers hidden,concealed, and invisible enemies. So long as you can damage them once, youcan follow up on previous turns with Blood in the Air and hit them withrelative ease.
• Deadeye^GaG: With no other counter to invisibility, this is helpful unless yourparty’s spellcasters have a good way to reveal invisible enemies to thewhole party. But it’s also somewhat redundant with Blood in the Air, sodon’t take both.
• Flesh Wound^GaG: Nice insurance against high-AC foes, but by this level you should haveseveral feats which offer more impactful Action options, as well Actionsfrom your subclass which will be more impactful.
• Ricochet Shot^GaG: Only situationally useful, and given the choice I would typically ratherdeal with cover and use a more interesting and impactful Action.
• Shattering Shot^GaG: If you’re not using a scatter weapon, this may be your best bet forhandling crowds. The AOE is decent, but since it uses the damage of the bombyou’ll want something high level. I recommend only taking this if you tookMunitions Machinist so that you can produce free bombs.
• Shooter’s Camouflage^GaG: Absolutely crucial for snipers.
• Unshakable Grit^GaG: A significant improvement to Grit and Tenacity, which was already reallygood.

14th Level

• Blast Tackle^GaG (Way of the Vanguard): Veryexciting and very flashy, but it doesn’t prevent your ranged attacks fromprovoking Reactions and it doesn’t make you immune to your own Scatterdamage, so you’re probably using something like a Harmona Gun. The bonusdamage easily offsets the initial Action cost, but you generally want to usethis on enemies that really don’t want to be stuck in melee with you becausemany tough martial enemies have the Opportunity Attack Reaction and will eatyou alive if you try using this.
• Come At Me!^GaG: Focus on one target at a time. Having multiple challenges running addsliability without making you more effective. You’re actively hurtingyourself every time you use this.
• Dance of Thunder^GaG: Don’t use this at the beginning of combat. Being Fatigued isn’t fun, andthe longer combat lasts while you’re fatigued, the more of a problem itbecomes. If you manage to hit with the first shot and therefore get to makeanother three Actions, you’re effectively getting two turns (three if you’relucky).
• Disruptive Blur^GaG (Way of the Drifter): Thisis neat, but it won’t prevent Reactions when you reload or when you make aranged attack.
• Headshot^GaG (Way of the Sniper): Toomany points of failure. You need to score a Critical Hit, which ismathematically unlikely unless you’re fighting enemies that are much lowerlevel. if you do crit, your target still gets a save to resist the effect.That means that this is only useful against lower-level enemies who aren’tstrong enough to justify devoting a class feat to.
• Showstopper^GaG: Feint only benefits you, so to actually make this matter you need toswitch between several targets within one turn, which simply isn’t useful orpractical.
• Two-Weapon Fusillade^GaG: There are two ways to use this. Option one is to use this withsingle-shot weapons. Fire both of them, then likely spend your next twoActions reloading them, almost certainly requiring Dual-Weapon Reload.Option two is to use a weapon that holds multiple shots, most likely an airrepeater or double-barelled pistol, in which case you can use Two-WeaponFusillade up to three times in one turn to make a total of 6 Strikes. Sure,the Multiple Attack Penalty is going to make most of them horrendouslyinaccurate, but how cool does it feel to make six strikes in one turn? Thisfeat feels really cool, but fighting with two pistols is difficult withlittle reward, and this feat doesn’t solve that problem. Combining this withPistolero’s Challenge can help, but you still need to actually hit for thedamage bonus to matter.

16th Level

• Fatal Bullet^GaG: I would only take this if you like to use weapons with big Fatal dicelike the Arquebus, and even then it’s not fantastic. This isn’t a hugeamount of damage (1d12 at most) and it only matters on a critical hit.
• Hair Trigger^GaG: Good on literally every gunslinger.
• Instant Return^GaG: Unless you’re facing a lot of enemy gunslingers, this is too situationalto justify. Also, what about gunpowder? What exactly is propelling this
• Ricochet Master^GaG: To situational on its own, but if you want Ricochet Legend you’ll needit.

