Final Fantasy XIV: Gunbreaker Controller Guide

Final Fantasy XIV features classes that you may find familiar. So much, that it will remind you of certain characters. Dragoon (Kain Highwind), Dark Warrior (Garland), Paladin (Warrior of Light), Monk (Tifa Lockhart) and more. In this guide, we will be focusing on the Gunbreaker class, which was added in the Shadowbringers expansion. The Gunbreaker class is Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VII’s class, which involves using a gun and sword hybrid weapon. If you want to unleash your inner Squall, then we can help you with that. All you have to do is follow this guide to learn how.

Gunbreaker Controller Guide – Final Fantasy XIV

The key to controlling a Gunbreaker, or any class, is to be comfortable with your setup. Obviously, there are ideal controller setups that you should replicate, but the option to tweak those setups should always be considered. Not every controller setup will feel comfortable, and you will feel a bit overwhelmed with the change.

First off, you’re going to plugin your gamepad. You can use an Xbox One controller, a Xbox Series controller (though they look the same, but have different hardware apparently), a PlayStation 4 controller, or the DualSense PlayStation 5 controller. If you don’t have a gamepad yet, I personally recommend any of the Xbox controllers, since the PlayStation controllers don’t have a lot of support for other games, and the Xbox controller has guaranteed support for any game on PC.

Now with your controller plugged in, you will have the option to change what type your gamepad is. If you have an Xbox controller, you can use the ABXY setup for accurate button prompts. If you’re using a PS4 or PS5 controller, then you can use the PlayStation button prompts. You can enable the DualSense functionality if you want to take advantage of the DualSense controllers awesome technology.

Also, be sure to remember to enable Gamepad Mode. The reason for this is because the UI for keyboard and mouse and gamepad is vastly different and will make controlling your Gunbreaker much more difficult. The gamepad setting can be found under Character Configuration in the General tab.

Next in the Character Configuration menu is the Target tab. Look for Auto-target Settings and you should see this option to enable full auto-target. Use this and enable Closest Range. This is great for Gunbreaker, but you can choose to select whatever you want.

After the Target tab, we focus on Filters. The most important part here is the weapon drawn filters. Naturally, you’ll want to only allow enemies to be targeted when your weapon is drawn. Fort this, select “All Enemies”, “Aggroing Enemies”, and “Duty-specific Enemies”. This ensures that you will only target enemies. The weapon sheathed option column isn’t really important, but you’re free to customize if you wish.

The reason to have this is so you don’t have to target party members. Yes, having the default settings on will make you target party members. That doesn’t mean you attack them, it’s just inconvenient since you, a Gunbreaker, are a tank, and tanks’ only role are to aggro enemies to keep them from attacking party members, so your focus should be on enemies.

If you have successfully tweaked your settings, your enemy list will show up like this, and it will make switching between enemies that much easier using the D-Pads on your controller. Normally, switching between enemies requires the use left and right bumper, but the enemy list simplifies that.

You can also customize the filter at the bottom. The filter customization can only be enabled if you hold the left bumper + a button prompt. It’s a more advanced system that doesn’t really have much use for casuals.

Next up is the Hotbar. Now, using a controller means you have a limited number of options to use commands and skills. Unlike the keyboard and mouse, where you can have everything on-screen and selectable within reach, using the controller limits that. You have to tweak your Hotbar in order to make it effective, despite using a controller.

You should check the “Hide unassigned slots” box, as these will clutter up your UI and make things visually difficult. Also, uncheck the “Display hotbar numbers” since you’re going to be using a controller, the hotbar numbers won’t be much use.

In the Cross tab, have the Hold button option toggled on. This is crucial for hotbar access. However, if you’re not comfortable with the Hold option, you can use Toggle or Mixed. There is a downside though. Using Toggle or Mixed will lose access to the Extended Cross hotbar, which is vital for this guide. Just take note of that when you decide to use Toggle or Mixed.

Scroll down and you will see the W Cross Hotbar Display Settings. Here, you will check the boxes for “Always display WXHB” and “Return WXHB separate from XHB”. This is so you can do your rotation of skills successfully. There is the “Position WXHB separately from XHB”, but that’s entirely up to your preference.

Going to the Custom tab next, you will want to check the box for “Enable expanded controls with LT +RT”. This is important as this will help you access your Cross Hotbar 2 to access more skills. Then, check the box for “Enable WXHB with simultaneous LT and RT double tap”. This will also get you access to Cross Hotbar 3 for more additional skills.

Now that we have our controller setup for the best way to play Gunbreaker, we now move on to the skill layout and what’s the best way to sort them together. First off, we will have to explain what each of these skills do.

We will put them down in a table for easier reading.

