Gunslinger PvP Identity

Even with 16 skills usable at a time, Gunslinger does not have access to any additional SP over the standard 340, so in PvP many of Gunslinger's skills will be at either 0 or 4 points invested.

While Gunslinger's identity seems simple, it ss actually what makes Gunslinger one of the harder classes to pick up and master; not only because of the need to manage 16 cooldowns (with the additional problem of not being able to see that remaining cooldowns in other stances) as well as the fast decision making needed to choose the right stance at the right time. Additionally, one must be wary of the interaction stance swapping has with the Skill Buffering system in Lost Ark, which can influence when swapping can occur.

Gunslinger cannot buffer a skill from one stance into a skill from another very easily. Firstly, the unique buffer window each skill has means there is no general timing for when you can buffer a stance switch during a skill and Gunslinger has plenty of different skills to learn the timing of. Secondly, there can be a couple of different issues that arise if buffering is done with poor timing. Using a skill too early during the buffer will cause the weapon swap command to be cancelled and replaced with the skill being pressed, or alternatively the weapon swap will fully complete but no skill will come out due to the game not registering the stance swap fully - even if visually it is completed - thus it will attempt to use a skill from the previous stance resulting in an error.

There is a trick that can be used that can alleviate this issue to some degree however; if a button is pressed where the skills are locked in rifle and shotgun stance, nothing will be registered which allows for a weapon swap to be buffered while a skill button is being pressed repeatedly. This allows a skill to come out as soon as possible without running the risk of cancelling the weapon swap. Rifle stance skills are on the bottom bar while the top bar is locked and vice versa for shotgun stance. Setting up the skill bar so that pistol stance has mobility skills on the top and combo extenders on the bottom allows Gunslinger to easily transition from a rifle stance skill into repositioning with a movement skill and transition from a shotgun stance catch into setting up Gunslinger's standard combo route with pistol stance.

Getting used to stance swapping and each skill's buffer window is fairly important for playing Gunslinger effectively. Going into Trixion training ground and practising buffering skill into a weapon swap into another skill with as little of a gap as possible will be very beneficial in improving consistency with Gunslinger.