
Our Gunslinger Lost Ark class guide covers everything you need to know about this Gunner subclass, including its overall role in the team, its strengths and weaknesses, some tips, and more. Lost Ark allows you to control a number of classes, who all come with different benefits in PvE and PvP content. So if you want a breakdown of the Gunslinger Lost Ark class, we’ve got you covered below.
Gunslinger Class Guide Overview
The Gunslinger in Lost Ark is a Gunner type class that wields 3 different guns: Dual Pistols, a Shotgun and a Rifle. Their musical instrument is an Electric Guitar. The Gunslinger is a Hybrid DPS; that means they attack from both Ranged and Melee distances.
The Identity Skill of the Gunslinger differs from other classes in that they do not have a traditional Identity Skill instead, they have the Weapon Stance Switch. The Gunslinger switches between their weapons at any time, instantaneously. Depending on the mechanics of the fight, the player must choose which weapon to use in each and every scenario.
The Dual Pistols are typically used to Debuff the target to Increase the Crit of those attacking it. Additionally, they buff the players movement and attack speed. Finally, many of the Pistol abilities provide the Gunslinger with very high mobility.
The Shotgun is used for close ranged damage.
The Rifle or Sniper is used for Long ranged damage.
There are two distinct playstyles that players can choose from through the use of the Gunslinger’s Class Engravings:
- Peacemaker - Increase Attack Speed for Pistols, Increase Crit Rate for Shotgun, Increase Damage for Rifle and additional bonus damage to low health targets for Rifle.
- Time to Hunt - Only use Pistols and Rifle skills, but increases their crit rate.
Both playstyles are viable in endgame content so pick your favorite flavor. The Time to Hunt Engraving playstyle is typically less used as it’s damage is lower than when using the Peacemaker Engraving. Swapping Weapons and managing cooldowns is part of the enjoyment of the Gunslinger, however if you want a simplified experience choose the Time to Hunt engraving.
Role of a Gunslinger
Gunslingers are a pure DPS class in Lost Ark. In PvE, they focus on sustained damage to the boss and keeping the Debuff that increases Crit Rate for any attack (including party members) towards the Boss. In PvP, they are going to be one of the highest threats in regards to damage in the arena.
Strengths
- High Damage
- High Mobility - Pistol Abilities and Combo Dodge (spacebar)
- Provides Increased Crit Rate to party
Weaknesses
- Lower health pool
- Can be difficult to master managing all abilities and stances.
Skills
The following table is a list of all Lost Ark Gunslinger Skills that you will unlock and at which level you will do so.
![]()
![]()
Gunslinger Levelling Guide
We recommend that you try out all the skills and play whatever is the most fun for you. However, if you just want to speed up the process (maybe that’s the most fun for you) or you’re tying to power through levelling an alt, follow this level by level breakdown of what skills to use and level up and which tripods to activate.
You can swap between saved skill tree slots whenever for free (even in combat as long as no skills are on cooldown). It’s recommended to use both your skillbook slots, choose abilities based on this: one for AoE (packs of normal enemies) and one for Single Target (Boss/Elites).
Largely you’ll be in the Pistols stance for all the movement skills to travel when you cannot mount up. The basis of the allocation of points goes like this: select Tripods that increase Mobility, Attack Speed, and Cooldown Reduction. These Tripods are typically found in the first tier:
- Excellent Mobility
- Quick Preparation
- Quick Aim
- Swift Fingers
- Agile Movement
Skill Progression
Here are the mobility skills you should focus on keeping at Level 4:
- Quick Step
- Somersault Shot
- Dexterous Shot
- Peacekeeper
Then there are filler skills you can choose to put points into or not if you want to save time later when you need to remove them for Level 10 Skills. (in order of importance)
- Shotgun Rapid Fire
- Spiral Flame
- Catastrophe
- Dual Buckshot
- Last Request
- Hour of Judgement
Finally, the High Damage abilities you’ll want to max to level 10 when you can in this order:
- Equilibrium (lvl 20)*
- Sharpshooter (lvl 40)+
- Bullet Rain (lvl 36)
- Focused Shot (lvl 32)
- Perfect Shot (lvl 20)
*only take away points from movement skills to acquire Equilibrium Level 10.
+You can create a second skill build for boss fights with only changing the Tripods of Sharpshooter to: Tripod 1: Special Bullet and Tripod 2: In a Tight Spot.
