Rather than write a stylistic article about playing assault, I decided to compose a succinct bulleted version. A good deal of this information was gathered from other assault guides and from watching Xenonox's gameplay videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/xenorich), so I would like to express my gratitude for their efforts. These notes are intended for public matches. GENERAL COMMENTS Maintain the high ground whenever possible. If you're taking heavy fire, escape and take cover. Dont risk death and your kill streak money unless its imperative for a team goal like damaging the moneyball in overtime. Your primary focus is on killing pros, since killing bots is not your class strength. Strafe right and left while shooting when being fired upon to take advantage of the assaults mobility and relatively smaller hit box. Jump around a lot while moving so its harder for you to get back-grappled or head-shot. Part of your role as an assault is to keep the moneyball down by using your ability to get there quickly and put shots in it. Your grenade launcher and your bomb do a lot of damage to the moneyball when youre juiced. ENDORSEMENTS My endorsement setup before acquiring Bomb 3: Gold Armor / Silver Rate of Fire / Bronze Accuracy My endorsement setup after acquiring Bomb 3: Gold Skill Recovery / Silver Rate of Fire / Bronze Accuracy Xenonox Endorsement Build 1: Gold Rate of Fire / Silver Accuracy / Bronze Skill Recovery Xenonox Endorsement Build 2: Gold Armor / Silver Accuracy / Bronze Skill Recovery BUILD ORDER My typical skill upgrade order is: Passive 2 Charge 2 Bomb 2 Bomb 3 Fly 2 ASSAULT RIFLE Best in short to midrange. Damage is nerfed past midrange. Can be used to finish off very low-health enemies at longer (nerfed) range. Not effective against bots. Not affective against turrets. Combining your assault rifle fire with bomb or charge damage is highly effective. Assault rifle alternate fire aiming is effective against opponents who dont see you yet, and not as effective against those who do. GRENADE LAUNCHER Your long range weapon. Effective against bots. Moderately effective against turrets. Rate of Fire endorsement greatly improve usability. Bounces off walls and allows you to hit enemies when they cant hit you, for example when an opponent is attacking your base through the front of your top spawn ring. Useful for shelling multiple enemies in the same area at longer range. Skipping the grenade off the ground at longer range shallows its trajectory and improves your chances of scoring a hit. Grenade alternate fire grapple is effective against bouncers and juiced pros. BOMB Knocks opponents away from the blast epicenter, lighter classes are thrown farther. Can ring-out opponents. Does more damage the closer the opponent is to the epicenter. Bomb 3 typically one-hit kills unarmored assassins and snipers. Sticking an opponent with a bomb is called a headcrab. Does 3x damage when you stick an enemy with it, typically resulting in a one-hit kill. The two heavy classes, gunner and tank, are bigger targets and thus easier to stick. Stuck bombs are very effective against jackbots. Sets opponents aflame and does slow bonus burn damage over time, which keeps opponents from regenerating their health and leaves their health bar visible to you longer. Lateral damage of blast radius allows you to hit opponents hiding behind pillars or around corners. Bomb throw arc allows you to damage opponents on map structures above or below you that are no longer in your line-of-sight. Can be used for area denial such as on a choke point, the annihilator button, or to cut off an enemys route of escape. When outnumbered, use the bomb for area denial to keep opponent from closing the distance on you. If you have the drop on your opponent, throw a bomb at him before you start shooting and dont detonate it until he realizes hes being damaged by your assault rifle and moves to escape. Leave your indestructible bomb on a downed moneyball as you leave the enemy base and detonate it later to extend the time the ball remains down. You can bomb jump long distances by throwing a bomb on the ground and then detonating it as you jump above it. FLY Fly 2 increases both fly duration and fly speed. Offers increased map-circuiting ability and facilitates surprise attacks. Allows you to get a line of sight to finish-off kills without dropping down to low ground. You can fly greater distances faster by using your charge in the air. You can extend your fly time by toggling it off and then on quickly, every half second or so. You can charge glide to cover even longer distances in the air by flying, then hitting the charge button and right after very quickly hitting the fly button to toggle off fly, and then hitting the fly button one more time a couple seconds later to toggle it back on and slow your descent. Can be used to break out of sniper ice traps. Can be used to interrupt and fly out of annihilator, ejector, or