Set bonus
2 items: Adds 1206 Maximum Health.
3 items: Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina.
4 items: Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage.
5 items: When you cast an Assault ability while in combat, you and up to 5 group members within 12 meters gain 307 Weapon and Spell Damage for 15 seconds.
Also Known As:
PA.
When to use:
Useful for Trials mostly by the Off Tank, and as a Dungeon/Arena set.
Where to obtain:
Imperial City Tel Var Merchant, Guild Traders.
Set Weight:
Medium Armor.
Which pieces are used:
Jewellery, Ice Staff, Hands & Waist but all pieces for versatility.
Comments:
Powerful Assault is a highly valuable set for providing a strong group buff, but it can be challenging to maintain due to its sustain-heavy nature. The set requires double-casting in trials and recasting every 15 seconds, which can be difficult for beginners to manage effectively.
With the Waking Flame patch, the set saw significant improvements. You can now cast an Assault ability and it will prioritize activating on group members in range who don’t currently have the buff, a feature known as “Smart Targeting.” This change is particularly beneficial for trial groups, as they can now double-cast an Assault ability and activate Powerful Assault on nearly the entire group, as long as they are within range.
Powerful Assault only needs to be used on one bar. Typically, you would equip the jewellery and a staff with an Assault ability on your back bar, allowing you to use a two-piece weapon set, such as the Master Weapons, on your front bar. While the staves can be very expensive and hard to obtain, you can alternatively front bar the set with a one-handed weapon and shield or use it on the hands and waist with a 5 Heavy/2 Medium armor setup until you can upgrade to the ice staff. This set is relatively affordable aside from the ice staff, especially during PvP events when supply is higher, and it is one of the few tank sets you can simply purchase rather than farm.
There are scenarios where you might need to use Powerful Assault on body pieces. As a hybrid or off-tank, you might not always be tanking hard-hitting bosses, and a medium armor setup can help you contribute some damage. This setup is also useful for Blackrose Prison and Dragonstar Arena.
In dungeon content, Powerful Assault is one of the top sets to use if you have a healer in your group. Without a healer, you would typically replace this set with Olorime, which provides a larger buff. Commonly, this set is procced using either morph of Resolving Vigor for its useful heal and armor buff, but Razor Caltrops and Proximity Detonation are also effective options.
