Super MNC Gunner Detailed Guide

Super MNC Gunner Detailed Guide by homerndrby1

No other Pro can carry such devastating weaponry both early and late game, no other Pro can instantly give himself armor as well as to his teammates, and no other pro can lock himself down to become a living, surfing, defensive weapon of area denial. The Gunner, while viewed as “underpowered” in most cases, can easily carry a team to the Moneyball despite being the slowest Pro in the history of both SMNC and MNC.

The basic strategy of the Gunner is two-fold: DPS and tactical aggression.

The Gunner is the only Pro that gets his weapons upgraded with each Offensive Passive skill upgrade (the Sniper comes close to matching this feat, but doesn’t get anything at Level 2)! Which means the Gunner can easily outpace the other team in terms of DPS if he can at least keep up in levels.

Know when to turn the enemy into crab fat and when to back off. The Gunner has no means of mobility other than his jet pack for vertical movements, so charging too far into the enemy’s lines can get you killed easily unless you know you have a way to retreat. Having the slowest ground speed being an “Enforcer,” the Gunner will be a prime target for ambushes and/or “team-ganks” despite having quite a bit of HP.

Time to cover how to do things “Tiki Style,” aka. your weapons.

Primary Weapon: Minigun
Alt-Fire (Hold) – Spin-Up
Shot Damage: 25
Attack Interval: .1 sec, or 10 attacks per sec. (600 RPM)
Effective DPS: 250 (Offensive Passive and levels excluded)
Capacity: 200 rounds
Reload Time: 5 sec.

Very little can stand up to the Gunner’s Minigun. With the highest DPS in all of SMNC, this weapon commands respect once it has finished the 2 second spin-up to full speed. Even at level 1 with no Offense Passive upgrades, the Minigun is capable of mauling any non-Enforcer Pro in under 4 seconds! You can shoot while spinning up, but the Minigun will shoot at a greatly reduced rate until two seconds of continuous fire has elapsed. The Minigun comes with 200 rounds by default, enough for about 20 seconds of continuous firing. The main drawback is the lethargic 5 second reload, you could climb a tree to get a pineapple in the time it takes to reload this thing.

Upgraded Primary: Dual Minigun
Alt-Fire (Hold) – Spin-Up
Shot Damage: 20
Attack Interval: .075s, or 12.5 attacks per sec. (750 RPM)
Effective DPS: 800 (after Offense Passive and minimum leveling effects)
Capacity: 300 rounds
Reload Time: 5 sec.

Gunners with Offense Passive at level 4 will instantly switch out their Miniguns for the almighty Dual Miniguns. While it still takes 5 seconds to reload and deals 25% less damage… with 50% more ammo and a 25% increase to the firing rate, the Dual Miniguns can potentially decimate whole teams in under 10 seconds!!

Secondary Weapon: Mortar Launcher
Alt-Fire – Throwing Grapple
Shot Damage: 50
Attack Interval: 1 sec. (60 RPM)
Effective DPS: 50 (excluding Offense Passive and leveling)
Capacity: 10 rounds
Reload Time: 2 sec.

Not to be confused with the Assault’s Grenade Launcher, the Mortar Launcher is the Gunner’s response to the Miniguns’ downfalls. The Mortar Launcher is an excellent weapon against turrets, bots, and other stationary and/or predictable targets. Mortars do not suffer damage falloff from distant targets. Reloads are also much faster than the Minigun, so don’t be afraid to spam it when necessary. The Mortar Launcher gets drastically more firepower with each Offense Passive skill upgrade prior to level 4 with upgrades at levels 2 and 3 giving the Mortar rounds splitting capabilities. This effectively multiplies the damage the Gunner can deliver at range!

