New Item: Assault Vest General Discussion

[ModelT]

So the new Assault Vest item added in X and Y adds an additional 50% to the Special Defence stat at the cost of being perma-taunted.

Obviously similar to Eviolite, but it doesn't effect Defence but can be applied more usefully to many more pokemon. The clear choice of this item is to put it on something with a reasonalby good Special Defence stat to being with. I want to explore multiple uses for this item. A few ideas I've had below.

Sp. Def oriented sweeper as a counter to beefy special attackers (Good choices here might be Gyrados and the Togekiss)

Already beefy defenders in need of additional Sp. Def, not so much used to stall, but outlast opponetns with moves or abilities that drain health (Giga Drain, Drain Punch, etc).

Scouts that can utilize moves like Fake Out and U-Turn.

 

[Psychic William]

your likley going to see metric tons of assault vest sets with just about every tank in the game , and when poke transfer comes i dread to see what assault vest blissey can do .

 

[Divine Retribution]

your likley going to see metric tons of assault vest sets with just about every tank in the game , and when poke transfer comes i dread to see what assault vest blissey can do .

-facepalm-

I'll tell you what Assault Vest Blissey CAN'T do.

Recover HP, whether it be with Leftovers, Wish, or Softboiled.
Support its team with Thunder Wave, Heal Bell, Stealth Rock, Wish, etc.
Boost with Calm Mind.
Do anything other than launch pathetically weak attacks off of its base 75 Sp. Atk.

No, Assault Vest is for tanks and tanks only. Blissey is not a tank, it is a wall.

 

[The Imposter]

Two Assault Vest Pokemon that interest me are Snorlax and Metagross.

Snorlax becomes an impossible special tank after the boost, giving it the boost to run a tank set or even a belly drum set effectively.

Metagross uses its decent typing to take most not fire/ghost special moves and retaliate with decently powered meteor mashes and earthquakes.

 

[Divine Retribution]

I forgot to say, Assault Vest Tyranitar is just a monster. Having problems with Gengar and friends OHKO'ing your godzilla with Focus Blast? Slap an Assault Vest on him and he lives through basically anything.

 

[Kitsuneko]

I don't really see what Blissey with an assault vest can do. She can tank hits special hits better, but all she can do is attack. I think most Blissey on teams were always used more for support/special wall than for offense. I suppose it would catch some people off guard, but I think there are better pokemon for a special attacker.

Assault vest is really useful though. I might be off here, but I can see it used on powerful attackers such as the Dragons (Salamence, Dragonite, Garchomp, etc). They don't need much help with boosting attack. Salamence/stuff with moxie could make it really threatening. With some EVs invested into sp def, they survive a fatal special attack, such draco meteor, ice beam, and fairy attacks better. Of course, they are still prone physical attacks...

In random/wifi battles, I've seen stuff like Mr. Mime and Rhyperior use it as well. I've had my own trick user for that purpose and stole it. Attacks that can affect stats (power up punch, flame charge, etc), inflicting status, or stuff like dragon tail is one way to get around the taunt lock and makes a decent combination with it.

 

[Divine Retribution]

This just came to me, but how much viability would there be in giving Assault Vest to a Klutz Pokemon (either Swoobat or Lopunny... ugh...) and having it Trick it onto an opposing support Pokemon? I personally like the idea, except for the part where the only two Pokemon who get both Klutz and Trick/Switcheroo are both absolutely useless outside of Tricking malicious items onto opponents. Nonetheless, does this strategy hold any value, even in the lower tiers? Basically a permanent Taunt that you can never switch out of.

 

[Kitsuneko]

It's not that viable, and opponents can sort of expect what a Lopunny is going to do. It'd probably be better to just trick/switcheroo an iron ball/scarf with prankster Whimsicott or Sableye and it'll still screw something over.

Anyway, stuff like Dragalge and Goodra can also benefit from it.
If whenever Adaptability for Dragalge gets released, it can make good use of an assault vest while retaining good bulk.