Below is an example Skill Progression Chart, and their Tripods, that you can use to Level your Gunslinger. In theory, you can get Bullet Rain and Focused Shot to Level 10 once you reach the level unlock them, however it would require losing a lot of movement abilities.
![]()
Gear
Just equip the highest Item Lv. item you find. Focus on Swiftness for increased movement speed, reduced casting time, and faster skill cooldowns. Secondly, your next best stat is Specialization.
Gunslinger PvE Build -Peacemaker
Here’s a basic PvE build for Gunslingers. It’s good for all content such as Chaos Dungeons, Tower Event, Quests, Guardian Raid, and Abyss Dungeon.
The basic rotation is very straightforward. It’s more of a priority than a rotation. Aim to keep the Crit Debuff on the Target at all times, which means swapping to your pistols whenever it is no longer up. Also, if you need to be on the move you should be using pistols and their abilities. Next on the priority list is to use your Shotgun and Rifle abilities on Cooldown.
There are 6 Pistol skills listed below, the remaining 2 is up to you to decide which to choose. For the Rifle skills, the 4th skill can be either of the two: Spiral Flame or Catastrophe. Also not that depending on the difficulty of the encounter, Focused Shot can be adjusted to allow it to attack faster in case it’s not possible to pull off the long animation from this build. And for the Shotgun, picking up Last Request for the Counter is a solid choice.
Gunslinger Peacemaker Stat Priority
In this spec, you do not need Swiftness for the Pistol Abilities and buffs from the Tripods make up for it. Therefore, your stats should be more focused on Crit. Secondly, Specialization for increased damage across all weapons.
Gunslinger Peacemaker Build
This build requires 288 Skill Points which will require the collecting of a few extra skill points from Shushire or Rohendel if you have it unlocked.
![]()
Gunslinger PvE Build - Time to Hunt
Below is a good basic PvE Build using the Gunslinger class engraving Time to Hunt. The Rifle skills don’t change but since we no longer have access to the Shotgun skills, the Pistol skills take the next priority. This build is less damage in end game content, however it is easier to play. It is generally a good build for Chaos Dungeons, Tower Event, and Quests, but can also be used in Guardian Raids, and Abyss Dungeons.
Gunslinger Time to Hunt Stat Priority
Maximize Crit as much as possible. Then focus on distributing **Specialization** and Swiftness evenly. If you are confident in dodging boss mechanics, try putting more Specialization than Swiftness. On the other hand, if you are finding it hard to avoid boss mechanics go for more Swiftness than Specialization.
Gunslinger Time to Hunt Build
This build requires 284 Skill Points which will require the collecting a few extra Skill Points in Shushire and Rohendel.
![]()
Gunslinger PvP Guide
In Player versus Player Arenas, Gunslingers typically play the role of a “Lone Wolf”. With their extremely high mobility, super armor, and damage, they are an indominable threat to all other players. While they don’t provide any utility other than 10% Crit Bonus, they are very good at eliminating the competition on their own.
PvP Stats
- 1000 Swiftness
- 249 Domination
- 1 Crit
Gunslinger PvP Skills Build
Feel free to change whatever skills you like depending on your playstyle and how you see fit.
Filler skills in this build that you can use or swap out include: Equilibrium, Hour of Judgment, and Bullet Rain. Generally we don’t use Target Down, even though it is a high damage skill, you are very vulnerable when using this skill.
Some combos available with this build include:
- Quick Step (engage)>
- Spiral Tracker (stagger) or AT02 Grenade (stun) >
- Last Request (Finisher) or Catastrophe (knock up)
You can even combine all 5 of the above attacks in one big combo like this:
- Quick Step (engage)>
- Spiral Tracker (stagger) > (swap to Shotgun)
- Last Request (Damage) > (swap to Pistols)
- AT02 Grenade (stun) > (swap to Rifle)
- Catastrophe (Damage and Knockup)
And Finally, you can add Pulverize and Deathfire (Requires Tripod 3: Infiltrate Decimation) before the above combo to get this whopping 7 point combo:
- Pulverize (gap closer) >
- Deathfire (engage and then cancel after dash animation) >
- Spiral Tracker (stagger) > (swap to Shotgun)
- Last Request (Damage) > (swap to Pistols)
- AT02 Grenade (stun) > (swap to Rifle)
- Catastrophe (Damage and Knockup) >
- Perfect Shot (finisher)
Additionally, you’ll want to use the Awakening skill High-Caliber HE Bullet after a stun such as AT02 Grenade to guarantee the hit.
Below is a general Gunslinger PvP build that is a great foundation to build upon.
