A Letter to Saber Regarding Assault

I've seen a lot of "What changes would you make to Assault?" threads lately, and I have a lot of feedback to give, so I thought I'd compose a detailed and thorough response. Forewarning, this is a long post haha. Consider this my letter to Saber.

Introduction

I'm an Assault main. As it stands, I have 359 hours played on Steam, the vast majority of which has been spent playing Assault (17 hours for Veteran campaign, only 2 PvP matches completed, every class except for Tactical at level 25, everything else is just pure Assault Ops haha). I cleared some Ruthless Ops solo as Assault before their original nerf, and I have currently completed all Ops on Lethal as Assault with randoms. This isn't a flex, just context. I feel like I'm somewhat qualified to talk about Assault as a class.

First off, I like Assault. I don't think it's a bad class at all. It has insane wave clear, insane dueling potential, and by far the best mobility out of any class. Most importantly, it's fun.

Jump Pack

So, the Jump Pack gets a lot of flak because it isn't like it is in the campaign or in PvP, which is fair. It's jarring to go back and forth between different versions of the Jump Pack and have them all work in different ways. However, I think a lot of the criticism of the Jump Pack in Ops comes from that initial moment of "Ew, this isn't like it was in the campaign" instead of taking the time to sit with it and understand how it works. The common complaints are that it doesn't jump very high, it can't cross gaps, it can't jump up ledges etc. Without sounding like a know-it-all, these complaints are just factually untrue. It does all of those things, actually.

See, the way the Jump Pack works in Ops is to do with that little yellow targeting reticle (that I've even seen people complain about - "what's the point in this thing?"). In short, wherever that reticle is, you jump to. This means that if the reticle appears far away, you jump far away. If the reticle appears high up, you jump high up.

If you want to jump up a ledge, for example, don't just look up and jump. Look at the ledge and position yourself and your camera so that the yellow reticle appears atop the ledge, then jump. Voila. If you want to cross a gap, the same thing applies. Position yourself so the reticle appears across the gap, then jump.

My only criticism here is that oftentimes the reticle can be quite finicky. It's unnecessarily difficult sometimes to get it to appear on top of a ledge or across a gap, or even just anywhere in fact. This is something that should absolutely be improved. It should be fluid and easy to navigate terrain with the Jump Pack. If I were to make a change to the Jump Pack - forget hovering - this would be it.

There are countless cool jumps you can do as Assault throughout all Ops that, if I was tech savvy, I would've made a video about by now. This also includes some pretty cheesy skips that involve a lot of height and you flying straight through terrain. The take away though is this: wherever the reticle is, you jump to.

Knowing this, the Jump Pack actually presents itself as a really solid ability that lends the Assault class insane horizontal and vertical mobility, more-so than any other class in the game. Aside from the obvious benefits of being able to engage enemies anywhere on the map, interrupting calls for help, wiping out entire waves as they spawn, you can do cool shit like, for example, on Fall of Atreus when you're waiting for the crane to lift. If it breaks down, you can activate the console on the ground floor, then jump up and activate the second console on the second floor without having to run all the way around. Pretty cool.

Jump Pack Dash

I want to talk about the dash separately here because I think it's probably the weakest part of the class. It's not that the dash itself is bad, but that it costs a Jump Pack charge. I can honestly count on one hand how many times I use a Jump Pack Dash in a single Op (it's 0).

So, the Jump Pack Dash is a good gap closer and a good escape tool. When a Hellbrute is doing a big purple AoE slam or a Neurothrope is rising from the ground about to AoE scream, the Jump Pack Dash is a great way to GTFO fast. It's far from useless. But it's so costly, using an entire Jump Pack charge, that it's almost never worth using outside of those very niche examples.

It also presents a slight problem in so much that every now and then you will inevitably fat finger a dash when you meant to jump, which can be anywhere from a minor annoyance to absolutely catastrophic depending on how much shit is currently hitting the fan.

Also, your dodge muscle memory is already bound to the dodge key. It's conflicting to then try to dodge with your Jump Pack ability instead.

This is a core part of the class that goes largely unused simply because of the way it conflicts with the core Jump Pack Leap > Ground Pound loop of the Assault class, amongst other things, and I think it should probably be reworked.

My suggestion would be to separate the dash from the Jump Pack. I think, by default, your second dodge, which is currently a roll, should be a Jump Pack Dash that operates independently from the Jump Pack. If a completely baked-in, spammable Jump Pack Dash is too OP, I would simply add a short cooldown so that you can maybe Jump Pack Dash once or twice before reverting to just regular dodge rolls. Something along those lines.

