ME3 Character Guide: Batarian Brawler Vanguard

Hello much-appreciated readers. I thought I'd finally get around to posting a Batarian Brawler build although it's a somewhat obvious and unadventurous one. I suppose I should have known that it would be the next character after the Asari Valkyrie since we had gotten new characters in every class but the Vanguard, and it was a rather highly-requested character as well. I have to say that while I like Batarians, the Batguard just isn't my cup of tea, even though it is a well-made character for the purpose of melee combat. I haven't used it as extensively as I have the Asari Valkyrie, whom I am currently having a love affair with whom I am using quite often for Platinum games. If only she had Liara's face different features than the other Asari. Anyway...

Batarian Brawler
Biotic Charge: 4-radius, 5-weapon synergy, 6-barrier
Lash: N/A
Blade Armor: 4-melee damage, 5-damage returned*, 6-durability
Batarian Enforcer: 4-damage & capacity, 5-power damage, 6-damage & ammo*
Fitness: 4-melee damage, 5-martial artist, 6-melee synergy

I think that the build and gameplay is fairly obvious, but I have seen some builds on BSN that I am doubtful of. I do welcome new play styles and builds generally but my build in particular makes use of the Batarian's strengths, which just seems like common sense to me, and this is probably the case with other players as well. Nevertheless, I will go over everything, at least to some extent.

Biotic Charge is fairly straightforward as always. It is recommended that you have at least 1000N of force to stagger Phantoms. Since I take power damage bonuses in the passive tree, I still meet this recommendation even with the radius evolution, allowing me greater crowd control. Very useful. I recommend weapon synergy as opposed to power synergy. Unlike most Vanguards, you will not be using grenades or other powers as your primary weapon -- you will be using your fiery fists of fury against human-sized opponents and your Reegar (or other weapon) against large bosses. Therefore, weapon synergy is there to make up for the Batguard's relatively low passive bonus. I have to wonder why Bioware didn't give the Batguard melee synergy instead of power synergy, but no matter. Weapon synergy will do. Finally, I take barrier as a general rule. Recharging your shields to full capacity is a lifesaver.

Lash is an all or nothing power. If you don't have the points to get the shield penetration evolution, it's pretty much useless. And if you look at your other powers, well, they're just more useful.

Blade Armor is very nice for a couple of reasons. First off, you get the 40% melee damage bonus. Second, it damages anything dumb enough to get into a fistfight with a Batarian. Finally, it gives you some nice damage protection, which is great for when things get up close and personal. Along with 50% damage reduction after Biotic charge you get another 50% DR during your heavy melee (for the full damage reduction formula, check the Links sidebar). Now, Blade Armor is reported to be bugged, doing greater damage return than it is supposed to on bronze and silver, and doing less damage return than it is supposed to on gold and platinum. For the purposes of the build, I will assume that the bug has been fixed.

For the passive bonuses, I take all power damage bonuses that I can. They increase the force on Biotic Charge and increase weight capacity, which is essential with the relatively heavy Reegar (with omni-blade) and Blade Armor. Evolution 6 I leave up to you. The weight reduction is certainly nice, but it only takes off just under half a second of recharge time from Biotic Charge. Weapon damage and ammo capacity are definitely useful, especially since the Reegar is capacity-challenged, but you'll have to live with a pretty hefty recharge time.

Finally for Fitness, I take all melee damage bonuses. The Batarian is a sturdy fellow, especially with Biotic Charge and Blade Armor, so he can take a few hits without maxed shields and health. You can opt to take durability for evolution 4, but I would not recommend skipping Martial Artist and Melee Synergy. These greatly increase your melee damage and weapon damage respectively. Melee Synergy in particular is useful for giving you a much-needed weapon damage boost. You can easily charge, falcon punch a mook, and then proceed to melt a Banshee with your brief 25% + 25% weapon damage boosts.

That just about covers everything. Hopefully this guide covers some not-so-obvious stuff, but then again, there are many ways to build every character and I suppose that the Batguard is no exception. Enjoy the new character, have fun, peace.

-Grun7mas7er

Video guide by INVADERONE