18th Level

• Final Shot^GaG: Since you’re Stunned 1 after using this, you’re effectively spending 4Actions to use it to score a critical with better than usual odds. If you’regoing to use this, you need to make it worthwhile. You want to have a bigdamage die and ideally some property runes that will benefit from criticalhits like Flaming or Frost. You might also use ammunition with a specialeffect on a critical hit like a Glue Bullet. This will alos trigger yourweapon’s critical specialization effect, so keep in mind what weapon you’reusing: crossbows will immobilize the target until they spend an Action toEscape, and firearms will force the target to make a save or be Stunned 1,robbing them of an Action on their turn.
• Piercing Critical^GaG: More critical hits is great, but since you can score a critical hit byexceeding the target’s AC by 10, critting on a 19 isn’t as important as itwas in PF1 or as it is in DnD. That means that we need to look at thefundamental math of the game to figure out if this is worth the feat. Bythis level you’re Legendary with firearms, you should have 20 or 22 Dexteritydepending on whether or not you have an “Apex Item”, and you should have +3 weapons, soyour attack bonus is +34 or +35 before considering temporary modifiers. TheGamemastery Guide’s rules for constructing creatures include a table of ACprogressions (table 2-5, page 62) which we can use to do math. An extreme AC fora level 18 creature is 45, which means that we hit on a 10 and a 20 willexceed the target’s AC by 10. That means that for enemies of your level withextreme AC, you’re only scoring a critical hit on a natural 20.By extension, that means that Piercing Critical doubles your likelihood ofscoring a critical hit against those creatures. Such creatures are rare, butif you’re facing higher-level foes, Piercing Critical becomes progressively moreuseful against foes that are higher level than you are.
• Unerring Shot^GaG: Only worthwhile if you find that you’re frequently suffering rangepenalties. If that’s enough of an issue to consider this as your 18th-levelfeat, you should really consider changing weapons. The cover benefit isneat, but I don’t think it’s enough.
• Reach for the Stars^GaG: Hilarious, but by this level magical flight has been available for a longtime. Buy some winged boots or a bunch of potions of flight.

20th Level

• Perfect Readiness^GaG: An extra Action to reload or step gives you a lot of useful tacticaloptions, and potentially improves the number of strikes that you can makeeach turn.
• Ricochet Legend^GaG: Stunned 2 will rob the target of two actions, which gives your party ahuge advantage. You can use this once on each target in each encounter, soyou can rob enemies of a huge number of actions. Unfortunately, the twofeats to get here are costly and not always useful.
• Slinger’s Reflexes^GaG: There are a handful of feats which give you Reactions, and a few of themare decent, but unless you’ve collected those feats over time this may notbe worth the feat. Deflecting Shot is easily the best of them, but with noway to reload between turns you probably can’t use it twice.

General Feats

• Improvised Repair: If you like Gunslinger ClassFeats that have a chance to cause a misfire, this is decent insurance. It’sstill an entire turn worth of Actions, so you want to avoid using it as muchas possible, but sometimes you don’t get a choice.

Weapons

Firearms are stunningly diverse. Even in a game like Pathfinder 2e wherethere is a diverse array of mechanically unique distinct weaponry, firearmsput everything else to shame in terms of diversity, specificty, uniqueness,and versatility. Beast guns, cobbled guns, combination guns. Just the table ofregular firearms is almost as large as the weapons table in the corerulebook.

This section will not cover every firearm available. It can’t, or it will eatthis entire page. Instead, I’ll focus on the most basic go-to options for eachgunslinger subclass. Most players will at least start from those weapons as apoint of reference, and switching to other weapons will be a trade from thestaple weapons described here. I’m also going to assume that you’re using“classic firearms” rather than something more advanced.

Way of the Drifter Weapons

Drifters are built to fight with a melee weapon in one hand and a rangedweapon in the other. You can certainly build around both Strength andDexterity, but there’s little reason to do so. More likely you’ll have asplash of Strength for bonus melee damage, but you’ll otherwise build aroundDexterity. That means finesse weapons.

Because drifters are comfortable in or near melee, range is much less of aconcern. Short-range weapons like dragon mouth pistols work better fordrifters than for pistoleros who typically don’t want to be in melee.

Combination weapons and bayonettes look tempting for drifters, but they’re atrap. Reloading Strike requires separate one-handed weapons. You could try twoone-handed combination weapons, but doing so means that you’re using twoweapons which are both worse and more expensive.

