Basic Beginner Tips & Tricks for Gunbreaker in Final Fantasy XIV
After you have unlocked Gunbreaker in FFXIV Shadowbringers, you’ll want to actually start playing it (of course) so let’s run through some basic beginner tips and tricks to jumpstart your playing.
Unlike Dancer which plays very different than other DPS jobs, Gunbreaker should be pretty familiar to you if you’re experienced with other tank jobs in FFXIV Shadowbringers, or at the very least, just understand the basics of how they work.
The Gunbreaker has its own visual flair and DPS styles, but it also has everything you need to hold enmity, pull, crowd control, and keep yourself and your party members alive and safe.
Keep in mind that as of Shadowbringers, tank stances have been dramatically changed. There’s no more enmity combos; instead you either turn enmity on or off with your single tank stance, in the case of Gunbreaker, Royal Guard. As long as Royal Guard is up, and it always should be assuming you’re the only tank in the party, you shouldn’t have any trouble holding hate provided you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing AKA focusing on your DPS combos.
What sets Gunbreakers apart is that they build up Cartridges of ammo for the gun part of their blade which can be used to open up powerful new abilities that will significantly add to your DPS.
Completing your Keen Edge, Brutal Shell and Solid Barrel combo (single target) or the Demon Slice/Demon Slaughter combo (AoE) will add a Cartridge for you to use in your Powder Gauge.
You should build these up until Gnashing Fang is off cooldown. Gnashing Fang triggers a long combo string that must be completed in quick succession, but will deal a lot of damage and is incredibly satisfying to use. You’ll need the ability continuation, unlocked at level 70, to be able to perform the full combo.
When you’re not doing those combos, you should be doing your tanking/support cooldown abilities such as Heart of Stone and Camouflage to keep the combat as smooth as possible for everyone involved, and using your non-combo/longer cooldown and off-GCD abilities that will add to your DPS when applicable.
For example, if you are in a AoE damage situation, mix in Fated Circle when you have the spare Cartridge for it, same goes for Burst Strike which is a 500 potency single target attack.
When you eventually start doing higher-end trials and raids, you’ll want to save certain tank busters/defensive abilities for certain situations, but just use them whenever you can or before a big pull if you’re just doing beginner content like dungeons.
Other than the unique Power Gauge/Cartridge system, Gunbreaker has everything you would expect from a tank and should be straightforward provided you have a basic understanding of how to tank in FFXIV.
These are just basic tips to give you an idea of how you’re supposed to be playing. Once we’ve had more time with Gunbreaker in FFXIV Shadowbringers, such as a complete effective rotation, we’ll update that this guide with that info.
That’s all you need to know for how to unlock Gunbreaker in FFXIV Shadowbringers and how to play as Gunbreaker at a basic level. Best of luck getting your steps right!
