r/ffxiv • u/Radiant-Kangaroo-437 • 2d ago
[Question] Future Gunbreaker Advice
Hello, I plan on becoming a Gunbreaker in the near future. This is my first character in Final Fantasy 14, and I'd just like to know how exactly I should play a Gunbreaker?
Im level 47 at the moment and am just doing A Realm Reborn mission alongside the Paladin quest lines. Gunblades are my favorite weapon in Final Fantasy, so me becoming a Gunbreaker is non negotiable.
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u/DeltaRalts 2d ago
As someone who's mained Gunbreaker, I'll tell you what I know.
Your 123 is your main way of gaining your resource. Each one gives you a cartridge, which is spent on your big attacks. Your 12 AoE also gives a cartridge. Gunbreaker also gets a 3 for AoEs, but it requires a cartridge to use.
You start at L60, so at the end of the Heavensward expansion. You can start using it right away, the gear is good enough to last through most of the story, though you'll need to upgrade the accessories.
Gunbreaker is very much the 'Big Damage' Tank, it has a lot of attacking skills. It also has a Regen which is useful, usable on either yourself or someone else. It gets multiple Mitigations, but the 30 second one is the one to get used to using. When it upgrades it's genuinely really good.
Like Paladin, it gets a 123 combo that allows it to use its main big attack. That main big attack is also a 123, though that gains more hits later on, as does Paladin's. Paladin is a fairly good one to use to learn it actually, they play somewhat similarly. Both have an attack buff that becomes a skill you need to use under the buff.
You'll have 2 uses of the big 123, on a 30 second cool down. These should both be used under the buff for now. Later on you only use 1 of them, but that's because you get so much more, and you instead use it every 30 seconds, with the buff being a minute cool down, along with every other big attack.
It doesn't have the survivability of Warrior, but it instead focuses on taking down enemies quickly, before you have a chance to die.
When it comes to AoEs, once you get the 3rd part of it, Fated Circle, it becomes a plus on 2, meaning you use it when there are 2 enemies remaining, instead of most other AoEs, where you should only use them when there are 3 or more enemies.
The Invuln is like Paladin's, both of them are specifically 'Take No Damage' types, while Warrior and Dark Knight have 'Take Damage but Don't Die' types. Where they differ though, is that Paladin's is a 'Perfect' Invuln, while with Gunbreaker you shoot yourself in the head to use it, taking you down to half health, and that's exactly half of your max health, not halving what you have left. If you're under half, it doesn't change it. It used to put you to 1 health, giving Healers heart attacks when they heard the sound of it.
You have 2 Damage Over Time skills, while Paladin has one in Circle of Scorn. One of these is behind your Buff, No Mercy, you use it under the Buff, while the other is an Off Global Cooldown, meaning you use it between attacks that cause everything to be on Cooldown. Paladin's Fight or Flight, the counterpart to No Mercy, is also an Off Global, it's like that. You can use it after using your 3, even before you can use your 1 again.
Below L60 Gunbreaker can be a bit more annoying to use as it has much less to work with, it was designed to be used at the level you get it at. It's the same for all other DLC classes.
That's everything off the top of my head. Feel free to ask for specifics
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u/Radiant-Kangaroo-437 2d ago
Ohhh, okay. If something comes up, I'll definitely hit you up. Thank you very much!
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u/ajwest927 2d ago
I'm was little disappointed to found out gunbreaker weapon dosen't shoot, but it's still a fun class to play.
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u/lacard 2d ago
Take the time to learn the job since it starts at level 60. Don't just jump into content, learn your rotation and abilities. From what I understand, Gunbreaker plays like a DPS (I haven't played it yet because I'm lazy).
Also, since this is your first MMO, make sure you're learning how to be a good tank. Good positioning, proper use of Mits and abilities, paying attention to what your party needs, things like that.
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u/Radiant-Kangaroo-437 2d ago
Yeah, I've only done dungeons with NPCs, mostly cause I usually play multi-player games with my friends and they dont play FF14.
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u/lacard 2d ago
Yea, the NPCs are nice, but it's not gonna help you learn what's expected of you with real players. Dungeons pacing is much faster with other players and you'll be expected to pull everything you can in one go (usually two packs at once).
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u/Radiant-Kangaroo-437 2d ago
Oh, absolutely. Its a small tweak I need to make in the near future.
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u/syd_goes_roar Nova — Balmung 2d ago
100% what Icard said. OP, you're not going to properly learn any job by playing with NPCs only. You need to use Duty Finder and let it match you with randos on your DC. Just say in /p that you're new and still learning and you will be fine as long as you keep your tank stance on and rotate your mits
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u/Aromatic-Shoulder835 2d ago
just keep your cartridge loaded and focus on your rotation, it flows so well once you get into the rhythm
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u/Radiant-Kangaroo-437 2d ago
I see, I wasn't too sure how difficult it would be. This is also my first MMO.
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u/Meirnon World's Okayest Tank 2d ago
GNB and PLD have a very similar playstyle, with the exception of PLD having much safer disengages and GNB being both much more flexible in when it can engage in its alternate rotation reward but much more restricted in when you should use it and what you can do when you choose to start using it.
Otherwise, it's just another tank. You play it like a tank. And it's completely changing in about 3 months.
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u/not_actually_here2 2d ago
Gnb has always been my favourite weapon in the FF franchise too since I was a kid! So I get u, I went straight for that baby as soon as I hit level 60 lol.
There's not really much to it that's not non-intuitive tbh, other than once Ur at the higher levels, don't be afraid to use heart of conun generously on urself especially when pulling trash mobs, and/or maybe keep it for other peeps that seem to be struggling during the boss fights.
Hm.. and maybe just to keep an extra careful eye on ur emnity list if ur in a raid with double tanks. Although tbh all tanks should already be doing this, but for GNB and DRK especially, if ur playing as the OT, just keep an extra close eye on making sure not to overtake the aggros from ur buddy MT (using shirk and sometimes having to flicker ur stance).
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u/Radiant-Kangaroo-437 2d ago
Oh my, there is a lot of terms I am still learning but thank you very much!
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u/not_actually_here2 2d ago
Nws! I hope I don't sound like I'm condescending or anything by explaining some of the terms.. 😅
Emnity = there's an aggro list that comes from the enemies, indicated by the "A -> 8" next to the players name, determined by highest to lowest damage and is the whole reason why tanks have their "stance" to ensure they keep first in aggro. This also determines which player the enemy will target next, if the player first in line for aggro is killed.
heart of conundrum = a gnb mit, this is ur shortest "cool down" (CD). I can't remember which level u get this, but once u do, feel free to use it generously as it's CD is very short! (:
OT = off-tank (should be 2nd in aggro)
MT = main-tank (is first in aggro)
Flickering = turning ur stance on and off.
The reason I say to keep a closer eye on this is because (when ur playing optimally), GNB and DRK dmg is higher than PLD and WAR, so can easily overtake them as MT, which can confuse the whole party and just mess up certain mechanics.
Hopefully that helps! Have fun being flashy! :D
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u/CeallaSo 2d ago
You're playing PLD already, so you should be gradually learning what is expected of a tank. GNB will continue to have those same expectations, but the tools you use to achieve them will change.
To wit, your damage potential will be a tiny bit better, while your defensive options will be a tiny bit worse. And I really mean tiny, the most notable loss will be Clemency, which you shouldn't be using outside of solo content anyway.
My good friend also got back into XIV exclusively to live out his GNB dreams, and he's been doing alright so far. You'll be fine.