So why would you build an assault that tanks? Because you can. Don't ask if you should, ask if you want to.

So it is simple.

Take a Breach Shotgun and a Salamander. You can swap out the salamander for a grenade launcher if you want, but the Salamander works just fine. The Breach Shotgun is actually fairly important for this build. Lots of damage, very efficient in dealing with crowds of trash.

Defense :

Life Support x3
Use the 2 slots if you have them, because better value.

Offense:

Grenade or Flame Burst
Just something to get some more crowd control. I prefer grenades because of armor shred. I suppose Kinetic Spear would be nice here if you can use it well.

Light Weapons
This is going to make your weapons better. All the way better!

Cohesion or Discipline
Whichever you prefer, Cohesion is great after you reload for the buffs, but Discipline will have more uptime I think.

Powercells
As many as you can fit. The larger ones are better overall.

Support:

Ammo Capacity
1 or 2 will do the trick, don't really need more.

Armor Reinforcement
Fill it up. You want as much as you can manage.

ORDER OF MARCH
So you want to place starting points into grenades and light weapons. Only one rank to the grenade for now. Max light weapons, then max cohesion if you have it. If you have Discipline, just take one point in that to start the stacks. No more in needed, so max your grenades or flame burst or what have you.

So this is the closing segment. What is this build good at? What is it bad at? How much can you solo? How do you function in a team?

THE GOOD
You stay alive and you clear trash like an absolute professional. This is your bread and butter. You are difficult to kill and deal damage incredibly consistently.

THE BAD
Big ticket enemies. Enemies with lots of armor. They will give you trouble. You are not equipped for that. You can manage, but it will take some time.

The ROLE
While this build can get pretty far on its own in normal, even a little in hard. It is best as a member of a diverse team. This build is meant to survive hordes, and punish trash. You have some minor armor strip, but you are not the boss killer. You can help because you have some pretty good damage out put, but your role is to be the King of the Garbage Dump. You are Lord of the Trash. They bow to you, bloody and quiet. If you get your hands on some nanite revival sticks, hold onto them because you can wade through death to get to a fallen team member and then clear the area while they revive.