Gunner
Bullet Hell Build
Bullet Hell does justice to it’s name, the bugs will be feel like they are in hell when on the receiving end of this minigun. Keep your heat above 50% on the minigun to continuously apply additional Fire damage to every bug, and to keep the bullets flying. With Bullet Hell, Blowthrough rounds and Hot Bullets, no swarm of bugs will be of threat to you or your fellow dwarves. This build is very capable to perform in solo missions, and is a welcomed asset to any group missions as well. Use your revolver after an enemy is burning to take advantage of that 300% increase in damage, or to deal with far away targets before they get close. The Incendiary Grenade can be swapped out for Sticky Grenades based on preference, keeping with the theme of this build, I chose to stay with Incendiary to apply burn damage to a large horde of enemies, or a Praetorian instantly, without needing to wait for the heat buildup on the minigun.
If you prefer a more generalist take on the minigun that focuses on it’s accuracy and overall effectiveness, check out the A Little More Oomph! build here.
Weapons
“Lead Storm” Powered Minigun
T1C – 
Improved Platform Stability (-75% Base Spread)
T2B – 
High Velocity Rounds (+2 Damage)
T3C – 
Blowthrough Rounds (+1 Penetration)
T4B – 
Lighter Barrel Assembly (-0.4sec Spinup Speed)
T5C – 
Hot Bullets (When over 50% heat, bullets now deal 15 Fire Damage)
Bullet Hell (75% chance for bullets to ricochet into enemies from terrain or other enemies within 6m, -3 Damage, +500% Spread)
A fire element build focused on burning bugs and pumping as many bullets as possible into them. T5C adds our fire damage to every shot when the minigun reaches 50% or more heat. Bullet Hell overclock makes 75% of our bullets ricochet into an additional enemy, whether it be off walls or off other enemies. This does come at a pretty big cost with a reduction in damage and a huge spread increase (500%!). Thankfully, we can mitigate this absurd spread increase by taking T1C, which changes a 500% increase to only 50%. Additionally, T2B helps with overall damage. T3C is an important part of this build, it allows bullets to penetrate 1 target, this effectively doubles our damage with Bullet Hell as that bullet also has a 75% chance to ricochet again. This build will shred thought swarms of grunts with ease.
“Bulldog” Heavy Revolver
T1B – 
Perfect Weight Balance (-70% Base Spread)
T2A – 
Increase Caliber Rounds (+10 Damage)
T3C – 
Hollow-Point Bullets (+35% Weakpoint Damage)
T4A – 
Expanded Ammo Bags (+12 Max Ammo)
T5B – 
Neurotoxin Coating (50% Chance to inflict Neurotoxin damage dealing 12 Poison damage per second for 10sec)
Volatile Bullets (+300% Damage to burning enemies, Extends burn duration, -10 Direct Damage)
Building on our fire damage focused build, Volatile Bullets makes the most sense with a 300% increase in damage to burning enemies. The best ways to get this burning effect applied is with our Minigun or Grenade, in either case, applying burning effects to larger enemies like Praetorian or Oppressors, and swapping to the revolver to finish them off will be the best tactic.
Equipment
Shield Generator
T1B – 
Improved Projector (+0.5 Shield Radius)
T2B- 
Larger Capacitors (+1.5sec Shield Duration)
T3C – 
Improved Efficiency (+1.5sec Duration)
Increase the area the shield can protect and increase how long it will last. This definitely helps with getting a tight revive on a fellow dwarf, or just taking a breather as you reload your weapon in safety. When playing in a group setting, definitely take Field Medic as it pairs greatly with your shield to get revives safely and efficiently.
Zipline Launcher
T1B – 
Upgraded Connection Joint (+6 Angle Degree)
T2A – 
Reinforced Cable (+10m Range)
T3B – 
Increase Motor Traction (+75 Movement Speed on zipline)
Best overall Zipline for general use. Increase the angle it can be used, increase the distance that you can shoot it, and increase how fast you are while using it.
Barracuda Armor Rig
T1A – 
Improved Generator (-1 Second Shield Recharge Delay)
T2B – 
Healthy (+20 Max Health)
T3A – 
Reactive Armor (+50% Explosion Resistance)
T4C – 
Breathing Room (+3 Second Revive Invulnerability)
Armor is pretty flexible in perk choice, I enjoyed the following perk combination. It will always be more beneficial to take T2B (Healthy) for the increase in health, rather then shield, which only gives +5. Shield also regenerates, while health does not unless you gather red sugar or a re-supply pod. I also found T4C to be helpful especially on harder difficulties were you might be revived in the middle of a horde of enemies, the extra seconds in invulnerability will really help to get to a safe distance to re-group.
Incendiary Grenade
The Incendiary grenade is a quick and easy way to applying burning stack to enemies to deal with a horde, or a large target to then use our revolver on. We can only carry 4 of them in total, so use them wisely.
Passive Perks
Thorns
Resupplier
Elemental Insulation
Deep Pockets
Thorns : A very reliable perk to have, depending on the build for the Gunner. It is capable of killing small enemies instantly after they hit us. It helps the overall crowd control capabilities. Definitely worth grabbing depending on the build.
Resupplier : Another great perk that I recommend across all classes. If resupplying 50% faster wasn’t good enough to have in a pinch, gaining 25% more health each time is just the cherry on top. One of the best passive perks to have in my opinion.
Elemental Insulation : An optional choice, but a relatively strong one depending on the cave biome you’re in. Take 30% less damage from all elemental sources. This includes; Fire/Frost/Electricity/Poison/Radiation/Heat and Cold.
Deep Pockets : Another optional choice for the Gunner, this is more a quality of life perk choice, it allows you to hold +15 more minerals of each type. This can be particularly helpful when gathering resources from hard to reach places, and in general limit the amount of trips needed to deposit them. This especially shines in any mission that do not have Molly.
Active Perks
Heightened Senses
Field Medic
Iron Will
Dash
Heightened Senses: Based on personal preference. If you play solo, you can rely on Bosco to help you out from being grabbed, usually by a cave leach. For group games, as a Scout who is usually ahead of the group, or in hard to reach places, it can be useful to have an emergency safety button to escape bring grabbed from something that would otherwise kill you. This perk can be skipped if you’re playing with a reliable group that can save you quickly.
Field Medic: 100% a group game perk, do not use if playing solo. This perk should definitely be equipped when playing in a group game, especially for the Scout, but definitely useful on any class. The ability to revive allies 30%, fear enemies after reviving an ally, on top of the activation option of instantly reviving an ally, this perk can save games on its own.
Iron Will : Once per mission, you can revive yourself for 12 seconds before going back down. This may not sound like a great perk at first, but it can be used to save games. While on it’s own, not very strong, you can revive allies who can then revive you in turn. Alternatively, even in a solo game, there is a way you can stay alive, effectively turning this into a permanent self revive option. If you gather health within the 12 seconds, you will stay alive. This can be from Red Sugar, Resupply pods, or other means (Vampire Passive Perk). This perk can be very strong on a Scout who can zip around to gain health, or to quickly find an ally and revive them. Recommended saving it’s use until absolutely necessary.
Dash : Gain a very short burst of speed that can be used every 25 seconds (at max rank). This burst of speed ignores any slow effects you may be suffering, which can be really helpful when stuck in goo or any other slowing effects. You can even Dash while holding heavy objects like Aquarqs. This is particularly strong on slower classes, like the Gunner, in order to keep up with the team, or to escape a tight situation quickly.
