MapleStory 2 Heavy Gunner build - guide to gun down goons to the ground in MS2

Back in the days, many RPGs offered you only one way to go as you've progressed. The developers quickly realized that it's not player-friendly, and it's getting boring and dull quickly. It is why in most RPGs, you are offered more than class, job, profession, spec, or whatever it's called. It is exactly the case for MapleStory 2, as well. Depending on a server, we have 10 or 11 classes to choose from. These are Archer, Assassin, Berserker, Heavy Gunner, Knight, Priest, Runeblade, Soul Binder, Thief, and Wizard. And we have prepared an ultimate guide for all of them with more in-depth articles about each of them. 

MapleStory 2 Classes Builds and Guides >>>

Today we are about to focus on the MapleStory2 Heavy Gunner build and guide you through the gameplay.

Heavy Gunner Overview

It is an incredibly gifted engineer from Edelstein who fights forces of darkness with the aid of self-designed weaponry such as cannons. Dealing fire and lightning damage from a distance, he is a pillar of every team strategy. Thanks to his excellent combos dishing out high amounts of damage, he stands out as a major offensive force in boss battles, raids, and dungeon exploring.

Class role: Ranged DPS

Weapon: Cannons, Rockets, and Missiles

Attributes: Fire and Lightning

Main Stats: Dexterity

Difficulty to play: 2/5

Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Good at dealing AOE Damage

- Exceptional combos with a high amount of total damage, instrumental in boss battles, raids, and dungeon exploring

- Fastest mob clearing skills

- Has skills for regenerating both HP (Med Kit) and SP (Reload)

- Reload has the longest attacking range for basic SP replenishing skill

- SP skills are based on AoE (Area of Effect) Damage

- Rocket Launcher skill allows you to move to the chosen destination quickly

- Has skills that enable you to perform high total damage in Boss Raid events, when utilized in the correct order

- His skills/stats make him a massive mob killing machine.

Cons:

- Slow movement

- Loses his DPS attributes on mobile enemies

- Many SP based skills have a cooldown timer

- Long delays between animations and activating skills

- Grenades have short attacking range, unsuitable for bossing/training activities

- Squishy.

Now we will examine Heavy Gunner's skills on which we are going to plant our build. At the very beginning, you will have an opportunity to level up such skills as Bullet Spray, Gatling Fire, Jet Boots, and Reload. Thanks to them, you will be able to modify Heavy Gunner to your gameplay likings and desires.

Heavy Gunner skills

The percentages in the brackets are the upgrade range of the skill, usually from rank 1 to 10.

Active and Passive besides skill names designate whether they have to be activated manually in case of active skills or are always in effect in the case of passive skills.

Level in captions informs at which level skill first becomes available to use.

Offensive skills

Bullet Spray (active) - Fire 4 times in a row as the cannon's barrel spins, at the same time dealing (39% - 66%) damage to the closest enemy within 8 m in front of you. Bullets can't pierce through multiple enemies. Additional pressing of the skill key triggers a two-hit combo. On the second hit, the skill lasts until you let go of the skill key.

Gatling Fire (active) - Fire wildly three times, till the cannon's barrel stops spinning, dealing (44% - 80 %) damage up to 5 enemies within 8 m range in front of you. This time, using special piercing bullets that allow you to damage all targets. Pressing the skill key triggers a three-hit combo. Skill alternates between the second and third hits while the key is pressed. It consumes 5 spirit.

Jet boots (active) - You can propel 6 m forward by using your jet boots, additionally leaving behind a shockwave that deals 120% damage up to 5 enemies within 1,5 m. It consumes 60 stamina.

Rocket Launcher (active) (Level 10) - Fire a missile at the closest enemy within 9 m range in front of you. The rocket deals (152% - 251%) fire damage then explodes to deal additional (167% - 266%) fire damage up to 8 enemies within 3m. The explosion area burns from 3 to 10 seconds dealing (51% - 78%) fire damage every second to 8 enemies. It consumes 20 spirit.

