New knight asking for opinions on gear
I've started playing last week and after reading a few guides, I've decided to play as a gunslinger and got myself a firotech alchemer. The question is, should i get another alchemer or are the autoguns worth a shot? pardon the pun.
And im still wondering why my alchemer does exactly the same damage as my protogun even though the damage scale seemed much higher.
p/s: excluding the fire status inflicted that is.
A magnus huh. Seems good. I'll still get my mk 2 first though. And is it true that the gunslinger set is terrible at the start?

I just wanna say that I hated the Magnus. haha The inability to move while firing is a bit annoying, but I never was one for guns to begin with. Just something to keep in mind though, not saying it's not a bad gun by any means.

Magnus, you pause for a while, but it's pretty momentary compared to the alternative piercing weapon. :D
And yeah, guns are generally garbage until 4* when you'll get a great gain in gun performance especially from the Alchemers.

+1 on Skaiwalka's comment. I hate guns that make me stop to fire. I do most of my playing solo & I like to stay mobile. I am a Sword/Gun user though, well now Sword/Gun/Bomb. I plan on switching to Pulsar line guns at some point, because they are 3 shot and you can move and fire with them.
Autoguns. I don't like them (but, I am not a gunner) because they glue you in place, but the Blitzneedle in the right hands is one of the most powerful Vanaduke guns out there.
Lots of Gunners love guns like the Maguns & Autogun lines though. I think Fradow covered why you don't see much damage difference. You are experiencing the nerf of using gear at tier lower then intended. This is particularly true in the Advanced Training Hall (ATH). The ATH seems to function like Tier 0, in that all weapons do the lowest possible damage they could.
Best advice. Read the wiki. Its such good advice I will say it again (thought I would say twice didn't you?). Read the wiki. The sections on Damage, Monsters, and Gunslinger Guide in particular.
Guns can be found to do pure damage for each of the damage types: Normal, Elemental, Piercing, and Shadow. If you have an Elemental a Piecing and a Shadow then you don't need a Normal (though you might consider a Normal sword as a back up). Read up on which enemies are weak to which damage types & switch guns accordingly.
A note about the Firotech Alchemer. I love mine for PvP, but for PvE I tend to gear up with an eye on endgame; which is FSC, a fire stratum. With that in mind, you may want to pick a different Alchemer to work on or keep that one until you can get your hands on a Pulsar -> Polaris. Be prepared to annoy people with the giant Blue Screen of Death the Polaris will produce if you spam the heck out of it. You might consider the Nova Driver. It has the most damage output of the Alchemers & will not run into stratum resistance issues, but at the cost of inflicting status.
I also noticed a big difference with higher * guns. My Valiance has me gunning way more then before especially when I am at shallow depths, love haveing knockback on regular shots. I run Normal damage on my handgun, but that is because I only carry one. I could just carry an Elemental, because most of my gunning is vs Constructs, but I solo a ton and run into situations where I need a gun vs Gremlins or Beasts from time to time.

^ Pulsar line is amazing. Just got mine the other day and up to Gigawatt (with Undead Med) right now and I love it, though I don't use it much, as my DA's projectiles are always better (speaking generally in FSC; except at Vanaduke) and I get off just as many swords as my gun would bullets. haha But if my DA didn't have a CTR VH, I'd be using the Pulsar soooo much more. Definitely pick one up when you can (Bluescreen and Wrathflame).
Also Wrathflame, you can get the Pulsar just farming the Roarmulus Twins 4-5 times, which is the easiest boss ever.

You're new right?I suggest you don't use the autogun unless you're sure.because using the autogun takes out you're ablity to move while shooting

Ok, I have the Shadowtech Alchemer. Is is worth crafting it up or should should I get a new, better gun to level? (ie. pulsar??)

@Redfevrier
What do you want the Shadowtech to do? I ask because Pulsar is awesome, but Shadowtech & Pulsar are not even a little bit for the same purpose. Are you a pure gunner? If the answer is, Yes, then you are going to want to keep upgrading that Shadowtech & use it along with at least a pure Elemental and a pure Piercing gun. If you only carry 1 gun chances are you don't want it to be Shadowtech (unless in PvP). Pulsar shines vs Construct & Undead while the Shadowtech excels at Slime & Gremlin. The wiki is your friend. Read especially the Damage and the Monster sections. Look at what enemies you are using your gun for, then decide which one is the most appropriate for that enemy type. Most non-gunners carry an Elemental gun mostly for use vs Constructs, but also Undead (FSC). I solo a ton, so I prefer a Normal damage gun, because I end up using it on everything at some point. That said, an elemental gun would serve me better ~98% of the time that I use a gun (its just that those last couple of percent are very clutch moments)...

Thank you! I'm not a pure gunner, but rather a sword/gun user. I had been thinking about the usefulness of my Shadowtech, because I mainly use my gun for Gun Puppies & such, which wasn't working as well as I discovered it could, because puppies + shadow damage does not = ease. I have now switched to a Prismatech Alchemer, which I think will work well enough till I can afford a Pulsar. Thoughts?
You have an elemental gun, so your second gun should be either piercing or shadow. Both alchemer and autogun are viable, but with some conditions :
- if you go for another alchemer, take the shadowtech, so you have bonus damage against 4/6 types of enemies and normal against the rest.
- if you go for an autogun, go for the piercing one.
Both choice are viable, but as a beginner, i would advise you to stay away from autogun for a while, as they are hard to use.
If you have only 2 slots, i would advise to wait a little and invest in a Magnus (which unfortunately starts at 3*), which is a great piercing weapon to begin.
As for why alchemer and protogun do the same damage, i see 2 reasons : either you are going against mobs resistant to elemental, or you are still in T1 where higher star weapons do less damage.