Volus Adept: Spectre Edition

Hello everyone, Scrubmas7er back with another Mass Effect 3 multiplayer guide for your face. It's been a while since I last posted a guide. I know you two have been waiting patiently, so here it is. Finally. Link to my post on BSN: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/343/index/17081446#17081446

I've always strived for proficiency with all characters, but this was the one that really stumped me. After trying a couple different builds, I've found one that I'm pretty happy with. Thought I'd share it.

How Not To Suck As A Volus Adept

Note: this build is very host-dependent. Host or have a good host when using.

Volus Adept
Stasis: 4-duration, 5-bonus power, 6-bubble
Biotic Orbs: 4-radius, 5-damage, 6-expose
Shield Boost: 4-radius, 5-recharge speed, 6-protection
Volus Training: 4-damage & capacity, 5-power damage, 6-weapon damage
Fitness: N/A

Weapons: Arc Pistol w/ Heavy Barrel + Power Magnifier: The lightest of my suggested weapons, you can get good damage and a great cooldown. The power magnifier is a bonus.

Graal w/ high-caliber barrel: This shotgun ignores armor and has a 300% headshot multiplier, as well as a 200% damage bonus when fully charged. Quite deadly, especially when combined with Stasis.

Kishock w/ extended barrel: This sniper rifle ignores both armor and shield gate. Also, it has an inherent 300% headshot multiplier. Couple that with the 175% charged shot bonus and it can one-shot any human-sized enemies. Unlike other sniper rifles, it has no hipfire penalty, so run and gun to your heart's content, little Volus. Source: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/343/index/16386945/1#16386971

Ammo Bonus: Warp Ammo (Reapers/Collectors), Disruptor Ammo (Geth, Cerberus)

Weapon Bonus: Pistol Rail Amp (or appropriate weapon amp/targeting VI)

Armor Bonus: Power Efficiency Module

Gear Bonus: Commando Package (or appropriate weapon amp), Responder Loadout, Armored Compartments

Stasis: Bubble is the important one here - it lets you freeze up to 2 targets at once and freezes subsequent targets that enter the bubble. I take duration so that the bubble stays for longer to trap more enemies. Rank 5 is based on preference.

Biotic Orbs: I go for the debuff branch here because the Volus Adept has very little offensive capability without it. It does decent damage to armor and barriers, triggers biotic explosions, and is capable of debuffing enemies up to 45% (albeit for a brief duration). I recommend radius for more crowd control, greater chance of triggering a teammate's biotic explosion, and for debuffing more enemies.

Shield Boost: You get 1.5 seconds of invulnerability after using this power. Use this to your advantage. Whenever possible, use this before you take a hit. If you get staggered, you'll be shot down before you have a chance to boost. You want to avoid being on cooldown so you can use this to stay alive. But if you're on cooldown, especially for Biotic Orbs, use your tactical cloak (light melee) to drop enemy aggro.

Volus Training: In my estimation, weight capacity > weapon damage > power damage. Shields restored is irrelevant since the Volus has so little shields anyway. So I take 4b, 5a, and 6b.

Fitness: Unless you are soloing and you need every sliver of durability you can get, Fitness is virtually worthless for Volus. Those points are better spent maxing out your powers.

Strategy: Using your many Volus powers to your advantage.

Invulnerability: Use Shield Boost to negate all damage (except sync kills). Similarly, your heavy melee gives you invulnerability frames and regenerates a small portion of your shields. However, heavy melee is not as reliable since (a) you have to hold down the melee button, meaning you could be dead before it takes effect, and (b) the invulnerability has a cooldown function so you gradually lose damage reduction the longer you hold down the button. With enough cooldown bonuses, you can alternate Shield Boost and heavy melee and remain invulnerable (until you are inevitably staggered to death).

Use your tactical cloak periodically, before entering a combat situation. There is no reason not to, and it eliminates enemy aggro directed at you. You want to be either invulnerable or invisible as a Volus. Don't be like those Voluses you find in PUGs.

Unarmored enemies: Simply Stasis and headshot. Stasis-->Biotic Orb for a biotic explosion.
Swarmers- Stasis the little buggers.
Shielded & unshielded troopers- Stasis and headshot, though crowd control is often an issue. Use your Biotic Orbs to stagger and trigger biotic explosions. It's important to be defensive around these enemies since one burst is enough to kill you.
Guardians- Bubble Stasis will freeze them and cause them to drop their shields. Easy pickings.
Phantoms- Stasis, throw an Orb for a biotic explosion, then headshot. On Gold, with enough equipment, Stasis-->headshot is enough.

