Best gun/loadout for Gunslinger (Your thoughts)

[Oberwizbad]

Prestige 4 with Gunslinger now but I've always seemed to end up using the Winchester as my main gun and upgrading that all the way,It's actually really good at taking out all zeds even scrakes and Fleshpounds if you can hit the headshots all the the time but as backup it's either the Dual Deagals or .500 Magnums for the bosses and sometimes the big zeds or just when I run out of ammo for the winchester.

Always tend to try to use the other Gunslinger weapons (The Rhino kind of sucks or atleast I hate it) But I always somehow end up going back to the winchester and it's so cheap to buy only for 200 Dosh lol

[Max447]

If you enjoy winchester i'd recommend the SPX centerfire too. Its basically a upgraded version of winchester. Dual Desert eagles + Dual Magnums + SPX is a very strong build. The rhinos are pretty terrible yeah

[Psycho Dad]

Lots of stuff you can use. Just avoid HX and Spitfires.
Winchester is ok if you join late and need something cheap that still performs well vs mediums, but other then that the SPX is better.
I only run SPX on maps with long sight lines, though.

T4 Mags/AFs, T3 Deagles, T3 1911, T2 MedPistol...classic build, lots of ammo when you have to kill lots of trash. 1911s main trash killers, Mags for bigs, Deagles for backup or when you need lots of sustained DPS.

T4 Mags/AFs, T4 Deagles, single T3 1911, T2 MedPistol...less effective on trash, better vs larges.

T4 Mags/AFs, T3 Deagles, SPX...classic, no upgrades, geared towards larges.

T5 Deagles, T4 AFs, T2 MedPistol...max DPS, but not alot of ammo vs trash.

T4 Deagles, T4 1911s, single AF...high DPS and handles nicely, but not alot of damage reserve. Might run dry on later HOE rounds.

[Poor huwhyte Carl]

The loadouts are situational.

If you have a good mando and therefore extensions and you have relatively long lanes, then SPX is a way to go as it remains accurate in zed time with Fan Fire. 2 pairs of pistols are deagles and either magnums or AFs. IMO AFs are better because of better ammo pool and huge savings on dry reload cancelling, magnums on the other hand can't be practically cancelled.

If there's no mando (or a crappy team that steals trash kills during zed time) and it's pretty chaotic you can replace SPX with a pair of 1911 upgraded once. 1 upgrade allows bodyshotting with zero ReU stalkers and doesn't take space.

If there's no medic and a lot of kiting you can replace 1911 with hemoclobber.

All loadouts contain a medic pistol (except the SPX one) upgraded once since it doesn't take space. These are final loadouts, I typically start acquiring them with AFs, then I buy deagles, then the rest.

The main debate as I'm aware is magnums vs AFs. Older guys who are in the game since EA typically got used to magnums and refuse to replace them with AFs, that's the main reason some people use them IMO.

PS I also don't like upgrading deagles. The thing is, after long hours of play one typically gets used to power of this or that weapon and expects consistent results. Upgrading throws it off a bit and one ends up issuing more shots than necessary, etc. Plus, of course, upgrading decent pistols makes them weigh +2 more which is not okay IMO.

[Psycho Dad]

Whatever end game loadout I use, I always buy single Deagle--->dual Deagles first and keep the 1858s. Maybe a MedPistol if its needed.
Single Deagle on wave 2 is good vs Rioters, Husks and Fiends, dual Deagles will take care of a possible wave 3 Scrake.

Not a fan of getting AFs first as sometimes you cant effort them, ammo is expansive and they dont counter Rioters as Deagles do.

[Littlefoot]

Tier 5 Deagles + anything of your choice + a medic pistol lets you be as versatile as you can be as GS.

[Dark Savior]

1 gun for low to mid tier zeds
1 gun for big zeds
+ anything else you want.

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

Originally posted by Psycho Dad:

Lots of stuff you can use. Just avoid HX and Spitfires.
Winchester is ok if you join late and need something cheap that still performs well vs mediums, but other then that the SPX is better.
I only run SPX on maps with long sight lines, though.

T4 Mags/AFs, T3 Deagles, T3 1911, T2 MedPistol...classic build, lots of ammo when you have to kill lots of trash. 1911s main trash killers, Mags for bigs, Deagles for backup or when you need lots of sustained DPS.

T4 Mags/AFs, T4 Deagles, single T3 1911, T2 MedPistol...less effective on trash, better vs larges.

T4 Mags/AFs, T3 Deagles, SPX...classic, no upgrades, geared towards larges.

T5 Deagles, T4 AFs, T2 MedPistol...max DPS, but not alot of ammo vs trash.

T4 Deagles, T4 1911s, single AF...high DPS and handles nicely, but not alot of damage reserve. Might run dry on later HOE rounds.

actually, from what i've been told from a friend who mostly plays on Suicidal and HoE, the Spitfires can be proven useful on the Gunslinger for the "BOOM" Weekly, as setting the Zeds on fire (at least the trash-and-medium ones) turns them into walking "time bombs", which can be used to potentially damage (or kill) any nearby Zeds.

[Poor huwhyte Carl]

Originally posted by Mister Torgue Flexington:

actually, from what i've been told from a friend who mostly plays on Suicidal and HoE, the Spitfires can be proven useful on the Gunslinger for the "BOOM" Weekly, as setting the Zeds on fire (at least the trash-and-medium ones) turns them into walking "time bombs", which can be used to potentially damage (or kill) any nearby Zeds.

Oh LOL. Then tell your friend that the "BOOM" weekly explosions don't hurt zeds, only players.

No spitfires on GS, no matter what.