The Skills of the “Tiki”
Slam

Slam is Gunner’s utility ability, allowing Gunner to stun all bots and turrets close to him. All enemy Pros near him will receive a major knock-back effect in addition to a slow. Slam is a great way to tell that Commando to GTFO and go away since slows on Commandos can be deadly to them. Keep in mind that Slam will cause your Minigun to spin-down completely if you’re using it! Also, Slam can be used while airborne – causing Gunner to lose all his horizontal momentum instantly and plummet straight down. This can be exploited to stop yourself from being rung-out, Ka-Klawed to a Veteran, or to give a nasty surprise from above! If you can somehow manage it, Slamming right on top of an enemy Pro (not bots) gives Slam a damage bonus; securing a kill this way rewards the Gunner with a “Pancake Kill” and an extra $40!

Deploy

Deploy is a very situational skill for Gunner. There’s a lot of ups and downs for Deploying – so be careful when you do so or you will become a very easy dolphin to be wounded or killed! Deploying locks down Gunner, allowing for no movement whatsoever, limits Gunner’s vision to a first-person view, and limits Gunner’s rotating to about 180 degrees from his deploying position. On the upside, Gunner gets 250 armor once he finishes deploying and emits an aura which generates armor for his team and regenerates his own armor. As long as Gunner remains deployed, Gunner is immune to taking “headshot” damage – which will annoy Sharpshooters quite a bit. Also, Gunner receives a massive reload speed bonus to both of his weapons – making the Minigun reload very rapidly in comparison to reloading on the move! Gunner also gets accuracy and critical hit chance bonuses on top of all this. The chance for a critical hit increases by about 3% while deployed. Deploy has a cool-down period which starts after activating Deploy a second time.

Rocket

Replacing the Grapple skill in MNC, Rocket becomes a new way for Gunner to deliver burst DPS. Rocket is a lock-on skill, which requires a short targeting sequence to acquire a target. Once you get a lock, activating Rocket will launch a single homing rocket at the target which will track it perfectly. The Rocket will also cause some knock-back on your target, which is great against airborne targets! However, the rocket will crash into bots, the arena, or even other pros if your target moves behind one of the above. Deploy also synergies with Rocket, giving the skill some useful bonuses while Gunner is Deployed. Rocket’s cooldown is reduced greatly and Gunner can lock-on to two targets at once and fire rockets at both targets! Upgrading this skill improves both the lock-on speed, the rocket’s velocity, and damage delivered.

Skilling Up
Level 1: Offense 2 (Split Mortar)
Level 2: Rocket 2
Level 3: Skip
Level 4: Rocket 3 + Offense 3 (Triple Mortar!)
Level 5: Defense 2
Level 6: Defense 3
Level 7: Skip
Level 8: Rocket 4 + Offense 4 (Dual Miniguns!)
Level 9: Defense 4
Levels 10-12: Slam
Levels 13-15: Deploy

In the early game, Gunner gets the biggest kick out of his early Offense Passive upgrades with Split and Triple Mortars. So capitalize on that as soon as you can! Rocket should also be a priority as it deals heavy damage once it gets leveled up and it becomes much harder to your targets to evade. Once you get your DPS maximized, get Defense Passive for survivability and improved team-fighting presence. Slam should be only used for defensive purposes before you max out your DPS and get Dual Miniguns. Deploy has a 20 second cooldown at level 1, but you shouldn’t be needing Deploy much until late game when you have to lock something down and FAST.

Alternate Path (credit to hiipfire)
Level 1: Offense 2 (Split Mortar)
Level 2: Rocket 2
Level 3: Slam 2
Level 4: Offense 3 (Triple Mortar)
Level 5: Rocket 3
Level 6: Slam 3
Level 7: Skip
Level 8: Rocket 4 + Offense 4 (Dual Miniguns!)
Level 9: Slam 4
Levels 10-15: Defense & Deploy

Slam deals very heavy damage to Commandos in addition to the cooldown reduction from leveling up. This can be a big boon when Commandos are constantly trying to get uncomfortably close to you as having Slam always ready when needed can not only keep them away but also get a kill every now and then.

