Taunts are off GCD so you can switch targets, taunt and get back on target without missing any damage. I understand why losing taunts would help balance Assault/Pyro, but it would take a lot of the challenge/interest away from playing a spec that is stupid easy if you just dps.

I am a Canadian and we use metric directions, so for me "snow" is what you would call "north" and "grass" is what you would call "south" which gets very confusing.

Back when the Vanguard/BH AOE stun effect had an inexplicably long delay, I hit the stun while crossing a Huttball fire trap with the ball knowing a bunch of people would be leaping to me. As expected, I had three people leap to me in the fire and get caught by the stun that I'd used a second earlier. One of them used their CC breaker, so I only got two kills. But it was still pretty awesome considering the timing and anticipation involved in pulling that off.

Yes, but any good Pyro/Assault will want to avoid the cheap Ion Pulse early because it could proc our High Impact Bolt reset before we've used our initial (reset-free) HIB so that we can drop two HIBs in three GCDs. The ability that lets us HIB without risking a premature HIB proc (Incendiendary Round) costs 3-ammo (as in 1/4 of our resources). With a 4s cleanse, you either force us to put our backloaded AP first before re-applying IR or run us out of ammo quickly. If you are cleansing on cool-down and still dropping, you are either very low level or are being hit by more than just an Assault/Pyro because we normally can't do more than 60% health before running out of momentum. BTW, I'm not saying that this isn't OP, but for some reason I only rarely see my dots cleansed and those that do cleanse them tend to win.

I'm pretty sure there is something up with dots registering after a cleanse making it difficult for Assualt to activate HIB. I'm seeing my dots getting cleansed, I then reapply the dot, but still can't use HIB. I know they could be getting cleansed by others, but it is happening far too often since 1.2 to be a coincidence. I haven't reported this because I'd like to see it confirmed by others first.

Another tactic we might be able to use is to save our procced HIBs until just before the 6s CD timer ends to try and get two HIBs with just one ability between them. So basically, proc the CD reset -> 2 GCDs keeping ammo up/dotting target while the CD reset lockout counts down -> Assault Plastique/Sticky Grenade -> HIB -> Stock Strike (CD reset) -> HIB. Obviously, if you don't get the CD reset on the Stock Strike then spam Ion Pulse until you do for the second HIB.

Or try... Open on the healer: tank takes Guard damage. Switch to AOE abilities: healer feels pressure and heals self while tank takes AOE and Guard damage. CC healer and burst down tank.

I'm not interested in reading any more qq. Lets discuss how we're going to adapt and win. What changes will you be making to your spec/rotations to maximise your contributions in 1.2? With the Ionic Accelerator procs coming less frequently but more consistently, I think awareness of the lockout timer on IA procs becomes the key to playing Assault well. For example, a number of Vanguards advocate opening with Ion Pulse over Incendiary Round because it is cheaper. In 1.2 you risk getting a IA proc and locking yourself out IA procs before your original High Impact Bolt is even on CD. So, at the start of fights, I'll be using IR, HIB and then Stock Strike or IP for the proc. Once you have an IA proc, it might be worth saving SS to use as soon as the IA proc lockout comes off of CD to give you the best chance of proccing immediately. This might not actually be worth the loss of damage you suffer from not spamming SS whenever you can, but at the very least it will make sense to be aware of the IA lockout and hold off on SS if it is coming off of lockout in one or two seconds. Finally, if HIB is about to come off of CD, it makes sense to avoid abilities that proc a CD reset so you can get a CD reset immediately after using HIB. Since I presume we are not going to see the IA proc lockout, we are probably going to have to learn to count GCD or use six second rotations after an IA proc to keep track of the lockout. Regardless, Assault Vanguards seem like they are going to require a lot more skill and attention after 1.2. Good luck and let me know if I missed something or am just wrong.

Sorry if this has already been said, but this would have been a thousand times better if you had given fan sites these clips and asked them to publish without comment forcing fans to figure out what was coming before releasing the patch notes. The fan sites would have loved the page views. Fans would have enjoyed the mystery. And this stuff can't stay secret for long so most casual players would have gotten the clues before the patch.