I play in a 2-man group and am the pilot/mechanic/gunslinger half of the team, with my pal being the thief/face/charmer of the two. We play on playing a pretty mixed campaign with a bunch of criminal stuff mixed in with some merc work for the Rebels (my partner has a tie to the Alliance), not ridiculously combat heavy but a fun amount.

So far we're very early on (150 XP) but as I build out my future goals, I was wondering what other specialization folks have picked that they felt went really well alongside a gunslinger?

thanks in advance!

Curious Monkey

What is your character concept? Pilot, mechanic, and gunslinger spec trees should keep you busy for some time. But, what is your overall concept?

I have a Besalisk archaeologist/gunslinger named Bellell. He's sort of a mix of Rick O'Connell from The Mummy and Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark. He knows his treasures and he knows how to fence them.

I also have a Bith named Maar Hach'i who is a performer/gunslinger. He's the leader of a jizz band and has a bandfill case full of guns. He's dealing with some revenge issues.

9 minutes ago, RLogue177 said:

What is your character concept? Pilot, mechanic, and gunslinger spec trees should keep you busy for some time. But, what is your overall concept?

I have a Besalisk archaeologist/gunslinger named Bellell. He's sort of a mix of Rick O'Connell from The Mummy and Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark. He knows his treasures and he knows how to fence them.

I also have a Bith named Maar Hach'i who is a performer/gunslinger. He's the leader of a jizz band and has a bandfill case full of guns. He's dealing with some revenge issues.

Really just that kind of jack-of-all-trade Scum - was a slave in his early life who was able to escape by throwing in his lot and earning his craft with some pirates and was one of the few to escape when local authorities caught up with them. Him and a partner he picked up along the way are just scuttling around on the fringes trying to eek out a living without being caught or killed.

Kind of dig the archaeologist/gunslinger. Have been enjoying the Dr. Aphra comic books, that's not exactly her but it's close. Not sure it fits the concept.

If DoR ever gets released where I am, I might check out Pirate (to reflect early life) or Ship's Captain (to show who he is growing into becoming).

Cheers!

I can dig it. So he just picked up skills as needed, and he's fell into the path of being a two-gun pilot and mechanic. What is his career and first spec? And species? Does he have a schtick? What moves him?

(I like hearing about other peoples' characters. There's often a solid NPC in there for my own game.)

1 minute ago, RLogue177 said:

I can dig it. So he just picked up skills as needed, and he's fell into the path of being a two-gun pilot and mechanic. What is his career and first spec? And species? Does he have a schtick? What moves him?

yup, he's a Dug Smuggler/Gunslinger. He learned to fly orbital cargo-shunters as a slave (that's actually how he escaped) and was taught how to pilot properly by the pirates and picked up gun-skills along the way.

No real schtick at this point (still fleshing some of him out) but he's moved almost entirely by chasing his freedom and independence - will take pretty much any job so long as the pay is right and resents being beholden to anyone.

Also love hearing other people's stories. It's part of what makes RPG's so fun for me.

Gunslinger would go well with Enforcer and Marshall, if you wanted to play "bad cop" to your thief friend's charmer.

28 minutes ago, whafrog said:

Gunslinger would go well with Enforcer and Marshall, if you wanted to play "bad cop" to your thief friend's charmer.

Yeah, I was thinking Marshall - was also just looking at Bodyguard, as that would fit nicely with the partners-to-the-end theme we have going on.

Thank you!

Soldier- Vanguard could be an interesting choice. Elements of bodyguard combined with a very run and gun style of fighting.

41 minutes ago, MonkeyInSpace said:

Yeah, I was thinking Marshall - was also just looking at Bodyguard, as that would fit nicely with the partners-to-the-end theme we have going on.

There are actually better "bodyguards" than the Bodyguard spec. The AoR Instructor (Lead by Example) is a good one.

I had a Clawdite Thief/Gunslinger once. I currently also have a Dug Gunsligner, although he has yet to get a second spec. (Although if there was a drunk spec, he could get that one) I can say that it made for a really great moment when joined a band despite his growling voice and sang this along with our actual performer PC.

