Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players of all sorts should make sure to get an Assault Vest. The item provides a guaranteed boost to many Pokemon during the game’s story and has a lot to offer in Tera Raid battles and ranked play as well.
While Pokemon Scarlet & Violet offered a number of new items, many of the old favorites remain powerful. The Assault Vest is among that lot. As in previous generations, Assault Vest gives Pokemon a 50% boost to their Sp. Def stat with the drawback of preventing the holder from using non-damaging moves.
Given the fact that a significant number of players approach the game in that way regardless, this is essentially free stats for a lot of players. It’s not hard to get an Assault Vest either, with the item coming available quite early on.
How to Get Assault Vest in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
Players can find an Assault Vest on the ground in Porto Marinada as soon as they reach the city. The item is found behind what appears to be a Delibird Presents warehouse with a number of Cyclizars parked in front. The exact location on the map can be seen here:
Porto Marinada needs to be visited by players to complete the Victory Road story, as they need to chase gym leader Kofu to the city to face him. In terms of the best gym order in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, this lines up with players getting the Assault Vest in the first half of the game.
Alongside this, players have the ability to purchase as many Assault Vests after completing the final mission, The Way Home. After completing the mission, the item is available for sale at Delibird Presents in Mesagoza for $50,000. Though players who are sticking to single-player can get by with just one, those who are putting together larger teams for competitive battling or Tera Raids may want to have more than one for the sake of convenience.
Best Assault Vest Users
In competitive battling, Pokemon like Azumarill, Kingambit, and Tyranitar get the most use out of Assault Vest. For players who are sticking to the game’s story and Tera Raid battles, any Pokemon that doesn’t have any stat-changing or status effect moves can get some use out of the item.
The Assault Vest is tailor-made for Pokemon who have high offensive abilities and low speed. It offers an extra bit of bulk for these Pokemon to help guarantee that they can get in some offense without falling to a faster opponent.
There’s a long list of Pokemon that fit this bill, but it’s important to note that the inability to use non-attack moves is a huge drawback. For example, Belly Drum is an amazing move on Azumarill, but it cannot use it while equipped with an Assault Vest. This means the item requires a tailored move set for some Pokemon, and isn’t quite a one-size-fits-all option.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.