bot spawn button animation while still triggering the desired event (glitch). CHARGE Excellent tool for escape to safe territory when youre taking fire. Can be used to close distance and finish-off kills when the opponent is trying to take cover by turning a corner. Knocks opponents back, lighter classes are thrown farther. Can ring-out opponents. Can usually kill a litter of gremlins in one shot, especially if you back up first and get them trailing you in a straight line. Charge 2 one-hit kills unarmored assassins and snipers. Briefly shoot an assassin or sniper first with your assault rifle before you charge in case theyre armored, so you dont knock them back with health remaining and facilitate their escape. Charge 3 adds a grapple throw which nets you an additional $50 per kill and increases ring-out power but leaves you vulnerable during the grapple animation sequence. Charge 3 one-hit kills bouncers without triggering the grapple animation. Charge 3 is very useful against juiced players due to its ability close the distance to your juiced opponent quickly, the grapple animation time wasting their juice, and the possibility of a ring-out kill. GRENADE3 On this map I upgrade to Fly 2 before Bomb 2 and often upgrade to Fly 3 after Bomb 3, because of the wide open spaces. Try to push opponents off high ground and use your charge glide mobility to flank opponents on the other side of the map. Buy and use the outside jump pads on mid-ring to flank opponents and gain the required height to fly on top of their spawn glass. You can fly to the front ledge of the opponents top spawn ring and surprise them when theyre caught up defending their base from your teammates attacks on their left or right. Throw bombs at the jump pad landing points near the enemy base and ring opponents out or finish them off with your assault rifle when they come up to challenge you. If a support sets up a firebase on one of the jump pad landing points right outside your base, fly around from the top spawn ring and ring him out with a bomb to the outside of him. If multiple opponents are pushing down either the top right or left ring, use the lift near your turrets to keep popping up and down while launch grenades at them. Bounce your grenades off the glass behind your opponents if they are taking cover behind the glass barricades on the top ring. Shell them with skipped nades from your top spawn glass if multiple enemies are pushing from under either the right or left bridge outside your base. You can quickly get all the way from the front of your top spawn ring to the opponents front top spawn ring by bomb jumping. AMMO MULE On this map I upgrade to Fly 2 before Bomb 2 and often upgrade to Fly 3 after Bomb 3, because of the wide open spaces. Try to control top dome and shoot down on opponents. Back off to the opposite side of top dome and use it for cover when youre getting hit. Throw a bomb on other teams side of the dome near their base so its easier to keep them from getting on top. You can jump from the top of the glass barricades on the brides near the enemy base and get enough height to fly to the top of their spawn glass. Shell them with skipped nades from your top spawn glass if multiple enemies are pushing from under either the right or left bridge outside your base. It is difficult but possible to bounce a grenade off the front middle spawn ring glass, onto the right or left side top spawn ring glass, and then finally onto the moneyball. STEEL PEEL Try to control mid ring and shoot down on opponents. Back off and use the glass around mid ring for cover when youre getting hit, use fly and charge to retreat all the way back to your base if severely damaged. You can bounce grenades off the right side pillar in the enemy base from the right side of mid ring and safely hit their downed moneyball. Bounce your grenades off the glass behind your opponents if they are taking cover behind the glass barricades on the top ring. Bouncing grenades off the outside wall around top ring is a very effective way to hit opponents behind glass barriers and push them back into their base. You can get to both the right and left opening to top ring overlooking your base through a combination of fly and charge. If attacking the enemy base from their elbow, throw a bomb on the side wall instead of the ground to get more ring-out power. You can bounce grenades off the small lip on the outside edge of the elbow to hit opponents you can't see. LASERAZOR You can get to the very top of all the walls and surprise people from above by jumping and flying from the glass walls surrounding the lift landing point on the top level. Throw bombs at the lift landing points near the enemy base and ring opponents out or finish them off with your assault rifle when they come up to challenge you. You can bounce grenades off the small lip on the outside edge of the elbow to hit opponents you can't see. You can quickly get all the way from your