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The Fast Gunner weapon effect inOnce Humanis all about shooting harder and faster. It increases a weapon’s fire rate and damage output every time it’s triggered, often resulting in ridiculously high DPS when combined with the right mods, buffs, and armor effects.
Despite not being as flashy or complicated as something like aPower Surge build inOnce Human, Fast Gunner setups can compete with the top dogs of the DPS charts while giving players the satisfaction of unloading countless bullets into a poor monster’s face. Here’s a starter Fast Gunner guide for players who want to explore this fun and satisfying build path.
Slow And Steady
Covered Advance
Note
Prioritize getting Magazine Capacity, Crit stats, Weapon DMG, and Reload Speed
This build aims tostuff as much raw Weapon DMG buffs into the MG4 Predator via mods, armor pieces, and weapon effectslike Fortress Warfare. Players will often getdouble the Weapon DMGon the MG4 Predator just by shooting enemies, essentially turning each hit into a critical strike that can also critically strike. This is a good base for a Fast Gunner build as it offers reliable DPS against all enemies while being very flexible when it comes to armor, mods, and secondary weapon choices.
Primary Weapon
The MG4 Predator comes with the following attributes:
Weapon Calibration Blueprints inOnce Humancan drastically affect how a gun performs. For this build, we’ll be using theRapid Shot Style(preferablywith dual Crit stats) to increase our fire rate by up to 15%. This will reduce the already-poor Accuracy of the MG4, however. To compensate, use the following weapon accessories:
Secondary Weapon
If you’re playing solo,the Recurve Crossbow inOnce Humanis likely the best option you have. Not only does it apply The Bull’s Eye on weakspot hits, butit also increases your Crit Rate against enemies marked by the crossbow itself. However, if you’re playing with a group and someone also has a means of applying The Bull’s Eye,we recommend using the S870 Sandstorm instead, as it deploys a Fortress Warfare field just by switching to the weapon.
Players who really want to keep shooting canopt to use another machine gun insteadof the previous two. The MG4 Wrath of Hades refills one bullet to your other weapon every time it triggers Fast Gunner. Once the MG4 Predator runs out of bullets, swap to this one and shoot until your magazine is dry. Then, swap back to your Predator. Alternatively, just get another Predator.
Armor Set
The 3PC Bastille setgives players a 40% Weapon DMG buff when crouching stillandanother 10% Weapon DMG if they’re above 70% HP.It’s free damage that can be triggered very easily. The caveat here is you likely won’t be able to take advantage of this 50% buff all the time, as the game punishes stationary playstyles. Still, you’ll be able to get such a large damage bonus in DPS windows when bosses are stunned or distracted.
If you don’t like the Bastille set,get the Lonewolf set inOnce Humanfor theadded Crit stats. You can even use the Renegade set if you want tobuild for Weakspot DMG. However, keep in mind that not all enemies have weakspots, and some have weakspots that are hard to hit. Stacking crit is a more convenient way of dealing damage, while stacking Weakspot DMG is often much stronger, but harder to put into practice depending on what you’re fighting.
Oasis Vs Dust Mask
The Oasis Maskincreases the max Fast Gunner stacks you may have by 10, and it increases the Attack damage buff of each stack from 1% to 2%. This means you can have a total of 20 Fast Gunner stacks with a gold Blitzkrieg mod equipped, translating to +40% bonus damage and fire rate. Use this if you want to deal as much damage as possible in a short period of time.
Meanwhile,Dust Mask gives you a 50% chance to automatically reload 1 bullet in your magazine every time you trigger Fast Gunner. This won’t increase your DPS, but it’ll let you lay down the trigger for longer, resulting in more damage per magazine and less DPS downtime overall. Since the MG4 Predator deals more damage with the top half of its magazine, this mask will let you enjoy that buff for longer.
Description (Gold mods)
Shoot Out
Gain a stack of 1.5% Weapon DMG for 10s after triggering Fast Gunner, up to 20 stacks.
The Bull’s Eye adds 8% Vulnerability effect
Final Territory
When Fortress Warfare ends, gain +10% Weapon DMG and Movement Speed for 10s.
Momentum Up
The first half of your magazine gains +10% fire rate, while the second half gets +30% Weapon DMG.
Blitzkrieg
Gain +5 max stacks of Fast Gunner and an additional 1% fire rate for each stack.
Rejuvenating
Heal for 15% of your lost HP when defeating enemies while above 60% HP.
Crit Rate +10%, Crit DMG +15%
Gain +10% Melee, Weapon, and Status DMG. Gain another 10% while above 90% HP.
After taking no damage for 4s, gain +20% Melee, Weapon, and Status DMG for 30s.
As of writing, Final Territory may be bugged, as it doesn’t appear to give any bonus stats after Fortress Warfare ends.
All these mods should be self-explanatory. They’re all here to increase your damage output. Although, there are some parts here that could do with some clarification.
The build usesMomentum Upover the likes of Fateful Strike and Precision Rush because of the MG4 Predator’s unique attribute, which makes it deal more damage with the top half of its magazine. Momentum Up’s +10% fire rate buff lets you rip through enemies with that top-half damage buff more quickly. It also dampens the damage loss you get when the Predator dips below half ammo.
If you don’t have a gold Shoot Out, thenShooting Blitzis a decent alternative. You get 5% less damage, but if you manage to get one with good attributes like bonus Crit or Weapon DMG, consider using that over a purple Shoot Out mod.
It’s worth reiterating that while Weakspot DMG from mods like Precise Strike grants better DPS, opting for Crit stats is often better for the sake of convenience, especially since LMGs are inaccurate by default. In this build, treat Weakspot DMG as a nice bonus to have instead of something you absolutely must build around (though that’s completely viable as well).
Once Human Fast Gunner Build Deviant And Food Buffs
When picking a Combat Deviant, the Lonewolf’s Whisper that drops fromOnce Human’sShadow Hound bossis the best pick for a gun-based build.It increases your Weapon DMGwhile active, stacking on top of all the other Weapon DMG buffs you have going on.
As for food buffs, there are a few options:
Once Human Fast Gunner Cradle Setup (Season 1)
Unfortunately, there aren’t many Cradle Override perks that directly affect Fast Gunner.Steady Hand is here to increase your Weakspot DMG, but that’s about it. The rest are here for general damage and survivability boosts.
