Categories: Starfield, Starfield Builds
The Starfield Gunslinger Build is not just a playstyle; it’s an art form. This guide delves into the intricacies of becoming the deadliest gunslinger in the settled systems, navigating the cosmos with style, resilience, and unparalleled marksmanship.
If you want a fast, lethal, and highly survivable pistol build, this Gunslinger Build is designed to dominate with precision shooting, critical hits, and sustain.
Unlike glass-cannon pistol builds, this version uses Combat Medic and survivability perks to stay alive while still outputting massive damage. Below we walk you through every decision, weapon, and leveling progression for the Gunslinger in Starfield.
This guide is updated for Starfield Free Lanes and Terran Armada DLC (1.16.236).
Starfield Gunslinger Build Overview
The Gunslinger playstyle in Starfield is a pistol-wielding, solo, sustained damage build. This build focuses heavily on combat, with limited skills for ship building, crafting and outpost. If you want to dominate in combat with a pistol, while roaming the galaxy this is your build.
The skills and gear are designed for higher survivability while retaining big critical hit damage and injuring enemies. However, you need to be aware that the Starships and Outpost building won’t be in your near future. If you want something to take out solo and complete quests with ease, the Gunslinger is your build. Check out our Starfield Builds video guide for even more tips and gameplay!
Related Starfield Guides
- Is Starfield Worth Playing?
- Starfield 2026 Updates
- Starfield PS5 Features Explained
- Stop These Starfield Mistakes
- Starfield Leveling Guide
Gunslinger Build Pros and Cons
| Gunslinger Build Pros | Gunslinger Build Cons |
|---|---|
| High Survivability | Starships are Weak |
| Dominates in Combat | Less Utility |
| Dialogue Control | Mid-Range |
TL:DR Gunslinger Build
- Damage: Ballistic Pistol
- Range: Mid (30 meters)
- Weapon: Magshot
- Best Skills: Pistol Certification, Crippling, Sharpshooter
- Starborn Power: Phased Time
- Background: Combat Medic
- Traits: Alien DNA, Introvert, Wanted
- Companion: None (Isolation Skill)
How to Play as a Gunslinger in Starfield
The Gunslinger is a Starfield Build that stands apart from the rest. Where most people bring an arsenal you bring your trusty sidearm, deadly aim, and nerves of steel. The Combat Skill Tree will be where this build gets most of its points spent in, with the Physical Tree coming in a supporting second followed by Social and then Science in order of points spent/priority.
The ability to deal a lot of damage all at once in short bursts and make sure you survive to tell the tale is really what the Gunslinger Build boils down to and what it feels like while playing. Strolling into an enemy compound and blasting away the boss in a single clip while absorbing a hail of gunfire before making the others either flee in terror or quickly fall to the floor after your next volley of deadly fire is squeezed off. Run, gun, reload. That’s the gunslinger and it feels amazing when you’re able to channel that inner spacecowboy and land those shots or disarming words just right.
Best Starfield Gunslinger Background
While Space Scoundrel might seem like an obvious choice, Combat Medic gives you three powerful skills at level 1 which also helps your survivability. Space Scoundrel unique dialogue happens infrequently, therefore, we recommend Combat Medic as the best choice based on pure performance.
The Pistol Certification is an absolute must for building the Gunslinger as it is the thematic and mechanical bedrock of the build and getting it at level 1 allows you to live in your build right from the start of the game versus some other builds that take a few levels to come online. It significantly boosts the damage output and critical chance with all Pistols in the game.
Medicine and Wellness are equally important for combat as Wellness increases your overall Health while Medicine makes our Med Packs, Trauma Packs, and Emergency kits heal faster and for more hit points. This baked-in grittiness and survivability are sorely lacking from the space scoundrel background and why the Combat Medic mechanically is the superior choice from level 1. The Combat Medic dialogue options also still have an edge to them, too, as someone who is battle-worn.
Best Traits for a Gunslinger Build
Alien DNA, Introvert, and Wanted are the best traits for a Gunslinger build. Alien DNA boost health and oxygen while Introvert boost oxygen as well when traveling solo. Since we use the Isolation skill and forgo companions, this is a perfect combination to get extra survivability immediately. Lastly, take Wanted which gives you extra damage at low HP with mercenaries that attack you occasionally. Below are more details about each trait:
1. Alien DNA
2. An absolute must-have for this build, the Alien DNA trait will give us a +50 point boost to our overall Health and Oxygen, however, it reduces the effectiveness of healing and food items. Luckily, we immediately offset this minor drawback with the built-in Medicine skill offered in the Combat Medic background.