 

[KillerDraco]

Snorlax becomes an impossible special tank after the boost, giving it the boost to run a tank set or even a belly drum set effectively.

Now, I've never used Assault Vest personally, so perhaps my understanding of the item is off... but doesn't it act like a self-imposed Taunt? In which case, you wouldn't be able to utilize Belly Drum due to being locked out of it.

Treat it like you would a Choice Band, at least in terms of move selection; load up on offensive moves to maximize your coverage.

That said though... I could see Assault Vest being good for mind games and forcing switches. Your foe's Gengar might be more reluctant to stay in and try to Focus Blast you if it fears Assault Vest, which puts it at risk for Pursuit. A fun item for sure, but of course Physical threats remain a problem. Especially since things like Snorlax and Tyranitar tend to bring in physical attackers anyway, given the former's considerably lower defense and the latter's special defense boost in a Sandstorm. Still, if you absolutely want to wall special attackers into oblivion on an offensive Pokemon, then Assault Vest is your item.

 

[The Imposter]

Now, I've never used Assault Vest personally, so perhaps my understanding of the item is off... but doesn't it act like a self-imposed Taunt? In which case, you wouldn't be able to utilize Belly Drum due to being locked out of it.

Treat it like you would a Choice Band, at least in terms of move selection; load up on offensive moves to maximize your coverage.

That said though... I could see Assault Vest being good for mind games and forcing switches. Your foe's Gengar might be more reluctant to stay in and try to Focus Blast you if it fears Assault Vest, which puts it at risk for Pursuit. A fun item for sure, but of course Physical threats remain a problem. Especially since things like Snorlax and Tyranitar tend to bring in physical attackers anyway, given the former's considerably lower defense and the latter's special defense boost in a Sandstorm. Still, if you absolutely want to wall special attackers into oblivion on an offensive Pokemon, then Assault Vest is your item.

Forgot that. It can still be a deadly tank that sponges special hits like nothing.

Assault Vest is extremely potent on things that already don't use too many support attacks. One guy I was interested in was Nidoking/queen. They have the bulk to use Assault Vest (Nidoqueen especially) and they can hit hard too.

 

[ghost_dog97]

did anyone come up with assault vest florges, goodra, or even chesnaught

 

[The Imposter]

did anyone come up with assault vest florges, goodra, or even chesnaught

Florges really appreciates Wish and stuff, Goodra is beastly with Assault Vest, and Chesnaught could be viable but it really likes its various support moves.

Again, Goodra is one of the best Assault Vest users imo. It already has amazing special bulk made nuclear and can attack special attackers with a barrage of semi-powerful attacks

 

[KillerDraco]

Assault Vest is extremely potent on things that already don't use too many support attacks. One guy I was interested in was Nidoking/queen. They have the bulk to use Assault Vest (Nidoqueen especially) and they can hit hard too.

I'm not so sure about the Nidos. Personally, I find the combination of Sheer Force + Recoil-free Life Orb to be a little too good to pass up. I can understand the logic behind Assault Vest on them, given they often carry only offensive moves anyway, but when you can get all the benefits of Life Orb without any of the consequences... Yeah, that's always just been a favorite of mine. So call me biased.

did anyone come up with assault vest florges, goodra, or even chesnaught

Florges is a definite no for Assault Vest. The loss of Wish and Aromatherapy (among other support moves) really hurts its usefulness. Yeah, it's ridiculously bulky on the special side, but... the downside of Assault Vest really hurts it.

 

[The Imposter]

I'm not so sure about the Nidos. Personally, I find the combination of Sheer Force + Recoil-free Life Orb to be a little too good to pass up. I can understand the logic behind Assault Vest on them, given they often carry only offensive moves anyway, but when you can get all the benefits of Life Orb without any of the consequences... Yeah, that's always just been a favorite of mine. So call me biased.

