Assault (LWR)

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  Assault

The Long War Rebalance Assault is similar to the vanilla Assault. Their signature ability is Close Encounters.

Primary Weapons: Carbines, Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, SMGs, Shotguns.

Secondary Weapons: Pistols, Machine Pistols, Sawed-off shotgun.

Class-Limited items: None.

Attribute Growth: Mob x3.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Close Encounters The first standard shot against an enemy within 4 tiles or destructive grenade thrown within 4 tiles will leave this unit with 1 AP but reduces mobility to 3.3 tiles during their next action. Grants immunity to reaction fire and critical hits from enemies within 4 tiles.
Lance Corporal	Run and Gun Allows shooting or overwatching at 0 AP if the last AP was spent moving. Disables the AP discount from Close Encounters. Shots gain +35% weapon damage and +35 crit until this unit's next turn. 2 turn cooldown. Cannot activate if out of ammo and does not work with the stun rifle.		Grenadier Using a destructive grenade deals +1 damage and costs only 1 AP. Equipped destructive grenades receive an additional use. Grants 1.3 mobility.		Will To Survive Increases DR of partial cover to 55% and full cover to 65% but grants 15 less defense. Grants +3 armor HP and Steadfast. Steadfast Provides immunity to panic (except from flame/psi attacks) and reduces injury time by 50%.
Corporal	Extra Conditioning Grants +3 armor HP, +0.6 mobility, 10% throw range, and a 10% chance for all end-in-idle actions to cost 0 AP.		Fragmentation Explosives critically hit exposed targets, dealing 150% damage.		Brawler Grants +1 damage and +20 aim against targets within 4 tiles. Counterattacks melee attacks with damage equal to this unit's max base HP.
Sergeant	Ranger Grants +1 damage to all weapons and equipment, +0.6 mobility, and +10% throw range. For sidearms: No long-range aim penalty and reloading costs only 1 AP.		Killer Instinct Critical hits deal 200% damage.		Pistolero Reaction shots from pistols gain +70% weapon damage and the ability to crit. If idle at the end of turn, this unit will switch to their pistol if it has ammo. If this unit is wielding a pistol, grants a reaction shot at any enemy within 4 tiles that acts. [Pistolero reaction shots bypass half of cover DR/def and require hit chance >30]
Tech Sergeant	Rapid Fire Take two shots with your primary weapon against a single target in quick succession. Each shot carries a -40 aim penalty (-20 for shotguns). Grants +0.6 mobility.
Gunnery Sergeant	Aggression Grants the primary weapon +20 crit and additional crit damage equal to the number of enemies in sight or squadsight.		HEAT Warheads Explosives gain +5 penetration and double the application of any shred.		Tenacious Defense Grants +3 armor HP. Grants +20% crit resistance when protected by cover.
Master Sergeant	Sprinter Grants +1.3 mobility and increases the movement bonus when dashing to +40% (from +20%).			Lock N' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP. Dashing automatically reloads the active weapon.

Tactical Advice

Role: Mobile Offense, Tank

Long War Rebalance Assaults are more specialized than vanilla Assaults. They are more mobile than Infantry and capable of much greater burst damage output at close range. Since their innate ability is Close Encounters, they typically want to be close to the enemy at all times, whether they are tanking damage or dealing it, and Shotguns are a natural choice for their close range focus. However, SMGs are also viable due to their high crit, mobility and crit damage boost. They are specialist for close quarters urban maps, but also excel in UFOs where they can ignore Outsider Close Combat Specialist ability.

Assaults are fairly simple soldiers, and the choices in their builds tend to be a simple one of offense vs. defense at each rank, with some mobility thrown in.

Sample Builds

Run and Gun Assault

The R&G Assault aims to maximize mobility and damage potential to enable extremely long distance sprinting in order to dispatch high value targets that are too hard to reach by other means. It is a high risk high reward build that uses surgical precision removals to turn the tide of entire battles - though it will often leave the Assault isolated from any support. The close range crit nullification of Close Encounters alleviates some of the risks. Still, it remains by essence an extreme build that operates on a razor edge; RnG Assaults generally burn brightly but briefly and few of them will reach the higher ranks due to grave wounds or even death.

Sample Run and Gun Build: Run and Gun -> Extra Conditioning or Brawler -> Killer Instinct or Ranger -> Rapid Fire -> Aggression or Tenacious Defense -> Any

Run and Gun

Extra Conditioning Brawler

Killer Instinct Ranger

Rapid Fire

Aggression Tenacious Defense

Sprinter Lock N' Load

Recommended Weapons: Shotgun or SMG. Secondary Sawed-off/Autopistol if mobility allows
Recommended Equipment: High Cap Mags, Damage-increasers, Mobility-increasers, Survivability-increasers, Psi Frayer/Conduit.

