Item Assault Vest

[azureleaf17]

Can't wait to put this on Amoongus, Slowbro and Tangrowth. They already have recovery (slack off/giga drain and regenerator). Their physical bulk paired with assault vest means they can be mixed walls quite easily.

Tangrowth with Assault Vest, Giga Drain, and Regenerator will never die.

 

[Hiddenfreezer]

Oh man I really want to try Assault Vest out in this fresh metagame. Are regenerator mons released?

I swear Slowking is so good with it. It should be a boss with its steel fighting ice psychic resists.

 

[Yamborski]

Tangrowth with Assault Vest, Giga Drain, and Regenerator will never die.

At the cost of Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Leftovers, and any hope of doing anything besides a Grass STAB?

Interestingly a 252 / 4(+) / 252 Assault Vest Tangrowth ends up with something like 404 / 314 / 298 defenses. That's solid. Perhaps with Wish support it could work, but I would rather just pair it with something like a Clefable to patch up its low Special stats so it can retain Sleep Powder and Leech Seed (and Lefties).

 

[Fuzzball]

This set is a bit obvious, but no one's listed one for Slowbro yet:

Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Max HP, split the rest between defense and spatk depending on specific threats
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Psychic / Grass Knot / Signal Beam
- Fire Blast / Grass Knot / Signal Beam
- Ice Beam / Grass Knot / Signal Beam

This is capable of hitting 12 types super effective and I believe everything for neutral. Types you DON'T hit SE are electric, ghost, normal, fairy, dark, and water.

Some notable things you can't hit SE are Blissey, Sylveon/Florges, and Azumarill. Unsurprisingly, special walls stop it, but Azumarill will be wary switching in on a scald. I think scald is the better option here to retain some utility, but hydro pump is its most powerful attack. I'm not the best with calcs but I could try some later (I'm in class lol) - I'd like to see how it fares vs Azumarill in particular.

Edit: Greninja and Starmie resist all of these moves unfortunately. Other bulky waters could also pose a problem, except Tentacruel. Grass Knot and Signal Beam are alternative but weaker options, not sure where to slash them since fire and ice offer a lot to this set, such as being able to smash Aegislash and dragons.

 

[Redjar]

At the cost of Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Leftovers, and any hope of doing anything besides a Grass STAB?

Interestingly a 252 / 4(+) / 252 Assault Vest Tangrowth ends up with something like 404 / 314 / 298 defenses. That's solid. Perhaps with Wish support it could work, but I would rather just pair it with something like a Clefable to patch up its low Special stats so it can retain Sleep Powder and Leech Seed (and Lefties).

I'm thinking
Leaf Storm
Giga Drain
Focus Blast
HP Ice/ Knock Off

Makes a great pivot. Focus Blast and Leaf Storm hit hard (ish). Giga Drain is reliable STAB that keeps you alive and knock off punishes switch ins, it's more utility than damage. Then you get outta dodge with that sweet regenerator.

 

[ness64]

You forgot the part Durant has 58 base HP. Assault Vest is a complete waste on it. It may have a great defensive typing but it cannot take a special attack at all, not even when boosted

I was probably extremely tired when I said that. Please disregard my post.

 

[Heroes and Cons]

Does "status moves" mean only literal status / stat changing moves (i.e. Swords Dance, Will-o-wisp, etc.) or does it force you to have a full 4 moveslots of only direct attacks? Like, can you not use moves such as Trick, Taunt, Protect or Whirlwind with this?

 

[azureleaf17]

Does "status moves" mean only literal status / stat changing moves (i.e. Swords Dance, Will-o-wisp, etc.) or does it force you to have a full 4 moveslots of only direct attacks? Like, can you not use moves such as Trick, Taunt, Protect or Whirlwind with this?

It's like you have a Taunt applied permanently. So if your attack doesn't do direct damage or is called Nature Power, it's a no=go.

 

[rawburt]

Malamar can run an effective assault vest set.252 hp 252 special def night slashpsycho cut rock slidesuperpowerit sets up on special attackers pretty hard409 special defense with superpower buffs goes pretty hard

 

[Heroes and Cons]

It's like you have a Taunt applied permanently. So if your attack doesn't do direct damage or is called Nature Power, it's a no=go.