I've been wanting to combine Gunslinger/Demolitionist/Performer for the ultimate grenade juggler...

8 minutes ago, penpenpen said:

I've been wanting to combine Gunslinger/Demolitionist/Performer for the ultimate grenade juggler...

That could come to a sticky end...

I could swear there was an O66 where they discussed this very topic and came up with not only a number of good pairings, but a number of bad pairings as well, and why.

1 minute ago, themensch said:

I could swear there was an O66 where they discussed this very topic and came up with not only a number of good pairings, but a number of bad pairings as well, and why.

Yeah I remember that episode. The Order 66 Podcast Episode 104 - Im Your Huckleberry. Listen to that episode.

What are you interested in playing?

Hotshot could be fun for adding some pilot talents with a use for presence. Otherwise Driver has a great mix of Vehicle Mechanics and Piloting Talents to build on your venerable shooting capability.

If the social side of things is more interesting then Charmer would be obvious, but also Skip Tracer is decent.

odd ball options come in the form of Trader, Figurehead, Instructor, Entrepreneur or even Scoundrel.

Deciding on the area that Skills alone won’t cover is what you really need to do. In the end there’s not a single combination of specs that can’t be made to work. The most important thing really is to ensure you have talents for different encounters, being a Gunslinger means you rock at combat, so find other encounters where talents would be handy such as social or vehicle encounters.

For a mechanically inclined pistoleer, Modder or Gadgeteer would be a good combo for you personally - Jury Rigged and Tinkerer would let you have some fancy pistols.

Edit: forgot to mention - Scoundrel has even more ranks of Quick Strike and Rapid Reactions, for when you absolutely need to go first and shoot them with all the blue boost dice.

Everything and anything goes great with gunslinger... but I really like gunslinger gambler and pretty much any third tree you want.

22 hours ago, mcellis said:

Soldier- Vanguard could be an interesting choice. Elements of bodyguard combined with a very run and gun style of fighting.

Thank you!

22 hours ago, whafrog said:

There are actually better "bodyguards" than the Bodyguard spec. The AoR Instructor (Lead by Example) is a good one.

Excellent, hadn't even looked at that - thank you!

22 hours ago, Yaccarus said:

I had a Clawdite Thief/Gunslinger once. I currently also have a Dug Gunsligner, although he has yet to get a second spec. (Although if there was a drunk spec, he could get that one) I can say that it made for a really great moment when joined a band despite his growling voice and sang this along with our actual performer PC.

ha!

21 hours ago, penpenpen said:

I've been wanting to combine Gunslinger/Demolitionist/Performer for the ultimate grenade juggler...

agreed

21 hours ago, Eoen said:

That could come to a sticky end...

and agreed!

21 hours ago, themensch said:

I could swear there was an O66 where they discussed this very topic and came up with not only a number of good pairings, but a number of bad pairings as well, and why.

haven't listened to that, but need to start

21 hours ago, Eoen said:

Yeah I remember that episode. The Order 66 Podcast Episode 104 - Im Your Huckleberry. Listen to that episode.

and now I know where!

19 hours ago, Richardbuxton said:

What are you interested in playing?

Hotshot could be fun for adding some pilot talents with a use for presence. Otherwise Driver has a great mix of Vehicle Mechanics and Piloting Talents to build on your venerable shooting capability.

If the social side of things is more interesting then Charmer would be obvious, but also Skip Tracer is decent.

odd ball options come in the form of Trader, Figurehead, Instructor, Entrepreneur or even Scoundrel.

Deciding on the area that Skills alone won’t cover is what you really need to do. In the end there’s not a single combination of specs that can’t be made to work. The most important thing really is to ensure you have talents for different encounters, being a Gunslinger means you rock at combat, so find other encounters where talents would be handy such as social or vehicle encounters.

great advice, thank you.

18 hours ago, coyote6 said:

For a mechanically inclined pistoleer, Modder or Gadgeteer would be a good combo for you personally - Jury Rigged and Tinkerer would let you have some fancy pistols.

