Many of the Assault prestige perks feel underwhelming - they are either situational, quite bland, or transplanted from class perks from other classes:

Boosted Recharge: "Armour pickups restoring jetpack charge by 25%" – When you find armour drops, in most cases you would give it to the Sniper or Vanguard (with only two bars) if they're on the team. Then, you'd see if another member would need it if they've got no bars remaining. Only then should you take it for yourself. In practice, this could encourage selfish play, with assault players just picking up any armour drops to restore charge when they don't need the armour.

Indomitable Spirit: "Don't lose control upon heavy hits and cannot be knocked back while performing a gunstrike" - This is a great one on paper - players often find themselves staggered out of a gunstrike from heavy hits. However, this resistance only applies during the gunstrike animation, when there exists that other prestige perk, Sniper's Adrenaline Boost, which provides knockback and heavy hit resistance for 10 seconds after parry, block, and dodge which is applied more generally and includes when performing a gunstrike. 

So this perk is more of a trap than it is a benefit, and it also raises the question as to why such a melee oriented perk that would greatly benefit Assault, Bulwark, and Vanguard for their typical playstyles was not provided to them as a prestige perk option, instead given to the niche CQC Sniper build. If Indomitable Spirit's effect was changed to Adrenaline Boost, or if the perk was outright swapped out for Adrenaline Boost, it would be a much better prestige perk that is fitting of a melee class, especially as Assault will be parrying, blocking, and dodging a lot more than Sniper.

Duellist: "Perfect Parry and Perfect Block Windows increased by 25%" - Useful for those struggling with parry/block windows, which is why it appears as an early-level perk in the Vanguard tree. However, for players who have spent time in the game and familiarised themselves with parry/block mechanics while levelling from 1 to 25 across multiple classes, why would they reset for a prestige perk that increases the window of an action they're already familiar with? 

A suggestion to improve this option and make it unique would be an additional benefit. First Tour Guardsman had a good suggestion to include resistance to stagger and knockback from heavy hits after a parry or block. So, an upgrade most fitting could be: "Perfect Parry and Perfect Block Windows increased by 25% and prevents knockback and stagger from heavy hits for 5 seconds."

Edit: Essentially combining Duellist and Adrenaline Boost effects for something truly unique. But, that would invalidate the above suggestion to rectify or replace Indomitable Spirit red herring perk with Adrenaline Boost effect. But, this problem highlights the sorely needed revision to the Assault prestige perks to really create that element of power and uniqueness that was stated in the February community update - rather than oftentimes nerfed copies of other class perks.

Fortitude: "Health Increases by 15%" - Another example of a transplanted perk, this time for Heavy. However, the benefit for heavy is a 30% increase in health, whereas this one is half that. A lot of assault players are vocal about needing extra survivability, given our reliance on armour upkeep. While we have ways to manage our armour economy with lethal and non-lethal gunstrikes, which I among many others find manageable, for those struggling with it, having the extra health can help. So, while this perk can be argued to have a place as a prestige perk, it's not unique (Heavy has it as a class perk, and this is a proposed prestige perk for Vanguard as well) and is a nerfed version of the original.

Scrambled Targeting: "If surrounded by 5 or more enemies, take 20% less ranged damage" - Yet another transplanted class perk from Bulwark. However, this is a scenario that all melee classes *can* find themselves in, so it has utility and purpose here as a 'tank' perk. But, because this is just a carbon copy of the Bulwark class perk, it needs that extra oomph to make it stand out and become that unique and powerful prestige perk. A suggestion for this would be to include a reduction in melee damage as well, i.e: "If surrounded by 5 or more enemies, take 20% less damage". 

Practiced Aim: "Ranged Damage Increases by 20%" - Another 'ok' one that boosts damage of secondary weapon. I can see this being picked to help soften targets before entering melee. What I like about this prestige perk is that it allows for class diversity, i.e: taking this perk in conjunction or replacement of a class perk. You can stack this with the class perk Auxiliary Arsenal (15% additional ranged damage) to have a 35% total increase - which allows players to lean into their secondary a lot more and plays well into the dash gunstrike/pistol build; or, this prestige perk can be picked instead of the aforementioned perk, allowing them to select one of the other two from the column (Retribution or Consecutive Execution). 