“We’re cooking now!” (Got Juice)
Juice for the Gunner is a tricky mechanic. The Mortars don’t really make the most of the forced critical hits and increased damage. Your best option with Juice is for defensive purposes. Save Juice for when you need to heal up fast, have to break a grapple to save your hide, or to rapidly take down a Jackbot (or preferably MORE than one). Juice gives the Minigun a massive buff due to no damage falloff from the forced crits, but also requires spinning it up again! That doesn’t mean you can’t flank with Juice and the Minigun – you’ll just have to prep the Minigun before you go in. That does mean you’ll have two less seconds of “effective” Juicing though. Don’t use Juice just to reload faster… that’s a waste!

“Bacon is ‘OP!'” – GG Stack
Should the RNG gods bless you when you decide to shoot Bullseye or bring down a Jackbot and happen get BACON… it’s party time! Bacon has one of the most powerful effects when Gunner happens to get it. Lets go over what BACON does; with BACON, Gunner moves 10% faster, recovers all of his skills 25% faster, and instantly recovers 1500 HP and 750 AP. All of the statistical bonuses are additively stacked to your normal values after endorsement effects. However, that’s the icing on the cake, as the last detail I’m going to mention absolutely turns Gunner into the last thing the enemy wants to go up against: +25% Damage.
Read that last detail again and take into consideration the DPS of Gunner’s Minigun(s). You’re going from 800 DPS at a bare minimum at level 8 with maximum offense with the Dual Miniguns to 1000 DPS. That alone makes a Gunner with BACON a near godsend at holding off entire pushes! Now that’s before the effects of critical streams and Juice influences the damage. It’s no wonder Gunners with BACON are the “Scrooges” of the opposing team!

Tiki 101 (The Basics)
As a Gunner, your lack of mobility means you won’t be pressing and pushing a whole lot early until you can press your DPS advantage. Just stay back and focus on the bots until you start winning the “level race” and getting your Offense Passive leveled. Your Mortar Launcher is amazing for early bot pushing once you work out the proper distance for the Mortars to split right before impact to deliver extreme damage. Once the enemy starts to push, get caught overextending, or a friendly Vet lands a Klaw, switch to your Minigun and start pressuring. If an enemy gets caught and grappled by a friendly, help out and turn them into crab fat!

You’ll be a frequent target by Defenders for “pocketing,” especially by Supports. Your DPS and HP pool makes you a great buddy for them. Having 150% HP is big for Gunners – it could mean the difference in a bad situation. Keep their backs safe by checking up on them. Commandos will likely try to target them – you’re the Defender’s best bodyguard with your massive DPS, Slam, and homing Rockets. Slam will not dislodge a grapple attempt, but it will force the slowdown effect.

You shouldn’t really be going into the Jungle early unless it is for the Annihilator and/or fighting over said Annihilator. As the primary DPS dealer on your team – survival is paramount. Don’t get killed over a lost cause if the Annihilator fight has already cost two or more of your team to go down! If you can get in and back out without getting killed, Slam can be your best way to interrupt Annihilator activations. This is especially useful on Loco Moco, where a single Slam can cover the entire Annihilator platform! If whoever is activating the Annihilator is low on HP, just use your Minigun on them and kill them if you know for sure you will kill them before they finish. Grappling to cancel the Annihilator should be a last resort – be absolutely sure you will at least “trade out” with another Pro if you have to stop the Annihilator.

Once you get to level 8 and upgrade Offense Passive to level 4, your Dual Miniguns will replace your Minigun and give you an instant full reload! Try to time this to when you need to reload your Minigun anyways so you don’t have to wait 5 seconds to start shooting again. Now you will have your full DPS advantage over all other Pros – now it’s time to start thinking about putting the pressure on.

