I’ve been out of the game for the best part of the last two years (barring a brief return with the release of AOM).
At present my build is the following: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4ZDRp4w2
With the release of the new expansion, any advice any of you would have regarding constellations choices, gear to push for and skills to select for the final 8 levels of this build would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Azakiel
Does it by any chance made after my very old guide? 
(can’t open your link)
Gunslinger sorc has been irrelevant for quite some time now. I can however recommend my sorc guide. It doesn’t require green items, a lot of its gear is craftable, it’s super tanky and clears all content in the game.
I’ve updated the Grimtools link, so it should work correctly now.
The original build was based around a number of gunslinger sorc builds that were on the forums at the time (yours was very likely one of them), and then further modified after some advice on the forums following the launch of AoM.
well, not my old sorc 
But still, if you want a good sorc I would recommend a build I linked above.
While I’m sure that’s a good build for a caster sorc, I’d rather not entirely respec and have to regear into a completely different playstyle (I’d probably start a new character if I was going to do that).
I appreciate that gunslinger sorcs are a little behind the meta (presumably with the advent of the inquisitor), but ideally I’m looking for advice on how to work with what I’ve currently got, and what tweaks I can make (particularly to the devotions), and what new gear to aim for in order to improve what I’ve currently got.
Oh man. The memories. My very first build was a gunslinger sorc very similar to this, I followed a build and it ended up being shit. Every other character I made was so much better…but I think a big part of it was not knowing what I was doing. A gunslinger sorc will probably never be able to farm Gladiator Crucible or get to SR 75, but it should be possible to come up with one that can beat all main campaign content excluding superbosses if that’s what you’re interested in. Let me know and I’ll put more effort into coming up with something.
Couple quick points…
It looks like Fire is your main damage type with Cold/Chaos as secondary and some Lightning/Aether. There’s too many damage types; that’s an issue with all gunslinger sorcs. I’d recommend sticking with Elemental (Fire/Cold/Lightning) and converting Chaos and Aether to one of those somehow. Dagallon’s Faceguard converts Chaos to Fire/Lightning with Fire Strike, and Vanquisher’s Chest+Shoulders converts Aether to Fire.
You need Thermite Mines maxed. You need as much RR as you can get since any build with Arcanist will be low.
Get rid of Olexra’s Freeze completely, reduce Overload to 1 point and Maiven’s to 3. Put extra points in maxing Blast Shield and do 1 point in BWC and 1 point in High Potency. Put rest in mines.
Devotions: Bat is better than Fiend, Ultos is better than Torch, and Ghoul is mandatory.
That’s right, Fire is the primary damage type with the other damage types largely coming in as a added bonus from other effects (e.g. the Aether damage as a result of grabbing reckless power for increased attack speed and fire damage). I don’t feel like I do enough aether/chaos damage currently to warrant actively hunting down conversion items (although if I comes across them anyway that’s a different matter).
Regarding Thermite Mines, I did use them at one point, but I didn’t feel like I was getting much out of them at the time (especially compared to things that either had a wider AoE, or directly contributed passive effects that were beneficial). Is there something about the use/placement of mines in combat that I’m missing maybe?
Regarding Olexra’s, this one does appear to be fairly useful currently, what’s the reason behind dropping it entirely?
Similar question regarding Maiven’s, what’s the main benefit of dropping it to 3 points (especially at the cost of 6% damage absorb)?
On the subject of devotions, I completely agree that Ghoul looks good (not sure how I missed it last time), and I should probably look at how to squeeze it in to my current setup.
Other than the proc on Bat, I’m not seeing a major benefit to it compared to Fiend. With the exception of the penultimate point in bat, nothing else is doing anything for this build as far as I can see, whereas fiend is adding a reasonable amount to my primary damage type, as well as a little bit of chaos resist for good measure.
Finally, I’m struggling to see the benefit of Ultos over Torch (especially given that it would require reworking a lot of other devotions to get the required primordial points). It looks like I’m mostly just diversifying my damage types. What am I missing here?
In terms of gear are there any new items I should perhaps be looking for?