[GigaBowserX]

Originally posted by 100% huwhyte healing darts:

The loadouts are situational.
The main debate as I'm aware is magnums vs AFs. Older guys who are in the game since EA typically got used to magnums and refuse to replace them with AFs, that's the main reason some people use them IMO.

I'd be interested in your further thoughts on this matter. I always used to go for AFs, but recently I've been wondering about that and trying Magnums more, as they seem to have a lot more potential due to their extremely high penetration.

As I understand it, the listed AF stat bars at the trader (I know they're not super accurate, but I do like to use them as a ballpark estimate) apply to each of the two bullets individually, meaning that the damage of the AFs should be on-par with the Magnums - assuming both bullets find their target. However, the penetration is probably separate for each bullet, too, which means they don't have nearly the power that the Magnums pack against bigger armored zeds (read: Fleshpounds) and bosses.

There's also the differences in ammo pool and fire rate to consider, as well as reload speed/cancelling, as you mentioned earlier. Not to mention the fact that each shot from the AFs could potentially give you two "Rack 'em Up" stacks, instead of just one.

[Mochan]

Gunslinger is a strong class and works well with just about any of the perk guns.

I personally use nothing but a single Colt M1911. I use this to take out Fleshpounds. It gets harder to do so on 6-man Sui or HOE though and I run out of ammo, so I pack a Deagle or Magnum for that. They're better at taking out big zeds anyway.

I dislike dual-wielding and prefer using single pistols.

I also pack Winchseter or SPX for sniping or for taking care of mediums or bigs, but the reload time gets me so if I run out I go back to the M1911.

[GigaBowserX]

Originally posted by Mochan:

Gunslinger is a strong class and works well with just about any of the perk guns.

I personally use nothing but a single Colt M1911. I use this to take out Fleshpounds. It gets harder to do so on 6-man Sui or HOE though and I run out of ammo, so I pack a Deagle or Magnum for that. They're better at taking out big zeds anyway.

I dislike dual-wielding and prefer using single pistols.

I also pack Winchseter or SPX for sniping or for taking care of mediums or bigs, but the reload time gets me so if I run out I go back to the M1911.

Wow, hardcore! 1911 only - for everything! And a SINGLE 1911 at that! XD (Well, and a couple of back-up weapons, I guess, but still.)

[Mochan]

Single actually is better for me because aiming is weird with dual pistols, even using alternate aim. Someitmes you want to aim and not hipfire. Also if you have Tactical Reload the reload time is fast enough that it completely makes up for the smaller clip size.

The main problem is that on Sui 6P or higher you tend to run out of ammo because there's too many zeds spawning, so you need to pack an extra gun anyway. On Hard 6P or lower one M1911 is enough and you can even go Big Zed Hunting that way as long as you have REU. But on Sui and higher you need a Deagle or Magnum or other extra weapon because one gun just doesn't have enough bullets.

Tghe M1911 is better all around compared to the Deagle due to less recoil. The Deagle is a pain to use against trash and especially against crawlers because of the recoil. It's better for Med zeds of course but the M1911 is fine for that especially once upgraded. Magum is best for big zed hunting but the slow reload annoys me so I usually stick to Deagle for Big Zed Hunting.

[Psycho Dad]

Originally posted by GigaBowserX:

As I understand it, the listed AF stat bars at the trader (I know they're not super accurate, but I do like to use them as a ballpark estimate) apply to each of the two bullets individually, meaning that the damage of the AFs should be on-par with the Magnums - assuming both bullets find their target. However, the penetration is probably separate for each bullet, too, which means they don't have nearly the power that the Magnums pack against bigger armored zeds (read: Fleshpounds) and bosses.

AF does 51 per bullet, so 102 if both hit. Magnums do 165 per shot.

Thats not how penetration/damage works. You dont get extra damage for a higher penetration value. Damage is damage and penetration is penetration. They dont interact with each other.

You cant kill a 6P Fleshpound with a single 1911, dont be silly. On 6P HOE you need something around 25 shots (educated guess). Thats not nearly fast enough, you're not killing it, you're tickling it. Even a single Deagle is iffy, as you need 13-14 shots. In general...no single pistol can kill a large without reloading, so you're playing a heavily gimped version of Gunslinger, but if you really, really insist on it, a single AF has the highest DPS.

[Mochan]

You can kill the FP with 2 clips of a Deagle. Since you're using a single Deagle the reload is really fast so you can still kill the FP in around 3-4 seconds.

[GigaBowserX]

Originally posted by Psycho Dad:

Originally posted by GigaBowserX:

As I understand it, the listed AF stat bars at the trader (I know they're not super accurate, but I do like to use them as a ballpark estimate) apply to each of the two bullets individually, meaning that the damage of the AFs should be on-par with the Magnums - assuming both bullets find their target. However, the penetration is probably separate for each bullet, too, which means they don't have nearly the power that the Magnums pack against bigger armored zeds (read: Fleshpounds) and bosses.

AF does 51 per bullet, so 102 if both hit. Magnums do 165 per shot.

Thats not how penetration/damage works. You dont get extra damage for a higher penetration value. Damage is damage and penetration is penetration. They dont interact with each other.

I should have clarified myself. I know that penetration doesn't actually boost the base damage or anything like that. What I meant is that the penetration would help carry the damage through so that it wouldn't be reduced by armor, yes? (Such as if you happen to hit a Fleshpound's metal arm grinders while they're sprinting towards you, or a Rioter's helmet). Or is penetration SOLELY used to measure how well a bullet will go through one Zed and possibly hit another Zed behind it?

EDIT: Oh, and since you put the actual numbers out there, the Magnums would seem to be objectively better than the AFs on a per-shot basis. But do you happen to know how other factors would affect the comparison, such as recoil, fire rate, reload speed, etc.?