Avoid starting team fights, you’re likely to be the focus of the enemy team with your huge DPS and slow mobility. Try to catch lone Pros off guard by spinning up before your attack. Having your Rocket ready will aid greatly to the burst damage and the chance of an outright kill. If you can, try balancing your time between the lanes and the Jungle; as Bouncers and Blackjacks will be spawning now, you can make some serious scratch off them and extend your DPS advantage even further!

If you want to spend your cash, avoid spawning bots from the team spawns unless you’re back there for another reason as you should always be at the front unless you need to heal up back at the base. The Metabolightning vendor is a great option for Gunner, giving him a monster speed boost that will be noticeable since it also works while spun up! Spawning Bouncers is also a great option as this will give you a great distraction while you go “Tiki style” on the Pro that the Bouncer is “being friendly” with.

Gunner Vs. Pros

Comandos
Wascot
Wascot can be a very formidable Pro for Gunner. He has plenty of skills which will really hamper Gunner. The most notable being Party Pooper which effectively halves Gunner’s DPS and accuracy, letting Wascot get up close with minimal recourse. Wascot’s Crook Hook is a STUN, which is extremely dangerous for Gunner should Wascot land it. However, Gunner still has the advantage in CQC. Use your Jetpack liberally in short bursts to prevent grapples and drown Wascot in Minigun rounds.

Assassin
Assassin is a potent threat if you don’t keep tabs on her. Being backgrappled means 2x damage – but that’s the least of your concerns as Gunner. The real problem comes from Assassin’s two grapples available to her, which will floor Gunner’s DPS not once, but TWICE! If you do get in close proximity with her, jet as much as you can to avoid the grapple attempts. If you do get grappled, immediately switch to your Mortar and try to return the favor. If all else fails, Slam her if she’s not hopping like a rabbit.

Capt. Spark
Spark is probably the biggest threat among the Commandos. Spark has the highest DPS of the three, a stun and blind skill, two grapples, AND a teleport. Always keep Spark in check as Gunner – melee range is flat out dangerous against a decent Spark. If Spark moves in, have your Slam ready and focus your Minigun on him while jetting around. You can also try to grapple him back if he’s not hopping like a madman. One good grapple will probably cause him to teleport away if you have team support around. Capt. Spark also has extremely low HP – take note of that if a teammate gets a grapple on him and you can make poor Sparky an easy kill for your teammate!

Strikers
Assault
A classic rivalry renewed here. Assault has mobility, and his own jetpack with a lot more fuel. Expect him to fly a lot against you and be wary of his bomb which can deliver huge burst damage should he “headcrab” you. Use your Rocket as much as you can against Assaults that are airborne as there isn’t much an Assault can duck behind. If you know his bomb is refreshing (or he missed his throw), then get up close and personal with him as you have nearly a 50% DPS advantage!

Karl
Another potential problem for Gunner. Karl has a massive burst damage capability, especially if you get stunned from Short Circuit. Problem is for him is that he has the least amount of lateral mobility, but Prop Hop gives him some vertical mobility. It really comes down to who initiates first; but try to wait until Karl uses his Short Circuit so that Gunner’s DPS cannot be interrupted and stay airborne so Prop Hop can’t knock Gunner out of his effective range.

Megabeth
Arguably the soft counter to Gunner. Megabeth has a slow, burst damage, lateral and vertical mobility, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY… RANGE. Rocket Ma’am delivers damage that doesn’t suffer from range falloff, which puts the Gunner in a bad spot as Megabeth can deliver the same DPS from close range with Bearing Hates. The key to fighting Megabeth is to get close to her since she has no stun against you. Just mind that her grapple is a throw, and Derby Disku has a really fast refresh timer. You can also try staying airborne as much as possible to greatly hamper the Rocket Ma’am.

Enforcers
Cheston
Cheston is the most balanced of the Enforcers, but focuses more on burst damage rather than sustained damage. Cheston does have a stun with his primary weapon’s alt-fire, which can ruin your DPS momentarily. Getting just into your effective DPS range is key for Gunner to win a straight up 1v1 – just don’t get too close. Cheston’s primary has a spread problem with sustained firing, Gunner does not. Capitalize on that!

