Gulch Gunner Belly Shot

[gimlianon]

Hey Folks,

I'm kinda new to the Pathfinder game, and I've been looking into the Gulch Gunner gunslinger archetype, because it seems pretty cool. I had a question regarding the Belly Shot ability gained at level 9.

Does this damage get applied if you are using a scatter attack, like with a dragon pistol? I know that scatter type firearm attacks do not get to apply precision damage, but is the Belly Shot bonus damage precision? The ability says that the bonus damage is not applied to creatures immune to precision damage, critical hits, or sneak attacks, but never explicitly says the damage is precision damage. This compared to the Pistolero archetype's Up Close And Deadly ability, which does explicitly say it is precision damage.

This is probably a nooby question, but I was curious because I saw people suggesting that scatter weapons are really good for the Gulch Gunner. Thanks for your time!

[HaraldKlak]

All in all, it doesn't matter that much:
Belly Shot require you to be adjacent to the enemy. When attacking in a cone, you are only going to be adjacent to one of the enemies you hit.

Otherwise, I think you sum it up pretty well.

The rules as written doesn't expressly forbid it (since it isn't called precision damage). So a RAW ruling might be: It is perfectly legal.

Apart from this, the extra damage seems pretty close to precision damage, due to the immunities, and the flavour of 'pressing the weapon against a vulnerable location'. So a RAI ruling might be: No go, it doesn't seem right.

[gimlianon]

A succinct explanation. Thanks! Also, yeah, I forgot to mention I had realized that Belly Shot would only apply to the adjacent creature regardless of who else the cone hits. Anyway, thanks again.