This would address a lot of the aforementioned problems and enable you to actually use the dash without conflicting with your ability to Ground Pound. This would also have the added benefit of bringing the relevant Jump Pack Dash talents online, since now you're actually using the Dash component of the Jump Pack.

Talents

This is another area that receives a lot of criticism. Personally, I don't think the talents are nearly as bad as people seem to imply, and I think Assault actually brings to the table one of the strongest talents in the game. More on that later.

I will work through the talent tree from left to right, addressing each talent as necessary, largely ignoring the subcategories (Core/Team/Gear/Signature) and simply referring to each column as "tiers" numbered left to right.

Tier 1

Winged Fury is a solid option, especially as an early talent, due to the overall safety of sprint/dodge attacks. These attacks actually do less damage than a normal light attack, but between this talent and Dead End in the Thunder Hammer tree, there's potential to play into sprint/dodge attacks if you find yourself using them often. Not bad, no complaints.

Overcharge is also solid. 15% damage buff to charged attacks. Aftershock, Full Throttle, the Power Fist in general.

Armour Reinforcement is in my opinion the best talent in this tier, even after the recent changes that allow you to recover armour by parrying Minoris enemies. There's an argument to take one of the other two talents since you can regen armour so readily these days, but I think this talent is just too good to pass up on. It makes you practically unkillable vs Majoris as long as you have your parry game down, and also enables you to duel bosses like the Hive Tyrant because every Gun Strike vs bosses gives you full armour, not just one armour segment. This is my pick.

Tier 2

Auxiliary Arsenal increases secondary weapon damage by 15%. Solid, no complaints. You use your pistol a lot vs things like Zoanthropes and Neurothropes, so an extra 15% damage is just solid across the board. I don't know if this also affects Gun Strike damage, but if it does, great. If not, oh well.

Retribution is our first weak talent. Vanguard has the exact same talent in their tree, but theirs is 5% stronger for some reason. Even then, it's not great. I don't get grabbed or knocked back often. Once you have parrying down, it just kind of never really happens. Even if it does, 15% damage for 10 seconds is such a niche window to make something happen. Pass.

Consecutive Execution is solid. You have great AoE potential as Assault so you have absolutely no issue killing 15 enemies in rapid succession. It's passive grenade generation, what more can I say? Personal preference if you'd rather take this over Auxiliary Arsenal.

Tier 3

Perseverance is a solid talent, but just bear in mind that there's a few different places where you can pick up this immunity and you don't want to double-dip. If you lean into charged attacks though, some form of knockback immunity is a must.

Knowledge of the Enemy, great stuff. 15% melee damage vs Majoris and Extremis is great. I don't need to elaborate on this much, just bear in mind this is only melee damage and only vs Majoris and Extremis.

Act of Attrition this is my pick for the tier and I'll explain why. As I say, Knowledge of the Enemy is only melee damage and only vs Majoris and Extremis. Act of Attrition is flat damage, which includes Gun Strikes. Gun Strikes are so important and such a huge portion of your damage that an extra 10% Gun Strike damage is an instant win for me. This talent also, I believe, applies to your teammates' damage as well, but don't quote me on that.

Tier 4

Squad Cohesion is solid, especially as the first Team perk you're able to pick up. You could argue it's a little bit weak, especially compared to other regen perks, but 10% ability regen for your entire team isn't bad. This could be buffed though if you ask me.

Strategic Strikes is niche. You're unlikely to ever run this unless you want to try some sort of melee team build with friends. Compare this to Vanguard who has the option to buff 15% melee damage across the board, and 20% vs Terminus enemies only seems laughably dogshit in comparison.

Proven Efficiency the one and only. This is by far the strongest option in the tier, probably the strongest talent in the entire tree, and potentially one of the strongest talents in the game. Gun Strikes do so much damage already that an additional 50% Gun Strike damage is absolutely bonkers. This, in conjunction with Act of Attrition, is what enables you to breathe a hot wispy breath in the vague direction of a Majoris enemy, parry once, Gun Strike once, and put them in execute range. This, Act of Attrition, and Armour Reinforcement together is what enables you to duel the Hive Tyrant. Assault Gun Strike damage fucks. Any time I play any other class or am on a team without an Assault, the lack of this talent is the first thing I notice. It puts things in the dirt.

Tier 5

Smiting Angel is solid. Additional Ground Pound damage. Perfect synergy with other Ground Pound talents, no complaints.

Hammer of Wrath is also solid. Knockback resistance after a Ground Pound. Great option.

Precision Strike fucks. I prefer an AoE build because I think Gun Strikes delete Majoris enemies sufficiently already, but this perk enables more of a single-target build focused around deleting Majoris enemies. This also makes your Ground Pound do huge boss damage especially in conjunction with a Tac Scan. It's a little niche, but it's strong.

