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.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Close Encounters Close Encounters The first standard shot against an enemy within 4 tiles will leave this unit with 1 AP but reduces mobility to 3.3 tiles during their next action. Grants immunity to critical hits and reaction fire from enemies within 4 tiles.
Lance Corporal	Run and Gun Run and Gun Activate to allow shooting or overwatching at 0 AP if the last AP was spent moving. When active: Gain +20 crit, +20% crit damage, immunity to reaction fire, but the AP discount from Close Encounters is disabled. 2 turn cooldown. Cannot activate if out of ammo and does not work with the stun rifle.		Grenadier Grenadier Using a destructive grenade deals +1 damage and costs only 1 AP. Equipped destructive grenades and MEC launchers receive an additional use and have no weight.		Will To Survive Will To Survive Increases DR of all cover to 60% but grants 10 less defense. For XCOM, grants Steadfast. Steadfast Steadfast Provides +2 armor HP, immunity to panic, and reduces injury times by 30%.
Corporal	Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning Grants +2 armor HP and +0.6 mobility, and a 10% chance for all end-in-idle actions to cost 0 AP.		Fragmentation Fragmentation Explosives critically hit exposed targets, have double the bleed chance, and apply 2 stacks if they cause bleeding.		Brawler Brawler If this unit is idle and has not been damaged this turn, incoming shots within 4 tiles graze (dealing only half of the original damage).
Sergeant	Ranger Ranger Grants +1 damage to all weapons and equipment, +0.6 mobility, and +10% throw/rocket range. Sidearms additionally gain +2 damage, +20 aim, and 1 AP reloads.		Killer Instinct Killer Instinct Grants +30% crit damage.		Close Combat Specialist Close Combat Specialist Grants a reaction shot at any enemy within 4 tiles that acts. Reaction shot only activates on enemy's turn, once per enemy. [Basic reaction shots bypass half of cover DR/def, cannot crit, and require hit chance >30]
Tech Sergeant	Rapid Fire Rapid Fire Fire twice with your primary weapon; accuracy gains above 50% hit chance only contribute half to final hit chance.
Gunnery Sergeant	Aggression Aggression Shots gain +10% crit damage per enemy in sight.		Danger Zone Danger Zone Suppression affects (with half suppressive fire damage) targets in a 2.5 tile radius around the primary target. Upgrades suppressive fire against airborne units to 60% standard shot damage.		Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense Grants +2 armor HP. Grants +20 crit resistance when protected by cover.
Master Sergeant	Sprinter Sprinter Grants +1.3 mobility and +10 defense. Doubles damage from Ram.			Lock n' Load Lock n' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP and dashing automatically reloads the active weapon.

Stat Progression

Rank	Attribute Gains
Specialist	+0-1 (50%)	+2-6	+0.6	+5-15
Lance Corporal	+0-1 (50%)	+0-2	-	+1-3
Corporal	+0-1 (20%)	-	-	+1-3
Sergeant	+0-1 (20%)	-	-	+1-3
Tech Sergeant	+0-1 (20%)	-	-	+1-3
Gunnery Sergeant	+0-1 (20%)	-	-	+1-3
Master Sergeant	+0-1 (20%)	-	-	-
Total	+0-7	+2-8	+0.6	+10-30

Predictable Potential:

Rank	Attribute Gains
Specialist	+1	+4	+0.6	+10
Lance Corporal	+1	+1	-	+2
Corporal	-	-	-	+2
Sergeant	-	-	-	+2
Tech Sergeant	-	-	-	+2
Gunnery Sergeant	-	-	-	+2
Master Sergeant	-	-	-	-
Total	+2	+5	+0.6	+20

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.

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 Run and Gun

Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning Brawler Brawler

Killer Instinct Killer Instinct Ranger Ranger

Rapid Fire Rapid Fire

Aggression Aggression Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense

Sprinter Sprinter Lock n' Load 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, Secondary Heart and Adrenaline Surge will help reduce the high risk of harm and/or death inherent to the build. Muscle Fiber Density offers greatly improved mobility on a large number of maps. Adaptive Bone Marrow will shorten the wound times that inevitably show up.

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 Danger Zone 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 -> Danger Zone or Tenacious Defense -> Sprinter

Grenadier Grenadier

Fragmentation Fragmentation

Ranger Ranger Killer Instinct Killer Instinct

Rapid Fire Rapid Fire

Danger Zone Danger Zone Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense

Sprinter 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 Close Combat Specialist 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 Will To Survive

Brawler Brawler Extra Conditioning Extra Conditioning

Ranger Ranger Close Combat Specialist Close Combat Specialist

Rapid Fire Rapid Fire

Tenacious Defense Tenacious Defense

Lock n' Load Lock n' Load Sprinter 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.
• Lock n' Load allows a free reload while sprinting toward enemies for more uptime on Close Combat Specialist. 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.

See also

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