I had two problems to solve. One was that I had 24 Fighter Excubes and 600 Gold badges to farm. The second was that I didn’t have a Fighter build for mobbing.
The solution? Slap the Gu/Ra’s Ranger subclass tree on a generic Fighter main tree, grind up a 10★ Arao Slash and make a Gunslasher.
The result was a build that’s surprisingly effective in the Limited Quest, what with it being full of Darkers, and practically every Darker having a free weak point to hit for Ranger’s Weak Hit Advance.
Concept
This build was originally made for farming the Chaotic Beguiler Limited Quest as a Fighter main, and the only way to pack Weak Bullet as a Fighter main to ensure bosses melt in seconds is to sub Ranger.
Fighter/Ranger is a very proficient Gunslasher though. Between the two classes, they have the highest ranged damage bonuses in the game that can work up close.
Fighter Side
The usual suspects here.
Brave Stance
Easier to headshot from front than back in most cases.
Critical Strike, Brave Stance Critical
Works with both Striking and Ranged. Good for dumping excess SPs.
Limit Break
This is a primarily Gun-based Gunslasher so Limit Break is actually not too good with this build. One exception is Slash Rave, where the last hit uses SATK despite being Shooting-based, so Crazy Beat works. Still, Limit Break is taken because this is a generic Fighter main tree repurposed for a Gunslasher.
PP Slayer
Gunslash guzzles PP. Worth it.
Tech Arts JA
The variety of Gunslash PAs means some combos can be used to set this up. PAs covered in Strategy section.
Ranger Side
This is a pretty standard tree for Gu/Ra, but Gunslash is also a shooting weapon, so there’s lots of synergy here.
Weak Bullet
This is why Ranger was taken. Use Gunslash on mobs, then pull out the rifle and paint big red circles on bosses to make sure they go down fast. FiRa is not necessarily a Weak Bullet (WB) bot either. It still has decent hitting End Attracts and Impact Sliders, and after the last Weak Bullet is used, it can go in with Gunslash for Slash Rave.
Weak Hit Advance
Ridiculous bonus for headshotting or hitting weak points.
Standing Snipe
This one’s actually not too good. Most Gunslash PAs will move the user, but it works with Aiming Shot spam and Satellite Cannons on bosses that practically ask for it.
Moving Snipe
And because most Gunslash PAs move the user and this isn’t a Ranger main tree, there’s enough points to get Moving Snipe.
Stun Grenade, Gravity Bomb, Tactics Trap
Gunslash guzzles PP. Throw these to regain PP. Gravity Bomb first to get mobs together, unload, then Stun Grenade when Gravity Bomb is at the 8 second mark and unload again.
Killing Bonus
PP on kill is nice.
The Build
Exactly as described, a generic Fighter main with a generic Ranger sub: Fi/Ra Gunslasher.
Expect amazing gun attacks, while slash attacks… aren’t so hot, but will still hit harder than a Bo/Br’s, if that means anything.
Tried the same Gunslash setup on Ra/Hu, damage is lower but Automate is nice for Slash Rave since it can’t be cancelled.
Tried on Gu/Ra as well, damage vs mobs is comparable and it has Machineguns for bosses anyway. Might change the Gunner guide to incorporate Gunslash.
Gear
Get a Red Rifle, unlock with potential 1 to start.
Endgame Gear choices would be an Invade or Skull Gunslash
A Fighter-usable Rifle will be handy too. Crafted Red Rifle works, or the 12★ Nox Shootaya.
For units, any old RATK set works fine, but if going all out, something with Apprentice Soul/Modulator/Shoot III and above/Ability III/Spirita should do well.
Strategy
Mob killing is done with Row 1 and 2. If mobs are far away, throw a Gravity Bomb then use Add Bullet to Raketen.
If they surround you, use Strezwei to knockdown and JA into Kreisenschlag.
On tougher mobs or bosses, use Row 3.
Row 4 is when sniping is needed. Can be replaced with Rifle attacks.
Row 5 is for bosses. Fi/Ra carries WBs so it should not hesitate to use them, with WB loaded, it can’t switch weapons, but all it really needs to do while with a rifle is fish for openings to use Satellite Cannon anyway. When WBs are exhausted, it can play more aggressively with Row 3 and 4.
Row 6 is when WB is on cooldown, the boss is dead and there are WBs still loaded. To conserve those bullets, Fi/Ra does have to mob with Rifle for a bit. It’s noticeably more restricted but gets the job done until WB goes off cooldown. The main idea is to not be caught without a WB when Nyau shows up.
Video
Here’s one of my first Chaotic Beguiler runs, using a different PA set up as I was getting a feel for the build. Some silly mistakes and some parts look a little awkward, but shows the concept well enough.