Veteran
Vet poses a unique threat: three grapples, a root, and a physics pulling ability. While he has more HP than Gunner, Gunner has the reliable DPS edge up close providing Gunner prevents himself from getting grappled again and again by the Veteran. If you get pulled by the Ka-Klaw, Slamming will nullify the momentum from the Klaw, giving you a chance to get back to your position. It is however better to fight from a distance against Veteran – his primary ranged weapon does near minimal DPS even though it does home in on targets.

Tank
More than a worthy foe to Gunner, Tank has more HP, mobility, and almost the same level of DPS with his Jet Gun. Gunner has to give Tank plenty of respect, but also vice-versa from the Tank to Gunner. Tank’s shield will soak up damage, especially in the early game; however Gunner can chew through the shield in only 2 seconds most of the time. The Product Bomb will obscure your screen if you get hit, best to move back and keep your gun spun up while your vision is hindered. Tank’s Jet Gun has limited range – not quite that of Gunner’s effective Minigun range. However Jet Charge will mess with that and get Tank into range or get out of Gunner’s sights. Positioning and initiation will decide the victor between the two most of the time.

Other Gunners
Get ready for a very intense game of “who’s got the advantage?” If the other team’s Gunner is worth their pineapples, then expect them to not pressure you unless they are sure that they have the advantage. Generally speaking, try to fight the other Gunner with support from teammates. Gunners are great in 1v1s, but not when they’re taking all the damage!

Defenders
Support
Support can’t do a whole lot to you – other than keep you out of a certain area if he does it right. Supports are usually with their team, so if you do see him, expect him to have help at the ready with buffed HP. His Firebase can put a serious hurt on you, but only if you walk into it. The Hurt/Heal gun will slow you if Support decides to leech your HP – watch out for that if you don’t know where his Firebase is! Airstrikes are a much greater threat most of the time as Airstrikes are considered to be “nukes” with a damage bonus for a “direct hit” on a target… which is easy to do against a Gunner. Always fight Supports via. ambushing or when their teammate falls when they’re normally not ready for you!

Combat Girl
A more “aggressive” Defender, Combat Girl can hold her own when she isn’t jumped. Combat Kitties are only a threat for the most part when they’re not capable of shooting you all at once and they go down faster. The Combat Laser is a big threat to Gunner since dodging the laser isn’t always easy while dishing out the DPS. Her Combat Healer doesn’t stun and leeches less HP than the Support can, so catching Combat Girl out is easier and again the strategy to beating her.

Leo
Leo focuses heavily on “pushing the lanes” with his skills; meaning if you’re up against Leo, expect to see plenty of bots around him. Gunner isn’t the ideal class for bot elimination, however Gunner can bring down bots quickly, only he’ll take plenty of damage from Fujis if they get close. Leo can make Fujis become very dangerous foes for Gunner with Bot Code-X, which is really the only thing Gunner has to watch out for. Try to fight Leo when he’s without any bot presence, his weapons are horrible against Pros! Leo’s Turret is also not very effective against Gunner as well as Gunner’s massive HP will make those missiles only put a miniscule dent into Gunner’s HP.

Sharpshooters
Sniper
While he does nowhere near the damage he used to, Sniper is still a massive problem and almost a “hard counter” to Gunner. With his ranged damage, headshot slows, ice traps, and two grapples, Sniper can make Gunner’s life miserable. Ice Traps are both roots and slows, however they don’t work on airborne foes (hint). However, get in his face and Sniper will go down just like in MNC.

Gunslinger
Another threat for Gunner due to the fact that Gunslinger can surpass the Minigun’s DPS for a few seconds using her skills. Both Trigger Happy and Kneecap are dangerous skills and makes Gunslinger a dangerous Pro. Trigger Happy will straight up multiply the firing speed of Gunslinger’s weapons as well as the reload speeds and Kneecap is a lock-on slow. Try to catch Gunslinger after she uses Trigger Happy… that way she can’t outpace Gunner’s natural DPS.

