As someone who loves playing assault in multiplayer, and loved it in campaign, and play it for operations I feel I have played it enough in all 3 categories to at least somewhat help describe the problems and possible solutions to balancing Assault in the Operations mode. For me personally the main attractors to assault after having already played the campaign and multiplayer were it's ability to move around the map quickly, gain high ground advantage, ambush unsuspecting players from the air, escape disadvantageous situations (by either dodging away, or jumping away somewhere else entirely), etc. In both campaign and multiplayer the recharge rate for the jetpack is FAST, and on top of that it can hold up to 3 charges. When used to jump it shoots you really high into the air, anywhere from 30-50 feet from my guess.

The only real differences in campaign and multiplayer being that in multiplayer you are relegated to using only a sidearm and a melee weapon, and you can't use the jump to slam into the ground as far in multiplayer as in campaign.

In Operations the jetpack is almost something else entirely. It can only hold a max of 2 charges, and the recharge rate for it is SLOW. PAINFULLY slow. This makes using a charge to dodge a complete waste. Why use it to move 7 feet away, when I could just use it to jump into the air and move an extra 20 or 30 feet away? With how slow the recharge is, using it to dodge is nothing but pointless. The perks help make the dodge a SLIGHT bit less useless but not much, and certainly not enough to make it worth using.

I also loved using it to move to high ground, either to get out of a tough spot or gain high ground advantage. This utility is completely removed in PvE. The jump only goes maybe 15 feet in the air, which isn't high enough to get you anywhere other than on the same floor you are already on. And even if this wasn't the case and it did still send you 30-50 feet in the air, the operations maps often don't allow for any verticality. That's not to say there isn't any, it's just very rarely an option.

The ability to shoot while in the air has also been completely removed. Not much else to add here, it's just gone completely. A feature I can't figure out a single reason to have been removed. Especially since assault is already relegated to only using a sidearm, and there are enemies that have ranged capabilities.

Going back to the slow recharge time, it does more than just make the dodge pointless. It removes it's evasive capabilities nearly entirely. Yes, it can be used as a jump and then slamming into the ground further away than a dodge, however because it can't jump high into the air the distance placed between you, and the enemies you are trying to get away from is not very substantial. This is especially true since some enemies move faster than the player and other enemies have ranged abilities.

Now, how I think it can be balanced. The most obvious fix to me is to shorten the recharge time. It is far, far too long. I can understand why the ability to store up to 3 charges was decreased to 2. I believe 2 is a good amount of charges to have without it being overpowered, as long as the recharge time isn't too slow. It would at least make the dodge not a total waste of a charge.

The next fix is to allow assault to shoot while still in the air, In multiplayer you couldn't stay long in the air, and it left you wide open to ranged attacks so I think how it works in multiplayer would be close to balanced in operations, maybe make the jetpack overheat a little faster than in multiplayer.

The last fix is to make the jump a little higher in the air, maybe double what it is currently in operations. This would allow the player to use the jump to escape further, as well as in some occasions use it to add verticality to some fights.

Hi there. Another Assault lover here.

Assault is viable but after I have maxed most of the other classes is clear to me that's the most difficult to play in max difficulty.

I think that a lot of it s perk needs some slight tuning.

The main problem I have with him is how vulnerable it is to ranged damage. You are absolutly fine in meelee as long that you have major to kill and execute but your armor is way to easily strip from any kind of almost unavoidavble damage like minor rifles and chaos marine normal shhoting. 

Another big downfall is the lack of I frames or meaningful stagger after tou slam the ground with the jump pack.

He also lack ammunition to feel useful during the too common flyong minibosses. The most you can do is stare at them.

That being sad I believe that some perk need to give us ranged resistance when armor is up, More ammo and secondary weapon damage against bullet spoonges enemies, and some kind of I frame on landing with jump pack.

those changes wouldn t impact the class as to render it overpowered but amplified the sustain and utility of it.

Thx for reading. GLC

Assault is pretty much the entire reason i purchased this game. Havent played much SM2 outside finishing campaign, on easy because bugs despite starting on veteran. In SM1 the assault felt great. Countering in MP wasnt too difficult either - skill curve of shooting raptors mid air wasnt too rough - and on the ground a grenade + dodge + unloading bolter was enough to delete. In SM2, it feels awful. PVE is unplayable imo due to neutered height, maneuverability, dodge. 2 charges is perfect, lower cd, increase height, incorporate pack into dodge. In PVP theyre just not a threat. Hammer is slow and easily dealth with, slam is slow with minimal stagger, what advantage do they have? Raptors are the 'lords of the assault doctrine', in melee range theyre supposed to be badasses. In this game, theyre the lords of wet paper bags. Easily the worst class. Until theyre fixed, im not touching sm2. 

i know for a fact that a lot of people were expecting to main Assault in Operations and have moved onto other classes (i'm one of them) after trying it out. even during the trials you can tell that something is wrong with this jump !

Unfortunatly I think that for some reason the devs didn't put verticality and class related exploring routes on the Operations maps and so they decided to transform the huge jump into the air to a ridiculous instant of flotting. 

The whole point of the Assault class is to be able to cross terrain easily and strike where its needed on the battlefield, which is definitly not the case right now. 

It transforms its unique strenght into its biggest weakness.

The Assault should feel like you are a glorious angel of death, not a huge victim while swinging the slowest weapon ever 

After getting all classes and all melee weapons to max lvl, i absolutely concur that assault is the weakest class. 

There are definetly improvements to be made in all aspects of the skill tree, i made a way more thorough post about this in a former post. 

However, The quickest and most effective fix would be to just give assault what the other two melee classes have, which is healing regen. Vanguard has healing on melee majoris kill, and vanguard has rejuvenating banner. giving Assault something like regen 4% hp on gun strike as a signature perk would be enough to make assault viable in Lethal. the next step would be buffing the powerfist and thunderhammer as both are abyssmal in comparison to the chainsword.