Introvert
Introvert boosts your Oxygen while adventuring alone while Extrovert boosts it when with a Companion, choose the trait that will match your preferred playstyle.
3. Wanted
Thematically and mechanically a great fit for our Gunslinger this trait will have enemies occasionally show up in hot pursuit of the universe’s most wanted (you!) not only does this help you level faster by providing more XP in the form of kills, credits from the loot, but this trait also offers a very strong boost to damage when you are low on health which is extremely helpful especially at low levels in the early game or when fighting while grossly outnumbered or dealing with a much stronger enemy like a boss or higher leveled enemies (effectively allowing you to take on content well above your level).
Best Weapons for a Gunslinger Build
Magshot, Urban Eagle, and Deadey are the best weapons for a Gunslinger build. While there are plenty of laser and particle-based pistols in Starfield you’ll want to focus on Ballistic Pistols as mechanically and thematically they fit the Gunslinger build but more importantly Ballistic Pistols are far more numerous, easily accessible, and cheaper to buy than the other two categories. In the early game, you can rely on either the Eon or Regulator to get you through most fights until you find/upgrade to a Sidestar or Regulator.
Deadeye
As you progress through the mid to late game you’ll have access to some fantastic unique pistols via faction questlines and specific vendors. The Deadeye is a powerful variant of the aforementioned Razorback revolver that you acquire during the first two missions of the Freestar Rangers questline. Eventually you should be able to acquire a legendary Razorback pistol which will give you even more options for powerful weapon perks.
Elegance
Elegance is another extremely powerful pistol that can be purchased in Akila City. Elegance is amazing for a pistol build in Starfield like the Gunslinger due to its incredibly fast rate of fire.
Keelhauler
Alternatively, there is the Legendary Kheelhauler Magshot pistol which is an absolute terror to behold as it is full auto with amazing stats. This can be obtained during the Crimson Fleet questline. Otherwise, keep your eyes open for any legendary Magshot pistols or a Va’Ruun Starshard as the most powerful late-game options.
Best Gunslinger Weapon Traits
Be on the lookout for Pistols with the following traits:
One-Inch-Punch: Rounds fire in a shotgun-like spread.
Instigating: Dealing double damage against enemies with full HP
Shattering: Break through even the strongest armor
Gunslinger Space Suit and Helmet Options
This is where you have the most amount of freedom of choice for your Gunslinger build. For your space suit and helmet, you’ll want to stack items that reduce your Oxygen consumption, allowing you to sprint even while overencumbered, and items that have the mirrored trait to reflect incoming damage back at your enemies.
The Superior Trackers Alliance Spacesuit, Pack and Helmet are excellent options for late game play and the Ranger or Mantis sets serve well for early and mid gameplay. As for the aesthetic of the gunslinger be sure to shop at the Akila general store to get yourself the cowboy hat, gun your way through the Freestar Ranger questline to get your hands on the First Officer Outfit to complete your true traditional space cowboy gunslinger look.
Recommended Boost Pack
For this Gunslinger build you don’t really need a boost pack as you’ll mainly just be running and gunning but if you do wish to spend 1 skill point then we would recommend that you use a Skip pack to make use of the additional mobility to move between points and enemies quickly with less airtime.
Best Gunslinger Build Skills
The best perks for a Gunslinger build in Starfield are Pistol Certification, Ballistics, Marksmanship, and Crippling. This list is not exhaustive and you will want to invest in others to create the best build possible, especially at later levels.
Pistol Certification: The most important skill and bedrock of the whole build, this increases the damage we deal with all Pistols, and at Rank 4, Pistol kills will grant us 25% bonus critical chance for 5 seconds. This skill is located in the Combat Tree and you’ll want to max it out as quickly as possible.
Ballistics: Increases the effective range and damage dealt with all Ballistic weapons in the game and synergizes fantastically with the Pistol Certification to allow us to dish out a tremendous amount of damage early on and through the game as we level this build. It is found in the Combat Tree.
Rapid Reloading: A Tier 3 Combat Tree skill, rapid reloading is what thematically and mechanically makes us truly a gunslinger, able to quickly reload in the flash of an eye and keep blasting bullets at any unlucky enough to cross you. This skill makes us faster and more effective at reloading all weapons with an incredible buff at Rank 4 that has a chance to increase our reloading speed by 50% for 15 seconds just by hitting someone.
