Secret World Legends SWL Schmidy's guide to Assault Rifle DPS
- Note that the October 2020 patch altered weapons and abilities. Not all changes may be included here.
Whenever you activate Assault Rifle Power abilities you have a chance to get a grenade. 3 point Power abilities have 37.5% chance to get a grenade and 5 point Power abilities have a 65% chance to get a grenade. Grenades will cook for 6 seconds before they explode. After a grenade has cooked for 3 seconds it is fully cooked and has reached full power. At any point during a grenade’s 6 second duration you are able to activate Assault Rifle abilities that consume grenades. All Assault Rifle abilities that consume grenades gain a bonus effect if the grenade is fully cooked. All Assault Rifle Special abilities that consume grenades have a 4 second cooldown.
If a grenade detonates before it is fired then you will take 15% of your maximum hit points as damage and up to 6 enemies in a 5 metre area around will take minor damage.
Patch notes[]
Healer Role[]
- ROLE: HEALER (ASSAULT RIFLE, BLOOD MAGIC, FIST)
Rebalanced value of Heal Power. Rebalanced Healing Anima Allocation to better match a Healer’s healing output with a tank’s Health across Elites. Rebalanced coefficients of all heal abilities. Characters who have 51% or higher Healing Anima Allocation have 30 Assault Rifle, Fist, and Blood Max Energy. Single target Power heal abilities now cost 6 Energy. Group Power heal abilities now cost 10 Energy. This was done to shift healers to a more tactical playstyle and make power abilities and elites feel impactful while achieving the new balance level. As part of this shift, all healer basic abilities now generate a higher contribution to the weapon mechanic (Martyrdom, Grenades, Wrath) to ensure that the mechanics remain relevant for healers. Basic healer abilities will now direct half of their heal to the healer’s defensive target, and the other half will seek out the raid member with the lowest health % (possibly the defensive target). If the defensive target is at full HP, then the full healing amount will be allocated to whoever has the lowest health %. To keep Assault Rifle’s gearing expectations in line with other healers, while at 51% or higher Healing Anima Allocation Assault Rifle’s healing abilities cannot glance and will not trigger dungeon reflect shields.
Assault Rifle[]
- ASSAULT RIFLE
- Mechanic: Grenades
- Loading Grenades now uses a Procs-Per-Minute system that scales with the amount of Assault Rifle Energy spent casting Power abilities. To put it another way: Spending more Energy on Grenade-generating Power abilities will generate more Grenades.
- The number of Grenades generated per minute on average with base energy generation is 6.
Grenades now take 2 seconds to cook.
- Once cooked, grenades have a 4 second timer before detonating in the barrel.
- Damage of cooked grenades has been slightly adjusted to compensate for the potential for higher frequency grenades.
- This change was made to improve the experience of playing Rifle with weapons other than a KSR-43, and to shift the cap at which additional grenades per minute (and thus energy generation) is ineffective to a much higher plateau.
- Basic Ability: Leeching Ray
- Now uses a scaling heal amount instead of a % leech.
- When the casting player is 51+% Healing AA:
- Can also load grenades.
- Cannot glance.
- Will not deal damage to targets affected by dungeon reflect shields. This was necessary to allow rifle healers to continue to heal during downtimes, such as while the Machine Tyrant has his shield active.
- Power Ability: Vital Shot
- When the casting player is 51+% Healing AA:
- Cannot glance.
- Will not deal damage to targets affected by dungeon reflect shields.
- Healing increased by 300% when used to heal the caster
- Power Ability: Unveil Essence
- Healing now comes from the player that cast Unveil Essence. The healing amount still scales with the damage done.
- The leech effect from hitting the target now only applies to your team members.
- When the casting player is 51+% Healing AA:
- Cannot glance.
- Will not deal damage to targets affected by dungeon reflect shields.
- Elite: Anima Suffusion
- Base healing value is dramatically higher than team-focused Healer Elites (such as Regeneration).
- Now increases effectiveness of Assault Rifle healing abilities by 35% for 4 seconds.
- Dev Commentary: We want to give Anima Suffusion a niche to excel in, compared to other healer Elites. To achieve this, we focused it on single target healing, making it by far the strongest single-target healer Elite.
- Passive: Permeate
- Redesigned.
- After you finish channeling Anima Suffusion, your target receives 30% increased healing for 4 seconds.
- Special Ability: Anima Canister
- This ability is no longer a TAoE
- Now delivers a large heal to your defensive target
- Delivers a minor heal to your team
- Passive: Enlarged Canister
- Replaced by Synergy:
- For 5 seconds after activating Anima Canister on an ally, whenever anyone healed by Anima Canister is healed, you also heal Anima Canister’s primary target, up to 5 times per second.
- Special Ability: Energise
- The next Assault Rifle attack purges 1 beneficial effect from all enemies hit. No longer purges on every Assault Rifle attack while Energise is active.
- Passive: Ground Marker Rounds
- Replaced by Anima Stasis:
- When a grenade would time out, its explosives are purged and replaced with anima, then it is stored in stasis.
