Asari Justicar Adept: 200 Waves Edition

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I put a guide up. Recently I've been going for some challenges, doing Platinum runs, and saving up credits for the upcoming DLC. During this time I've had a chance to try out an offensive Asari Justicar build, and I have to say, I was pretty impressed by how well it worked out.

Asari Justicar
Biotic Sphere: 4-radius, 5-enemy weakness, 6-warp effect
Reave: 4-radius, 5-damage reduction, 6-damage & duration
Pull: N/A
Asari Justicar: 4-duration & capacity*, 5-headshots, 6-weapon damage
Fitness: 4-durability, 5-shield recharge, 6-fitness expert

Obviously, Warp ammo is excellent for this build, since it has synergy with biotic characters.

For your weapon, I recommend the Harrier because it's a great all-around weapon. It has damage, accuracy, and range. Not something you can say for most other weapons. I take the magazine upgrade for sustained fire against bosses, then I have the piercing mod for better armor damage and limited cover-piercing. While it is reasonable to take the high-velocity barrel, I find that it adds too much weight to be worth it.

I also take the Acolyte for shield-stripping duty. Your Harrier can take care of armor and barriers just fine with warp ammo. Regular shields are another story. The Acolyte is a great sidearm for Primes and Atlases. I use the heavy barrel for better damage, then the ultra-light materials to counter the additional weight.

You may also consider using the Hurricane instead of the Harrier. Most SMG attachments are useful on the Hurricane. However, for this build you should restrict your choices to magazine and barrel mods. Personally, I recommend using the high-velocity barrel for armor-piercing since you will never use AP ammo. Then I would take a magazine upgrade or heat sink, either one. Being able to fire for longer is extremely useful against tougher enemies. Practice using the Hurricane without the stability dampener. You're restricted to close range, but it's an SMG, it's built for close range. Learn when to hip fire and when to aim. If you would really really feel more comfortable with extra stability, use a Stabilization Module III instead of a Cyclonic Modulator and/or the Barrage Upgrade instead of the Expert Package/SMG Amp. Then slowly wean yourself off the stability training wheels and you'll do more damage.

Now of course this is more of a soldier than an adept, so you might say that it's the Harrier or Hurricane with Warp ammo IV doing all the work, and not the build itself. And I wouldn't really deny that. But in my experience, I've never played a more effective Justicar build than this. Take it how you will.

I used an offensive Biotic Sphere on this character. The most important parts are the enemy weakness and warp effect. Radius is just to expand these effects further -- 30% may not seem like much but if you've taken any math classes then you should know that even a small boost in radius increases the volume significantly. The 25% debuff is very powerful, especially when you set it in a choke point. The Warp effect is mainly to prime enemies with Warp, giving you the Warp ammo bonus. You can also trigger BEs on enemies in the bubble with Reave. But for the most part, you'll be using your gun to melt enemies within the bubble.

Reave offers a little bit of damage reduction when used against organic targets, and it also primes enemies for a Warp ammo damage bonus. The damage over time is also pretty useful for Phantoms, and it stacks on itself (up to three times, I've heard). You can use it to stun lesser enemies while you line up a shot or take cover. Other than that, you can use it for biotic combos. However, note that detonating a BE will remove the Warp effect, which in turn negates your Warp ammo bonus. You're better off letting the biotic effects persist while you shoot them with Warp ammo.

However, the Justicar is capable of one of the coolest combos in the game, in my opinion. I'm talking about the Reave-Biotic Sphere-Reave combo. First you prime the enemy with Reave, then run up and cast the bubble on them. After you have cast the bubble on them, they will be primed by the Warp effect, which can be detonated with another Reave. (Note that for Biotic Sphere, only your initial cast can trigger a tech or biotic combo. It will not work if you Reave them and then they walk into the bubble).

Pull can be used effectively with this character, but I don't bother with it because you end up relying on the Acolyte and that's not very fun.

For passives, I take all weapon bonuses except for duration & capacity, which gives you slightly better cooldown. I like having that because it reduces my cooldown to what I consider an 'acceptable' range, and the duration is pretty nice as well. Overall, I think the extra weapon damage would be better. I will probably switch between the two depending on what weapons I'm using. Lastly, bottom row for Fitness goes without saying.

That's about it for the build, everyone. Hope this was helpful, hope you enjoy it. Stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er