Marksmanship: Another Tier 3 Combat skill that increases our critical hit chance with non-automatic ranged weapons which applies to our pistols. The Rank 4 ability that grants double damage to non-scoped weapons or knockdown effect on scoped weapons allows great versatility for this build based on your desired playstyle you want as a Gunslinger, for more damage equip a pistol without a Scope but for more crowd control have one with a Scope your choice!
Sharpshooting: A Tier 4 Combat Tree skill that synergizes with the previous combat skills we have already mentioned to take our damage to the stars. Sharpshooter increases the critical damage done with all ranged weapons tremendously allowing our gunslinger to start one or two tapping most run-of-the-mill enemies.
Crippling: Our final Tier 4 Combat skill, crippling increases the chance of downing an enemy after dealing a certain threshold of damage. This synergizes incredibly after upgrading all the other combat skills we’ve mentioned here. As now most enemies will be on the floor begging for mercy after the first few bullets, allowing you to calmly walk through the battlefield crippling most of the combatants allowing you to either escape quickly, reach your objective quickly and unhampered or to viciously finish them off without interruption. In particular, the Rank 4 upgrade allows this condition to apply to all enemy types, yes including bosses, you additionally do 100% more damage to downed enemies which arguably makes this Gunslinger build at higher levels an absolute boss crusher and fits that traditional Gunslinger theme of walking right into town and challenging the biggest meanest person to a gun fight and taking them down in the flash of an eye.
Fitness: This is important to our Gunslinger build as it increases our Oxygen which allows us to take more actions, in particular reloading and aiming down the sights of our scoped pistols. This directly increases our DPS (damage per second) levels especially once we have the rapid reloading skill as it allows us to fire off and reload more rounds before having to recover our oxygen and thus deal more damage in that period. Oxygen is also important to have in reserve in case someone closes with you in melee combat so you can pistol whip them with a chance to stagger them. It is located in the Physical Skill Tree.
Wellness: Increases our maximum health, the more the merrier in this build as we will be at times quite literally marching into the oncoming fire and living in gun fights. Also located in the Physical Tree.
Pain Tolerance: An absolute beast of a Tier 2 Physical Tree skill, pain tolerance reduces the amount of physical damage we take in a fight and at Rank 4 gives us a chance to ignore damage altogether while at low health. This further synchronizes with the Wanted trait we choose at character creation so that we are potentially ignoring damage while dealing significantly more damage while at low health.
Isolation or Leadership: Depending on your preferred playstyle and previous trait choice of Introvert or Extrovert will dictate whether you will want to take the Isolation or Leadership skills. If you choose Introvert, then Isolation is your go-to as it will increase the damage you do and decrease the damage you take while adventuring without a companion. If you chose Extrovert then the Leadership skill is your next destination as it improves your companion’s performance in and out of combat.
Additional Useful Skills for a Gunslinger Build
Once you have enough skills and you’ve advanced your pistol damage as much as you can be sure to pick up some utility skills such as Weight Lifting and Stealth from the physical skill tree, Security from the Tech skill tree and especially Boost Pack Training and Boost Assault Training if you really want to take this build to the next level and include air assault as part of your gameplay.
Gunslinger Leveling Guide & Skills Progression (1-50)
Below is a leveling progression skill selection for a Combat Medic background Gunslinger build. You can change these skill selections based on your playstyle. For instance, if you want to play with companions, take another skill instead of Isolation. The core skills will be combat for pistol damage and physical for survivability. Below is 1-50 what skills you should select for a Gunslinger build and why:
| Level | Skill | Rank | Skill Tree | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Combat Medic (Pistol Cert, Medicine, Wellness) | — | Background | Strong survivability + pistol start |
| 2 | Ballistics | 1 | Combat | Core pistol damage scaling |
| 3 | Theft | 1 | Social | Pickpocket for credits and gear |