Armored enemies: Debuff with Biotic Orbs and chip away at their armor. As always, aim for the head. Best to let your teammates handle them when possible.
Dragoons: Debuff thoroughly with Orbs, headshot, use those I-frames. Much easier when teammates are using Biotics or incendiary powers.
Cerberus Turrets: Avoid at all costs.
Brutes, Ravagers, Scions: Relatively easy to handle because they're slow and dumb, but time-consuming. Simply debuff and shoot at weak points.
Bosses: See above, but Primes and Praetorians are some of your worst enemies. Bosses in general will be time-consuming to kill with this non-DPS build, which is ultimately why using the Volus Adept on Platinum is a waste of time.

Also check out ToLazy4Name's Volus Guide for additional Volus goodness.

Ex-Cerberus Phoenix Adept: Spectre Edition

Hello everybody and welcome to another Mass Effect 3 multiplayer guide. Initially, I was of the opinion that the Phoenix Adept was one of the weaker characters. Balance changes shifted that opinion, Smash got buffed and nerfed, Singularity got buffed, and I think it ended up being a pretty strong character. A bit slow and squishy compared to Dragoons, but dat Smash...

Ex-Cerberus Adept
Singularity: 4-radius, 5-recharge speed, 6-detonate
Smash: 4-biotic combo, 5-force & damage, 6-armor damage
Lash: 4-detonate, 5-damage over time, 6-shield penetration
Phoenix Training: 4-damage & capacity, 5-power damage
Fitness: 3

In terms of weapons, I've tried a few different guns and don't feel as if I've hit the nail on the head, but in my most recent ventures I managed to score 200k+ with this character using the Talon. It's not as consistent against shields as the Acolyte, but it does comparable damage and it's more useful all-around.  It has a great attack pattern with Smash: two shots and Smash, two shots and Smash. Using a power after emptying the clip will also "hide" your reload animation with good timing; in this case, Smash right after you fire the last shot in the clip - your gun will reload during the Smash animation. This trick works with all guns and powers, but the timing varies.

I recommend using the heavy barrel for a whopping 40% extra damage (and it's glitched so that it won't actually affect your cooldown). Also, take the power magnifier to buff your powers even more. Then I would recommend either Warp ammo (synergy with biotics) or Disruptor ammo (strip shields faster, but interferes with biotics).

I recommend the Geth Scanner since this character is squishy. I believe that situational awareness trumps a measly 20%-30% shield boost any day. It also lets you Smash enemies through walls more effectively. Wallhax ftw!

Singularity: With this character, I decided to use Singularity as a time-bomb rather than spec-ing it as a biotic primer. With all the power damage bonuses, the detonation does over 1200 damage across 7 meters. That's like a bonus biotic explosion. Everything else was built around that. You don't want duration because then it takes 20 seconds for Singularity to detonate instead of 8 seconds, so take radius. I took recharge speed because lift damage would kill lifted targets too fast - I want to be able to use Lash on them to create biotic explosions to damage other enemies. But in most situations lift damage would be better, especially for Phantoms. Remember that Singularity staggers most human-sized enemies within the field, and the detonation staggers even more enemies (I have seen it stagger Atlases and Banshees - I can't imagine that Primes or Crabs would be any different).

Smash: The steak and potatoes (or rice, if you're MasterReefa [BSN reference]) of the Smashdept. It has an inherent 150% damage bonus against armor, shields, and barriers. With the armor damage evolution, that increases to 262.5% (if my math is straight) damage bonus to armor and barriers. Factoring in all the power damage bonuses, Smash does upwards of 4500 damage to armor and barriers. It detonates biotic explosions and primes them too if you take the biotic combo evo. It deals 2.5x force against Lashed targets and can hit up to two targets.

Lash: The Phoenix is a ladies man. Back in the Cerberus training program, the Phantoms and Nemeses  just couldn't escape the lure of his Lash. Yeah, okay maybe the story is a bit silly. But seriously, Lash is great for incapacitating those pesky Phantoms and Nemeses. Also great for stealing Guardian shields. And of course, it's great for any other unarmored enemies.

Phoenix Training: Power damage. 'Nuff said.