Magnetic Bomb (active) (Level 13) - Launch a magnetic bomb at the closest target within 9 m in front of you. Every second It attracts up to 8 enemies within 3 m range, dealing (165% - 273%) electric damage and decreasing their movement speed by (3% - 30%). It consumes 20 spirit.

Stun grenades (active) (Level 16) - Throw two stun grenades within 3 m range in front of you, that explode after 0.5-second dealing (133% - 223%) fire damage up to 5 enemies within (1.5 m – 3 m) and has (64% - 91%) chance to stun them. It consumes 6 spirit.

Lock–On (active) (Level 19) - Heavy Gunner takes a shooting stance, aiming at the closest enemy within 8 m range in front of him and shoots a special bullet that deals (446% - 725%) damage, piercing him up to 8 times, additionally damaging enemies standing behind. It consumes 15 spirit.

Homing Missiles (active) (Level 22) - Heavy Gunner fires from 3 to 5 homing missiles, each dealing (88% - 142%) fire damage to enemies within 9 m. It consumes 15 spirit.

Electric Blast (active) (Level 25) - Activate the compact particle accelerator attached to your cannon to gather electricity and shoot it in a projectile form, dealing (455% - 743%) electric damage up to 3 enemies within 9 m range in front of you, additionally knocking them back 1.5 m. Pressing the skill key down for 0.5 sec enhances the effect to Stage 2, dealing (455% - 743%) electric damage 2 times to 5 enemies within 9m in front of you, knocking them back 3m. Holding the skill key for 0.5 sec at Stage 2 enhances it to Stage 3, dealing (455% -743%) electric damage 3 times to 8 enemies within 9 m in front of you, knocking them back 4.5m. Electric Blast is fired automatically when the skill key is held down for 3 sec at Stage 3.

Suborbital Bombardment (active) (Level 28) - Activates a satellite that fires lasers at the closest enemy within 8 m range, dealing (64% - 91%) electric damage up to additional 5 targets within 2.25 m of initial hit every second for 10 – 12 seconds. Pulse Energy upgrade enhances lasers to deal a further (22% - 31%) electric damage. It consumes 20 spirit.

M-Bomb (active) (Level 34) - Heavy Gunner calls in a high-tech bomb to be dropped 7.5 m in front of you, dealing (174% - 282%) fire damage up to 8 enemies within 3 m radius. A second blast takes place after 0.5 sec, dealing (376% - 610%) fire damage to 8 enemies within 6m. It consumes 15 spirit.

Support Skills:

Reload (active) - Heavy Gunner rotates canisters containing cannon's ammo 2 times in 0.25-second intervals to maintain them, restoring 50 spirit each time, for a total of 100 spirit.

Advanced bullets (passive) (Level 31) - Upgrade to high-performance bullets, which increases the damage dealt by Bullet Spray, Gatling Fire, and Lock-On skills by 1.5% - 15%.

Advanced Pulse Weapons (passive) (Level 37) - Upgrade to cannon's magnetic field engine, which increases its output. Increases the damage dealt by Magnetic Bomb and Electric Blast skills by 1.5% - 15%.

Med Kit (active) (Level 40) - A First Aid kit is dropped for you, or your ally to collect after 1 second to instantly restore (400 – 4000) health.

Advanced Missiles (passive) (Level 43) - Upgrade to high-performance missiles. Increase the damage dealt by Rocket Launcher, Homing Missiles, and M-Bomb by 1.5% - 15%.

Blast Charge Kit (passive) (Level 46) -Equips your cannon with a blast charge kit in order to optimize Electric Blast's output power and efficiency. Thanks to it, Electric Blast can be cast repeatedly without the need to cool down in between shots, at the cost of lowered damage and spirit consumed. Blast Charge Kit increases Electric Blast's damage by 1.5% - 15%.

The priority of statistics on items

For PvP, you may want to skip the "Boss Damage" for something else. 

Boss damage - One of the most important stats, since it increases your damage unleashed on bosses. Crucial in every PvE scenario falls off in PvP. Remember to adjust your gear depending on the mode you are aiming into.

