Massive Breakdown of How Range Works in Conjunction with Aim Assist

Top Edit: Testing again, and I've discovered that there is still reticle slow down when you pass by or near targets when the reticle is white. I didn't notice it last night, but it is there, albeit significantly weaker than when it's red. I will continue testing and update as needed. Due to this, I will be changing my terminology from "active" and "off" to "highly effective" and "less effective." I regret my previous statement that Aim Assist was either on or off with a red or white reticle, as that has proved to be incorrect. Sorry for any inconvenience or misleading information.

Pre-TL;DR: Range does not add any Aim Assist. It does, however, make the Aim Assist useful at longer distances. Scope/Sight Zoom Multiplier also affects the AA's useful distance.

Intro: The aim assist I am talking about in this breakdown refers only to the "stickiness" or "slowdown" of a player's reticle over a target. It does not refer to either bullet magnetism or increased hitbox sizes, and both of those things will require separate testing.

Ever since the Jon Weisnewski quote,

"If your range is higher, your aim assist is gonna be better."

people have been telling me that more Range = more Aim Assist. This is not true. At close distances, a Rifled Barrel Eyasluna will have the exact same Aim Assist as an Eyasluna with Oiled Frame. You can test this by going into the Last Rites mission, taking your gun, and aiming down the sights at an enemy at close range. Even though you are in the 3rd person view, you should be able to see your reticle change on screen. It will compress, and if you are within the optimal Range, it will turn red. If it turns red, you'll know that Aim Assist will be highly effective at that distance. If it is white, there will it will be less effective. Begin slowly strafing back and forth, keeping track of the distance you move. You will see that as you walk to the side, your reticle will pull to stay on the target, just slightly, and when it finally moves off the target, and you strafe back the other way, it will begin to slow down as it reaches the target and passes over it. These effects do not change dependent on the Range stat. No matter what Range perk you have (and as long as all other perks are even), at close distances where Aim Assist is present, the effects will remain the same. Where the difference comes into play is at longer distances. The Oiled Frame Eyasluna user will find that the Aim Assist stops being effective much more quickly than the Rifled Barrel user. This means that the reticle will stay red (when ADS in the Last Rites mission) at longer distances (meaning that the Aim Assist is still highly effective). If you were using Oiled Frame, and you back up from the initial distance, you would see the reticle turn white very rapidly. If you strafe back and forth with a white reticle, you will notice there is limited stickiness and slowdown. If you stand in the same spot (where the reticle turned white with Oiled Frame) and switch to Rifled Barrel, the reticle will go back to red (you will notice the Aim Assist take hold again) and then you can back up farther until it turns white again.

Examples of tests:

• Longbow Synthesis with Ambush and Smallbore: http://i.imgur.com/MxA16Ak.gifv
• Longbow Synthesis with Ambush and Hand-laid Stock: http://i.imgur.com/5umqTZF.gifv
• Longbow Synthesis with LongView SLR20 and Hand-laid Stock (similar Range stat bar to Ambush w/ Smallbore): http://i.imgur.com/oHtwzTN.gifv

Conclusion: As you can see, the Smallbore LS is backed up to the farthest distance it can be with the Aim Assist still active. Upon switching to Hand-laid Stock, I am required to go up a significant distance before the reticle again turns red. Aim Assist can also be stretched out by using sights that have higher Zoom Multipliers. A long distance scope or sight will make the Aim Assist active out to farther distances, regardless of the actual Range stat itself.

The Next Step: I will be testing Aim Assist itself, to see what effect it has on things like hitbox size, and bullet magnetism.