Fitness: Just 3 ranks for a little bit of durability. This character is still pretty squishy, and he doesn't get any damage reduction during his ridiculously long Smash or Lash animations. But what can you do? Well I want a new Phoenix with Barrier, Annihilation Field and Smash. The ultimate close quarters Adept!

Strategy: Since this character is so squishy, you can't run around in the open. Play carefully and stick to close quarters if possible. Always try to have a solid piece of cover to get behind in case of Banshee Warps, Atlas missiles, Praetorian lasers, etc.

TBC...

-Grun7mas7er

ME3 Character Guide: Human Adept

Hello readers, it's been a while but I'm back with another Mass Effect 3 character guide for your face. This one is for the Human Adept, which gets outshined by the Fury and Shaman, but is a powerful and versatile adept in its own right. It is an essential character to any biotic team.

Human Adept
Singularity: 4-duration, 5-lift damage, 6-damage
Warp: 4-detonate, 5-expose, 6-pierce
Shockwave: 4-force & damage, 5-detonate, 6-recharge speed
Alliance Training: N/A
Fitness: 4-durability, 5-shield recharge, 6-fitness expert

The most essential weapon for this character is the Acolyte. Sure, the Acolyte is essential on half of the characters in the game, but as a biotic-centric kit, this one really needs it. Biotics don't work well against shields. I recommend the heavy barrel and ultra-light materials to compensate for the added weight.

You don't need a secondary, but it doesn't hurt. The CSMG is lightweight and does great damage to armor. The Hurricane is also a great choice, just less accurate. I'd go with the magazine upgrade and high-velocity barrel (this is essential, otherwise your SMG will only tickle armored enemies). If you don't have either one leveled up to your liking, consider the Locust or Tempest as alternatives to the CSMG and Hurricane respectively.

I prefer the Geth Scanner on this character, since it helps you stay out of dangerous situations and pick your targets more effectively. But it's really not essential. The Commando and Expert packages are good choices too. I normally don't prescribe weapon amps, but you really need the pistol damage to drain shields quickly, especially for Phantoms. It's annoying to have to use two Acolyte shots to destroy a single Phantom's shields. SMG damage is secondary.

You have two biotic primers and two detonators, so I recommend Warp ammo for this character. You get the bonus damage to any targets affected by Singularity or Warp, and it won't interfere with your biotic explosions.

Singularity: I mostly use this as a biotic primer and mook killer. Great for incapacitating multiple unprotected enemies. Place one in a high traffic area and prime all the things as they walk through it, then use Shockwave to detonate each one. You can avoid the repetitive priming-detonating pattern this way. This is why I choose duration rather than radius, because I don't have to replace it as often.

Warp: Standard Warp. You get the splosions. You get the debuff. You get the armor weakening. What more can I say?

Shockwave: Most important part is the detonate evo. I take force & damage to stagger more things, and recharge speed for spam-ability. You know, to troll your sniper teammates. No headshot for you!

Alliance Training: This is good if you're playing with reliable teammates because you can afford to sacrifice some durability for more damage. But it does not affect your biotic explosion damage. So this branch is situational, and I generally skip it.

Fitness: I do a lot of pick-up games with randoms, so when the time comes to solo a wave or two I have some extra durability. It is a noticeable difference, believe it or not. But not as essential as it is for the Juggernaut.

Strategy: In general, Acolyte for shields, SMG and biotic explosions for armor.

For unprotected enemies, use Singularity to incapacitate them first. At long range, use Warp to detonate. At close range, use Shockwave. For single targets, use Singularity followed by a heavy melee.
For groups of enemies, try funneling them into your Singularity and detonate them with Shockwave as they pass through.

For shielded enemies like Marauders, Acolyte first then Singularity. Even if you miss your Acolyte shot, follow with Singularity, which will staggerlock them and prevent them from shooting at you. Then you'll have time to charge your shot, shoot, and detonate.

With the Acolyte and appropriate pistol amps, Phantoms are trivialized. Just drain their barrier, Singularity, and detonate. Again, even if you miss your Acolyte shot, follow with Singularity to put the Phantom on the defensive, then drain her shields. As soon as her bubble goes down she'll be trapped. Finish with a Shockwave.

For armored enemies, the Warp/Shockwave combo will give you the most damage. All in all, you get 115% bonus damage for the biotic explosion, and the Warped target takes 15% more damage on top of that.

