New Assualt VG 2.0 Build - Wet Noodle - 11/10/25

[ZillaElite]

Hey there,

 

Just some background about me before I get into the build. My main is a VG and have played Assault VG, strictly PVP, since launch. I loved playing it, because I've always enjoyed playing Glass Cannons that have good burst. There's a certain exhilaration that comes with playing a class that has high risk and high reward which I think is one of the main attractions for many of us that play DPS VG's. As many of the VG community, I was gutted when they nerfed our burst, it took all the fun out of why I enjoyed my Assault VG so much. That being said, I have a smasher and had really missed playing my VG so after much trial and error I came up with a build that doesn't have the burst but seems to be more survivable. Still in it's infancy and have not gone into rated yet but will update my experiences.

 

The build is 11/10/25 - http://pts.swtor-spy.com/skill-tree-calculator/vanguard/237/?build=003200320010000000000000000000000223120000000000000000000000000003200302021202120230000000000000&ver=20

 

I named it Wet Noodle because compared to the pre-2.0 VG, it hits like a Wet Noodle but has better survivability.

The main difference is the 11 points I take in the Tank Tree. I add Rebraced Armor and Riot Gas. I also take Power Armor in the Tactics Tree for more damage reduction. With 2.0's changes to Riot Gas, it's a strong defensive ability to add to your toolkit. Wet Noodle is all about surviving while pumping out a steady stream of DPS. I find I'm still tops or near tops in damage, but I die much less.

 

I still use plasma cell and am working with my standard Assault Rotation, but I add in Riot Gas to aid in my survivability. That with Rebraced Armor (16% increased armor rating) and Power Armor (2% damage reduction) does seem to make a difference.

 

My defensive toolkit in warzones is now

Reactive Sheild

Cryo Nade

Neural Surge

Warzone Adrenal

Seismic Grenade

Riot Gas

Hold the Line

 

I consider this a pretty decent list of defensive abilities. I am considering taking the 2 pts out of Frontline Offense and putting it into Nightvision Scope for the added 2% on melee and ranged defense but would sacrifice 6% damage on Ion Pulse which is my Spam Attack. That build would be 11/8/27.

 

I've played about 15 warzones with this build and am doing very well. As I said before, I'm always near the top in damage and objecives in WZ's and it has alot to do with my survivability. I'll be going into rated warzones shortly and will update everybody on how I did.

 

Have a look, I would be very greatful for any comments and constructive criticism.

 

Thanks

Shinigami - Harbinger

 

P.S. If this build is already in use and named, please let me know so I can give due credit, but I have not seen it anywhere.

 

Edit - April 26th - Took 2 pts out of Swealtering heat and put it into nightvision scope for increased melee and ranged defense.

Edited April 26, 2013 by ZillaElite
Update

[Tootzi_]

Wrong link? Leading to a 4/6/36 build.

[ZillaElite]

Wrong link? Leading to a 4/6/36 build.

 

Oops sorry...updated the OP and pasted the link below...sorry about that.

 

http://pts.swtor-spy.com/skill-tree-calculator/vanguard/237/?build=003200320010000000000000000000000223120000000000000000000000000003200302021202120230000000000000&ver=20

Edited April 30, 2013 by ZillaElite

[Morpurgo]

Tried it. It doesnt really work. You will be last in every wz list, never any medals or appreciation and rarely kill anybody.

With so little damage might as well go shield tank all the way. The result will be pretty much same.

I'm gone try replacing Assault Plastique with Gut next and go for higher elemental damage for Ion Pulse but I doubt it will much matter. The class is killed, gutted and useless no matter how you spec it.. I have been the only Vanguard in wz for last two days in my groups.

[ZillaElite]

Tried it. It doesnt really work. You will be last in every wz list, never any medals or appreciation and rarely kill anybody.

With so little damage might as well go shield tank all the way. The result will be pretty much same.

I'm gone try replacing Assault Plastique with Gut next and go for higher elemental damage for Ion Pulse but I doubt it will much matter. The class is killed, gutted and useless no matter how you spec it.. I have been the only Vanguard in wz for last two days in my groups.

