My thoughts on the Assault...

Okay, here's the situation. The Assault is a good class and can do some seriously good things for the team including: killing bots, killing turrets, killing pros, and looking really smooth in the process. They were intended to be this all around good class who can play just about any position; this is true. The issue I have however is the Gunner. This brute can beast entire teams once he gets his dual death-cannons at L3 passive. Just like the Assault, it seems like he can play just about any part on the team. This is where the problem lies.

The question to ask is, what can the Assault do for the team that the Gunner can't do better? The Gunner obviously racks up more kills. The mortar is a great tool which is scarcely used. It can kill Bots quickly and, from range, can destroy a base rather efficiently. In this regard, the Gunner can mimic half of the Assaults usefulness with more survivability and destructive power.

I might be alone here, I have not had nearly enough Assault playtime to call myself good but I think this is an issue. Is the Assault underpowered? No, i wouldn't say so. He is just so incredibly average that the Gunner seems to render him useless.

Well that's my opinion, now tell me yours. Do you think the Assault needs a buff to match the usefulness of the Gunner or will that only set aside the problem.

I do think the Gunner's strong durability combined with the death dual minigun combined with a Support, getting accuracy and rate of fire in your top two endorsements equals instant death to anyone who isn't a Sniper, does feel a bit much at times. However, I'd say that's pretty much the balancing point of them. A Sniper can kill a Gunner in the time it takes for him to rev his minigun up or back behind cover rather easily, removing the power of the easygoing machinegunner entirely. The Assault`s speed makes him much harder to kill in such a way.

Of course, when the Sniper(s) on your team sorta, you know... suck, I can see the feelings of imbalance.

I think Assault is perfectly fine. They have mobility over the Gunner which is a BIG deal in this game.

Gunners can lock down an area pretty good but are incredibly slow and have problems with Snipers and Assassins.

Assaults can quickly move around the battlefield plugging up holes in the defensive line, uprooting camping Snipers, and generally causing problems for each and every other class.

Want to lock down a lane and push? Play Gunner.

Want to be the jack-of-all-trades that can step in and help your team when they are in a pinch? Play Assault.

I don't know, I just feel like a gunner won't have a problem getting back to the base to help out. And I understand what was said about the Sniper and Assassin but I don't think it really changes much. Assaults have some serious issues against supports and gunners.

Oh and btw, before you say anything, I am not claiming the Gunner to be OP. I think it could use some tweaks, but it is easily dealt with.

The assault class's mobility is his biggest asset. His level three charge is devastating when used properly. His bomb is a one hit kill if it lands..... and can be used to control choke points (perhaps too well as it cannot be destroyed). He is excellent at attacking people from behind. Why fight fair if you don't have to?

With the right endorsements the assault does almost as much damage as a gunner (with twice the speed). The assault character is the second fastest class and can chase down anyone but an assassin with ease. He is also immune to most ring out effects.

He has less health than a gunner, but better range. His speed is immensely better than a gunner and so is his jetpack. The assault's charge grapple is enough to make any gunner jealous. The gunner and assault are both vunerable while reloading but the assault has the speed necessary to get away. From head on an assault has no chance if the gunner is waiting for you (assuming equal skill).

You will make a lot more money by staying alive and keeping a good kill streak than repeatedly dying often and getting lots of kills. The assault is one of the best classes for getting away....use that to your advantage.

I dont know how they do it but some assaults just rip through people. Iv seen plenty who can take an armour 2 passive 3 tank out almost instantly at mid range. Yet Iv never been much good with the assault.

I've always been rather curious how you play well as an assault. The ones that kill me tend to do it via ring-out rather than damage (charge/charge throw and remote mines) though some have managed to pick me off when I was already hurt from a previous engagement. Attempting to play as one myself left me feeling like I wasn't hitting hard enough compared to most other classes but I've not played it a lot so there's plenty of room for me to learn otherwise :3

Yeah, I've messed around with my endorsements and my assault is NEVER that good.

Hmmm, they may have had some lucky critical shots combined with a 2 or 3 fire rate endorsement. It probably won't tear them that fast all the time, but it can happen.

I have to say this, Accuracy on a Gunner can kill people from the other side of Steel Peel. I know for a fact that an Assault doesn't have the fire power to do this. The Assault has huge issues against some of the close range classes (tank, support, assassin, gunners) that the gunner has no issues with. The fact that you are forced to retreat kinda kills your argument because the Gunner doesn't have to and can still get the job done. The Assault is infinitely more mobile but he needs it, the gunner can beast his way through.

I don't think the Assault can even rip through bots faster than the Gunner's mortar but I haven't tested this.

It was a good argument and post but I'm not convinced.