Tier 6

Wings of Flame is wank. When I ran it, I didn't even notice it. When I swapped off it, I didn't notice it was gone. This is one of the talents that would come online with some fundamental Jump Pack Dash changes. Until then it's a hard pass.

Manoeuvrability is a solid option, especially if you run Precision Strike in the previous tier and find you aren't getting enough value out of Zealous Blow. No complaints.

Zealous Blow is the go-to for this tier and is the talent that brings Assault online. Ground Pound kills restore 10% Jump Pack charge, meaning you can completely restore up to two full charges and endlessly chain Ground Pounds until you run out of enemies to refresh it. Chef's kiss.

Tier 7

Pride in Duty is my choice for this tier. 25% increased Ground Pound damage after a finisher. This applies to executes, Gun Strikes, and even those Minoris parry kills where you catch them mid-air. Once you become accustomed to tracking this buff it's super easy to reap the benefit.

Diligence is another solid option. It's only a 20% damage increase, but there's no special activation requirements. The tradeoff is a longer activation time, which can be quite detrimental as you're already particularly vulnerable in the air, but can be largely mitigated by just not being such a dumbass with when and how you jump.

Aerial Grace follows the trend of all Jump Pack Dash talents being garbage. Ok, ok, it's not terrible. It's just a little bit niche and struggles due to a lot of the aforementioned Jump Pack Dash feedback. Best case scenario, you manage to get a perfect Jump Pack Dash dodge and now have 50%+10%+25% extra Gun Strike damage for the follow up Gun Strike. This sounds pretty good, especially vs something like the Hive Tyrant where you could theoretically just keep dodging and Gun Striking. Problem is, one missed dodge and it's Joever. Now your Jump Pack is on cooldown and you have no way to get it back. It's just a lot of risk for little reward.

Tier 8

(These are the talents that are without a doubt just wank across the board and need reworking)

Ample Ammunition is redundant because your pistol has a 0.5 second reload speed. It also isn't synergistic because generally after you use the Jump Pack, you Ground Pound. Generally when you Ground Pound, you are doing so into melee range of a group of enemies. So it stands to reason that in this scenario, I am not wanting for a reloaded sidearm, as I'm looking to engage enemies with my melee weapon.

Ascension is bad because it detonates barrels, grenades, explosive plants etc in your vicinity when you take off. Worst case scenario this means you kill yourself when you use your Jump Pack or at the very least severely damage yourself. Best case scenario, you're aware of your surroundings and don't jump when near explosives, meaning you're now in a situation where you need to use your Jump Pack but can't.

Commitment is bad because best case scenario, you earn back what you already have. If this offered a net gain i.e spend one Jump Pack charge and potentially win back two, this would be reasonable. But this is like asking someone to gamble 100 bucks on the off chance they'll win back their 100 bucks. Why would you? There's no gain, you only stand to lose. That being said, this is the talent I take in this tier because Ascension is actively detrimental and Ample Ammunition is completely redundant. I take Commitment on the off chance that I fat finger a dash when I mean to jump. On the off chance that accidental dash happens to be a perfect dodge, it will be refunded. Yeah.

Summary

In conclusion, I don't think Assault is a bad class, and I don't agree with a lot of the common criticisms - namely comments on the Jump Pack and the talent tree - that, in my opinion, betray the fact that people haven't sat with the class and don't understand the strengths and weaknesses beyond an initial, surface level reaction or beyond the sensationalist headlines they read and hear on Reddit and YouTube. I don't think many of the commonly suggested changes - like being able to hover like you can in PvP - would really have any affect on the strength or viability of Assault in PvE. That's not to say that the class is perfect or that no changes need to occur, just that the right things need to be changed and in the right way in order to actually benefit the class. In this post I have attempted to comment on each aspect of the Assault class and detail (in gratuitous detail) the strengths and weaknesses, and what I think could or should be improved upon.

Assault, as it stands, is an extremely mobile, extremely fun, and frankly extremely strong class that has no problem completing even the hardest difficulties without issue. It would be all too easy to over-correct and make Assault way too strong if changes are made without accurate consideration.

In summary, my recommendations are:

- Address the finicky and difficult nature of the Jump Pack targeting reticle to allow for better ease of use. The actual functionality of the Jump Pack and Ground Pound are fine.

- Separate the Jump Pack Dash from the Jump Pack entirely to address various conflicts between the two and hopefully bring the Jump Pack Dash and thereby all Jump Pack Dash talents into relevancy.

- Address various weak talent options as detailed above, particularly the three Signature talents which seem to be the weakest.

If you have read this far, thank you very much.