Edit: forgot to mention - Scoundrel has even more ranks of Quick Strike and Rapid Reactions, for when you absolutely need to go first and shoot them with all the blue boost dice.

Hmm...scoundrel....

14 hours ago, jayc007 said:

Everything and anything goes great with gunslinger... but I really like gunslinger gambler and pretty much any third tree you want.

So Gunslinger is like bacon? I love it

Sorry to necrobump, but what are this thread's thoughts on a third sub for Gunslinger/Merc. Soldier? (Seriously, Merc has so much flavor and synergy for Gunslinger, it's insane. Second Wind for your Guns Blazing, Point Blank, Strong Arm for your Ranged [Light] throwing knives or grenades, Sniper Shot, and True Aim?!)

I like Gambler, especially when I dabble in Modder to slap more HP on my two pistols. But I'm also intrigued by Vanguard and Scoundrel to round out my character.

11 hours ago, StriderZessei said:

Sorry to necrobump, but what are this thread's thoughts on a third sub for Gunslinger/Merc. Soldier? (Seriously, Merc has so much flavor and synergy for Gunslinger, it's insane. Second Wind for your Guns Blazing, Point Blank, Strong Arm for your Ranged [Light] throwing knives or grenades, Sniper Shot, and True Aim?!)

I like Gambler, especially when I dabble in Modder to slap more HP on my two pistols. But I'm also intrigued by Vanguard and Scoundrel to round out my character.

Between Merc and Gunslinger, you should be quite good at the whole shooting thing, so it might be worth considering broadening your scope.

Fringer , Scout , Force Sensitive Exile and Force Sensitive Emergent are all examples of nice, well-rounded "utility" specs that go well with just about everything. Of course, Force sensitivity might not gel with everyone's character concept, but if it does, it worth considering dropping some points into Foresee to boost those initiative checks, making sure that your gunslinger always shoots first (and hopefully, last) and/or Sense, for the defense and attack boosts).

Gambler also falls into this category as it goes well with almost everything. Who doesn't want re-rolls up the wazoo, and Supreme Double or Nothing's ability to doubling both triumphs and despairs makes sure it's fun for everyone (because the only thing more fun than more triumphs are more despairs ).

Going "sideways" from gunslinger into Scoundrel is also worth considering, as it's pretty much the middle ground between gunslinger and charmer, adding useful stuff like more rapid reaction and quick strike (because gunslingers should shoot FIRST!) as well as two more ranks of Side Step in addition to the one from Mercenary Soldier (with just a single rank, Side Step is somewhat lackluster, but when you have three it's arguably a lot more worth spending a maneuver on). Depending on your Cunning, the other half of the tree might be a lot less appealing, but it's excellent if you want to add some social skills.

Gunner is also worth considering for several reasons:

• More True Aim.
• A very nice durability boost (2 ranks each of Enduring, Durability and Toughness is good to have if someone is left alive return fire).
• Two ranks of Jury-rigged (Useful for dropping the crit rating on both your pistols to really make use of Sorry About the Mess and Lethal Blows) and Spare Clip isn't bad either.
• A smattering of vehicle gunnery talents that will make you every pilot's best friend.

You also mentioned that the combination of Gunslinger's boosts to Ranged (light) and Mercenary Solider's Strong Arm is useful for grenades, and the logical next step in that direction is of course Demolitionist . In addition to being a tree full of making things make bigger booms, it's also got a rank of Enduring and one has to admit that if nothing else, a rank of Steady Nerves is thematically appropriate for a gunslinger.

Than you can, of course opt for the course of shooting your enemies deader than dead. Between Gunslinger and Mercenary Soldier you have three ranks of Lethal Blows and the ability to lower your crit rating via Sorry About the Mess. Assassin adds another three for a total of +60 to Critical Injury rolls, in addition to some other other goodies, like:

• Two ranks of Dodge in addition to the one you have.
• Targeted Blow, which should be pretty good since your Agility score should be pretty high. Should you happen to have a decent Intellect score, Anatomy Lessons might be worth it as well.
• Another rank of Sniper Shot, should you need to plug someone with a pistol at extreme range.
• 3 ranks of Stalker and Master of Shadows together with a good Agility score will make you very sneaky.
• Jump Up is a surprisingly useful talent as well, particularly when you want a spend a maneuver on True Aim every turn.