Commendation: "Reviving a squad member restores jump pack charge and all armour" - This is far too situational. It requires a teammate to go down before providing any benefit, meaning it only activates when a run is already in trouble. Sure, a gung-ho all hammer-swinging for the last stand, but not one that'd benefit you the entire run like extra ranged damage and/or duellist.

What's more of a kick to the teeth for Assault players is that some of the proposed prestige perks for other classes that would've been far better suited to Assault. Again I will highlight the main one - Adrenaline Boost - that was given to the sniper, for some reason. The effect - 'After a perfectly timed parry (block?) or dodge, you do not lose control after taking heavy hits and cannot be knocked back for 10 seconds' naturally fits Assault's close combat oriented playstyle and would provide much needed knockback resistance that the class is currently lacking. 

There's also Conviction - 'When your armour is fully depleted, take 25% less health damage for 15 seconds' - another brilliant damage reduction perk for melee classes which is not found on Assault. 

What we should have more of for Assault prestige perks are bonuses that compliment the class for natural actions - i.e: benefits for when in melee combat / benefits for perfect dodging.

Some ideas would be:

• Reflexive Reinforcement - Gain an armour segment on a perfect dodge 

• Promethium Accelerant - A 5-10% ability recharge on perfect dodge

• Surge Charge - Time to charge an attack decreases by 10-15%

With the three suggestions above, they open opportunities to customise Assault builds further. 

For example, Reflexive Reinforcement (armour segment on perfect dodge) means you can stack it with the class perk Armour Reinforcement to have numerous ways to keep armour up for increased survivability, or you can drop Armour Reinforcement for the class perk that provides 25% extra damage on charge attacks in the 1st column of Assault class perks. Keep getting armour elsewhere through natural gameplay, i.e: fencing minoris or block stacking for armour segments.

Similarly, with Promethium Accelerant  (5/10% ability recharge on perfect dodge), Assault players can regain their charge for perfect dodging while in combat. A lot of assault players do this thanks to the better window that allows them to dodge much easier than other classes. Additionally, it provides an option to restore charges outside of Zealous Blow - a helpful steer for players who want to run Jump Pack Dash/Dodge builds by not having to pick a ground pound perk to restore charges if they fumble up a dash -allowing them to pick Wings of Flame to better compliment that dash build. 

You can also have a hybrid build. For example, a block thunderhammer assault with Precision Strike, Zealous Blow, and Commitment can use both ground pounds and jump pack dash for extra mobility and space. Promethium accelerant can help get the jump pack back online faster for this type of playstyle. For a build that uses power fist, they can take reflexive reinforcement as a way to keep armour up in the absence of armour reinforcement class perk as they'll be taking the 25% extra damage on charge attacks and also potentially Surge Charge to unleash power fist attacks faster. 

Skylarkin wrote:

I like your perk ideas, they would be better additions than some of the other perks mentioned such as Boosted Recharge and Commendation which I agree with your analysis. I personally don't mind Practiced Aim, my damage is usually 60% melee and 40% ranged so boosting ranged damage really helps against target you would prefer not to or cant go into melee with such as Rubric Marines with Flamers, Zoanthropes, Tzaangor Enlightened etc., not to mention that it would also help with restoring more of your contested health. 

​Thank you, brother. I agree - the ranged damage perk is a solid choice. It’ll help clear Zoans and Chaos more efficiently and weaken melee targets before engagement much faster. I can see many people opting for it, possibly even stacking it with the existing class perk, which, if I recall correctly, has the same effect - so a final boost to secondary damage by 40%?

I just don't think a prestige perk where you ultimately level a class from 1-25 again should be dependent on finding an item or activating upon a bad situation - it should be a 'powerful' perk that either exists for the entire run (such as the ranged damage increase or perfect parry/block window increase) or is easy to proc, like perfect dodging or engaging in melee combat.

Hello, I have over 300 hours playing this game and play exclusively on the hardest difficulty. While I have all classes maxed and all weapons fully upgraded, I consider myself an Assault-main and I would love to add my two-cents as a self-proclaimed "expert" on the class and it's playstyle.