• Double-Barreled Pistol^CRB: Less damage than a typical pistol, but having two barrels means that whenyou’re in melee you can load two barrels by using Reloading Strike twice,then make two shots when you get out of melee.
• Main-Gauche^CRB: Poor damage, but the Parry trait offers a way to boost your AC whenyou’re stuck in melee.
• Rapier^CRB: Deadly d8 is tempting, but your firearm is still your primary weapon.
• Shortsword^CRB: Agile is great since your firearm is your primary weapon. Once you getDrifter’s Juke, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of Agile.
• Whip^CRB: Reach means that you can use this with Reloading Strike without being inyour target’s reach. Drifters don’t get a way to negate opportunity attackswhen you use a ranged weapon in melee, so this makes it easy to use yourfirearm and melee weapon in the same turn.

Way of the Pistolero Weapons

The Pistolero is among the simplest gunslingers. The majority of pistoleroswill use a single one-handed weapon. Some will instead of use two, but doingso is a build on its own.

If you’re using two weapons, you want either a Capacity weapon or an airrepeater. Air repeaters trade low damage for the ability to make 5 attacksbefore needing to reload, which takes 3 Actions and requires free hands, soyou want to avoid it in combat if you can. Capacity weapons take 1 Action tochange barrels, but doing so doesn’t require a free hand, so you can usePaired Shots, then spend some actions to rotate barrels. That all soundsgreat, but then you take Dual-Weapon Reload at level 1 and your capacityweapons are made obsolete by a pair dueling pistols.

• Air Repeater^GaG: Less damage than a dueling pistol, but the ability to make 5 Strikesbefore you need to reload means that you can output damage much faster,especially if you get weapon property runes that add more damage per hit.The three actions to reload are brutal in combat, but you can useRaconteur’s Reload three times in total to reload. You can also get a set ofBlazons of Shared Power, and instead of reloading you can just use anotherrepeater in your other hand, allowing you to make a total of 10 Strikesbefore you reload.
• Clan Pistol^GaG: Trade the Dueling Pistol’s Concealable trait for another 20 ft. ofrange.
• Double-Barreled Pistol^CRB: Less damage than a typical pistol, but having two barrels means that youcan attack multiple times before needing to reload, making reloading a bitmore convenient. You might have turns where you reload several times andturns where you fire multiple times and don’t reload at all.
• Dueling Pistol^GaG: The go-to weapon for the Gunslinger. Concealable, concussive, fatal d10,1d6 base damage, and 60 ft. range is enough to keep you at a verycomfortable distance from your enemies.
• Flintlock Pistol^GaG: Players native to Pathfinder 1st edition likely look first to theFlintlock Pistol, but this is a mistake. Get a dueling pistol instead. Theonly reason for a gunslinger to use a flintlock pistol over a dueling pistolis that you can actually afford two of them at level 1.
• Hand Cannon^GaG: Larger damage die than the Flintlock Pistol, and the Modular trait meansthat it can also deal slashing damage. But a weapon with Concussive isgenerally good enough that you don’t need to worry about damage type. Therange is also poor.
• Hand Crossbow^CRB: As much damage and range as the Dueling Pistol, but you give upConcealable, Concussive, and Fatal d10 for the Hand Crossbow’s relativequietness compared to a firearm.
• Pepperbox^GaG: A trap. Take dual-weapon reload and go for dueling pistols.
• Slide Pistol^GaG: A trap. Take dual-weapon reload and go for dueling pistols.

Way of the Sniper Weapons

Snipers typically make a very small number of high-damage attacks. Therefore,you want the biggest, highest-damage weapon you can get and the longest rangeyou can manage so that you can fight from a comfortable distance withoutworrying about range penalties.

The Sniper’s best weapons have the Kickback trait, so you’ll want to use astabilizer, take the Sniper’s Aim feat at 6th level, or have 14 Strength tonegate the penalty. If you don’t have 14 Strength, a monopod reduces thepenalty from Kickback to -1 without cutting into your action economy at thebeginning of an encounter. A tripod negates the penalty, but takes an action.A shielded tripod lets you Take Cover, so after you spend the Action to set itup you can use Sniper’s Reload to Take Cover behind it and reload in a singleAction.

