These are the best feats for the Gunslinger class, a firearms-focused base class for 5th edition.
The Gunslinger class uses Risk Dice and critical hits to turn their enemies into Swiss cheese. Powerful firearms and high-risk, high-reward maneuvers make this base class unique. While you can find the class for both the 2014 and the 2024 ruleset, the new Player’s Handbook expanded the role of feats in building your character.
While “best” means whatever you decide it means when you’re building your character, here are some flavorful feats you can choose that synergize well with existing class features or add new storytelling flavor!
Fighting Styles
Chosen with the class at level 1, these feats help define your character’s abilities and narrow down the list of firearms they might choose to wield.
Two-Weapon Fighting
When you use this feat, you can add your Dexterity modifier to damage with your Bonus Action firearm attack, paradoxically making your offhand shot more powerful than your main hand! The Quick Draw ability in the core class means you can get both weapons into play twice as fast as other martial classes.
When you reach Gunslinger level 11 and get the Overkill feature, drop Two-Weapon Fighting for something else.
Archery
Archery is an excellent pick at level 1 or level 11, especially if you intend to grab an Automatic weapon. The flat bonus to attack rolls with ranged weapons offsets the Automatic disadvantage, and you still fire twice as often.
General Feats
A Gunslinger can take additional feats at levels 4, 8, 12, and 16. Here are some great feats to choose as you level up.
Marksman’s Luck
This feat gives you a sneakily substantial damage bonus that makes each of your shots feel powerful! If you use a Musket or Pistol, being able to flip those huge dice to their larger size can net you huge average damage boosts.
Find this one in our Gunslinger on D&D Beyond!
Piercer
Unless you’re playing in our Dark Matter sci-fi setting, your Firearms will always be dealing Piercing damage. Getting a bonus Critical Hit die is especially great as a Gunslinger, since you’ll be rolling crits every other turn!
Sharpshooter
A must-pick if you like to pop your foes with bullets from a half-mile away. The Firing in Melee benefit also nets you the ability to use any gun like a shotgun!
Epic Boons
Every class can take an Epic Boon feat at 19th level, each of which has a prerequisite of level 19+ to augment the capstone abilities of your class. For a Gunslinger, we’d recommend one of these two:
Boon of Combat Prowess
When it comes to our elaborate balance spreadsheets, the Boon of Combat Prowess is far more powerful than the rest for every martial. Once per turn you can turn a hit into a miss; if your class makes attack rolls, this is the mechanically optimal choice.
Boon of the Night Spirit
Make every shadow the perfect sniper’s nest as you turn invisible in the dark. You won’t be able to do this at high noon in the center of town, but in Dim Light or Darkness all you need is a Bonus Action: no resource limit, no recharge, and you get resistance to most damage types to boot.
Do you agree with our picks? How do you build your Gunslinger in 2024? Let us know in the comments below or in our Discord! There’s a Gunslinger-specific channel for all your theory-crafting and bullet-biting needs.
While we’ve covered just the feats in this guide, you can check out the full class guide from our friends at RPGBot.net. Every class option is listed and color coded for quality!
