The developers behind Atlantica Online continue their weekly series on the D-class mercenaries in thier free-to-play MMO. Don't miss this one!

Every week the Atlantica Online developers tantalize us with a new developer journal focused on their in-game mercenaries. Despite it's genre bending gameplay, Atlantica Online continue to do well in the free-to-play market and attract interested players, and this week's journal shines a spotlight on another D-class mercenary, the Gunner.

If you haven't checked out the game or our dev journals, there's never been a better time. Enjoy all the dev information on Atlantica Online's Gunner!

The Gunner is the second of two ranged D-class mercenaries—the other being the Archer we featured last week. But in contrast to the single-target sniping abilities of the Archer, the Gunner can actually hit all three mercenaries lined up in a column. For instance, if your opponent has a Swordsman up front to tank, an Archer in the mid-row, and a Shaman in the back, your Gunner will be able to hit all three with one shot. Her ability to target multiple targets is what makes the Gunner so potent, but of course, it wouldn’t be balanced if 100% of the damage was dealt to each row. So the front row will absorb 100% of the damage, but the mid and back-row will only take in 50% of the damage. This still greatly speeds up the beginnings of your travel as you will still be able to mow down the early encounters at a much faster pace.  

For a non-melee mercenary, the Gunner has a high base HP. That being said, her defense is quite low, so she is not suitable for frontline combat. Usually, the Gunner will be dishing most of the damage from the mid-row as the back is usually reserved for the support classes that wear Magic Type armor.

The main skill that the Gunner will utilize is Wild Shot. Wild Shot is similar to the Gunner’s normal physical attack, in that it hits enemies in a column, but for additional damage. In PvE, it is a great skill to use, but in PvP, you lose the benefit of keeping stun pressure since magic skills do not add to the stun counters. And since the Gunner can physically hit three targets at once, it makes her very effective at stunning opponents. (Mercenaries can get stunned if they get hit in three consecutive turns. When stunned, that mercenary cannot make any actions until the stun wears off.) Players who choose the Gunner as their main class gets an additional skill called Scorching Bullets, a damaging skill that deals damage in a cross-shape pattern.

Gunner-mains also benefit from increased stats compared to their mercenary counterparts. So players who typically wish to have a Gunner in the party select the Gunner themselves. As you progress, stronger mercenaries will be unlocked for you to recruit—the Janissary and the Inventor. Because the Gun class mainly focuses on damage, most players swap out the D-class Gunner for one (or both) of the aforementioned mercenaries. A popular build for a Gunner-main is commonly called the tri-gun build because the main character—the Gunner-main- is lined up alongside the Janissary and Inventor. This makeup usually has an Oracle in the party to cast Seth’s Will on the row of gunners. This causes them to go berserk, dealing massive damage.

If you want to learn more about all the various ways to utilize the Gunner, participate in the on-going discussions on the Atlantica Online forums at playatlantica.com. Next week, we will discuss the only D-Class healer—the Shaman.