middle spawn ring exit to the front of the opponents top spawn ring by bomb jumping and then charge gliding near the high point of your arc. It is difficult but possible to bounce a grenade off the front middle spawn ring glass, onto the right or left side top spawn ring glass, and then finally onto the moneyball. SPUNKY COLA You can easily bounce grenades into the top level hallway right outside the opponents top spawn ring and get spam kills or push the other team back. You can also bounce grenades into your own top level hallway from your own top spawn ring to keep opponents from pushing into your base. The ejector pad area on the front end of the raised "L" platform is a good defensive position to safely lob grenades into the bot fracas in bottom mid or to any doorways where opponents are trying to push out into your side of the map. You can fly around from the lift on your teams side of the map, off the edge of the arena, to the enemy teams hallway and ambush them from behind. The sneaky backdoor entrance to the opposing teams base is a good place to juice and launch grenades from in overtime. VS SNIPER Harass snipers from long distance with your grenade launcher while strafing right and left, dont let them get comfortable. Continue to bounce grenades into the front of the enemys top spawn ring and get kills when a sniper pulls back from your shelling but not all the way back into their base like they should. Fly over their ice traps, and if you get caught by one break out of it with fly. Finish them off with your charge so they dont escape. VS ASSASSIN Listen for their distinctive hum so you dont get back-grappled. Spray bullets where you think they might be to temporarily break their cloak and make them visible. When they dash they leave a dust trail on the ground, so look for the pitter-patter of little feet. Jump around while firing and moving backward if they caught you snoozing so its hard for them to grapple, or fly backward and possibly out over space so they cant melee you either. Finish them off with your charge so they dont escape. VS GUNNER They are a big target for your bomb to stick on. Do not charge them from the front at short range, their dual mini-guns will kill you before you hit them. If you have cover at midrange, duck out from behind it for a few shots and then duck back in. If you dont have cover at midrange, strafe right and left while firing but charge away to safety immediately if they start registering consecutive shots on you. Use your grenade launcher at long range. VS TANK They are a big target for your bomb to stick on. Do not let them get close to you, charge away if you have to. Watch out for their Charge 3, it will one-hit kill you if youre unarmored. Do not charge them from the front at short range, their charge beats your charge. Stay above them or move laterally so its more difficult for them to hit you with their charge. VS SUPPORT Stay out of shotgun range and maintain optimal spacing for your assault rifle, backpedal if they rush at you. Listen for the air strike sound and move if you hear it, you might not be able to see the impact designator because it's underneath you. Use the trick of firing from just far enough out to the right of a wall that you can shoot the firebase but it cant quite shoot you. Your assault rifle takes out firebases faster than your grenade launcher. Your grenade launcher can be used to take out a firebase from outside of its range or by bouncing shots off of walls where it cannot hit you, but this takes longer than using your assault rifle. VS ASSAULT Against other skilled assaults who can move and shoot, strategic use of the bomb is often the deciding factor. Throw a bomb in the vicinity of their most likely escape route before you start shooting them with your assault rifle. Throw a bomb to their most likely high ground landing point when you see them high in the air. Jump their charge and do not use your charge offensively, unless they don't see you yet or they are at very low health and you are sure to finish them off. Good gaming, BJD
well done and simplistic enough for the average user to get an idea of what they should do as an assault
This. It just seems this way if you don't pre-spin because bullets start out slow and gain a little bit faster ROF as it spins up. (Could be wrong) Also no armor on an assault is just asking to be killed IDC how good you are...
You should add the information about the Fly Ability where the assault can fly out of hazard buttons like the ejector, annihilator, or even bot spawner pads. Also it's preferably have a link to the assault bounce video I've made. Surely it'll help. Amen.
Done. I also added to the VS ASSAULTS section and made some other updates. Alas, I was not a huge fan of the way you ended that video. Joking or not, it seemed a little harsh. :-/
Xeno, you said GTFO. I don't like that kind of language in my Youtube videos. Needless to say, I am dissappoint. Or disappoint.
