I'm really enjoying this version of the class! It works really well. It also means I'm using the Scout class more now.

Yes, it is from Alternate Shields

For reference for anyone in the future who's curious, I'm pretty sure the shield skin that's being used in the picture comes from the Alternate Shields mod.

What shield skin are you using on the image? the standar shield is ugly but that thing look so clean

@FearTheBunnies I had several soldiers of this class and the situation was the same throughout. Being able to use a shield or a sword is handy if playing with the Hive.

@silverleaf1 That is weird. Ruthless is from the PCP itself

@FearTheBunnies The last icon in the ranks row, colonel, does not show properly.

okay thank

@captain_uzziah LWOTC has ballistic shields built into it, so you would need to check if the weapon category for those shields is the same as the standalone mod. If they are, then you should be able to use LWOTC as a replacement for the ballistic shields mod requirement. Otherwise, you will need to double check that Proficiency Class Pack works without issue before using this one (as this hard requires the base PCP classes)

dose this work with lwotc?

Thanks for the thorough response!

@Bullet Kin If you install just the ballistic shields mod normal Assault Infantry can use both. If you want the shield perk row instead of the sword perk row you would need to add the swords to the class definition. As to using both versions of AI classes you would have to convert this class into its own class as opposed to being and edit of the regular AI class.

Would it be possible to allow both swords and shields to be viable on assaults? I don't want to leave my sword assaults behind, but still want to have some variety.

@lark2138 Only thing I could recommend would be Unit Flag Extended. I know RustyDios has spent a lot of time working on making sure the flag will always show.

@FearTheBunnies No I am not. I reloaded the game and the health bar and shield appeared above character head

@lark2138 That is not supposed to happen. Are you using any mods to change the unit flag display?

Is you're health bar supposed to disappear for this class. All my other characters have health bar and the shield above the character this class does not.

I see thx, i'll try tht

@shadow onion The short answer is no. The long answer is it would require you to edit the class definition to rename it to be a whole new class similar to how the Assault Technical does it. Doable with minor effort.

Out of curiosity is it possible to have it randomly chose between this one and the original when promoting the soldier?

Thanks @fearthebunnies i thought so also. I guess i am going hunting.

@Dragonlord All animations are provided by the Ballistic Shields mod.

So when they are shooting with shotgun they use the pistol animation. But if they have a rifle etc they keep the gun normally. Anyone know where i can look up and fix it? Is it true primaries thing? Ballistic shields? What defines what animation to use when holding a shield in secondary?

@Dragonlord Thanks for the feedback, and I double checked: Roving Warrior and Killer Instinct are in the same spots as the currently released Assault Infantry. Also, Ruthless will give bonus damage to Shield Bash as Shields ARE melee weapons :)

@Dragonlord What you are seeing is actually part of the magic sauce behind the Proficiency Class Pack.

One of the cool thoughts that Shiremct put into the classes was that the Proficiency abilities were meant to be the capstone tie together and the colonel level abilities were more a universal helpful for the class as opposed to a big capstone ability.

I understand completely. And yes i just said it for a conversation and to tell you that the 2 perks are reversed from the original class (which you could have done). But really don't you think all the colonel perks are worst than the perks before? Again just trying to see the point of view not telling to change anything at all.

@LeyShade If I do update the skill trees I would only be bringing it in line with any updates that have been made to the PCP Assault Infantry.

I thought about swapping the two shield skills and in my opinion Shield Charge is too powerful to give at Sergeant because of the knockback it inflicts. So I am leaving the shield skills where they are. I also feel like the juggling act of choosing to single move + shieldwall is enough of a unique play style to allow it to be an early game pick.

I whole heartedly endorse anyone who wants to manually tweak their local instance of the class skills if they do not agree with my balancing choices. Enjoy the mod as it best works for you!

@FearTheBunnies - if you choose to change the class tree at this point, please let people know ahead of time to prevent breaking of soldiers for those unconfident with rebuilding them using console commands, thank you <3

@Dragonlord My choices for the skill tree were to mirror the original skill tree for assault infantry units, which gives bonus mobility/actions at lower tiers than other classes. Upon review, though, I can see the argument for potentially swapping Shield Charge and Protect And Serve as they are very similar to the base Assault Infantry skills. I will take it into consideration. Thanks for the feedback!

As to swapping skill ranks, I had to "lock in" the other two skill trees to be able to swap out the third tree so I will double check to see if there was an update to the PCP AI and update the skill trees here as well.

Also you seemed to have switched roving warrior and killer instinct on bastion?

Kinda of a balance issue but protect and serve is a Colonel Skill at phalanx and in this one just a sergeant. Not to mention the best skill of the bunch since you can move, shield wall and shoot every turn. Maybe switch it with shield charge which is inferior for an assault? or even ruthless since now they don't have a melee weapon just a shield?

@LeyShade Thanks for the report. Fixed!

Error: Redscreen: ImportText (RandomDecks): Property import failed for Abilities in: ( DeckName="WOTC_APA_Assault_Deck_1"
Error: Redscreen: ImportText (Patches): Property import failed for RandomDecks in: (

*Clipped both for space*

Missing comma in community decks for F_Guard at line break in file XComRandomDeckPatcher.

Thank you!

@eclecticbibliophile I just fixed a couple bugs related to the XCOM row as well as leveraged the new Random Ability Deck Patcher to swap out Take Cover for Guard. Enjoy!

It took me several missions after taking the perk to realize it didn't work, so I'm not surprised you missed it. Thanks for the suggestions!

@eclecticbibliophile That sucks. I hadn't looked into that specific interaction before, but yeah, Take Cover specifically triggers Hunker Down and does not trigger Shield Wall. Unfortunately there are no config options available to allow Take Cover to also trigger Shield Wall. I would suggest looking at the Extended Perk Pack for a suitable replacement, something like Guard, Faultless Defense or Bolstered Defense may be worthwhile.

Using this with Shield Rework, the random deck perk Take Cover doesn't work, because the Assault Infantry no longer has access to Hunker Down. Any ideas for a shield related perk I could replace it with?

This is a brilliant change in my opinion! Replace the melee role of the ASL INF with the Scout (AKA Resistance Leader: Jane Kelly) and this mod make the ASL INF a viable asset to the team. I also highly recommend Proficiecy Plugin: Intelligence Officer -> Scout

@Lord Naton Shields have a built-in melee attack that replaces the standard Slash. With just the Ballistic Shields mod they can equip both. With this mod they are not allowed to equip swords.

How does slash work if you have a shield and not a sword equipped? Also, can Assault Infantry still equip swords, even though they won´t get the skills?

Very interesting Mod! Thanks for your great work

No, this was designed as a swap to shields for a front-line Close Quarters build of the Assualt Infantry and let the Scout be the melee striker in-and-out style unit.

Anyway of allowing the skills to work with both swords and shields?

thanks, I wasn't aware of that option

For a shield and pistol I would suggest Deadput's Phalanx: https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2673737607

Would you consider having the class wield a pistol as a primary? Visually this makes more sense than a rifle or shotgun.

Nice work here !!