Assault: endorsements and strategies

I like how the Assault class seems to be flexible enough to make use of different endorsements at different levels.

With the exception of crit rate. Why do people insist on having this as an endorsement when it maxes out at 5%? I'm not following the logic involved. If somebody wouldn't mind explaining to me with objective reasoning, I'd love to hear why this is considered. I can't help but feel though that most people put it there because they believe that it performs better then it actually does, with nothing but, "to me it does," as reasoning :/

What about build orders? Is there a general consensus? At the very least, I would think that dropping $150 into lv2 Charge is a necessity. Using the Endorsement Data Thread, we can see that without Skill Recovery, lv1 Charge has a default recharge time of 15.2 seconds. Lv2 is nearly half that with 8.8 seconds. That's a drastic difference, to where you can get out nearly three lv2 Charges in the span of time it takes to do one lv1. When you're engaging in firefights, due to the mobility of the Assault you can actually create space in a manner that allows you to Charge people off of ledges should they be present. Opinions?

Rate of Fire I would assume should never be Gold, also looking at the Endorsement Data Thread. The reason being is that the Assault Rifle wouldn't be affected, and you're only losing a second from 10rpm with the Grenade Launcher. Compared to say Skill Recovery, Armor, or Clip Size which have an immediate and lasting impact.

I'm tempted to play around with Clip Size, as having extra ammo is never a bad thing. I love having quick access to Charge and Bomb though to give up Gold Skill Recovery.

Accuracy might not be a bad idea either, at least for those who utilize the Assault Rifle more. Though the reticle is smaller, that means a tighter grouping if you can aim manually well enough. Perhaps Accuracy is an endorsement that would be more beneficial to advanced Assault players?

Another Assault lover here... I work a lot on the MNC wiki and have put most of my time towards expanding their Assault-related information. Check out our articles on Assault Strategy and Assault match-ups in particular if you're looking for some insights on playing the class.

I run Gold Armor, Silver Accuracy, and Bronze Skill Recharge for my endorsements. I'm a big fan of looking at endorsement data like Icege, and the 66% increase in health from using Gold Armor is easily the biggest bump in stats from any endorsement and IMO far outweighs the benefits of gold RoF or Crit. I live through tons of encounters because of Gold Armor, and the greater survivability means more Bomb and Charge use, which is IMO where Assault really shines. Silver Accuracy helps keep the Assault Rifle under control at medium range, while Bronze Skill Recovery means more of everything that makes the Assault awesome. I note that the jump from Bronze to Silver Skill Recovery isn't as large as from Silver to Gold -- other endorsements have larger jumps from Bronze to Silver -- so if you don't run Recovery at Gold, you might as well not run it as Silver either.

Been playing around again. Set up for a Ring-Out Heavy set-up.

Skill Recovery as Gold, for Bomb mostly but also Charge when you make some more dough (still boosting passive/bomb first, Charge is still a lower priority for my style)
Speed as Silver, user this on my last set up and loved the boost in getting around the map, helps with fly too a little and helps me dodge charges/grapples better while Strafing and Shooting. Always a bonus.
Reload Speed as Bronze, because missing out on Clip Size etc. meant my core guns were severely lacking, and while bombing and charging a lot is great if you cant back it up when it goes wrong with the Assault Rifle you're screwed. I stand by that Accuracy makes a bit of a mockery out of ADS, so I went with Reload Speed.

Tactic is, get into the centre of the map fast, get ready with that beauty of a blue button, update Bomb fast and get those light characters outta my house. When it goes wrong switch to Assault Rifle, and always be building most cash from Grenade Launchers on bots to help the team. If you're not playing a mixture of different objectives on Assault you're doing it wrong.