Are there any components or augments you’d advise switching out (and if so, what for)?
If you want gunslinging you need Purifier, man. Sorc got nothing in this department.
But if you insist on going this route, I guess making an Aether Gunslinger sorc will make the most sense (tonns of flat damage support + conversion from Arcanist and Aether RR from Demo). Either with two pistols (questionable) or with a two-handed gun like Dreadscorcher (realistic).
I’m aware that purifier would no doubt do this better, but short of either scrapping the character and starting over from scratch, or editing the save game to swap out arcanist, that’s not going to be an option sadly (I do wish there was some way to respec to a different mastery midgame).
What is it that makes an aether focused gunslinger sorc vaguely workable, but not a fire focused gunslinger sorc (bearing in mind that I’m not looking for 6 minute crucible clearance, 4s fabius kills etc. so I’m not overly fussed about being a bit behind the meta)?
mad_lee makes it look incredibly easy, but the short version is that the gear available doesn’t support the build enough to allow it to get the sufficient stats it needs (compared to other top tier builds).
As a quick example, take a look at Deeadscorcher. It provides a huge buff to weapon damage for FS, AND takes care of all lightning and chaos and half of physical conversions to aether, while also providing great skill buffs and attack speed. This gives the build a lot more flexibility in maximizing other areas the build needs (such as armor, DA/OA, resistances, etc.) with different gear slots. The amulet is another example, giving +1 to all skills while converting fire to aether and even increasing armor 10%. This synergies with the heavy armor aether set, which also has great resistances, which allows him to get pants with great aether offensive qualities, etc. They all build off each other to allow the most optimized stats for each gear slot. There are more offensive aether armor sets and more defensive pants, but they don’t provide as much stats as their counterparts.
There’s no “Dreadscorcher” for a fire gunslinger build that provides the same level of efficiency. There’s no “Agrivix” amulet that gives +1 to all skills and other goodies while converting aether to fire. You can use other items to try and make it work, and it can to some degree, but it won’t ever be as good as the aether one for the reasons described.
This also touches on why making top-tier builds is not as easy as searching highest damage or whatever and putting it on. Every piece of gear is like a unique puzzle piece that interacts with other pieces and masteries and devotions in specific ways to maximize efficiency of stats, and it takes a lot of experience to know how they all interlock to form the best build possible.
Hope that helps!
Don’t worry, I know that dual pistol gunslinger sorc isn’t a top tier build and that’s not what I’m looking for here (if I was looking for a top tier build, I’d just start from scratch and build a completely different class combo).
What I’m generally looking for is suggestions for gear to aim for from the new releases (particularly looking at the new components and augments), suggestions for devotion adjustments taking into account the general focus of the build and the newly released constellations, and some general ideas for what to spend my last few skill points on (and/or where to juggle existing skill points from and to in order to improve the build without completely respeccing into a different sorc build).
With these general goals in mind, do you have any suggestions?
I’ve been testing a few variants of fire Sorc and… it still shit… the best thing I could came up with gear I have it this:
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZrA9O6V
It was able to clear all the vanilla+AoM+FoG… but playing in FoG areas is pain in the ass. A lot of mobs are highly resistant to fire and I have no more options to get additional RR. Also I cannot bump OA/DA to reasonable 3000/3000. There’s no way I can do it with Sorc. So for my taste this build: dps wise its okish, in terms of defense its crappy.
I think that Arcanist part of the build is the weak side. It just don’t have any more phys res, fire RR and DA to get. Maybe with better items it will become… better… but for now it is… very disappointing. This build was (and is) so much better in Vanilla… but we’re in FoG now, so… It’s better to just switch to demo+inqui= purifier.
That’s just my 3 cents.
If you’re willing to swap fire for lightning, the mythical barrelsmith twins pistols is probably your best bet. They have lightning damage as base (so you don’t have to worry about converting physical), convert all fire to lightning, have a few WPS procs and even skill cooldown reduction.