BOOSTED RECHARGE: The effect is far too weak for something that only triggers when you find an armor boost. It would need to fully refund your entire ability cooldown to even be worth thinking about, 25% is a nothingburger given how infrequently an Assault player would pick one up. However, I 100% agree with Rot_MKI's assessment that it's a fundamentally flawed concept that just encourages selfish play. I'd love to see a world where armor boosts were reworked to affect THE WHOLE TEAM when anyone takes one, or a rework where they could be carried and used on-demand like stims and grenades. With how things work currently, this is just not a perk I would ever see myself taking under any circumstances.

Indomitable Spirit:​ Great perk, provides a tangible and useful buff that makes sense on Assault. Let the melee-damage class more aggressively capitalize on gunstrikes without getting interrupted as often. Fantastic.

Duelist: Another great perk, feel free to pass on it if you prefer fencing weapons but it makes it easier to use balanced/block weapons. Though I will say it might be a "feels bad" if you decide to swap to fencing anyways after taking this perk, it would just be a wasted pick until you have the ability to reset your perk selection. Buyer's remorse and all that.

Fortitude: Not much more to add on this... not very interesting or exciting, but it is a solid buff. Having extra HP never hurts, as any class.

 
Scrambled Targeting: Same as above, nothing game changing but it's a decent stat-boost. Worth picking once you've exhausted the more interesting options. 

Practiced Aim: Another "boring but functional" stat boost perk, but this one rates much higher than the previous two perks in my opinion. Assault has other pistola-damage class perks you can stack this with (the passive 15% ranged damage perk, plus the signature perk for 10 seconds of 50% bonus damage after a ground pound). You can get a hellofva hand-cannon by taking all these perks together, lots of fun to dive a problem enemy and delete it with a quick mag dump. Buffing your pistol helps for quickly recovering alot contested HP in a pinch, while making it easier to burst-down problematic enemies such as Zoanthropes. It's not exciting or game-changing, but it is a very nice stat to buff.

Commendation: I'm going to disagree with Rot_MKI here and say I actually like this one alot. He calls it "situational". I call it "rewarding the player for being a good teammate". Teammates go down all the time, and making it easier to get them back up can absolutely save a mission. Taking this perk means I can dive on a teammate with my jumppack to get there faster (while clearing some space) and I can afford to some hits while getting him back on his feet... knowing I'll get my armor back and my cooldown refunded once I complete the revive. Suddenly, saving a teammate in a bad situation doesn't feel as risky. I can get right back into the fight as soon as he's up again. 10/10.

Rot_MKI wrote:

Some ideas would be:

• Reflexive Reinforcement - Gain an armour segment on a perfect dodge (would allow for flexibility in the 1st column of class perks to move away from armour reinforcement)

• Promethium Accelerant - A 5-10% ability recharge on perfect dodge

• Surge Charge - Time to charge an attack decreases by 10-15%

I like all these ideas too. They would complement the class in ways that reward skilled play, while not being OP.

TL/DR: 

Indomitable Spirit, Duelist, and Commendation seem interesting. They provide benefits that might tangibly alter your decision making mid-combat and/or in your loadout choices. With Duelist in mind specifically though, I firmly believe changing your perk selection shouldn't cost anything once you have the perks unlocked... players should be fully free to experiment and change it up between missions, without restrictions.

Fortitude, Scrambled Targeting, and Practiced Aim, are "boring but it helps I guess" perks. Pick one of these to fill the perk-slot once you've already picked the better/more-interesting choices.

Boosted Recharge needs a full rework. Straight up. It's too weak in it's current state, but buffing it just encourages selfish play. Give ability cooldown through perfect-dodges as Rot_MKI suggested, or from gunstrikes/perfect-parries/perfect-blocks.

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TornadoXIII wrote:

Hello, I have over 300 hours playing this game and play exclusively on the hardest difficulty. While I have all classes maxed and all weapons fully upgraded, I consider myself an Assault-main and I would love to add my two-cents as a self-proclaimed "expert" on the class and it's playstyle.

Nice to meet another assault-main! It's a really fun class - I enjoy the melee a lot in Space Marine 2, so the Assault was right up my alley. Of the many hundreds of hours I've played (nearing 800 now), most of it has been with Assault. Dashing around, ground pounding, using block weapons to make full use of Assault's natural bonus to dodging - I've invested a lot of time with the class and have lots of ideas on how to give it some much needed appreciation.

