This is probably one of the more weird chronos, not really that complex to use as some people make it out to be. It is possibly the best DPS chronos currently (2024) due to the really fast nuke rotations and high damage output. It also has dodge, being able to solo one shot bosses too. It is recommended to pilot this class with Feli.

Also this video by Wanderlust is pretty much all you need to know about CSS if you prefer video guides.

There are some mechanics to understand, as there are two modes for it, but generally it is quite a simple class to use.

Also I’ll be using Auto to refer to skill 1 in this guide, even though it’s not an auto.

Skills Overview

• Fire!
  • 115% Physical / 1.15 Hours1 (AP2) - NoMiss
  • Medium Range Attack
  • 0.2 second cooldown, 0.1 seconds at max haste
  • Single Target
  • Manual Skill
  • Applies Bang! to the caster
    • Stacks to 6
    • When reaching 6 stacks, it applies Rounds Empty to caster
    • Increases Mana Consumption by 5000% and setting it to 0
  • This skill is automatically fired when using either Skill 3 (Tracer Rounds) applying tainted or Skill 4 (FMJ Rounds) applying shredded
    • Skill 3 applies Tainted to target
    • Skill 4 applies Shredded to target

This skill is manually used, meaning that as opposed to most auto attacks (skill 1), it has to be triggered to be used. Skill 4 and Skill 3 automatically trigger this skill for you upon pressing them, so for the regular temporal rift rotation you won’t have to explicitly press this.

When you reach 6 shots, you will be unable to fire and are forced to use Skill 2 (Reload). Except your 5th Skill (Silver Bullet).

However, during Gunslinger Mode which will be gone over next, you will be spamming this button to maximise DPS as you will have unlimited shots.

• Reload
  • 0 Damage - Hours 1 - Target Self
  • Status Skill to Self
  • 6 second cooldown, 3 seconds at max haste
  • Refills Mana, granting you back 6 shots and removes the Rounds Empty debuff
  • If you have 4 or more stacks of Temporal Rift, it consumes them and puts you in Gunslinger mode
    • For 2 seconds, Bang doesn’t apply
    • This means you have Unlimited shots for 2 seconds
    • Any shots fired during this time will apply Chaos Rift which will block Temporal Rift from applying

Use this skill after you nuke if you are using the regular Temporal Rift rotation as it replenishes your shots.

If you are running Gunslinger Mode rotation, then you are usually meant to press 2 after using up your 6 shots. When you are in the stance, you spam 1.

• Tracer Rounds
  • (Doesn’t deal damage itself, triggers skill 1)
  • 3 second cooldown, 1.5 seconds at max haste
  • Medium Status Skill (same range as skill 1)
  • Increases defense by 20%, dodge by 40% until you use 4 or reload.
  • Gain a Temporal Rift
    • Used as the Nuke’s inherent multiplier
      • 1 Stack = 0.5
      • 2 Stack = 0.7
      • 3 Stack = 1.0
      • 4 Stack and above = 1.5
  • Painted applied on target
    • Reduces opponents damage, dodge and crit chance by 6% per stack upto 4 stacks
    • Lasts 12 seconds

Skill is used for dodging mainly rather than DPS due to the defensive buffs it gives. You can reach max dodge while this skills buffs are active.

Idea is to weave in 4 in-between enemy autos so that you can dodge safely.

• FMJ Rounds
  • 170% Hybrid Damage / 1.7 APSP2
  • 1.5 second cooldown, 0.75 seconds at max haste
  • Medium Range Skill
  • Shoots Twice, 1 from this skill, 1 from auto.
  • Increases your Physical Damage by 25% until you use reload or use 3
  • Gain a Temporal Rift
    • Used as the Nuke’s inherent multiplier
      • 1 Stack = 0.5
      • 2 Stack = 0.7
      • 3 Stack = 1.0
      • 4 Stack and above = 1.5
  • Shredded applied on target
    • Reduces defense by 6% per stack, upto 6 stacks
    • Lasts 12 seconds

Skill is mainly used for DPS due to the fact this triggers twice. Unlike the 3 skill, this skill deals damage alongside it’s auto, whereas the 3 skill only has damage from auto.

Due to it’s high skill coefficients and the hybrid function, it is probably your best DPS skill in this entire kit. You can do around 60-80k dps just from spamming this skill alone, ignoring the nuke.

• Silver Bullet
  • Physical Damage / 0.2 Chrono2
  • 6 second cooldown, 3 second cooldown at max haste
  • Long Range Skill
  • Deals damage based on damage feed in the past 10 seconds. Refer to this amazing animation made by SLGMA for an example of how the damage changes if you exceed 10 seconds.
  • Blinds target, reducing hit chance by 50% for 1 second
  • Consumes Temporal Rift and Chaos Rift

This is your average temporal collapse nuke, but do not be disheartened by the low coefficient of this nuke, the classes high skill coefficients of its other skills make up for this, and due to its short cooldown you will find this will lead to high dps.

The 5 also blinds enemy, which is useful for dodge rotations.

Enhancements

Gameplay/Combos

Plugging Wander’s video anyway but I’ll simplify gameplay here.

The main DPS temporal rift rotation is:
44444452

Literally get ~110k+ DPS effortlessly doing this very braindead and fun.

For the Dodge rotation, the idea is to use 3 to get max dodge, then weave in 4 inbetween enemy misses/dodges. So rotation looks something like this.

3 (wait for dodge) → 43 (wait for dodge) → 43 (wait for dodge) → 452

The 5 blinds the enemy, allowing you to weave in 2 and 3 in time for the next attack.

Now to talk about Gunslinger Mode, this mode is where the idea that CSS relies on ping comes from. During Gunslinger mode you have unlimited shots for 2 seconds. So with max haste 0.1 cooldown, you can use your 1 skill 20 times in two seconds at peak. But this is probably not possible due to server lag and your actual numbers can be anything inbetween 8-16 depending on server lag.

The rotation for this varies depending on the boss, so I’ll list a few rotations.
4444 (44) 2 → spam 1 (gunslinger mode) → 52
4444 (44) 2 → spam 1 (gunslinger mode) → 4444 (44) 52

In general ultras the game plan is to either use the regular DPS Temporal Rift rotation or Chaos Rift rotations. Swap out Vim and Lament for Forge and Vainglory if you have enough support as it will provide extra damage. Add in an extra 3 in your rotations instead of 4 if you’re in places where you need extra healing, like UltraDarkon.