Ignaffars Combustion for offensive relic or Serenity for defense
If taking my advice and going lightning, I’d do Star Pact over Reckless Power for more cooldown reduction so you can spam Mirror and Blast Shield more.
Either Dagallon or Ulzuin helm probably.
Get Widow, Elemental Storm, Ghoul, and see if you can get both Aeons Hourglass and Ultos.
Seal of Annihilation on amulet, seal of corruption on a weapon, probably seal of might on other for resistance? Might not be able to be used with ranged weapon though, can’t remember
Bloodied crystals on rings, attack speed component on medal, prismatic on helm and get 100% armor absorption + resistances with components.
Any augment that gives OA/DA and/or flat fire/lightning
This man builds!
That’s what we are trying to convey. Gunslinger sorc is going straight up struggle with just regular campaign content. Forget about Nemesis, Crucible, Shattered Realm, regular campaign bosses are going to be a pain in the ass. Fire resistance is very common among monsters. At least that Aether sorc will be fine in Campaign, by endgame standards it’s still not even a mid-tier build.
AoM and FG monsters hit hard and have large hp pools, gunslinger sorc’s potential caps at farming Dynamite in Cronley’s hideout.
Granted, I’ve not run any Ultimate content yet (when I last stopped playing I was halfway through finishing up AoM on Elite, with the next plan being to start the main campaign on Ultimate), but with the exception of some of the nemeses, and the boss at the end of the Ancient Grove, I’ve not really run into anything like the difficulties with bosses and general content that you’ve described.
Setting that aside, surely at the very least there are new components/augments that would be strict improvements on what I’ve currently got slotted (for what I’m trying to achieve with this build) or newly released items that would be reasonably direct upgrades from gear I already have equipped?
Hell, can you see any glaring defensive/offensive stat holes in the build that I should try and resolve, and what gear/devotions would you suggest to fill them?
@gregory_portman: Thanks for providing that build. If I’m reading it right, it looks like it’s mostly a “caster” demolitionist with a rifle rather than an auto attack with occasional activated ability (flashbang, olexra’s etc.) build. Is that right?
@Ryzel: Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll try and get hold of those pistols and respec over to lightning.
Regarding the new component suggestions, I’ve come across a few seal blueprints, but I don’t think I’ve come across any bloodied crystal parts yet, is there anywhere in particular they tend to drop more frequently (or are they a crafted component)?
@mad_lee: Granted, I’ve not run any Ultimate content yet (when I last stopped playing I was halfway through finishing up AoM on Elite, with the next plan being to start the main campaign on Ultimate), but with the exception of some of the nemeses, and the boss at the end of the Ancient Grove, I’ve not really run into anything like the difficulties with bosses and general content that you’ve described.
Setting that aside, surely at the very least there are new components/augments that would be strict improvements on what I’ve currently got slotted (for what I’m trying to achieve with this build) or newly released items that would be reasonably direct upgrades from gear I already have equipped?
Hell, can you see any glaring defensive/offensive stat holes in the build that I should try and resolve, and what gear/devotions would you suggest to fill them?
@Ryzel: When you mention adding an attack speed component to the medal, are you referring to the Dread Skull component?
Build is one defensive and offensive hole, sorry, man. Ultimate is a whole different ball game altogether, especially with AoM and FG content. But I guess you have to try for yourself to see, good luck )
@mad_lee: So what is it that inquisitor brings to the build (in place of arcanist) that plugs the massive offensive and defensive hole (particularly on the defensive side) that you say a gunslinger sorc is compared to a gunslinger purifier?
It feels like the inquisitor suffers even more from having loads of differing damage types on their abilities, doesn’t appear to have any way of reducing elemental resistances (all things it’s been said are an issue with the Sorc build), and doesn’t appear to have any passive/toggled defensive abilities or much damage type conversion to speak of.
Don’t get me wrong Word of Renewal looks amazing, but if you let it lapse you’ve got less in the way of defensive abilities going for you than a Sorc.
What is it that I’m missing with the inquisitor that would make it a much better second mastery choice for a primarily fire focused DW pistol auto attack build than an arcanist?