I agree with your analysis on the proposed Prestige Perks - and they're quite similar to mine, so there's that. 

TornadoXIII wrote:

Commendation: I'm going to disagree with Rot_MKI here and say I actually like this one alot. He calls it "situational". I call it "rewarding the player for being a good teammate". Teammates go down all the time, and making it easier to get them back up can absolutely save a mission. Taking this perk means I can dive on a teammate with my jumppack to get there faster (while clearing some space) and I can afford to some hits while getting him back on his feet... knowing I'll get my armor back and my cooldown refunded once I complete the revive. Suddenly, saving a teammate in a bad situation doesn't feel as risky. I can get right back into the fight as soon as he's up again. 10/10.

Regarding this specifically, I may have misrepresented what I meant. Rather than too situational, I’d say too conditional - it’s a prestige perk that only activates under a very specific and infrequent condition. 

A lot of the prestige perks for Assault either apply consistently throughout a run - such as Fortitude or Practised Aim - or trigger frequently due to common actions or scenarios, like Duellist, Indomitable Spirit, and Scrambled Targeting. 

Commendation, however, is an extremely conditional perk, requiring both a teammate to go down and for you to revive them. Now, of course, we should all be reviving our teammates - the success of a run is significantly higher with three than with two. Viewing this perk as a reward for good teamwork is a perspective I hadn’t considered, but I’d say that’s because, at least for me, reviving a downed brother is a given. The reward is getting them back in the fight, but I do like the reasoning you provided and for supporting it. 

I’d certainly feel more confident dive-bombing into a group to get a squad member up if I knew I’d regain charge and armour, but, at the same time, I’d be making that effort regardless of whether this perk existed or not. And with a limited number of Prestige perks in total to choose from, I’m not sure this is one I’d pick. But hey, if we didn't have variance in perks, we'd all run the same builds. Haha.

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Venom_F5 wrote:

Overall I agree with most of these points above. However Assault needs something that gives him ability recharge. What Rot_MKI wrote, a perk such as Promethium Accelerant - A 5-10% ability recharge on perfect dodge would be wonderful change. Assault's Ability is what makes him mainly different that other classes thus 1 Prestige Perk should decrease its cooldown. Otherwise the Team Perk & Gear perk should be buffed. 

Agreed on the ability recharge. I think it's sorely needed. My suggestion bases it on a condition that isn't difficult to achieve, as perfect dodging is quite easy to get with the Assault class, helped further by it's larger dodge window compared to the other classes.

I originally suggested this as a rework for the Squad Cohesion team perk for Assault, i.e: All Squad Members restore 10% ability for every perfect dodge - so that this benefit can extend to the entire team while rewarding Assault the most. But, maybe it can be a better fit for a prestige perk.

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Rot_MKI

 wrote:

TornadoXIII wrote:

Commendation: I'm going to disagree with Rot_MKI here and say I actually like this one alot. He calls it "situational". I call it "rewarding the player for being a good teammate". Teammates go down all the time, and making it easier to get them back up can absolutely save a mission. Taking this perk means I can dive on a teammate with my jumppack to get there faster (while clearing some space) and I can afford to some hits while getting him back on his feet... knowing I'll get my armor back and my cooldown refunded once I complete the revive. Suddenly, saving a teammate in a bad situation doesn't feel as risky. I can get right back into the fight as soon as he's up again. 10/10.

Regarding this specifically, I may have misrepresented what I meant. Rather than too situational, I’d say too conditional - it’s a prestige perk that only activates under a very specific and infrequent condition. 

A lot of the prestige perks for Assault either apply consistently throughout a run - such as Fortitude or Practised Aim - or trigger frequently due to common actions or scenarios, like Duellist, Indomitable Spirit, and Scrambled Targeting. 

Commendation, however, is an extremely conditional perk, requiring both a teammate to go down and for you to revive them. Now, of course, we should all be reviving our teammates - the success of a run is significantly higher with three than with two. Viewing this perk as a reward for good teamwork is a perspective I hadn’t considered, but I’d say that’s because, at least for me, reviving a downed brother is a given. The reward is getting them back in the fight, but I do like the reasoning you provided and for supporting it. 

