What I found almost as surprising as the bullet resistance is the passive movement speed bonus; that alone is already going to make the perk one of the strongest on Hell on Earth. It's also going to be interesting to see varying approaches based on how dynamic the Gunslinger is; do people take single pistols/revolvers or blow even more dosh on getting dualies?
As for the skills, there's some decent choices there. Faster weapon swap speed is tempting because it does feel tardy at its default rate, but moving faster while shooting and aiming down the sights on top of a passive movement speed bonus? That could prove to be crucial when fighting bigger zeds.
I wonder how much of an increase Rhythm Method grants per headshot because this skill will combine nicely with increased recoil control as you go up the levels. It also depends on how much extra damage Bone Breaking grants too and weighing up whether the flat increase is the more reliable choice, or if Rhythm Method can easily match/surpass the damage output with just a few headshots. In principle, I think the differences seem fair enough, but this one really does depend on the numbers
Additional penetration will feel very nice on those revolvers when clearing lines of trash zeds I'm sure, but Gunslinger has also got his own tactical reload and that's very difficult to ignore, especially on Hell on Earth where more emphasis is placed on survival. Plus with the max ammo on the tier 4 revolver being at least 120 bullets, unless you go dual, I don't see the Gunslinger having the same ammunition issues as Support or Firebug.
Honestly, I'm not seeing how Center Mass is equal to Knockdown at the level 20 range. Clearly they're both aimed at tackling bigger zeds, but the knockdown effect is better for scoring more headshots, while stumbles can easily be performed by other perks such as Berserker or Firebug in a multiplayer setting. Although the skill description says it's performed on "sprinting zeds", that's easy enough to set up for quick kills, provided the .500 Zed Collector can pile on some real damage.
As for ZED Time, well it feels like choosing the Commando's skills again. Faster fire rate is always a nice thing to have, but if you ever get caught having to reload, that's a ZED Time skill gone to waste. Uber Ammo just looks like a more tempting and safer bet.
Overall, I get the feeling that Gunslinger is going to be a little OP, not quite to the same extent as the Field Medic or the current iteration of the Berserker by any means, but somewhere around the Firebug's level so possibly vying to be in the top 3 strongest perks. My guess is that the Gunslinger perk weapons will be good enough by default with just single headshots to crack open the skulls of weaker trash zeds like eggs, thus the skills are better off being used to increase the odds in your favour when fighting bigger zeds.
Also, Yoshiro's thread opener gave us a distinctive Wild West theme. What if the next update is about the Wild West and the Far East rolled into one package? It's just speculating of course but damn, the Martial Artist perk just gradually starts to feel more and more likely around the corner!
