I play a scum metallican gunslinger that goes by the name of Eli Eisen. Now at the moment, I have two Armsman-10 pistols with red dot scopes on them, and a flak coat. At rank 5, Ive sunk a large sum of xp on this little bugger, but i dont seem to dish out the damage i would like to. is there any other pistols someone would like to recomend? i was thinking of wielding two hecuters at one point, but as a scum... my finances are rather bleak. What do the errata rules say about headshots? i always go first, and usually aim towards the head. but damage is just not being put out high enough... see, my problem is that Eli doesnt like to get hit. ever... sure my dodge is 65, but i fail that and its no fun to be dead...

Learn Pistol (Bolt) and steal/loot a pair of bolt pistols, with Pen 4, a large damage roll, X damage type, and tearing, everything will die spectacularly.

And really, if you're rank 5, and not in a resource-poor game where your =][= boss is a jerk, you should be able to get a pair of basic bolt pistols. Ammo may be an issue though, so YMMV. At this point, at rank 5, my players don't worry about ammo except insofar as their ability to carry it, and the specialized ammo that is kept on a very tight leash (psycannon roounds, sactified ammo, etc, which they have very little of). Other groups still have to pay for every bullet, so it's more a matter of the kind of game you're in.

To throw out the disclaimer, I apologize if you see this as stamping on your face, but if you're planning on dealing huge amounts of damage with a Gunslinger, I think you may have misplaced your faith (now this is the part I'm expecting flaming of a person trying to mathematically spout out Gunslingers are superior, the Space Marine troll comes in and asks why aren't they in DH and/or personal experience; that was my opinion which isn't changing, deal with it).

Otherwise, I find if you really want to deal damage, specializing in melee (especially those bloody moritats, excuse the pun) or carry around a heavy weapon if you REALLY want to dish out damage. Now I know you cannot always carry them around, investigation yadda yadda yadda but for those fights you are prepared for and knowing they are to happen, couldn't hurt eh?

The best way you could really do reliable damage in the mean-time would probably be getting dual Bolt Pistols. In my opinion it'd be your best bet by far, especially if you're running by normal rules with no special houserules. As well, being Rank 5 and having those wee pistols? Sounds like your Inquisitor is very stingy, or you don't want to test him by asking for stuff (which I feel is a good enough reason really, I'm still quite aprehensive about it, and always keep a backup character in-case I ask at a bad moment).

Hecutters before the errata getting rid of their penetration...with manstoppers...and red dot...and mono melee attachment...and best quality

If you are into damage and have to do it with a pistole, try for a hand cannon. "The poor man´s bolter". And do not forget to ask for manstoppers.

If you do not like to die, go for an aramite vest. Most hits are body, me assumes. 4 AP will help you.

Talking salary: try to talk to your GM that you Eli trys to get a job as a bodyguard and/or "Intimidator" for someone (crime;guild;whomever). A job as a "hired gun" or "leg breaker" or "trouble shooter" (pun intended). Suggest "Supine Class" as payment. Or "Fighter", if he does not jump on it. Ask him in what roles you would need to succed to get one or two month in this job (and the salary). Perhabs he suggest some checks for "Inquiery/CommonLore (Underworld" to find an employer and some Check on BS and/or Intimidation to show your worth.

I don't know exactly what you're fighting at that level, but in my experience any above-average autopistols with manstopper rounds tends to do the trick, as long as each bullet has a fair chance of causing any damage (thus average roll + damage bonus is enough to overcome TB of creature).

Twin full auto, especially at short range, tends to make a mess of anyone. If not, try dual-wielding hack shotgun or similar, at PB range these are spectacular, especially with Tearing quality.

Gregorius: Hand cannon+manstopper does not stack after errata, and they are usually not usable in each hand, which is sorta the point for a gunslinger. autopistols is the way to go IMO. Single shot is nice for snipers with accurate weapons, but otherwise crap unless you use some house rules (which I do). The ability to hit with more than one bullet far outweighs the increased hit chance of one shot weapons with red dot sights. Heck even Semi Auto pistols are better.

My groups assassin currently uses two Fate Bringer. They do count as stub revolvers and not as hand cannons and thus are viable without the -10 to hit.

Two autopistol and the +2 damage talent already make for a lot of hits....thus eventually more damage..the Gunslinger with 2 bolt pistol would be nightmarish.