I’d certainly feel more confident dive-bombing into a group to get a squad member up if I knew I’d regain charge and armour, but, at the same time, I’d be making that effort regardless of whether this perk existed or not. And with a limited number of Prestige perks in total to choose from, I’m not sure this is one I’d pick. But hey, if we didn't have variance in perks, we'd all run the same builds. Haha.

I see it the same way I see some of the Heavy perks... namely the "Revive allies with full HP" team perk and the "your gun doesn't overheat if you're last brother standing" signature perk. It's something I'd be willing to take as insurance, even if I effectively have one less perk when I don't end up needing it. I don't plan on needing to clutch on any given mission but shit-happens, and clutching a save as the last brother standing will always be a nice hit of dopamine. I appreciate that it's an option, and that they made it more interesting than "+10% revive speed" or something.

I like "the player does something and gets rewarded" style perks, so long as the required-action isn't too obtuse and the reward makes sense in context. I think passive 20% more pistola-damage is very boring, but at least it promotes more aggressive play and has synergy with other perks... "15% more HP" is the pinnacle of lameness however, I'll pass and go for the extra clutch-potential every time.

On the other hand, we have alot of perks that feel like "scratch your balls 3 times in rapid succession, and you'll become immune to itchy-nose for 10 seconds. 90 second cooldown". Hundreds of hours of gameplay later, I STILL have no clue what "rapid succession" actually exactly means. Why does that effect need a cooldown? Can you let me know when it's on-cooldown and when it's not, or do I just scratch my balls every time my nose gets itchy and just kinda hope it hasn't been too long? (I guess I'll just get used to scratching my nose when-needed with the "10% reduced itchiness" perk instead, thanks game)

I wholeheartedly believe we need more perks like Commendation in the sense that:

1) The "player doing something" action to trigger the effect is clear/understandable and consistently achievable. (Fuck every single "kills in rapid succession" perk)

2) The "thing players are being asked to do" is something you would want to do regardless... you're not going out of your way to go through oddly-specific hoops, the goal rewards good gameplay by asking you to do something you'd want to do anyway.

3) The "player gets rewarded" is something the player would actually want in a situation where they find themselves "doing the thing" to begin with. (For example the "reloading your weapon instantly by doing a finisher" perk on Tactical makes alot sense and enables a smoother gameplay loop: mag-dump -> execute -> repeat. If only it didn't directly compete with the no-brainer/borderline-mandatory perk that grants you nearly unlimited ammo to reload... even when they get it right, they still fuck it up.)

We have too many perks that just as non-sensical and useless as Boosted Recharge, or otherwise "painfully boring"... Commendation is the most thought-out perk in the bunch IMO, and above-average compared to the current state of class/weapon perks overall... which is saying ALOT. I would climax if they gave us more perks that rewarded perfect dodging as Assault, but that would make too much sense for the class that gets an easier perfect-dodge window as a starting perk lmaooo.

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TornadoXIII wrote:

I see it the same way I see some of the Heavy perks... namely the "Revive allies with full HP" team perk and the "your gun doesn't overheat if you're last brother standing" signature perk. It's something I'd be willing to take as insurance, even if I effectively have one less perk when I don't end up needing it. I don't plan on needing to clutch on any given mission but shit-happens, and clutching a save as the last brother standing will always be a nice hit of dopamine.

Agree with you here - Bonds of Brotherhood is a great pick for the harder difficulties as going down is part and parcel. Getting back up to max HP means an easier time to clear a mortal wound. 

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TornadoXIII wrote:

​​

On the other hand, we have alot of perks that feel like "scratch your balls 3 times in rapid succession, and you'll become immune to sneezing for 5 seconds. 90 second cooldown". Hundreds of hours of gameplay later, I STILL have no clue what "rapid succession" actually means. Why does that effect need a cooldown? Can you let me know when it's on-cooldown and when it's not, or do I just scratch my balls every time my nose gets itchy and just kinda hope it hasn't been too long? (Ill just get used to scratching my nose instead, thanks game)

Thanks for the laugh. Yes, a lot of the perks require abstract conditions that could be better defined. If rapid succession was detailed as "within 3-5 seconds", it'd be easier to build with or around it. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think some of the weapon perks across the board have been updated to either make things clearer or have been completely changed.