 

Hey there. Firstly thanks for giving it a try and providing feedback. It's appreciated. I'm sorry that you have not had success with it. Even prior to the 2.0, I never used AP. Would rather put points elsewhere so my rotation has not changed so I'm very comfortable playing with this build. Played many WZ yesterday and was near or at the top in most warzones in damage / objectives. I'll work on getting some screenshots and posting some vids.

 

Again, appreciate you giving it a whirl and providing your opinions....thx

[ZillaElite]

Hey there,

 

Wanted to share a screenshot of my most recent 55 WZ. We lost a close hutball match but I did pretty decent damage and good on the objectives.

 

Highest CRIT in the game was 5.8K on HIB.

 

I'm only wearing 1 piece of Partisan gear because I want to keep the set bonus on my older Eliminator set. Have 2 other peices but will use them once I get the 4th piece.

 

I've played about 100-ish WZ with this build. Highest Damage - Voidstar - 720K.

 

Most of the time, I am top 2 or 3 in WZ. Am really liking this build. As I've said before, this build has decent survivability/utility and puts out good damage. I'm working on a gameplay vid and will post it soon.

 

Your feedback and comments are always welcome and appreciated.

 

http://postimg.org/image/jfq2vh209/

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

Edited April 26, 2013 by ZillaElite

[Luco-Zade]

Been trying this build and i am starting to enjoy it, havent tried full tactics yet but i am still hopeful of a succesful way to use a VG in pvp. This build is the best so far.

 

Currently level 54, and ive also noticed that matter how many points i put in skills designed to boost ele damage and/or ion pulse damage, it stays pretty constant between 2 and 2.9k, after reading the other thread on the possible bugged skill its the only conclusion i have.

 

Also, my WZ damage is around the same level as the picture posted by OP, so its all working. Sort of

[ZillaElite]

Hey there,

 

Here another screenshot of a Lvl 55 Voidstar Match. Highest CRIT - 6.5K HIB. Really enjoying this build and will probably stick with it until BW comes to its senses and give back our burst. Until then I'd rather put the points into the Tank Tree. I am considering giving Tactics a whirl, but have been doing very very well with this build.

 

Gear - Almost Full Partisan, missing the earpiece. I seem to be able to get 6K+ HIB crits more often. I would say about 20% are in the 6K range on crit. I've also started purchasing some mods and enhancements for min/maxing purposes. That's why I'm still missing the earpiece. My WH Earpiece has CRIT/SURGE on it which is good for now. Too much Accuracy and didn't want the Alacrity on the helment. Rather put it into mods and enhancements like the 27X Nimble Mod or the 27X Battle Enhancement.

 

As alway, comments, questions, feedback is always welcome.

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

 

http://postimg.org/image/ukcbvkstf/5a49327f/

Edited April 30, 2013 by ZillaElite

[ZillaElite]

Hi there,

 

Here are some more screenshots of my results in some recent Lvl 55 Warzones. I'm finding as I gear up, fine tune - Min/Maxing, I'm hitting harder and putting out more damage. Many of my HIB Crits are in +6K and have had a some that are +7K. My survivability is also going up as I up my EXP. Currently sitting at around 1950 EXP.

 

As always comments/questions/feedback is always welcome.

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

 

Civil War http://postimg.org/image/s4lhr868r/

Ancient Hypergates http://postimg.org/image/po29krhw5/

Voidstar http://postimg.org/image/yxlt0bn8h/ - The ony person in this one to put out more damage than me was another Assault Vanguard who was not using AP so could be using something similar to the Wet Noodle Spec.

[ZillaElite]

Hey there,

 

Checking in again with some more screenshots of my performace.

 

Voidstar http://postimg.org/image/vacdqhkjn/

Civil War http://postimg.org/image/4t3ob6nnn/

Huttball 7 http://postimg.org/image/4udm4lphf/

 

I'm currently maxed EXP and have 2 conqueror pieces, Chest and Conqueror Relic of Serendipidous Assault. Once I got the Conq. Relic I've found I'm hitting for 7+K with HIB more frequently and have had one that was just over 8K. Probably due to proc luck on the Partisan and Conqueror Relics but I'll take it. Most of my HIB crit for 6K+, Stock strick regularly hits for 3.5-4K and IP hits for 2.8-3K (if they fix the surge on that, I'll be pumping out more damage)

 

I do focus on putting pressure on marked healers, pre 2.0 I could solo the good ones, now, it's a team effort to focus down healers. I have killed my share of healers but it's taken longer and more than anything, I find my job to be putting a large amount of pressure on them and sometimes killing them. My opinion is if they are healing themselves, then they are not healing their teammates which contributes to success. I really do enjoy peeling healers out of large groups with grapple and pulling them into my group of teammates and sport-humping them with my teammates. Good Times!

