Okay, I have seen some really silly deployment of heavy gunners lately. This is especially the case with high ranking pirates who deploy 4-5 HG's and 2-4 WD. I want to show you that you are better off with 5 gunners than 1 Hg. Now, the HG is a beast that shouldn't be left at home, but 4 is certainly overkill. 1 or 2 will do the job. Yes, you can at least 2 star most bases with 4 HG's and 2 WD, but lets look at this for a moment. Max stats for 1 HG: Atk: 128 base, plus 11 from Blacksmith, total 139 Toughness: 380 base plus 100 from training ground 2, total 480 Speed: 11 Hire time (PC 3, lvl 22): 3 min, 46 sec Max stats for 5 gunners total: Atk: (83 * 5) + (11*5) total : 470 Toughness: (126 * 5) + (100*5) total: 1130 Speed: 15 Hire time (PC3, lvl 31): (22*5): 1 min 50 secs. The real difference is in the fact that each gunner gets training ground 2 and Blacksmith 4 perks. Now, you can argue the extended range of HG’s as the benefit that outweighs the cost. However, the Gunner’s extra 20% dmg from eagle eye is a serious bonus.
Well.. it should be considered that the gunners receive 5x damage from AoE defenses (Mortars, Mines, Ground Pounders...) if placed together as a single entity to replace the HG. Other than that (and the range difference/capability to attack while moving) gunners are more viable overall.
HG fire about 5 times every 2 seconds whereas normal gunners fire 3 times every 2 seconds - 5 gunners still do more dps, but the difference is smaller if you consider that. The gunners will have more toughness and damage total, although mortars or standing on a flame gate will mess them up more since they will likely be grouped. HG work much better spread out than gunners as well. The HG gets metal storm that more or less equals out any gain from the gunner's ability. Gunners stand 5 range away when attacking, HG can start attacking from 14 range away (more than any defense can reach besides a mortar) and stop at 7 range away. HG are much more likely to start attacking an errant wall, and if they get stuck attacking different ones, thats not good news :c However, a random gunner is more likely to break off your group leading your WD or Annabelle away from where they are needed. If you can keep all your gunners alive, they will be better, but HG are further away from splash zone on mortars and will almost certainly live much longer. Protip: a group of HG and ching deployed right will mow down all the defenses in a base before getting close enough for anything to fire back - that 14 walking range is insane. Bunkers won't spin up. Just be careful they don't get stuck attacking the ship until most of the other defenses are dead. Protip: if you clear side buildings so the closest thing is the GP, you can easily snipe it over those really thick walls of angle bases with an HG while it's walking around. Protip: gunners are the best efficiency/least risk pirate for destroying side buildings, like those random outhouses and stuff. If you need a 1* by percentage, one gunner to take an outhouse is much less offset from the .7% per slot requirement to make up elsewhere. Gunners are great for getting all those extra little % without setting yourself back too much.
That's pretty awesome. I didn't realize this. Also, my math was wrong, considering that HG's attack more in a series than their attack stats indicate. My bad.
