Best early firearm for my Gun Chemist (Pathfinder)

[Nosta]

so hopefully sooner than later i'll be able to play in a new Dice Rp (Pathfinder 1e)

I know for sure we'll have access to at the very least early firearms. and the Gun Chemist as been a build i toyed with for over a year now.

I would likely start around level 3 to 5 and end around level 8 10

for that level range of play what would be the most beneficial Gun. I want to use the different alchemy cartridges and stuff like mage shot. Maybe i could get my Gm to house rule speical ammo for a dragoon pistol but idk about that.

I am looking for decent reload or ammo capacity and over all functionality of said weapon and cool points help too

[grarrrg]

Without Musket Master Gunslinger (or other way to cheat the reload), you're probably looking at a 1-handed weapon.
About half are actually decent, it mostly comes down to what 'tweaks' you want.

(Standard) Pistol: d8 damage, low misfire

Double Barrel: d8 damage, holds 2 shots, option to shoot both barrels at once

Breech-loader: d6 damage, low misfire, holds 2 shots (text says it's a Double Barrel variant, but doesn't specify if you can still shoot both barrels)

Pepperbox: d8 damage, holds 6 shots at once, best option if you can't get Free Action Reloads (still need free hand though)

Dragon (not -oon): d6 damage, option to use Scatter attacks/ammo


Would advise against Dragoon, as 3 shots might be great early, but a Standard action reload kills it sooner than later.


If you insist on a 2 hander, then you're going to need one that holds more than one shot*. And note that most of those come with potentially significant downsides.

*There is the option to use a 2 hander for the opening shot (better range), then switch to your pistol.

[Nosta]

well as an alchemist i have 3/4 BAB so i won't get any other attacks till level 8?

So I think maybe a Dragon Musket could work good for me

[Firebug]

Probably the most important question, are you taking Explosive Missile or Fast Ordnance?
Explosive Missile automatically reloads your weapon as part of its standard action attack. Yes, you can infuse your ammo and then use explosive missile to double up your ordnance damage, however it does no splash damage due to the wording on how discoveries apply to ordnance. However, this discovery will restrict you to a one-handed firearm. Dragoon Pistol (https://aonprd.com/EquipmentWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Dragoon%20Pi stol) is interesting for this, if the GM allows reloading the whole cartridge as part of Explosive Missile. IE, you only use Explosive Missile to reload faster.
For Fast Ordnance you really want your reload time down to a free action, which also lends itself to a one-handed firearm. Or quickdraw. And lots of spare guns.

Without either, I still like the Dragoon Pistol because it has a longer ranged increment(30'). Failing that, I like the Paddle-foot Pistol (https://aonprd.com/EquipmentWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Paddle-foot%20pistol) since it can fire both scatter and normal bullets, and has a capacity of 4. Since the archetype gets bonuses with Alchemical Cartridges (https://aonprd.com/EquipmentWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Alchemical%2 0cartridge%20(entangling%20shot)), you may want to keep 1 loaded with entangling shot or dragons breath and the others loaded with special materials or other special cartridges that can't be free action reloaded (like Mage Shot (https://aonprd.com/MagicWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Mage%20Shot%20(A cid)) of various flavors).

Haste is also a thing that your wizard may cast for the party. Rapid Shot is also a thing. So as soon as 5th you may be wanting to take 3 shots a round. Throw in Snap Shot (https://aonprd.com/FeatDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Snap%20Shot) at 9 ... I've wanted to make a character that has improved snap shot and a scatter weapon. Just take all the AoOs and basically spray and pray.