![]()
Here’s Youtuber Pum with some extraordinary 3v3 PVP.
Best Gunslinger Engravings
Peacemaker Build
This Peacemaker Build only requires the first level of the class engraving. Which makes it very easy to focus on getting Grudge Level 3 and any of the other optional engravings listed.
Mandatory
![]()
Optional
![]()
Time to Hunt Build
You can focus on getting Grudge to Level 3 after getting Time to Hunt to Level 1. Also, you can still make use of the Peacemaker engraving.
Mandatory
![]()
Optional
![]()
Gear Sets
Below is a list of all the gear sets and their bonuses that are available from Abyss Dungeons in every tier. Check out our guide on how to obtain or craft this gear. This explains how to get the first set in tier 1 but the method applies to the other tiers as well.
| Item Level | Rarity | Set Bonus Name | Effects | Source |
| 385 | Relic | Dark Night | 2-Set: When attacking a foe, 30% chance for +8% Atk and Move Speed for 6s. (Cooldown: 3s) 5-Set: Increases Crit Rate by 40%, but decreases Crit Damage by 40%. | Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Welcome 3) Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Nightmare 1-4) |
| 385 | Relic | Phantom Memory | 2-Set: Attack Speed and Move Speed +5% 5-Set: Increases Damage with an Awakening Skill to Seed or lesser monsters by 60%. Increases Damage to Challenge or lesser monsters by 60% when hitting them with an Awakening Skill for 10s. (Cooldown: 60s) | Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Welcome 3) Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Nightmare 1-4) |
| 385 | Relic | Void Afterimage | 2-Set: Decreases damage taken by 30% when HP is below 30%. +15% Atk. Speed and Move Speed, +10% Skill Cooldown. 5-Set: When hitting a foe with a normal attack, +15% Additional Damage for 3s (Cooldown: 1s) | Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Welcome 3) Chaos Dungeon Rohendel (Nightmare 1-4) |
| 340 | Legendary | Awakened Hatred | 2-Set: Combat Resource Recovery Speed: +30% 5-Set: Crit Damage +25 | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Boisterous Elemental | 2-Set: Increases Attack Speed and Move Speed by 4% for 6s, up to 8% when attacking monsters Boss rank or above. (Cooldown: 3s) 5-Set: Increases damage to monsters Boss ranked or above by 12%. | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Dense Confusion | 2-Set: Attack Speed and Move Speed +4% 5-Set: Crit Rate +15% | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Enraged Nature | 2-Set: Move Speed +8% 5-Set: Atk. Power +4% for 8s, up to 12% when attacking a monster Boss ranked or above. (Cooldown: 3s) | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 340 | Legendary | Mist | 2-Set: Decreases damage taken from Normal ranked monsters by 20%. 5-Set: Increases damage dealt to monsters Challenge rank or below by 15%. | Abyss Dungeon (Corridor of the Twisted Lord) Abyss Dungeon (Hildebrigne, Dream Palace) |
| 302 | Epic | Ancient | 2-Set: When hit while HP is below 20%, restores 3% of Max HP for 15s each time you hit a Normal monster. (Cooldown: 60s) 5-Set: Increases damage by 17% when hitting 3 or more foes. | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
| 302 | Epic | Rugged Valley | 2-Set: Move Speed +8% 5-Set: Atk. Power +4% for 8s, up to 12% when attacking a monster Boss ranked or above. (Cooldown: 3s) | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
| 302 | Epic | Seraphic Oath | 2-Set: Attack Speed +8% 5-Set: Additional Damage +10% | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
| 302 | Epic | Stalwart Years | 2-Set: Attack Speed +8% 5-Set: Additional Damage +10% | Abyss Dungeon (Valley of Beasts) Abyss Dungeon (Spirit of the Necromancer) |
Why not also check out our Lost Ark Bard builds, which covers everything you need to know about the class, including the best skills and engravings.
Related stories

5 best Marvel SNAP Conquest decks (August 2023): Darkhawk, Thanos Control, more
If you want to win against your opponent, these are the 5 best Marvel Snap Conquest decks so that you can overpower them and get the victory.

How to solve the Luminflux Pyxis puzzles in Honkai: Star Rail
If you're struggling with the Honkai: Star Rail Luminflux Pyxis puzzles, we're here to help. Check out our solutions for each day's puzzles!

ESO Dragonstar Arena: All rounds & loot
In this guide we'll rundown each round within the ESO Dragonstar Arena, as well as detail all the loot you can possibly get as a reward.