 

Things I have difficulty with.

-Snipers - UGH! I try and LOS them because they take alot of my health before I can get within 10M, but I think many classes have trouble with them.

-Sorcs - That internal damage at range hurts, again LOS or Grapple them close so I can start on them with my rotation.

 

Most other classes don't give me that much trouble, now you ask what about the smashers, not so much with this build. I can mitigate alot of their smash with this build, throw down Riot Gas, hit hold the line, stun them and cryonade them while I start on my rotation and DPS them down. Not saying that I have no trouble with them, just saying I don't have as much as I did before using this build. There are other classes that give me more problems.

 

Now don't get me wrong, I wish I still has the burst I had in pre 2.0 but I am enjoying playing this Tanky DPS build. I think Tactics is an excellent build as well and my give that a go but I've always played Assualt VG and am happy that I can still be viable playing Assault VG with this build.

 

As always feedback/comments/questions are welcome.

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

Edited May 8, 2013 by ZillaElite

[Serialdralex]

Which set of Partisan or stuff do you use? Edited May 8, 2013 by Serialdralex

[ZillaElite]

Which set of Partisan or stuff do you use?

 

I'm using the Eliminator Set for the increased Crit Chance for HIB. I was considering Combat Tech but I fire off HIB more than Stock Strike so decided to go with Eliminator. The extra 1/2 second on Neural Surge and reduced cooldown of Tenacity...Meh..

 

I have also Min/Maxed my gear removing the Alacrity in the helmet and removing some of the accuracy mods and enhancements in place of Crit and Surge mods and enhancements. I can't remember exactly what my Crit and Surge are at right now but I think Crit is ~21% and Surge is ~73%. I will post a pic of my character screen.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

Edited May 9, 2013 by ZillaElite

[Gnanika]

The build doesn't seem any more survivable than any other builds I've tried out (although hilariously, it doesn't seem to do any less damage either). Riot Gas is a cool trick, but getting force pushed or knocked out of it, rooted, then blown up as normal doesn't fix anything. All the same classes still dominate you. You might survive a few extra bads who are basically just hitting random hotkeys, but they were never the real problem anyway.

 

In theory, I think the build should be really neat. But even making liberal use of Riot Gas (and trust me, I have no problem abusing survival cooldowns), it doesn't seem any sturdier.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Gnanika

[Kreaz]

As someone who enjoys taking on the challenge of playing under appreciated classes. I'm currently rolling a PT. It's easier for me to be objective because I never played the class when it was OP. With the changes to diminishing returns the Tactics or Advanced Prototype spec looks very appealing to me. 6% crit to fire as well as the ~40% on rocket punch and auto crit rail in the main rotation I feel like this will be very effective @ 55 to counter the DR.

 

Props for sticking with the class through the nerf and not rerolling a sniper. I do know someone who uses a very similar spec and does really well with it. I think they take degauss over power armor .. and I would do the same.

[ZillaElite]

The build doesn't seem any more survivable than any other builds I've tried out (although hilariously, it doesn't seem to do any less damage either). Riot Gas is a cool trick, but getting force pushed or knocked out of it, rooted, then blown up as normal doesn't fix anything. All the same classes still dominate you. You might survive a few extra bads who are basically just hitting random hotkeys, but they were never the real problem anyway.

 

In theory, I think the build should be really neat. But even making liberal use of Riot Gas (and trust me, I have no problem abusing survival cooldowns), it doesn't seem any sturdier.

 

I agree about riot gas and getting force pushed, but I usually time riot gas with hold the line and run circles around them. That way I avoid the force push out. I find it works very well for me.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

[ZillaElite]

As someone who enjoys taking on the challenge of playing under appreciated classes. I'm currently rolling a PT. It's easier for me to be objective because I never played the class when it was OP. With the changes to diminishing returns the Tactics or Advanced Prototype spec looks very appealing to me. 6% crit to fire as well as the ~40% on rocket punch and auto crit rail in the main rotation I feel like this will be very effective @ 55 to counter the DR.