- When you activate Anima Canister or Essence Grenades while you do not have a cooked grenade ready, but you have a stasis grenade ready, you will instead fire the stasis grenade. Stasis grenades deal 75% less damage and 66% more healing.
- Anima Canister and Essence Grenades prioritize consuming stasis grenades over uncooked grenades
- Additionally, when you enter combat, you generate 1 stasis grenade.
- Special Ability: Incendiary Grenade
- No longer ground-targeted – now uses your target. Say goodbye to annoying ground targeting!
- Now purges 1 beneficial effect from hit targets.
- Now does non-AoE damage to the primary target, and AoE damage to secondary targets.
- The non-AoE damage does not scale with Signet of Nemain. The AoE damage continues to scale with Signet of Nemain.
- This change was necessary to fix a scaling problem where the Signet of Nemain granted far more single-target DPS for Rifle than was intended, due to combining multiplicatively with Rifle’s grenade budget.
- Specal Ability: Essence Grenade
- Now does non-AOE damage to the primary target, and AoE damage to secondary targets.
- Weapon: Auxiliary Loader
- Now increases number of Grenades loaded per minute by 3.
- Passive: Backup Plan
- Replaced by Combat Readiness:
- While you have an Uncooked Grenade loaded, your Assault Rifle basic abilities do 20% more healing and damage. This increase is multiplicative with other effects.
- Passive: Emergency Loader
- Renamed to Overclocked Loader
- Now increases number of Grenades loaded per minute by 1.2, regardless of the user’s health.
- Passive: Auto-Loader
- Now has a 40% chance to make the next power ability load a grenade.
Pre-patch Abilities :
Heavy Fire[]
Placed Shot[]
Zero energy. Target. "Take aim and fire a single shot at your target dealing 9 physical damage."
Full Auto[]
Three energy. Target area of effect. 37.5% chance to load a grenade upon ability use. "Affects up to 6 enemies in a 5 metre radius around the target. Unload a hail of bullets at your target and nearby enemies. Affected targets are hit 4 times for 3 physical damage each time."
Lock & Load[]
Zero energy. Self. "Harness your energy and gain 4 Assault Rifle Energy."
Burst Fire[]
Five energy. Target. 65% chance to load a grenade upon ability use. "Switch your rifle to burst mode and fire at your target, hitting 3 times, dealing 19 physical damage per hit."
Red Mist[]
Four energy. Target. "Take aim at your target and fire a powerful shot at their vitals dealing 51 physical damage and slowing its movement."
Bombardment[]
Incendiary Grenade[]
Two energy. Ground target area of effect. The initial damage is improved to 3 physical damage and the damage over time effect is improved to deal 4 physical damage every second. "Affects up to 6 enemies in a 5 metre radius around the targeted point. Launch a grenade filled with a highly potent mixture of thermite and anima dealing 1 physical damage to enemies in the targeted area. Affected targets are set on fire, are purged of 2 beneficial effects, and are dealt 1 damage every second for 8 seconds. Requires a grenade to activate."
Anima Canister[]
Two energy. Target area of effect. The target area of effect healing is improved to 1 and the group healing is improved to 1. "Affects up to 6 friends in a 5 metre radius around the target. Launch a canister of revitalizing anima at your target healing all nearby allies for 1. The healing energies also spread to your group, healing all group members for 1. Requires a grenade to activate."
Tactical Retreat[]
Two energy. Column Dash. The damage dealt is improved to 30 physical damage.== "Dash backward 5 metres. Put some distance between you and your enemies by quickly moving backwards. If you have a grenade, the dash distance is increased to 10 metres and the cooldown time is reduced to 4 seconds. This cooldown reduction can only happen once every 15 seconds. The grenade is left at the start location, exploding 1 second after the dash, affecting up to 6 enemies and dealing 8 physical damage in an area around it. Affected targets have their movement speed slowed by 70% for 4 seconds."
Essence Grenades[]
Two energy. Target area of effect. The damage is improved to 6 physical damage and the healing is improved to 2Five energy. "Affects up to 6 enemies and allies in a 5 metre radius around your target. Launch a pair of grenades at the target, each one exploding in a burst of energy. One grenade deals 2 physical damage and applies Debilitated. The other grenade heals friendly targets for 1. Requires a grenade to activate."
High Explosive Grenade[]
Four energy. Target area of effect. The initial blast's damage is improved to 79 physical damage. "Affects up to 6 enemies in a 5 metre radius around the target. Blast the target and nearby enemies with a powerful high explosive grenade dealing 34 physical damage. Applies Debilitated and affected targets are stunned for 3 seconds. Also the area at the targeted point erupts into flames that last 8 seconds. Every second it will deal 2 physical damage to up to 6 enemies in a 5 metre radius. Requires a grenade to activate."
Assault Medic[]
Vital Shot[]
Three energy. Target. 37.5% chance to load a grenade upon ability use. "Fire a draining blast of energy at your target dealing 4 physical damage. The drained energy heals your defensive target for 14 and additionally for 1.2% of the damage dealt."