That kinda sucks. Most of the Pokemon who would love this item are at least partially reliant on non-damaging moves, such as Steelix, Blissey and bulky Tyranitar. I don't see the appeal of using this particularly, if I'm honest, the negative effect is much heavier against the benefits of it compared to, say a Life Orb.

 

[Siggu]

That kinda sucks. Most of the Pokemon who would love this item are at least partially reliant on non-damaging moves, such as Steelix, Blissey and bulky Tyranitar. I don't see the appeal of using this particularly, if I'm honest, the negative effect is much heavier against the benefits of it compared to, say a Life Orb.

It's an item meant for tanks. An instant 50% boost in Special Defense is a very big deal on any pokémon, so the Assault Vest sort of compensates it. If a perma-Taunt compensates that boost a little too much? That will be seen in the future

 

[Deoxymoron]

Honestly I'm looking forward to this the most on two pokemon: Snorlax and Ho-oh.

Snorlax is already great and even though lefties recovery is nice, this will bring him to a whole new level. He almost always runs 3 attacking moves and either Protect, Rest or Whirlwind, so it's not missing out on much. It makes him a pretty good pursuit trapper for the ever-present Mega Gengar:
252+ SpA Gengar Focus Blast vs. +1 80 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax: 158-188 (32.84 - 39.08%) -- 99.76% chance to 3HKO
176 Atk Snorlax Pursuit (on the switch) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gengar: 176-208 (67.17 - 79.38%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Interestingly, without the +20 Def boost, Mega Gengar would be OHKO'd by Earthquake. As it is, it always avoids an OHKO without Stealth Rock. Every little bit counts, I guess. Still, this makes Snorlax almost as good a counter to Gengar as it is to Chandelure.

Ho-oh is already really good in Ubers, and now with Defog making hazards less common it'll probably be even better. Just like Snorlax, it usually runs three attacking moves and a status move (usually roost). As Ho-oh is usually used as a bulky attacker, I don't know how useful this thing will be without Life Orb or instant recovery, but it's quite useful on top of his 154 SpD. Here are some awesome calcs to prove my point.

252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem-W Draco Meteor vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh: 178-211 (42.89 - 50.84%) -- 3.91% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Darkrai Dark Pulse vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh: 149-177 (35.9 - 42.65%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Soul Dew Latios Draco Meteor vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh: 147-174 (35.42 - 41.92%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 4 SpA Spooky Plate Arceus-Ghost Judgment (Ghost) vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh: 129-153 (31.08 - 36.86%) -- 72.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Palkia Surf vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh: 150-176 (36.14 - 42.4%) -- 94.73% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Kyogre Water Spout vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh in rain: 350-414 (84.33 - 99.75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Do you understand how insane this is? This pokemon is WEAK TO WATER and it always survives a full HP Kyogre Water Spout in rain! As long as it keeps Regenerator, Ho-oh will be an absolute monster.

 

[superblastoise789]

i know great assault Vest user that be a problem to your enemy

Malamar (M) @ Assault Vest
Trait: Contrary

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Superpower

- Psycho Cut

- Night Slash

- Rock Slide

With Contrary it boost its Atk and Def and with the assault vest it can have some good special bulk even thou it cant use boosting or recovery moves its def and Spdef are pretty high.

 

[CWW]

Maybe it wil help catapult Swampert into the OU tiers again. Something like Scald/EQ/Sludge Wave/Superpower.

 

[ROFLz]

Assault vest avalugg oh god

weak to lots of stuff but da bulk

Edit: Also maybe something like dis:

Scizor @ Assault Vest
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 spdef, 4 whatever
Careful or Adamant nature
-Bullet punch
-Pusuit
-U-turn
-Superpower

A good check to stuff like mega gengar, latios if it gets released and grass types (which might see lots of usage with their new powder immunity).

 

[Shroomisaur]

252 SpA Kyogre Water Spout vs. +1 248 HP / 100 SpD Ho-Oh in rain: 350-414 (84.33 - 99.75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I have to admit, this calc alone is incredibly impressive. Ho-oh will be an excellent user, as will other Regeneration pokemon like Slowbro.