Skill	Description
Arm’s Length	Creates a barrier nullifying most knockback and draw-in effects. Duration: 6 seconds Additional Effect: Slow +20% when barrier is struck Duration: 15 seconds
Keen Edge	Delivers an attack with a potency of 170.
No Mercy	Increases damage dealt by 20%.Duration: 20 seconds
Brutal Shell	Delivers an attack with a potency of 120. Combo Action: Keen Edge Combo Potency: 260 Combo Bonus: Restores own HP Cure Potency: 200 Combo Bonus: Creates a barrier which nullifies damage equaling HP restored Duration: 30 seconds
Camouflage	Increases parry rate by 50% while reducing damage taken by 10%. Duration: 20 seconds
Demon Slice	Delivers an attack with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies.
Royal Guard	Significantly increases enmity generation. Effect ends upon reuse.
Lightning Shot	Delivers a range attack with a potency of 150. Additional Effect: Increased enmity
Rough Divide	Delivers a jumping attack with a potency of 150. Maximum Charges: 2 Cannot be executed while bound.
Danger Zone	Delivers an attack with a potency of 250.
Solid Barrel	Delivers an attack with a potency of 120. Combo Action: Brutal Shell Combo Potency: 340 Combo Bonus: Adds a Cartridge to your Power Gauge
Burst Strike	Delivers an attack with a potency of 380. Additional Effect: Grants Ready to Blast Duration: 10 seconds Effect of Ready to Blast ends upon execution of any weaponskill. Cartridge Cost: 1
Nebula	Reduces damage taken by 30%. Duration: 15 seconds
Demon Slaughter	Delivers an attack with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies. Combo Action: Demon Slice Combo Potency: 160 Combo Bonus: Adds a Cartridge to your Power Gauge
Aurora	Grants a Regen to target. Cure Potency: 200 Duration: 18 seconds Maximum Charges: 2
Superbolide	Reduces HP to 1 and renders you impervious to most attacks. Duration: 10 seconds
Sonic Break	Delivers an attack with a potency of 300. Additional Effect: Damage over time Potency: 60 Duration: 30 seconds This weaponskill does not share a recast timer with any other actions.
Gnashing Fang	Delivers an attack with a potency of 380. Additional Effect: Grants Ready to Rip Duration: 10 seconds Effects of Ready to Rip ends upon execution of any weaponskill. Cartridge Cost: 1 This weaponskill does not share a recast timer with any other actions.
Bow Shock	Delivers an attack with a potency of 150 to all nearby enemies. Additional Effect: Damage over time Potency: 60 Duration: 15 seconds
Heart of Light	Reduces magic damage taken by half and nearby party members by 10%. Duration: 15 seconds
Heart of Stone	Reduces damage taken by a party member or self by 15%. Duration: 7 seconds Additional Effect: When targeting a party member while under the effect of Brutal Shell, that effect is also granted to the target. Duration: 30 seconds.
Continuation	Allows the firing of successive rounds with your gunblade. Gnashing Fang may be followed by Jugular Rip. Savage Claw may be followed by Abdomen Tear. Wicked Talon may be followed by Eye Gouge. Burst Strike may be followed by Hypervelocity.
Fated Circle	Delivers an attack with a potency of 290 to all nearby enemies. Cartridge Cost: 1
Bloodfest	Draws aetheric energy from target, adding 3 Cartridges to your Powder Gauge.
Blasting Zone	Delivers an attack with a potency of 700.
Heart of Corundum	Reduces damage taken by a party member or self by 15%. Duration: 8 seconds Additional Effect: When targeting a party member while under the effect of Brutal Shell, that effect is also granted to the target Duration: 30 seconds Additional Effect: Grants Clarity of Corundum to target Clarity of Corundum Effect: Reduces damage taken by 15% Duration: 4 seconds Additional Effect: Grants Catharsis of Corundum to target Catharsis of Corundum Effect: Restores HP when HP falls below 50% or upon effect duration expiration Cure Potency: 900 Duration: 20 seconds
Double Down	Delivers an attack to all nearby enemies with a potency of 1,200 for the first enemy, and 20% less for all remaining enemies. Cartridge Cost: 2 This weaponskill does not share a recast timer with any other actions.
Savage Claw	Delivers an attack with a potency of 460. Combo Action: Gnashing Fang Combo Bonus: Grant Ready to Tear Duration: 10 seconds Effect of Ready to Tear ends upon execution of any weaponskill. *This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
Wicked Talon	Delivers an attack with a potency of 540. Combo Action: Savage Claw Combo Bonus: Grants Ready to Gouge Duration: 10 seconds Effect of Ready to Gouge ends upon execution of any weaponskill. * This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
Jugular Rip	Delivers an attack with a potency of 200. Can only be executed when Ready to Rip. *This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
Abdomen Tear	Delivers an attack with a potency of 240. Can only be executed when Ready to Tear. *This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
Eye Gouge	Delivers an attack with a potency of 280. Can only be executed when Ready to Gouge. *This cannot be assigned to a hotbar.
Hypervelocity	Delivers an attack with a potency of 180. Can only be executed when Ready to Blast. *This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

Once you’re familiar with your skills and such, you should then setup your hotbars. Your hotbars should look like this, but that may depend on your preferred settings. However, it should look close to this. Every skill (except the ones that cannot be assigned) must be placed in hotbars where you are comfortable with. That way, getting to them will be easy and will soon rely on muscle memory.

Always make sure to have some potions and such in your hotbar as well, not just skills. You may be a tank, but you’re still susceptible to damage. But yes, the bottom line is that having a comfortable and clean hotbar is the clean to using a Gunbreaker with a controller.

However, this can be considered a base of what you want your future setup to be. You can take another person’s setup and configure it to your level of skill and comfortability. Some setups are very confusing, difficult, or require more hand movements than you want. Always make sure your setup is comfortable to you.