Of course, it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes you need to funnel groups of Dragoons (aka the football team) through as Singularity, detonating each one as they pass through. You may also want to use Singularity on Ravagers to mop up any Swarmers nearby.

You'll want to deal with Cerberus Turrets as indirectly as possible. At a distance, use Singularity, Acolyte to take down the shields, then Warp for the biotic explosion.

Against bosses, Warp for debuff, then use the Acolyte for shields. Wear down their armor with your SMG and biotic explosions. Warp, shoot your CSMG until nearly empty, then Shockwave for the boom. Rinse and repeat.

That's about it, I think. Stay classy folks.

-Grun7mas7er

Check out Capt. Stach3's epic Youtube story, Felicia the First Fabulous Fury. It's got some great tips and it's entertaining. :D

ME3 Character Guide: Asari Adept

Greetings esteemed readers, welcome to another Mass Effect 3 multiplayer guide. A lot of you are looking to step up your game, correct? Well here is a character that can make you feel like you're better than you really are because she's a TOTAL SCORE WHORE. That's right, the Asari Adept is actually a great character for racking up the points. Why is this? Because part of the point calculation comes from rag-dolling targets (e.g. using Throw to knock a Cannibal to the ground). And the Asari Adept can ragdoll not only unprotected targets, but shielded targets as well thanks to Stasis. Throw in (pun intended) one of the best biotic combos in the game and some jiggly Asari bum bum and you know she's a keeper.

Asari Adept
Stasis: 4-duration, 5-bonus power, 6-bubble
Warp: 4-detonate, 5-expose, 6-pierce
Throw: 4-force, 5-detonate, 6-force & damage
Asari Adept: N/A
Fitness: 4-durability, 5-shield recharge, 6-fitness expert

A lot of people will recommend the "Stasis sniper" build, but let me tell you why I reject this build:
1. I suck at headshots (yes, even with Stasis on),
2. (this is a serious one) any build based around headshots is highly subject not only to personal skill, but to network conditions, meaning unless you host on PC all the time, you probably won't get the most out of it, and
3. I like my adepts to be... adept-y. Ya know?
So the Stasis sniper build... not saying it isn't good, but it's not exactly a one-size-fits-all.

Let's talk about weapons. I recommend using the Collector SMG. It's accurate, has negligible recoil, infinite ammo, and a damage bonus against armored targets. The Best Caster Weapon*. Also take the Acolyte with your best damage barrel and ultra-light materials. You'll only be using it for bosses, so keep it as a sidearm.

I take Warp ammo because you have two primers (sorta) and two triggers. So you'll probably get your money's worth from it. And it doesn't get in the way of your Biotic Explosions, which is important.

Take whatever gear you want. I prefer survival-oriented gear like Geth Scanner or Survivor Loadout.

Stasis: This makes some of the most dangerous enemies (Phantoms, Collector Captains, Swarmers etc.) look like jokes. Instant incapacitation. Can't get any better than that. Most important is the bubble evolution, which lets you freeze multiple targets at once. With bubble, the Stasis is now a physical entity on the battlefield like a Singularity, so I take duration so that it stays active for longer and more enemies might walk through it. Take that, Swarmers! Then I take bonus power, which occasionally let's you quickly follow up with Throw for a biotic explosion.

Warp: Everyone and their mother has Warp these days! What's up with that? Yeah, just take the standard Warp on this build and you'll be fine.

Note: using Stasis-->Warp can cause a glitch where enemies caught in the biotic explosion appear to be in Stasis but their "ghosts" are still running around and shooting you. I haven't had this happen to me recently, so it might be fixed, but I don't use Stasis-->Warp that often, so I wouldn't know.

Throw: Ragdoll all the things! Everything that is unprotected - Throw them. Even if you don't get the kill, you get ragdoll assist points, which add up. Of course, this is also your trigger for enemies in Stasis and those that are Warped. The more boom the better. BEs do "normalized" damage, meaning that the damage scales according to difficulty. In layman's terms, making things go bewm bewm on platinum is GOOD; shooting things with your babby peashooter on platinum is BAD.

Asari Adept: Skip it because it doesn't affect your biotic explosions. You hardly need the weight capacity, and the weapon bonuses are pitiful considering the investment required. Only Warp does anything beyond token damage, and even then it's not much. You could get the force bonuses to get Throw up to the 1500N threshold, but it's not too important for this build.