| 4 | Fitness | 1 | Physical | Increase oxygen for mobility |
| 5 | Persuasion | 1 | Social | Dialogue control |
| 6 | Pistol Certification | 2 | Combat | Increase pistol damage |
| 7 | Ballistics | 2 | Combat | More weapon scaling |
| 8 | Wellness | 2 | Physical | Increase total health |
| 9 | Medicine | 2 | Science | Improve healing efficiency |
| 10 | Fitness | 2 | Physical | More stamina for movement |
| 11 | Theft | 2 | Social | Better stealing success |
| 12 | Persuasion | 2 | Social | Better dialogue outcomes |
| 13 | Pain Tolerance | 1 | Physical | Damage resistance |
| 14 | Isolation | 1 | Social | Solo damage |
| 15 | Pistol Certification | 3 | Combat | Major pistol boost |
| 16 | Ballistics | 3 | Combat | Strong scaling |
| 17 | Wellness | 3 | Physical | More survivability |
| 18 | Medicine | 3 | Science | Better healing |
| 19 | Fitness | 3 | Physical | Mobility boost |
| 20 | Pain Tolerance | 2 | Physical | Increased tankiness |
| 21 | Isolation | 2 | Social | Damage |
| 22 | Pistol Certification | 4 | Combat | Max pistol damage |
| 23 | Ballistics | 4 | Combat | Max weapon scaling |
| 24 | Rapid Reloading | 1 | Combat | Faster reload speed |
| 25 | Marksmanship | 1 | Combat | Increased crit chance |
| 26 | Pain Tolerance | 3 | Physical | Strong damage reduction |
| 27 | Isolation | 3 | Social | Max damage |
| 28 | Medicine | 4 | Science | Max healing power |
| 29 | Rapid Reloading | 2 | Combat | Faster DPS |
| 30 | Marksmanship | 2 | Combat | More crits |
| 31 | Sharpshooter | 1 | Combat | Headshot damage |
| 32 | Crippling | 1 | Combat | Disable enemies |
| 33 | Isolation | 4 | Social | Max solo damage |
| 34 | Weapon Engineering | 1 | Science | Weapon mods |
| 35 | Spacesuit Design | 1 | Science | Armor upgrades |
| 36 | Boost Pack Training | 1 | Tech | Mobility |
| 37 | Piloting | 1 | Tech | Ship access |
| 38 | Sharpshooter | 2 | Combat | More crit damage |
| 39 | Crippling | 2 | Combat | Control enemies |
| 40 | Weapon Engineering | 2 | Science | Better weapon mods |
| 41 | Spacesuit Design | 2 | Science | Better armor |
| 42 | Boost Pack Training | 2 | Tech | Improved movement |
| 43 | Armor Penetration | 1 | Combat | Counter armored enemies |
| 44 | Sharpshooter | 3 | Combat | High crit scaling |
| 45 | Crippling | 3 | Combat | Strong CC |
| 46 | Weapon Engineering | 3 | Science | Advanced mods |
| 47 | Spacesuit Design | 3 | Science | Strong armor builds |
| 48 | Boost Pack Training | 3 | Tech | High mobility |
| 49 | Armor Penetration | 2 | Combat | Better vs late-game enemies |
| 50 | Pain Tolerance | 4 | Physical | Max survivability |
Best Chems for the Gunslinger Build
The best Chems for a Gunslinger increase damage, accuracy, speed, and prevent incoming damage. Infantry Alpha is a great choice because it increases range and accuracy, helping you get headshots. Below is a list of the strongest chems for a Gunslinger in Starfield:
| Chem | Type | Effect | Why It’s Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amp | Utility | Movement speed | Enables constant repositioning |
| Infantry Alpha | Combat | Range damage, Accuracy | Helps hit headshots |
| Frostwolf | Combat | Damage + resistance | Fixes survivability |
| Reconstim | Healing | Health regen | Passive sustain |
| Battlestim | Combat | Combat boost | Balanced buff |
| Paramour | Social | Persuasion boost | Fits build theme |
| Med Packs | Healing | Instant heal | Must-have |
Best Starborn Powers for the Gunslinger Build
Phased Time and Reactive Shield are the two best Starborn powers for a Gunslinger build. Phased Time helps you slow down time, aim for headshots, and kill targets before they can hit you. If you’re in an extended fight, you can swap to Reaction Shield for damage reflection tool. Also consider Void Form for a stealth opener if you can kill all targets before they react. Below are our favorite Starborn Powers:
| Power | Type | Effect | Why It’s Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phased Time | Combat | Slow time | Free headshots |
| Void Form | Stealth | Invisibility | Control fights |
| Sense Star Stuff | Utility | Detect enemies | Tactical awareness |
| Reactive Shield | Defense | Reflect damage | Survivability |
| Parallel Self | Combat | Clone ally | Adds pressure |
| Personal Atmosphere | Utility | Infinite stamina | Keeps momentum |
Changelog & Build Updates
- v1.2 – June 13, 2026 – Updated traits section
- v1.1 – March 30, 2026 – Updated skill progression, weapons, added Starborn Powers, and Consumables
- v1.0 – December 23, 2023 – Originally created for Starfield.
More Starfield Builds
Looking for the best Starfield Character Builds? We’ve got you covered!