 

I agree, the AT is a really good spec. Good damage and good survivability.

 

Props for sticking with the class through the nerf and not rerolling a sniper. I do know someone who uses a very similar spec and does really well with it. I think they take degauss over power armor .. and I would do the same.

 

Thx. I love my VG too much. I'll give the degauss a go. I do belive once they fix the IP bug with Assualt Trooper and do a bit more class balancing the Assault VG will be in a good place. I also believe they will give back a bit or our burst as well. Not sure how, but think it will happen.

Edited May 9, 2013 by ZillaElite

[ZillaElite]

Hey there,

 

Here are screenshots of a couple of WZ's I've been in post 2.1.

 

Hypergates

http://postimg.org/image/wxp13ackf/

 

Civil War

http://postimg.org/image/6o9gpjnil/

The funny think about the Civil War match, I was chasing around healers the whole match. Lots of damage, but only 4 kills...I wish they would give back our burst....we still won and I consider trying to lock down/peel healers away from the group a great contributing factor for the victory but it would have been nice to have more kills.

 

As always, feedback/comments/questions are always welcome

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

[SirMannii]

Please, can you tell us your gear setup and how you optimized it with screenshots or a wall of text? ^^ Would be appreciated.

[Blasphemerr]

Perhaps this has been addressed already--why is this build 'better' than full tactics? I understand that 'zomgz dudz tactics has no burst', but this hybrid certainly doesn't either. Edited May 27, 2013 by Blasphemerr

[ZillaElite]

Perhaps this has been addressed already--why is this build 'better' than full tactics? I understand that 'zomgz dudz tactics has no burst', but this hybrid certainly doesn't either.

 

Hi there,

 

Thx for your question. Just to clarify, I've never said that it's better that full tactics. I just prefer playing Assualt Spec. Have given Tactics a go but not my cup of tea so post 2.0, I put together an Assault build that works for me and decided to share my experiences. Burst is nowhere near pre-2.0. In previous posts on this thread, I mentioned pre-2.0 I used to be able to wreck healers solo, now I can't take them down (healing is totally OP right now IMO) but what I try to do is interrupt/stun/peel them and let my other teammates burn down opposing players.

 

The main reason I prefer Assault over Tactics is mobility. All of the attacks for assualt can be done while moving, except for mortar volley. With Tactics, pulse canon, which I rarely use, you have to set it up and be stationary during the cast and I prefer to keep moving. Don't get me wrong, Tactics is excellent but it just comes down to personal playing preference. Bioware have also acknowledged that Assault Trooper is not properly applying the surge to IP, so that will helpful for assualt spec once they fix that...hoping in 2.2, although, I don't think it's remotely close to giving back our burst, but I'll take anything at the moment.

 

Thanks for having a look.

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

[ZillaElite]

Please, can you tell us your gear setup and how you optimized it with screenshots or a wall of text? ^^ Would be appreciated.

 

I've attached pictures of my stats for your reference. Fully Buffed with Nano Reflex Stim

http://postimg.org/image/swpe2ha5d/

http://postimg.org/image/iv514vzqz/

 

Conq Eliminator: Boots, Chest, Gloves, Belt, Bracers, Greaves, Relic of Serendipidous Assault

Conq Combat Tech Blaster Rifle

 

Partisan Helmet, Relic of Serendipidous Assult, Eliminator Earpiece

 

Implants: Purple Microfilament Reflex D-Ehhancers lvl 55- Reason I chose this is these give me better stats and with bolster upping me to 1952 EXP, it's a no brainer to go with these over the Conq implants...I'm sure once they tweak/fix bolster, I'll have to go back to Conq implants, but for now, these benefit me more. Better Aim/End/Acc/Pwr.

 

I've removed all Alacrity Enhancements in the helmet and offhand and replaced them with Battle Enhancements (Crit/Surge)

 

Augments are alll lvl 55 purple Reflex Augments (Aim/End)

 

Now this is still a work in progress. As I continue to grind out conq peices, just helm and offhand left, I'll continue to tweak.

 

As always, comments/questions/feedback is always welcome.

 

Shinigami - Harbinger

Edited May 28, 2013 by ZillaElite