The more I look into damage calcs and such this gen, the more Assault Vest looks like a great option. Obviously, some Pokemon simply can't use it because they rely on support moves to function, and I feel that a lot of people will be hesitant to give up leftovers. However for a Pokemon like Tyranitar this item is amazing. As an example from running Greninja damage calcs, I've found that even 252/252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand will be 2HKO'd. However, running the Assault Vest turns this into a 3HKO instead, and that's absolutely huge.

As the tiers develop it will be easier to see which Pokemon would make best use of Assault Vest, by avoiding 1/2HKOs from specific special threats.

 

[Banryu]

I think he suggested replacing Bulk Up itself with a 4th coverage move (or Power Up Punch) while retaining the EV distribution.

What is that, like 252 HP / 252 Atk with Drain Punch + Payback/Stone Edge + Mach Punch + Power-Up Punch/coverage? That sounds fucking amazing.

Jirachi, Tyranitar, and I guess guys like Clawitzer sounds like great users of this too.

 

[Thorhammer]

Decided to see what the raw statistical benefit of this item really is on two of its most popular users. With 252+ SpD, it takes Scizor to the equivalent of a base 145, an effective 65-point jump in base stats, and it takes Tyranitar to the equivalent of a base 175, a 75-point jump. This is before taking Sand Stream into account, in Tyranitar's case. Comparing to their Mega Stone bonuses:

AV Scizor: no Atk, no Def, no SpA, +65 SpD, no Spe (total +65)
Mega Scizor: +20 Atk, +40 Def, +10 SpA, +20 SpD, +10 Spe (total +100)

AV Tyranitar: no Atk, no Def, no SpA, +75 SpD, no Spe (total +75)
Mega Tyranitar: +30 Atk, +40 Def, no SpA, +20 SpD, +10 Spe (total +100)

This should make it easier to quantify the merits one way or another. The Mega Stone gives an overall larger stat boost, but not by as big a margin as you might think, and it's not as focused, so AV can certainly be more useful in the right situation. On the other hand, it does retain the ability to use non-attacking moves, which can be particularly useful on a defensive set.

Also might be worth noting that without SpD investment, it only takes Scizor to the equivalent of a base 130 (50-point increase) and Tyranitar to the equivalent of a base 160 (60-point increase). Still substantial, but not quite as huge.

 

[GeneralMLD]

I see no cons at all with this. WAY better then the sashes that limit only 1 attack.

Give it to a pokemon you want to do nothing but cause damage and you got some nice protection/bulk.

 

[nikovan]

Can't wait to put this on Amoongus, Slowbro and Tangrowth. They already have recovery (slack off/giga drain and regenerator). Their physical bulk paired with assault vest means they can be mixed walls quite easily.

You're taunted, you can't use Slack Off.

 

[dragonizzlenite]

Has anyone tested Assault Vest with Oblivious Slowpoke? Oblivious now prevents taunt, maybe there's a chance you could be "oblivious" to Assault Vest's less desirable effect too.

 

[Jexulus]

I tested it on oblivious Mamoswine on PS, and Stealth Rock is not selectable. Take it with a grain of salt because I don't know if it works that way in-game, but right now, Oblivious does not block the auto-taunt.

 

[Thorhammer]

I tested it on oblivious Mamoswine on PS, and Stealth Rock is not selectable. Take it with a grain of salt because I don't know if it works that way in-game, but right now, Oblivious does not block the auto-taunt.

As the floated threads say, PS is not a source; it aggregates data collected from ingame sources, and it's got a lot to keep up with right now.

 

[Aldrein]

I don't know if mentioned already, but isn't Landorus-T an awsome user of this? Intimidate and assault vest call for something hard to kill. And beside rocks it's not going to use anything but offensive moves anyway.

 

[TSMP]

I wonder if it's possible to push SpD so high that recovery becomes outright unnecessary? Come December, I'm sticking this on a Regice just for funsies.

More seriously, Goodra is about to become one of my favorite pokemon for assault vest. Thanks for testing out how it works, you guys.