• Arquebus^GaG: Compared to the Jezail, the Arquebus adds the Kickback property inexchange for another 60 feet of range. While that’s an impressive addition,most encounters won’t make that range difference meaningful, so managingkickback will often be a frustrating allocation of resources and effort forminimal benefit.
• Crossbow^CRB: 30 feet more range than the Jezail, and much quieter than a firearm, butyou do give up both Concussive and Fatal Aim d12, so while a crossbow issubtler than a firearm it’s also less lethal.
• Flintlock Musket^GaG: Probably your starting gun, but you want to upgrade as soon as you canafford to do so.
• Harmona Gun^GaG: The biggest damage die you can get on a firearm and 150 ft. range, butoffset by Kickback. If you got this route, you’re expecting to fight from asfar away as possible and you’re relying on that d10 damage die to do all ofthe work.
• Heavy Crossbow^CRB: Not good enough to justify the 2 Actions to reload it.
• Jezail^GaG: While you can use the Jezail one-handed, snipers generally don’t have areason to do so. If you’re using the Jezail two-handed, it’s a linearupgrade from the Flintlock Musket, improving the damage die by one step,adding 20 feet of range, and increasing the Fatal die size by one step.

Way of the Vanguard Weapons

Vanguards are built to fight in or near melee using a two-handed firearm, andthe Vanguard’s features and feats require Athletics checks, so you need theStrength to back up Athletics. That means that combination weapons and weaponswith Kickback are easier to manage than they are for more gunslingers.

• Arquebus^GaG: Vanguards are typically in the thick of melee, but since you have theStrength to offset Kickback, it’s a straight upgrade compared to theJezail
• Blunderbuss^GaG: Short range, but Scatter makes it easier to handle crowds (though thedamage from Scatter isn’t amazing). Add Large-Bore Modifications when youcan to get more Scatter range.
• Crossbow^CRB: 30 feet more range than the Jezail, and much quieter than a firearm, butyou do give up both Concussive and Fatal Aim d12, so while a crossbow issubtler than a firearm it’s also less lethal.
• Dwarven Scattergun^GaG: 10 feet more range than the Blunderbuss and it adds the Kickback trait.Vanguards have the Strength to negate Kickback, so it’s a minor upgrade. Ifyou hit 18 Strnegth, add Large-Bore Modifications when you can to get moreScatter range.
• Heavy Crossbow^CRB: Not good enough to justify the 2 Actions to reload it.
• Jezail^GaG: While you can use the Jezail one-handed, snipers generally don’t have areason to do so. If you’re using the Jezail two-handed, it’s a linearupgrade from the Flintlock Musket, improving the damage die by one step,adding 20 feet of range, and increasing the Fatal die size by one step.
• Mithral Tree^GaG: The Parry trait is great for the Vanguard, offering a way to boost yourAC while you’re in melee. Grab a Reinforced Stock for melee attacks, andyou’re good to go.
• Reinforced Stock^GaG: This turns any weapon into a combination weapon. The majority of actualcombination weapons which appeal to vanguards will deal more damage (d8),but will have worse firearm damage. Which you prefer depends on how muchtime you expect to spend in melee.

Armor

• Explorer’s Clothing: Once you reach 10thlevel, your Dexterity could reach 20. At that point, Explorer’s Clothingprovides the same AC as Leather Armor, but without a check penalty and withless Bulk. You’ll still want to put runes on it to boost your AC, butransferring runes from your previous armor is easy.
• Leather: Most gunslingers will live inLeather armor until they raise their Dexterity to 20, and even then you onlyneed to change to Explorer’s Clothing if you don’t have 10 Strength.
• Studded Leather: If you start with 16Dexterity, this may be the right choice. You’ll get the same AC as Leatherarmor with 18 Dexterity, and since the Dex cap doesn’t matter beyond yourAC, raising your Dexterity doesn’t mandate changing armor. However, theStrength Threshold is higher than Leather, so if you don’t have 12 Strengthyou might change to Leather once you have 18 Dexterity, provided that youhave 10 Strength to meet Leather’s Strength Threshold.
• Chain Shirt: Noisy.
• Hide / Scale Mail: Fine options if youwant to stop at 14 Dexterity, but there’s little reason to do so.

Archetypes

• Pistol Phenom^GaG: Depends on your ability to make Pistol Twirl worthwile, and you need toinvest in Performance to make the feats work, which is frustrating becausePerformance has such limited uses otherwise. There some okay options forpistoleros, but nothing amazing. The capstone feat is clearly intended fordrifters, but the action economy on the other feats makes it hard to justifythe rest of the archetype.
• Spellshot^GaG (Class Archetype): In a lotof ways this is just another Gunslinger Way, but it does lock you into someclass feats and makes it hard to take other archetypes. Spellshot notablychanges the ability used for your Class DC from Dexterity to Intelligence, which is hard because itmeans that anything relying on your class DC will be worse than normal. The archetype’s feats aren’tso good that they justify the build limitations imposed by thearchetype.