Nidoqueen to me seems like a better user of AV than King because Nidoqueen was already pretty defensively minded and doesn't miss the LO power as much as Nidoking does. I just listed them both because Nidoking could be more suited to an offensive role than Nidoqueen, if you were into that. I do agree that Nidoking has better things to do, but Queen was already more tanky.

 

[ModelT]

I am contemplating an Assault Vest set up on Togekiss. The up side: Immunity to Earthquake and other beefy Dragon Moves, as well as 25% damage from fighting mean it has less physical threats to worry about, and on top of its beefy Sp. Def, it becomes a Special tanking monster, practically ignoring the more common special electric attacks and special Ice attacks. This is my Hover Tank set up.
Modest, Super Luck
252 Sp Attack and Sp Def, 4 HP
- Air Slash (STAB)
- Dazzling Gleam (STAB)
- Grass Knot
- Flame Thrower / Aura Sphere

 

[Orithan]

I can see this being used quite decently on Azumarill. All of Azumarill's weaknesses are predominantly special-based (though there are common pokemon like Tentacruel and Breloom whose SE attacks hit physically), which an Assault Vest helps cover up, and has sufficient bulk to use it. Question is; is it worth sacrificing some power to use the Assault Vest?

Delphox might want to steal the precious vest. *gets shot for using a Touhou meme* But seriously, having it steal what is essentially a +1 boost to Sp.Defense without much cost to its movepool is definitely something to consider.

Edit: There should a Defense variation of this item. Looks like this is the equivalent of a Special Defense Choice item.

 

[Divine Retribution]

I can see this being used quite decently on Azumarill. All of Azumarill's weaknesses are predominantly special-based (though there are common pokemon like Tentacruel and Breloom whose SE attacks hit physically), which an Assault Vest helps cover up, and has sufficient bulk to use it. Question is; is it worth sacrificing some power to use the Assault Vest?

Delphox might want to steal the precious vest. *gets shot for using a Touhou meme* But seriously, having it steal what is essentially a +1 boost to Sp.Defense without much cost to its movepool is definitely something to consider.

Tentacruel actually has a slightly better Sp. Atk than its Attack (not to mention a much better Special movepool) so if it's going to carry a Poison move at all (which they might just start doing) it'll probably be Sludge Bomb, which obviously the Assault Vest helps with. But I think Azumarill's calling card isn't bulk but rather absurd power. I think Choice Bands and Life Orbs are more suited to Azumarill's playstyle.

 

[fireice]

wouldn't Assult Vest on Goodra be a waste I mean its Special defence is already godly. WHat it needs is something to help its physical defense.

 

[Divine Retribution]

wouldn't Assult Vest on Goodra be a waste I mean its Special defence is already godly. WHat it needs is something to help its physical defense.

But there currently aren't any items that boost Defence like that. What Assault Vest does for Goodra is turn his Sp. Def from amazing to just plain stupid, allowing him to beat nearly any Special Attacker (IIRC Choice Specs Modest Glaceon only does like 45% with Blizzard).

EDIT: Alright so I was wrong.


252+ SpA Choice Specs Glaceon Blizzard vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD (custom): 246-290 (67.58 - 79.67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(246, 248, 252, 254, 258, 260, 264, 266, 270, 272, 276, 278, 282, 284, 288, 290)

I'm not sure whether that says more about Goodra's amazing tankiness or Glaceon's nuclear power (If only its other stats and typing didn't suck so much... Such a waste...) but it appears Glaceon is one of the very few special attackers that can 2HKO Assault Vest Goodra.

 

[Eaglehawk]

Assault Vest TTar is a pretty good Pursuit killer right now. Most of the Ghosts and Psychics running around in the metagame are Specially based, so Tyranitar's natural resistance/immunity allows it to switch in on it. Based on my experience with using 252 HP/ 252 Att / 4 SpDef Tyranitar, it can survive a lot of STAB SE moves. For example, a Greninja Surf 4 - 5HKOs AssVest TTar.