Effective Endorsement Builds
This endorsement build is for Gunners that need constant presence in the arena. Faster reloads really benefit the Gunner’s Minigun, the extra health can be what you need to survive, and the critical damage gives the Gunner that extra burst DPS, especially when Juicing.

This endorsement build is also for Gunners that want constant presence, but also wants more DPS instead of Health. This is also less Juice dependent than the above build, focusing more on having an increased chance of a critical stream and RoF. Just note that your capacities are going to be reduced quite a bit!

This endorsement build is very ideal for Gunners that want to maximize their DPS while being able to survive. Even though this doesn’t grant the full DPS available to the Gunner through endorsements, you can’t really deal out DPS when you’re constantly waiting to respawn.

This endorsement build is for those that need something with the least amount of CC. While it only focuses on reload speed and RoF, it comes in at under 35k CC. I also left out the last endorsement slot because you can’t have the best of both worlds with RoF and reload speeds, this will be your choice.

This endorsement build is for Gunners that likes to use their Slam and Rocket skills more than others. This build can also be a great way to deal with a team that has one or more Commando classes, as well as dealing with Vets and anyone trying to lock down your Minigun with grapples.

This endorsement build is for Gunners that love to take the initiative and flank. With heavy amounts of DPS and critical damage endorsements, Juicing with this build can be extremely lethal. With the right products, this build can decimate entire teams with a good Juicing flank. Just beware that this will add an extra half-second to your minigun’s reload when you aren’t juiced!

This endorsement build will help when you’re without a Defender or any kind of reliable healing. With the maximum amount of HP regeneration available through endorsements, Gunner won’t have to trek all the way back to spawn to get healed up or have to rely heavily on Regenitol vending. This also serves a great way to build up juice without having to sacrifice a whole lot in potential DPS.

Ideal Products

Money Magnet – Gunner is a slow moving Pro, so getting those coins may take some time. Money Magnet (MM) will draw all those coins in for you! Coins equates to levels and DPS for Gunner, so this is a big boon for Gunner.

Health Inverter – While you have to be level 5 to use Health Inverter, it can save your life. With a 25% life-steal once you dip below 20% of your HP, you can easily stave off your death with Gunner’s enormous DPS; add in some evasion and good aim, and you might become “hard to kill!”

Can’t Stun This – Stuns will not only stop you cold, but also your Minigun(s). That means your DPS just plummeted and that can get you killed as you just lost your DPS advantage for a few seconds. Can’t Stun This (CST) blocks one stun with a 60 second refresh time, meaning you won’t lose your valuable DPS edge.

Critically Late – Critically Late sets your base chance for a critical stream of bullets equal to your level. Meaning your odds of getting critical hits early with a minimal DPS edge is lower than normal. However, you eventually get over twice the chance for critical hits in the late game where your DPS edge is considerable! Critically Late is considered by most players to be one of the best products in the game, for good reason!

Massive Air – Massive Air gives the Gunner some much needed mobility while airborne. While you won’t move faster than you would on the ground, you’ll be able to change directions freely without slowing down. This is incredibly handy when someone wants to give you a hug… er, ruin your DPS with a grapple. You can also spin up the Minigun(s) while airborne and not lose any mobility until you land!

Juicy Spunky – While it only works when you’re at level 15, it’s easily one of the most devastating products ever created. While juiced, you will deliver 2.5 TIMES THE NORMAL DAMAGE. Now take into account Gunner’s DPS, Gunner will become the DPS GOD while juiced!

Over Armor –Taking a lot of fire while dishing out the DPS? Consider bringing out your own personal “pocket Support” in the form of 25 AP every second while you’re at full HP. Even though you have to be at level 10 for this to take effect, being “over-healed” the majority of the time in the late game can be worth it.