EDIT: I lied, the gunner has probems with the assassin.

This this this. I'm an awful assault but some times they seem to take me down so quickly..

The assault has mobility and can harass and chase. He also is the quickest at getting to the opponent's money ball once it is down. Also, it's harder to snipe/rail him and he counters assassins pretty well.

This makes sense but the Gunner has enough speed to chase somebody assuming they are in range. It may take longer but he certainly can chase somebody down, it only takes 2 seconds to drain them after all.

PS does anyone want to give me a good Assault setup? I use:

Gold: Accuracy
Silver: Rate of Fire
Bronze: Hip Clip

The assault's ability to not only chase but get out quickly as well is what separates him. Btw, I use:
1. Armor (Saves you from assassins unless they lvl 3 back grapple)
2. RoF (Grenade Launcher gets awesome)
3. Skill Pill (Lvl 3 bomb regens in 5 seconds and I jetpack a lot)
The reason I don't use accuracy is because the AR alreadu has a range cap and accuracy doesn't increase it at all, it just makes it easier to see where your bullets are going close up. If you use the dot and not the circle to aim, it's way more accurate. I use my nade launcher a ton from long range and against people who hide behind cover.

Cool i'll try that.

As many said before, the assault's mobility is what sets him apart from the gunner. He's able to dodge and escape much more effeciently than the gunner. And then he can attack around the corner he just hid behind. If a gunner were to get ambushed, he's pretty much toast. An assault can get himself out of a lot of situations if need be. And his grenade launcher can be deadly at long range (though I suppose the gunner's launcher can be just as deadly, so that's not much of an arguement).

Basically, he's a more mobile, more versatile version of the gunner. That makes him useful in his own way.

Its also worth noting that the assault can easily kill gunners and should never die to a tank (back peddling + 1 clip kill on them)

So true... as a tank if I get caught in this situation vs assault, I usually have to try for cover or back off and hope I can hit them with railgun and grenade. Either way, assault always has the upper hand unless they get in jet gun range.



More on topic:

I don't play assault primarily because he's terrible at assaulting bases solo. Sure you can grenade away at rocket turrets... if the other team is completely ignoring you. A little bit of harassment slows this down to a mind numbingly long process. Worse yet, one support guy can completely out heal a gold RoF grenade launcher in seconds.

Assault makes amazing back up for pushing a base, particularly keeping it locked down once the turrets are gone. But in public games, hoping the rest of your team will actually push for the ball is like hoping cats will clean their own litter box. The best you get is them pooping outside instead.

Don't back peddle a tank or he'll rail you. It's like 4 shots to kill an assault. Try to keep them in a safe range, and if you get a lvl 3 charge off it's over for the tank.

From my experience, Assaults machinegun DESTROYS gunners. A single clip from a Assault can kill a gunner. So the arguement of what can Assault do that Gunner doesn't do better? Alot.
He is a Anti-Gunner/Tank class. If medium to close range he can outgun them if they start firing first. Charge them and ring out. I would say they need a slight nerf on their gun. Just a few pts of damage less per bullet (lets say they deal 50 damage per bullet, reduce to 40-45 - would still be fatal if all hit, but would require at least 75% of the clip to hit instead of the 50-60% of clip). Due to their mobility - flight, decent walk speed, flight+charge mix it makes them a very great class. Harder to ring out, deadly gun. Grenade launcher is GREAT at taking out clusters of bots, towers and great for ring outs on players.

However every class has a "better" purpose. Yes all classes are capable of destroying bases on their own. However each are better for different areas. Supports are great for locking down a area of map (Firebase) and defense. Snipers are great for supporting offense by picking off players and great for defense. Assassins great anti-jackbot and best in mid-field play killing off players who are occupied with others (usually mid-map), Tanks are your heavy stategic offensive class - easily killed but can dish out ALOT of damage. Gunners are your general destroy class, heavy, hard hitting but slow and VERY weak from behind attacks.
Assault is your "all around" class. He isn't meant to be a heavy base destroyer and isn't meant to be a pick you off from the distance either. He's inbetween and his weapons do this. He can destroy turrets from a distance but he isn't the BEST at it, he can kill up close but isn't the BEST at it. He's Average-Slightly Above average at each. He has abilities to make up for his short comings. His gun is weak at long range and yes Grenade launchers cannot take out a tower being healed. However his mobility (flight and charge) allow him to QUICKLY get closer to dish out more damage with his gun. Needs to defend a area - his remote mines mixed in with his charge make a decent short-term defense until a Support or Sniper get in place to take over. Base destroying - mix him in with a Tank or Gunner and the base WILL be destroyed (provided you know how to play the class properly)