Gunner
Oomph! Build
The Oomph! build tweaks the minigun in some minor ways, all positive, that really rounds out our primary weapon making it more efficient and accurate. The perk selection means there is no spin-up time before shooting, and drastically reduced spread, allowing this weapon to remain on target over larger distances, and dealing more damage. For those pesky targets that are really far away, or to annihilate a Praetorian, the heavy revolver really shines as a pocket sniper. You do need to use this weapon slowly, allowing the reticle to return to center before shooting over larger distances, but can easily be unloaded into enemies directly in front of you. This build is very enjoyable if you are looking for a general minigun to use in any mission and can easily accommodate any team. With this build, you will always be a reliable source of damage in any fight. The equipment and perk choice remain the same across all Gunner builds.
If you prefer a build that overwhelms enemies with bullets and burns them with fire damage, check out the Bullet Hell build here.
Weapons
“Lead Storm” Powered Minigun
T1C – 
Improved Platform Stability (-75% Base Spread)
T2A – 
Oversized Drum (+600 Max Ammo)
T3A – 
Hardened Rounds (+200% Armor Breaking)
T4B – 
Lighter Barrel Assembly (-0.4sec Spinup Speed)
T5B – 
Cold as the Grave (-0.6 Heat per kill (max 9.5 heat, increasing firing duration before overheat)
A Little More Oomph! (+1 Damage, -0.2 Spinup Speed)
An “All Purpose” take on the minigun, one of my preferred builds when running the Gunner. There is no downside to the overclock, it is a generalist overclock that only benefits the gun, although only in a minor way. With this build selection, there is considerably less weapon spread, it remains very accurate for a minigun, and starts shooting much earlier with T4B. As long as you’re getting kills, you should very rarely overheat thanks to T5B cooling the weapon. T3A can be selected based on preference, I prefer breaking armor and swapping to the secondary weapon to deal with Praetorians with ease, although T3B Stunning can be very helpful in various situations as well.
“Bulldog” Heavy Revolver
T1A – 
Quickfire Ejector (-0.7 Reload Speed)
T2C – 
Expanded Ammo Bags (+12 Max Ammo)
T3C – 
Hollow-Point Bullets (+35% Weakpoint Damage)
T4B – 
High Velocity Rounds (+10 Damage)
T5A – 
Dead-Eye (50% of Damage converted to fire Damage)
Elephant Rounds (x2 Damage, -50% Base Spread, -1 Magazine Size, -12 Max Ammo, +0.5 Reload Speed, +71% Spread per shot, +150% Recoil)
The best definition for this weapon, a pocket sniper. Purely because of the overclock selection, this weapon deals double it’s normal damage, but comes with a pretty severe downside. We lost a significant cut in ammo, magazine size, etc. This weapon pairs really well with the minigun as a single target shredder. Take off the Praetorians armor with the minigun, and pump in a round of 2 with the revolver and move on. It also helps dealing with enemies from a distance, able to efficiently kill acid spitters or any other key targets before engaging with the minigun. Overall a great weapon and overclock to pair with the minigun to round up this build.
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.
Sticky Grenade
One of the best and most reliable grenades. Any of the Gunner grenades are capable of being equally useful in different circumstances. My personal preference is the Sticky grenade. You can hold more of them compared to other grenades, and they deal fear status effect to enemies within the blast vicinity. It feels less restrictive to use Sticky grenades since we hold a total of 6, allowing us to throw them more freely at Praetorians or groups of grunts without worrying about wasting them.
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.