Critical damage - Increases the damage dealt by critical hits. Critical damage cannot go above 250% against regular enemies, and cannot go above 150% against other player characters. (10 Points in Critical damage = 1% more critical damage when striking a critical hit.)

Critical rate - Increases the probability that the attack will land as a critical hit. Critical hits deal additional damage. The critical rate cannot increase above 40%. [Critical Rate - Critical Evasion = Effective Critical Rate on an enemy or player up to a maximum of 40% under normal circumstances]

Physical attack – Increases the damage dealt by physical attacks.

Physical Piercing - Ignores a portion of the enemy's physical resistance when using physical attacks.

Piercing – Your main priority in choosing your gear. It offers the most damage in general.

Heavy Gunner builds

Blast Charge Kit/Electric Blast Build

Suitable for beginners, designed for level 50 – 60 Heavy Gunner who is looking for gathering end – game content, ways of dealing with world bosses, and exploring dungeons.

This MS2 Heavy Gunner Build is based on the Electric Blast. It's a solid build that allows you to perform well in boss fights because of the vast amounts of damage it can deal. By upgrading the Advanced Pulse Weapons node to 10, you'll have a lot of increased damage on Electric Blast coming in pair with Blast Charge Kit. Remember that Rocket Launcher is not needed but does boost your DPS quite a lot. Level 8 Rocket Launcher should be sufficient for any content if your build is Skill Point hungry.

Gameplay

Use Lock-On and after that hit Electric Blast 3 times (you can also pile them up, use 2 before a boss fight and then use the 3rd stack for more damage). Use Rocket Launcher as well if enough SP is available, If you run out of SP, make sure to use Reload, it's an excellent skill that quickly restocks your SP.

Bullet Hell (Spray) build

Based on great skill – Bullet Spray allows you to deal massive amounts of damage at any level, and with other high damage skills, it makes a killer combination.

This MapleStory2 Heavy Gunner build focuses on Bullet Spray skill. It is designed to deal with both AoE and single target. The only limitation are Skill Points, so you can forget about leveling with this one.

Gameplay

You start with Lock-On (hit it once), then shoot with Rocket Launcher (once) after that comes Magnetic Bomb (once), then it's time for Electric Blast (charge it to the max) and finish this combo with Bullet Spray (hold down the Skill key). Use Bullet Spray only when other skills are on cooldown. Whenever they come off it, make sure to cycle through them again. Don't forget that you can also charge the Electric Blast for additional damage.

Bullet Spray in this build can be used by itself, or you can spam it on its own, but if you want to do the highest damage possible, then go through skills in mentioned above order.

Macro build

This build is for those players who want to grind fast through MapleStory2. It uses a variety of Rockets and Missiles, M – Bomb, and Electric Blast in order to deal a lot of AoE type of damage to speed run the content. It best suited to use while leveling to 50 – 60.

Gameplay

This build is to based on your single Macro. Put Rocket Launcher, Homing Missiles, M-Bomb, and Electric Blast on a key Macro and hold a designated button while these skills decimate everything in your way. Encountering Bosses with this is not the best solution because most of the boss fights require from you dodging attacks and using mobility based skills, but for leveling only, this build is excellent.

Summary

It is all we have prepared for the MapleStory 2 Heavy Gunner guide. We hope it's enough for you to reign supreme in fun to play, candy-like looking MMORPG. Heavy Gunner stands in opposition to the general outlook of the game. At the first glance, it looks like a fairytale, and then the HG comes in to bullet spray enemies straight to their graves. The class, as befits any other DPS class, is really enjoyable and exciting. It has its ups and downs, and currently, it's slightly behind the Wizard in terms of pure DPS, but nothing lasts. One good buff or nerfs can put the Heavy Gunner in the top spot of the MapleStory 2 class tier list.

Make sure to check our other guides, especially the ultimate MapleStory 2 Class guide, which will help you to choose the best class for you. It will allow you to avoid the uncertainty regarding and hard question of: "Which class should I choose in MS2?" Thanks to us, you can make your decision before entering the game! 

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