Essentially the largest mercenary group in the Commonwealth, the Gunners are a military-themed, well-organized and equipped group of for-hire killers with their own customs and signage who control numerous large strongholds in and around the Boston area. They were responsible for the dissolution of the Commonwealth Minutemen under Ezra Hollis at the Quincy Massacre. In 2287, Quincy remains one of their key bases of operations.
Similar to the Capital Wasteland's Talon Company, Gunners resort to attacking strangers on sight, like raiders. They differ from raiders in their lack of drug dependency, use of superior equipment (they commonly come equipped with combat armor and rifles), extensive use of laser weaponry and use of other heavy duty military gear, such as Assaultrons, Mister Gutsies and their commanders are even known to make use of power armor. Their patterns of speech and terminal entries also imply that they are relatively disciplined and well-trained. They place great importance on loyalty and discourage insubordination. Raiders who join the Gunners may have difficulty adjusting to the strictness and formality of being a Gunner, as is the case with Tessa.
They also possess functional vertibirds, which they use to transport attack teams, usually composed of 2-4 Gunners, along with 1-2 attack dogs. However, they are a rare sighting and seem to only appear south of the Boston ruins and rarely to the north (e.g., settlement raids). Near the edges of the Glowing Sea, a vertibird showing up will either mean the BOS or a Gunners attack-team dropping in.
Many Gunners also get their blood types tattooed onto their foreheads by their medics. This is both a practical measure and a rite of passage. This can be seen on some, but not all, Gunners.
The lowest of the gunners, the generic gunner is generally pretty weak when compared with their counterparts. Armed with low-mid level weapons like 10mm pistols and laser rifles, these enemies should not be automatically dismissed.
Gunner corporals are a high ranked variant of the low-ranking Gunners. They are usually seen in groups of other Gunners, mainly with other lowing ranking Gunners. While armed with automatic 10mm pistols and laser rifles, these Gunners shouldn't be messed with at a low rank.
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Generally Gunner sergeants can be found in the company of privates and conscripts in the at moderate levels. Plasma, rifles, lasers, and grenades are the tools of these enemies.
Armored head to toe these enemies usually act as the final engagement for areas under Gunner control. Not only strong, these opponents rarely go anywhere without at least several strong gunner sub-types besides them. Found inside the HalluciGen, Inc. building.
Several unmarked bases on top of highway system, easily spotted by the windmill.
Notes
Gunners, in some areas, will not openly fire on the Sole Survivor, though will appear hostile on the radar - instead they will warn them to back off, if the Survivor ignores them and approaches then they will become hostile and attack.
Gunners will occasionally attack settlements owned by the Sole Survivor.
