Lost Ark Gunslinger guide: Best skills, build, engravings, and leveling

Mar 16, 2022

The Gunslinger is the only female class among the gunners in Lost Ark. Like Deadeye, Gunslingers have three weapons to switch around: dual pistols, shotguns, and rifles. The dual pistols can deal AOE damage quickly, shotguns can deal big damage to nearby enemies, and the rifle can hit enemies from afar. If you enjoy playing quick and nimble characters that can hit from a distance, Gunslinger is a good way to go.

Why should I play Gunslinger?

Although she's similar to Deadeye, she doesn't share the same class engravings, and the playstyle is different as well. One of the main contents in Lost Ark is raids, and the Gunslingers' skillsets stand out in the raids. She excels in positioning, survival, and damage, so it's easier to to DPS. Skilled Gunslingers can deal massive damage very steadily in all content.

Another advantage is that she has more skill slots than the other classes. There are mobility skills that can be used without spending any skill points on the dual pistol slot, so that's another advantage. The Rifle stance's long range allows the Gunslinger to deal damage in situations where other damage dealers have to back off.

On the flip side, the Gunslinger is a glass cannon and one of the squishiest classes in the game. Being grazed by a boss' skill can cause severe damage, sometimes even insta-killing her. Getting used to managing the three weapons is another difficulty as well.

Best Gunslinger builds

Peacemaker Gunslinger

The Peacemaker engraving boosts stats in each of your stances. You gain attack speed in the Handgun Stance, crit rate and damage increases in the Shotgun Stance, and extra damage to targets with 50% or lower in the Rifle Stance.

As the Handgun skills are quick and have short cooldowns, their damage is quite low, so Gunslingers have to rely more on their Shotgun and Rifle skills as sources of damage. In that matter, Peacemaker Gunslingers are capable of dealing more damage than Time to Hunt. When setting up your Gunslinger with Peacemaker, you need to keep your Handgun skills to assist your other skills.

The desired stats for this build are Crit, Specialization, and Swiftness. Aim for a 60/20/20 ratio on these three stats.

The desired engravings are as follows (in order):

Grudge
Peacemaker (1 or 2)
Keen Blunt Weapon
Cursed Doll
Spirit Absorption
Hit Master
Adrenaline

An example Peacemaker build for a brand new level 50 character with 252 Skill Points will look like this:

The skills you should use besides the skills above are:

Handgun skills

Bullet Rain
AT02 Grenade

Rifle skills

Catastrophe

Shotgun skills

Last Request

Time to Hunt Gunslinger

If you select the Time to Hunt engraving, your Handgun and Rifle crit rates are increased, but you will not be able to use the Shotgun stance.

As there are two stances for Time to Hunt Gunslingers, it's easier to manage the weapons. The build also gets much easier, as you don’t need to take as many skills. You need to use all the Rifle skills besides Spiral, and the best damage skills in the Handgun tree such as Bullet Rain and Equilibrium.

The desired stats for the Time to Hunt engraving are Crit, Specialization, and Swiftness. It is ideal to get Crit up to 900 and Specialization up to 800. Afterward, you can invest more freely.

Desired engravings for this build are (in order):

Peacemaker (1)
Time to Hunt (1)
Grudge
Keen Blunt Weapon
Hit Master
Cursed Doll
Adrenaline

An example Time to Hunt build for a brand new level 50 character with 252 Skill Points will look like this:

Gunslinger leveling guide

Leveling in Lost Ark is pretty streamlined and straightforward, but here are a few key skills and tripods that will aid you in the leveling process.

Quick Step (Handgun)

Quick Step is a very useful skill that is unlocked immediately. It can be used as a mobility skill and a skill to start a fight. It's recommended to level up to 4 and choose between the Life Absorption tripod and Excellent Mobility Tripod. Since it's good to connect with Shotgun skills, Peacemakers go with Life Absorption more.

Spiral Tracker (Handgun)

This is a normal skill that's unlocked immediately. Spiral Tracker is used to increase Crit rate for you and your allies by decreasing the enemies’ Crit Resistance. Some people level it up to 7, but there are other priorities. It's best to leave it at 4 with the Weakness Exposure tripod.

Equilibrium (Handgun)

This is a skill that is available at level 12. Equilibrium is one of the best skills to use in the Chaos Dungeon, and it's another skill to increase your Crit rate. Weakness Exposure should be selected. First, keep it at level 4 and eventually level up to 7.

Dexterous Shot (Handgun)

This is a skill that’s unlocked at level 22. Dexterous shot is your third extra Crit rate skill. This is also useful as a mobility skill, but it’s not your main priority skill. There are many other strong skills to use, so keep this at Lv. 4 just to use Weakness Exposure.

Peacekeeper (Handgun)

This is a normal skill unlocked at level 26. It's a great mobility skill if you select Excellent Mobility as the first tripod. The first hit is considered as a counter skill. Most players keep Peacekeeper at Lv. 4, but since it has decent damage compared to its short cooldown, many Time to Hunt Gunslingers level it to 10.

Bullet Rain (Handgun)

This is a normal skill that is available at level 36. Bullet Rain is almost the only proper damage skill among the Handgun skills, and it's good. Time to Hunt Gunslingers must level this to 10, and Peacemaker Gunslingers can also benefit from using it. Level this to 10 as soon as possible.

Shotgun Rapid Fire (Shotgun)

This is a normal skill unlocked at level 14. Shotgun Rapid Fire is useful while leveling up. Compared to other Shotgun skills, it doesn't stand out that much, but it's still useful while leveling up. While you level up, you can get it as high as possible, but in the end, invest your skill points more in the other Shotgun skills. Recommended tripods are Ambush, Enhanced Shot, and Special Bullet.

Sharpshooter (Shotgun)

This is a normal skill that is unlocked at level 40. This is another skill that must be selected if you're planning to use the Shotgun. It's the only Gunslinger skill that can be canceled by changing stances, so you can get out of pinches after switching to the Handgun stance. I would level this up to 7 to use two tripods. The third tripods are useful, but it's hard to actually benefit from Guardian's Breath in raids. Frost Haven should be selected in Chaos dungeons.

Dual Buckshot (Shotgun)

This is a normal skill that is unlocked at level 40. Dual Buckshot should be always selected if you're planning to use the Shotgun as it's the cleanest skill among the Gunslinger's Shotgun skills. Level it up to 10 as soon as possible.

For the first tripod, take In a Tight Spot or Swift Fingers, depending on what you prefer. The second and third tripods should be Enhanced Fire and Final Blow.

Perfect Shot (Rifle)

This is a normal skill that is unlocked at level 20. It's one of the main skills for the Gunslinger. It has very good damage and benefits greatly from the tripods. The first tripod selection can be flexible, but the second and third tripods should be locked to Kill Confirmation and Enhanced Shot. Level this to 10 as soon as possible.

Focus Shot (Rifle)

This is a normal skill that is unlocked at level 32. This is one of the most important skills for the Gunslinger. Whenever you can use the skill, you MUST hit it. Obviously, you should level this to 10 as soon as possible. The first two tripods should be Quick Aim and Double Tap. The third tripods are both good — Final blow has better damage, but since it's a slow skill already, some people use Quick Finish.

Target Down (Rifle)

This is a normal skill available at level 50. Along with Focus Shot, you MUST hit this skill whenever the cooldown comes around. Level this skill to 10 as soon as possible. For the tripods, Quick Aim, Large Magazine, and Steady Aim are the best choices, but they could be flexible. When using Steady Aim, you should aim for the ground where your opponent is standing to inflict additional damage.