ME3 Character Guide: Drell Vanguard

What's up everyone? I've been trying out the Drell Vanguard recently and thought I'd get a guide out there. I don't know if the Drellguard, or 'Drellgod' as some call it, is considered a hipster character or what. But in the later stage of ME3 multiplayer since the Drell buffs, it has seen a revival and is in fact considered by some to be one of the best characters in the game. The Drellguard, who used to be one of the worst characters in the game, has come a long way.

Drell Vanguard
Biotic Charge: 4-radius, 5-power synergy, 6-barrier*
Pull: N/A
Cluster Grenade: 4-radius, 5-max grenades, 6-shrapnel
Drell Assassin: 4-damage & capacity, 5-power damage, 6-weapon damage
Fitness: 4-durability, 5-shield recharge, 6-fitness expert

What weapon best suits the Drellguard? The Talon. Why is it the perfect Drellguard weapon? For one, it is a shotgun in terms of behavior. Its spread makes it excellent in close-quarters combat and for applying ammo effects, preferably Incendiary ammo. However, since it is classified as a pistol, it benefits from the Heavy Barrel and Power Magnifier mods. With this combination, it is as light as a pistol, as powerful as a shotgun, and you get the power damage bonus on top of that.

So you know you want Incendiary ammo for fire explosions. What about your other gear? Definitely go for the Grenade Capacity mod, giving you up to 9 grenades. I also recommend a Power Amplifier mod as apposed to a Cyclonic Modulator. Sure the Drellguard is squishy, but a Cyclonic Modulator IV only gives you 375 extra shields, which is a complete waste of your gear. Power Amp, on the other hand, buffs your Biotic Charge and your grenades. It's a no-brainer.

I'll talk a little bit about the powers. Biotic Charge is pretty standard here. Radius is for crowd control, power synergy is to buff Biotic Charge and Cluster Grenades. Evolution 6 is really up to you, as Barrier really doesn't make a huge difference with the Drellguard. Bonus power would be a bit of a gamble but I think the reward is worth the trading, what, 225 shields? Like I said, the last one is not prescriptive.

Pull is lame. Biotic Charge can kill mooks outright anyway, so skip it.

Cluster Grenade is the 'secret ingredient', if you will, to a well-played Drellguard. For evolution 4, I actually take radius since they are hard to aim. That extra area of effect comes in handy, and you have so many power damage buffs between power synergy, your passive, the power magnifier mod, and any power amplifier you might be using. Do you really need a paltry 30% bonus? Then I take max grenades because unless you are consistently working with a biotic team, your Cluster Grenades will not get that biotic bonus. Finally I take shrapnel, since each individual grenade can trigger a tech/biotic explosion, so the more the better.

I recommend all power damage bonuses for your passive. Max it out with weapon damage for good measure, though this is your last priority. For Fitness, you definitely want all the movement speed bonuses you can get; they boost your survivability far more than any Cyclonic Modulator.

Onto strategy.

For unshielded mooks, Biotic Charge should do the job for up to three targets. For larger groups, try shooting one with Incendiary ammo, Biotic Charge for the fire explosion, then backflip and lob your Cluster Grenades at the survivors. Usually this only happens at spawn points.

Husks and Swarmers are your friends! They are plentiful on the battlefield and basically are a free shield recharge. Maybe that's part of the reason why the Drellguard does well against Reapers.

For shielded mooks, shoot once or twice to take down their shields, charge for the fire explosion, then shoot or heavy melee to seal the deal. By the way, your heavy melee knocks down unprotected enemies and staggers human-sized enemies. Use this in a pinch, such as when you are caught off guard during cooldown and/or reloading. Don't forget about it.

Against Ravagers, shoot and pop the egg sac first, then charge for the fire explosion. Otherwise when you charge, the Ravager will burst its sac and break your shields and the Swarmers will be all over you. Then after you charge, backflip if necessary and lob your Cluster Grenades.

Against Brutes, shoot and lob Cluster Grenades to trigger fire explosions. I don't recommend charging them head-on, at least until you've worn them down to their last few bars of health.

Phantoms, as always, are one of the trickiest enemies. You can charge her since you have enough force to stagger, but be wary after she swings her sword, which is a signal that she is primed to sync-kill. If you're crafty enough with your Cluster Grenades, you can bounce them off of a wall or the ground so that the Phantom doesn't use her bubble shield.

Banshees are surprisingly harmless against a well-played Drellguard. As she teleports at you, shoot at her and when she gets close enough, throw your Cluster Grenades to take down her barriers. Once she takes enough damage and stops teleporting, she is unable to sync-kill you for a while and is virtually harmless. At this time, shoot at her but don't charge or throw your grenades yet, or she will block your powers with her bubble shield. Instead, wait until she throws a Warp and then charge, blocking the Warp damage and setting off the fire explosion. If you are in close quarters and she tries to melee you, lob Cluster Grenades at her during the animation. Boom. Keep an eye out for these windows of opportunity.

Atlases are more dangerous than Banshees as their sync-kill is never disabled, and they can grab you off a charge at virtually any time. Also, their missiles are not as easy to dodge, and you risk being sync-killed by charging them. With all the power buffs, you should be able to stagger them with Biotic Charge. Not so sure, though, I have to test this.

You know come to think of it, I don't think I've played the Drellguard much against Collectors or Geth. I suppose I'll have to write about that later...

Thanks for reading and stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er