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TornadoXIII wrote:

​

We have too many perks that just as non-sensical and useless as Boosted Recharge, or otherwise "painfully boring". We need more perks that tangibly encourage in-game decision making, or playstyle variety. Commendation is the most thought-out perk in the bunch, and above-average compared to class/weapon perks overall... which is saying ALOT.

Many of the Prestige perks I've seen are simply copy-pasted from other classes. For Assault, we have Duellist from Vanguard and Scrambled Targeting from Bulwark. Even Fortitude, I believe, is something Heavy can take - except they gain a greater benefit from it, receiving 30% instead of 15%. 

Rather than just lifting perks from one class and giving them to another that wouldn't normally have access to them, Prestige perks should be entirely new and designed around each class' role. Take Tactical, for example - their Prestige perks tied to the auspex scan are fantastic and unique, making them a more attractive choice over Fortitude. 

Similarly, Vanguard benefits from increased ranged damage up close, which aligns well with their playstyle and makes it a more appealing pick - unlike, once again, Fortitude. On that note, Vanguard now has even more ways to restore their armour through Prestige perks, further enhancing their survivability when combined with the health restoration the class already possesses. 

Meanwhile, Assault, whose survival depends more on maintaining armour, is left at a disadvantage compared to Vanguard, which already has plenty of ways to heal. For Assault, Prestige perks should better support melee engagements, provide alternative methods of maintaining armour, enhance jump pack usage, and reward perfect dodging. That’s why I’ve suggested the changes I have, e.g: perfect dodges restore one armour segment as it combines an action the class should be doing with a reward that the class needs - a 2 for 1. Plus, if this were a prestige perk, it would provide class diversity as Armour Reinforcement from the 1st column of class perks could be subbed out for something else; or, it can be kept so that players have an easier time to keep their armour up. 

BrotherUlfar made a feedback post offering more ideas for Prestige perk reworks across all classes, aiming to reinforce class identity rather than just handing perks from one class to another.

Oh, and Boosted Recharge? Yeah, I don't think we're the only ones heavily disliking it. I foresee a lot of selfish play with it being picked - lots of people not pointing out armour for other players who may need it much more than they do just so they can speed up their ability charge. It's an unwritten rule at this point to give Vanguard and Sniper the armour part first, then anyone who is having a hard time, and only then should you take it for yourself.

oingo wrote:

I feel like i might be in the minority here, but I dont like duelist.  Its more of a crutch than anything. If you are already good at blocking and parrying then this thing doesnt do anything for you, and if you arent good at it then it just helps a little bit , but if you decide to play another class or switch it with another perk your timings will be off again.

Well, I suppose I’m in the minority with you for the same reason. It’d be a nice perk for those who just want the larger window, but it's better to just learn the normal window, imo, so a different perk can be selected in its place.

What I’ve noticed with many of these Prestige perks is that they’re often just perks from other classes, arbitrarily given to a class that wouldn’t usually have them. If we’re resetting to level 1 (and resetting class perks - which seems to be a hugely contentious issue for many), why would we grind back to level 25 just to be offered perks with the same name and similar or worse effect as one from another class? 

We're not getting the powerful prestige perk selection to modify builds and get stronger in certain aspects we enjoy, we're just offered perks transplanted from one class to another.

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Mosch wrote:

​

well, the leveling again and again and again part is just massive time bloat. i also dont like all classes, but obviously have the completionist itch. i´m not looking forward to leveling sniper again and again and again and again.

I’m not looking forward to levelling Sniper up again either - not my kind of playstyle, haha. 

I don’t mind the idea of resetting everything to level 1, playing Operations with my mates or with randoms in public lobbies, gaining XP, maxing out, and then choosing from a range of powerful, unique Prestige perks - before doing it all over again. Each time, that unique boost should add a little variety and make me feel stronger with Assault - the class I’ve chosen out of all others to develop further. But what’s missing from this formula is exactly that - a selection of powerful, unique Prestige perks to choose from.