The Gunner is the first unlockable class in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors, and is designed as the DPS class of the game. Here is a guide on how to build him to maximize his potential and shred through swarms and bosses.
Best Gunner Build in Deep Rock Galactic Survivors
Each operator has a role at which they excel, and for the Gunner that is dealing damage. While you can choose the upgrades and weapons to cover up for his weaknesses — those being mining speed, and movement speed — I found he thrives when you double down on his strengths (DPS and armor). That is why this build is oriented towards increasing his overall damage, farming XP from swarms and creating gaps to escape through the enemies instead of through the walls.
Best Class Mod for the Gunner in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors
All class mods are useful, depending on the type of run you want to make and your preferred playstyle. But I found theJuggernautto be the strongest overall, and my favorite to play. This is because although it receives a debuff in weapon range, the Gunner already works best when in close contact with the swarms; and in exchange, the Juggernaut receives a +10 to Armor and +50 to HP, which allows you to walk through swarms, if needed, andfarm that extra XP in the early stagesof the level.
This class mod is harder to use at the beginning because the starter weapon, the “Bulldog” Heavy Revolver, can be slow and underwhelming when surrounded by many enemies. But you’re able to level up the Gunner quickly, and soon you’ll be able to add more weapons to your loadout.
Related:Deep Rock Galactic Survivor: Engineer Total Turret build guide
Best Weapons for the Gunner in Deep Rock Galactic Survivors
you may’t change your weapons later in the run, so if you don’t get the weapons you want, I advise you to spend on re-rolls until you have better options available.
You’ll want to get the Gunner to rank 12 as soon as possible to unlock one of his best weapons—the"Thunderhead" Heavy Autocannon, which deals superb damage and gives a small knock back to enemies (including mini bosses). Once you unlock the Heavy Gunner Class Mod, this will be your starting weapon.
I always get theIncendiary Grenadeafter seeing how much damage it dealt after an entire run.
Other weapons that pair well with the Thunderhead are the"Stubby" Voltaic SMGfrom the Engineer Class, that shoots fast electric bullets in close distance, and theSubata 120from the Driller, which shoots behind you and covers your only blind spot when you are kiting a Boss or a Swarm.
Finally, the Drak-25 Plasma Carbine — unlocked by the Scout at level 21 but available also for the Gunner — is the best DPS gun since the plasma bullets ricochet against the walls.
Best Overclocks for the Gunner in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors
This build is focused on Status Effect damage, which means is always best to choose an Overclock that turns your damage into Fire or Electric. For the"Lead Storm" Powered Minigun, for example, you should choose thePan Fried ShellsOverclock at level 6, 12, or 18.
Best Upgrades for the Gunner in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors
Any upgrade that increases raw damage orStatus Effect damageis priority for this build. However, if you don’t want to spend gold re-rolling the upgrades, you can grab a few upgrades on Armour and Movement Speed as well. Remember weapons get their overclocks at level 6, 12, and 18, so it is useful to bring the Lead Storm Powered Minigun and the Thunderhead Heavy Autocannon to those levels as quick as possible.
Best Artifacts for the Gunner in Deep Rock Galactic Survivors
Although there are some artifacts that are great on their own (like theBLT Ration Packwhich gives you +70 Max HP, and a useful +2 Life Regen, or theRed Sugar Cubewhich allows you to increase your Max HP by 2 every time you heal up), it is best to pick artifacts that have synergy with each other.
For example, you can combine theNitra Scanner(gives a small chance to find Nitra when mining any rock) with theNitragenic Powder(Increases your critical chance by 0.5% for every Nitra you have) and thePickled Nitra(Increases your damage 2% and decreases your move speed 0.5% for every Nitra you have).
Or pick theGold Scanner(small chance to find Gold when mining any kind of rock) and theGold-Tipped Bullets(Increase your damage done by 1% for every 5 Gold you have).
Finally, a strong combination is thePopup Tripod(increases your fire rate +2% and reload speed +2% while standing still. Lasts for 2s, stacks up to 10 times), with theBarley Bulb Juice(gives you a temporary movespeed buff when standing still of +5% Movespeed for 3 seconds, up to 5 stacks) and theAmmo Rig(+50% Fire Rate, -15% Move Speed).
Related:Latest Deep Rock Galactic Survivor Patch Notes 0.2.146d Update – February 2024
How to play the Gunner in Deep Rock Galactic Survivors
In the early stages, you want to get that sweet XP from the easy enemies by farming the swarms, and delay killing the Stage boss until you’ve collected enough Gold, Nitra, and completed your level objectives.
If you are looking for more onDeep Rock Galactic: Survivors, checkHow to unlock all characters in Deep Rock Galactic SurvivorandDeep Rock Galactic Survivors Tips and Trickshere on Pro Game Guides.