Notes:

• Most ranks for a RnG Assault offer a choice between added damage and added survivability; it's up to you to figure out what mix of each you want.
  • Taking one of Brawler or Ranger is recommended to give the aim necessary to hit particularly evasive targets up close with either shotguns or autopistols.
• Psionic Assaults benefit well from the added flexibility that psi abilities can offer, as well as most of the psi items. Their high will growth helps make that more common.
• Advanced Perception, Dual Heart and Regenesis will help reduce the high risk of harm and/or death inherent to the build. Muscle Amp offers greatly improved mobility on a large number of maps.

Grenadier Assault

This build provides the Assault with pinpoint cover destruction and useful AOE damage utility. The assault class's forced close range playstyle thanks to Close Encounters lends itself well to deploying grenades which also need their user to be in close range of enemies. Fragmentation, Ranger, and Blast add range and damage to the Assault's grenades, maintaining their relevance as the campaign goes on. The innate offensive power of the class allows it to still perform decently once out of grenades - even though it will have reduced mobility due to equipped grenades. This will happen very frequently as the class lacks the Packmaster perk; psi abilities are thus a good choice to increase the available options of this build.

Sample Grenadier Build: Grenadier -> Fragmentation -> Ranger or Killer Instinct -> Rapid Fire -> Blast or Tenacious Defense -> Sprinter

Grenadier

Fragmentation

Ranger Killer Instinct

Rapid Fire

Blast Tenacious Defense

Sprinter

Recommended Weapons: Shotgun or SMG.
Recommended Equipment: HE grenades, AP grenades, Alien/Plasma grenades, Mobility-increasers, Psi Frayer.

Notes:

• The choice at SGT between Ranger and Killer Instinct is one of consistency vs potential; Ranger gives you a little bit of everything as well as a reliable sidearm, while Killer Instinct makes your Frag crits much scarier, in addition to buffing up other weapons' crits.
• It may be worth sacrificing explosive amounts or the power of the Shotgun in exchange for more mobility; being too slow to approach is a good way to accomplish nothing, no matter how many grenades you're carrying.
• Psi is a strong option for this build to add utility after grenades inevitably run out, especially if an amplifier such as a Psi Frayer or Aurora Armor is used on top.

Tank Assault

This build focuses on defensive perks to build a durable combatant able to both tank efficiently at range and to shrug off otherwise devastating hits in close quarters. While very sturdy this build does not lack offensive prowess and uses the high base damage of the shotgun coupled with high damage Pistolero hits to good effect. This does severely limit its effective fighting range however, and on an open map it may lack the opportunity to close in to reliably deliver its damage. Nevertheless it will most often prove a strong and dependable vanguard for your forces if properly supported.

Sample Tank Build: Will to Survive -> Brawler or Extra Conditioning -> Ranger or Close Combat Specialist -> Rapid Fire -> Tenacious Defense -> Lock n' Load or Sprinter

Will To Survive

Brawler Extra Conditioning

Ranger Pistolero

Rapid Fire

Tenacious Defense

Lock N' Load Sprinter

Recommended Weapons: Shotgun
Recommended Equipment: Platings (Chitin especially), Combat Stims, High Cap Mags, Special ammo, Mobility-increasers, Psi Defender/Frayer.

Notes:

• As the sole source of Brawler on biotanks, Assault Tanks make for great terror mission specialists while equipped with Chitin Plating and Breaching Rounds. In the right situations, chrysalids and other melee enemies may simply kill themselves on your brawling Assault. Extra Conditioning makes them more well rounded with a little of everything and is definitely competitive. Flashbang Crysalids prior to exposing Brawler Assault to minimize potential damage the soldier takes.
• Lock n' Load allows a free reload while sprinting toward enemies for more uptime. Sprinter offers more flanking and repositioning potential with added mobility.
• Psi, like on other Assault builds, is a great way to maintain relevance while closing in on targets or keeping distance as needed. Psi Defender is also a strong item on any tank.
• Tank build is excellent Outsider counter in UFOs where he can go in, shoot twice for high damage crits and then tank close shots thanks to Close Encounter ability that stops critical hits fired from inside 4 tile radius.

See also

Long War Rebalance: Soldiers
	Soldiers Assault Infantry Rocketeer Gunner Sniper Scout Medic Engineer
	MEC Troopers Marauder Goliath Jaeger Shogun
	Officers Psionics Gene Mods S.H.I.V.s