As the game stands, Assailants are the ship of choice early, as lrf's are the ship of choice for all races in early stages of the game. Even in 1.1 I think this is going to stay at the minimum semi-true.

Since everyone makes lrf's, the light frigates (aka skirmishers) are fodder and will go down quicker than a pizza at a weight watchers convention. They have medium armor and lrf's do anti-medium damage.

Assailants, however, are not weak. They get phase missles. You must get phase missles, tier 3 phase missles where 20% get through if possible. That's how the Assailants are strong. Bypassing mitigation shields is unbelievably awesome.

Also, you're gonna need about 30-40 assailants early. I know that number is huge, but you need a fleet like this that can buy you the time and power to get a better fleet.

I don't play Vasari much because I don't like them, but my fleets are in general:

1. First installment of 40 assailants and the egg
2. Second installment of Carrier cap and some carriers mixed with more assailants.
3. Third installment of Devastator and enforcers
4. Fourth installment of Subverters