There are some options that are a little more "meh" though. You already have Deadly Accuracy twice, which covers both Ranged skills so a third is probably superfluous, but it's also easy to skip. Two ranks of Precise Aim isn't bad by any means, but unless you have maneuvers to burn, you probably want to use True Aim instead.

Another option is to go for Sharpshooter and settle for only two more ranks of lethal blows, but also get:

• Two more ranks of True Aim!
• Targeted Blow, as above
• Two more ranks of Sniper Shot. Snipe people with holdout blasters and disruptor pistols.
• Quick-fix; your agility should be good, so it's nice to be able to use it on any kind of check.
• Brace can be seen a bit like Precise aim, that your maneuver is better spent on True Aim (particularly when you have two more ranks of it), but Brace isn't limited to combat checks, so while a bit situational, it's a good utility pick.

The downsides, on the other hand, includes two ranks of Deadly Accuracy you probably won't need unless you you're getting into Melee as well. One is cheap and skippable, the other one costs 20 points and blocks off Dedication. On the other hand, Deadly Accuracy on both Gunslinger and Mercenary Soldier are 25pt dead ends, so if you haven't picked them up in those trees and are willing to wait, you can get a 20pt discount by picking both from Sharpshooter.

And to round off with some more utilitarian specs, Vanguard provides:

• Two ranks Rapid Reaction that synergizes very well with two ranks of Moving Target
• Seize the Initiative means that when you go first, everyone goes first.
• An extra rank of Point Blank works quite well with Dynamic Fire (which in turn saves you a maneuver disengaging from engaged enemies that need shooting).
• The is a lot of Bodyguard (including Improved and Supreme) in this tree, which doesn't really gel with anything else you have, but combined with stuff like Suppressive Fire and the Commander Talents from Mercenary Solider it's a nice set of team player tools.
• Four ranks of toughened.

I mentioned Fringer before, and it's pretty nifty:

• It essentially has an isolated little Pilot/Astrogator sub-tree that easy to dip into if you want, and completely avoidable if you don't.
• Two ranks of Grit and three ranks of Rapid Recovery should help you manage strain, which you might need, because...
• Two ranks of Dodge (sadly locked off behind an expensive Knockdown, which might be the single worst talent in the game).
• Two ranks of Toughened and one of Durable
• Jump Up! (but unusually expensive)

Also, Scout :

• Two ranks of Grit and two of Rapid Recovery means good Strain management.
• Two ranks of Quick Strike.
• Two ranks of Disorient isn't super exciting, but it works with any kind of attack, so it can dome in handy.
• Natural Hunter let's you re-roll a Vigilance check, which means possibly an Initiative check.
• I'm not 100% on what the official ruling on Heightened Awareness, regarding whether you count as your own ally, but even if you don't, since you can swap initiative slots freely, boosting your allies Vigilance checks is almost as good as boosting your own.
• Utility Belt. You need a specific type of grenade? How about a spare blaster? Or just a reload?

I didn't bother much with the FaD specs, as they're usually a bit of a waste unless you start with them or have already picked a universal force spec.

Hunter has a few interesting tricks, but really needs to capitalize on it's Force Rating to make the most out of it's signature talent Intuitive Shot.

Executioner a little less so, but you should still probably pick it as your first spec or once you already have FR1. Otherwise it has some very nice stuff going for it with all the Quick Strike and Lethal Blows and Essential Kill to fuel those crits.

Force Sensitive or not, Colossus helps everyone take a beating if that's what you need.

If you want to capitalize on the command aspects of Mercenary Soldier, Peacekeeper isn't a bad choice. The force talents are completely avoidable if you don't want them and you'll end up with a bucketload of ranks in Command and Second Wind as well as Natural Leader to re-roll cool.

12 hours ago, penpenpen said:

*A metric encyclopedia of good advice*

Bloody ****, mate. Way to go above and beyond. Definitely good info to consider here.