The gunslinger isoverpowered and unbalanced...I've disallowed it..

Well, the trouble is that Gunslingers are stuck with Pistols to the very end.

A Rank 5 Scum should be able to steal/'borrow' the money necessary to get a few new toys.

So for SP i recommend either Good .54 Tranter (if you have the strengh), Carnodons, Fate Bringers (thanks to Accurate a realy nasty piece), or Hecuters (especialy with Man-Stoppers). Orthlacks with Man-Stoppers are good too, but after two FA you have to reload, therefore wasting a lot of time.

As Aureus said at Rank 5 Bolt Pistols are a must for a Gunslinger. Until you get a pair of Plasma Pistols (considering you get that amount of Thrones together) they are your best joice wreak havoc amongst your enemies.

As nice as it may seem to be a pistol-toting 40.millenium cowboy you are pretty stuck with pistols. and they are not always the prime choice.

Friend of the Dork said:

@Canon
I know, but it sounded like he needed to deal "more damage per shot" or not be able to harm anything. If one cán´t lay hands on a bolt pistole, it is normally the HC I send them after. Talking "hands"; I am sorry to forgot to mention the recoil gloves. Would not use a HC without one, anymore

But since he already stated that he is low on money, my advises are worthless indeed. A little pricey my solutions they are...

Sorry mate, but it seems like you took the wrong apporach towards gunslingers. Scum gunslingers wont deal that much damage, if you had made your gunslinger based on an assassin however (you can choose either). I play a gunslinger (who acts pretty much like scum, but is based on the assassin career path) and he is armed with a pair of Orthlack mk IV, a hack shotgun and a Great Sword (yes, gunslingers can use melee weapons as well, the difficulties arise with basic weapons). His Orthlacks do 1d10+4 in damage, plus an additional 2 in damage due to him having the Mighty Shot talent (extremely good talent which is a must buy for all gunslingers). Which means that he can dish out 1d10+6 damage, and if you use manstoppers then it would also give some extra penetration against armoured targets. Meaning that the pistols do slightly more damage than vanilla bolt pistols, but has lower penetration, but can fire on full-auto.

Come to think of it, this PC must seem like a total power-gaming brute, but I think it's quite understandable since he is also an Untouchable and in employment of an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor. (when you go up against daemons, you need badass fighters).

segara82 said:

Not really, since the Accuracy/Aiming/Extra Damage errata only applies to Basic Accurate weapons, not Pistols.

Gunslinger have the basic issue of being very front loaded. You get most of the good talents early on. Then you have little to look forward to. Plus you are stuck with pistols. A wise power gamer would never make a gunslinger as it's great early on, but a non-gunslinger would access to every thing at higher levels without the gunslinger limitations. Giving up accurate basic weapons, and heavy weapons is a bad idea in the higher levels. Shooting 2 pistols seems great until you run into the big bad who has so much armor/toughness than you can't damage him. That's when you need a sniper rifle, or a krack grenade launcher.

Still you can make up for it if you can get access to more exotic weapons. Meltas, flamers, and plasma pistols are great for high armor foes. You just need to manage to get the talent as a elite advance. The downside is that they are pricey.

PS- As a rank 5 scum you should be getting a fair bit of money. If you go by the vanilla rules remember that the scum gets a roll for each rank. Also you can just spend a few 100 XPs on a trade skill and make money as a tradesman.....

Dalnor Surloc said:

I beg to differ, and here's why. If were going to prioritize powergaming, then it isn't that much of a downside to not be able to use basic weapons. SInce moste of the heavy damage will most likely be dealt in close combat rather than ranged combat. You can't use a Basic weapon or Heavy weapon in melee, you have to rely on melee weapons and pistols for that range. A high level gunslinger will have an edge in melee since he/she isn't only proficient with pistols but probably with melee weapons as well (up to power swords which have a nice Penetration as well as damage value), and if you use that in conjunction with a melta pistol or plasma pistol you can have a quite nice powergaming PC.

So given the choice between a higher level guardsman that can use all sorts of heavy weapons and basic weapons, and a fine tuned gunslinger that can use powerswords, I'd go with the gunslinger. (especially if said gunslinger is based on the Assassin career path rather than the Scum career path)