Final Fantasy XIV‘s Endwalker expansion has set the online world ablaze with new content, including a new playable race, new main story quests and the Reaper and Sage jobs. Among the additions are new skills, tweaks and reworks to jobs already established in previous expansions that make the journey to level cap much more interesting for returning players.
The Gunbreaker is a job returning the game’s previous expansion, Shadowbringers. As a tank wielding its aetherically enhanced gunblade, the Gunbreaker relies more on offense than defense, using a series of interwoven skills that lay the hurt on their foes. With the introduction of Endwalker, the Gunbreaker has gone through a number of significant changes, including updates and additions to their already large array of skills.
The Gunbreaker’s Core Rotation And Other Useful Abilities
The Gunbreaker’s main rotation relies on the execution of the combo Keen Edge, Brutal Shell and Solid Barrel (for single-target), or Demon Slice and Demon Slaughter (for multi-target) to generate Cartridges (max two). Cartridges can be spent to execute the more potent rotation of Gnashing Fang, Jugular Rip, Savage Claw, Abdomen Tear, Wicked Talon and Eye Gouge (for single-target), or Fated Circle (for multi-target). The skill Burst Strike is an another way to spend those cartridges while the main rotation is on cooldown.
Outside the Gunbreaker’s core rotation are a number of other skills. Blasting Zone and Bow Shock are two additional damaging skills that can help supplement the Gunbreaker’s damage and threat potential. Blasting Zone is a single-target high-potency ability, while Bow Shock is a multi-target ability that applies a damage over time effect to any foe it hits. Lightning Shot is a low-potency, ranged ability that generates increased enmity with an enemy that’s perfect for a tank, like the Gunbreaker, to control the mobs they pull in an encounter. Finally, Bloodfest is another key skill that grants the Gunbreaker a full stack of cartridges should the Gunbreaker’s main rotation fall behind.
The Gunbreaker also has a number of defensive skills, including Heart of Stone, an ability that reduces a target’s damage taken by 15%. Camoflague is another great defensive skill that reduces incoming damage by a further 10% and increases the Gunbreaker’s parry rate by 50%, which is perfect for focusing down a large group of enemies. The skill Aurora grants the Gunbreaker health regeneration for the next seconds, which is extremely useful in a situation where the Gunbreaker needs that extra health boost to weather a tide of incoming damage. Heart of Light is a party-wide ability that reduces magic damage taken by 10% for the next 15 seconds, a skill useful for weathering area of effect attacks encountered during a dungeon or raid.
Nebula is yet another damage reduction ability, this time reducing incoming damage by 30%, while Superbolide is a skill that drops the Gunbreaker to a single hit point in exchange for being impervious to most attacks for the next 10 seconds. Use this ability with care, and make sure it’s bound to a key that can’t be accidentally pressed during an encounter. It’s an extremely useful ability if the Gunbreaker is about to die, as it allows the healer time to recover or use a more powerful healing ability. However, if used at the wrong time, it can drop a Gunbreaker’s health and make the healer’s job that much more stressful.
The Gunbreaker’s Endwalker Updates
With the release of Endwalker, the Gunbreaker went through a host of changes, gaining new skills without changing the core role of the job too much. The largest is an increase to their cartridge cap, going from a max of two to three. Alongside that comes Heart of Corundum, an evolution of the ability Heart of Stone which, while still granting a player a 15% reduction to incoming damage, also grants a health boost if a player under the effects of this ability drops below a 50% hit point threshold.
Aurora now has a second charge, while Burst Strike now also has the inclusion of its own Continuation ability called Hypervelocity. Double Down is an extra multi-target ability costing two cartridges that deals more damage to the first enemy it strikes and 20% less damage to all other enemies. Alongside all of these new, exciting skills comes an additional host of small tweaks, duration changes and potency changes to the job’s core rotation.
The Gunbreaker’s Playstyle
Since the job’s inception in Shadowbringers, the core playstyle of the Gunbreaker class hasn’t changed much. A fast-moving tank with a focus on offense and a rotation more akin to a damage-dealing class, than a reliance on heavy, stationary defense. That said, the Gunbreaker still has a host of damage-mitigation abilities, and the ability to halt potential death with Superbolide, so pay attention to the Gunbreaker’s health and surroundings during an encounter. When playing a Gunbreaker, be sure to activate its tanking ability, Royal Guard (to increase enmity generation with each attack) before diving into the fray.
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