Leeching Ray[]
Zero energy. Target. "Sap your target's energy with an enervating beam of energy from your rifle. This attack hits 3 times, dealing 3 physical damage per hit. A portion of the stolen energy heals your defensive target for 0.2% of the damage dealt. The remaining energy seeks out the member of your group with the lowest percentage remaining health and heals them for 7."
Unveil Essence[]
Five energy. Target/Group. 65% chance to load a grenade upon ability use. "Fire a bolt of energy at the target, revealing their inner essence for all to see. The target is dealt 4 physical damage and your group is healed for 14. The target's essence becomes available for any attackers to steal for 6 seconds causing everyone who attacks them to be healed for 0.1% of the damage dealt."
Energise[]
Two energy. Self. "Tap into your inner energy, increasing the effectiveness of all Assault Rifle healing abilities by 24% for 6 seconds. During this time, all of your Assault Rifle attacks purge 1 beneficial effect from enemy targets."
Anima Suffusion[]
Four energy. Channelled target ally. "Every 0.3 seconds for 1.5 seconds. Infuse the target's entire being with anima, healing them for 1 each interval. While channeling this ability, your target is unable to be killed. When this ability finishes channeling, you gain a beneficial effect which increases the effectiveness of all Assault Rifle healing abilities by 14% for 4 seconds."
Passive[]
Anima-Tipped Bullets[]
Your bullets are infused with anima energy causing each Assault Rifle shot to heal you for 4% of the damage dealt.
Extended Magazine[]
An extended magazine allows you to fire more shots when you use Full Auto, increasing the number of hits to 5.
Heavy Payload[]
You keep your explosives at the ready. When you use Lock & Load you have a 41% to load a grenade.
Stability[]
You keep your aim steady when using Burst Fire," causing each successive hit to deal 25% more base damage.
Unerring Accuracy[]
Your Red Mist always hits its mark. This ability can no longer glance or be evaded and critical hits deal 68% more damage.
Slow Burn[]
Your Incendiary Grenade is loaded with slower burning, longer lasting fuel, increasing the duration to 10 seconds.
Enlarged Canister[]
Your Anima Canister is expanded in size allowing you to load more anima energy. All group members healed by this ability will also gain a beneficial effect for 4 seconds which causes their attacks to heal them for a portion of the damage dealt.
Withdrawal[]
Your Tactical Retreat grants you better positioning. When used you always dash 10 metres. In addition, when you leave a grenade the damage is increased to 7 physical damage or 20 physical damage for fully cooked grenades.
Lingering Essence[]
Your Essence Grenades" leave a lingering mist of restorative energy, healing allies in the area for 1 every second for 5 seconds.
Auto-loader[]
After launching your High Explosive Grenade your auto-loader kicks in, causing your next grenade generating ability to have a 100% chance to load a grenade.
Bolstering Shot[]
Your Vital Shot bolsters your ally's energy, causing them to draw strength from their foes. For the next 4 seconds after being healed by this ability, your defensive target gains a beneficial effect which causes their attacks to restore their health.
Reap Essence[]
Unveil Essence reveals even more energy for your allies to reap. Whenever an attack critically hits a target affected by your "Unveil Essence" the attacker is instead healed for 0% of the damage they dealt.
Vivify[]
When you use Energise you awaken the latent energy in your group members. For the next 5 seconds, all healing effects on your group members are 5% more effective.
Permeate[]
After using Anima Suffusion your target is left imbued with some anima residue, granting a beneficial effect for 4 seconds which causes their attacks to heal them for a portion of the damage dealt. The amount the target is healed for with each attack scales based on your Healing Power.
Explosives Expert[]
Your skill with explosives allows you to increase the fuse time on your grenades to 9 seconds. Also, your grenades are now fully cooked when they have 6 seconds remaining before detonating. If a grenade detonates before you are able to launch it, you are no longer harmed by the blast and nearby enemies are dealt 2 physical damage.
Secondary Explosion[]
You pack additional timed explosives into your grenade abilities. These explosives detonate 1.5 seconds after you launch your grenade dealing 2 physical damage to enemies within 2 metres of the original target.
Backup Plan[]
You always have a plan when dealing with your explosives. If you were to load a grenade while one is already cooking, you gain a beneficial effect which increases your Assault Rifle damage by 10% for 4 seconds.
Emergency Loader[]
Your experience with volatile explosives allows you to act calm under pressure. Whenever you are below 85% health, your chance to load grenades is increased to 45% when using Full Auto or Vital Shot and 80% when using Burst Fire or Unveil Essence.
Field Medic[]
Your presence empowers the restorative effects of your Assault Rifle abilities. If you are within 7 metres of your defensive target when healing with your Assault Rifle, they are healed for an additional 1.
Ground Marker Rounds[]
Your grenades are loaded with a restorative mist. After launching any grenade, allies standing in the blast area are healed for 1 every second for 5 seconds.
Jungle Style[]
You come prepared with extra ammunition. Whenever you run out of Assault Rifle Energy, you gain 1 Assault Rifle Energy.
Anima Dispersal[]
Whenever you launch a grenade, you harness some of the expended energy into restorative power. For the next 5 seconds, all of your healing and leeching effects are 6.5% more effective.