Fitness: But ME3 superl33t pros always skip Fitness! I think the Asari Adept needs some extra durability but like BK, have it your way! If you trade for passive bonuses, I'd go for power damage & force.

-Grun7mas7er

Awakened Collector: First Impressions

Greetings everyone, welcome to the first installment of my Reckoning DLC character guides. I've  browsed BSN for tips and tricks for the Collector adept, talked strategy with fellow ME3 players, and played a few games. I've learned a few things (only a few) which I will share with you here.

Dark Sphere is an awesome biotic power with two behavioral stages: the sphere and the detonation. When cast, the sphere primes enemies within its radius for biotic explosions -- you can tell by the green glow. In this stage, it does some pretty good damage per second to enemies within its radius. This damage over time persists even after detonation. Think of it as an ultra-Singularity. Also, it does not trigger a cooldown until you detonate it. Thus, you can cast Dark Sphere without ever triggering a cooldown.

However, there are many benefits to detonating, hence the long cooldown. The detonation deals massive damage, but does not trigger biotic explosions. Also, the explosion does not prime targets, only the sphere phase does. Needless to say, the Collector is extremely powerful with biotic teammates. However, it should be noted that Dark Sphere is buggy off-host and sometimes fires blanks. It's not entirely host-dependent, but it is noticeably better.

When you're fighting Collectors, bees are bad. When you are a Collector, bees are good. Seeker Swarm is similar to Biotic Orbs. When you first cast them, the swarms float around you and then can be thrown one after another, doing slight damage and slowing enemy movement speed. They also trigger biotic explosions, though since they have no detonate evolution, the explosions are rather weak. You can use them passively to create a barrier of bees around you and gain up to 40% damage reduction, which I recommend. Be warned: as with Biotic Orbs, throwing Seeker Swarms off-host is not as responsive as on-host and there is a huge delay between throws.

The last power is Dark Channel, which deals damage over time with a 1.5x bonus against armor, 2x bonus against barriers, and 0.5x penalty against shields. Dark Channel jumps to a nearby target after you trigger it with a BE. Using Seeker Swarms, you can potentially chain up to four BEs in quick succession (if you're host).

One way to utilize the Collector's biotics is to cast Dark Sphere, cast Dark Channel, let your enemies stew in the damage over time for a brief duration, then detonate Dark Sphere (boom). Then throw your bees at the survivors (boom boom boom boom). This combo is excellent for crowd control.

The Collector's passive abilities are extremely good for both power damage and weapon damage. There are a lot of ways to build this character. The best way? We're still figuring that out. I like to take damage & capacity, power damage, and then weapon damage + Collector/Prothean weapon damage bonus.

This character is interesting in part because your heavy melee is replaced by Ascension Stance, which offers up some damage and cooldown bonuses but at the cost of reducing your resistance to damage. I can see a build focusing on this ability, but I'm not experienced enough to recommend it or not. It received a minor buff recently.

The Collector works really well with Warp ammo, since virtually all of his biotic powers prime enemies with a lasting biotic effect, and your powers work in such a way that biotic explosions aren't constantly interfering with your Warp ammo. Needless to say, he is also great with Collector and Prothean weapons.

To be continued...

Thanks for reading. Stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er

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

ME3 Character Guide: Batarian Slasher Adept

What's up gamers? It's been a while since I posted a guide for the Retaliation characters. I haven't had much time to test out the last few so I'm just posting some first impressions for them and posting any tips that I've come across in my travels. I hope to update it to a full 200 Waves guide later on, but for now this will have to do. Also I'll take this opportunity to make a public service announcement. I'm going to be less active on the blog for a while as spring semester begins. I'll try to keep up with new content but I can't make any promises. Anyway, let's look at the build.

Batarian Slasher
Warp: 4-detonate, 5-expose, 6-pierce
Lash: N/A
Cluster Grenades: 4-damage & force, 5-damage combo, 6-shrapnel
Batarian Enforcer: 4-weapon damage, 5-headshots, 6-damage & ammo
Fitness: 4-durability, 5-shield recharge, 6-fitness expert

Definitely use Warp ammo on this build. Any target primed with a biotic power takes extra damage from Warp rounds, so this is going to give you a massive damage bonus.

Generally shotguns work well on Batarians, but especially so with this build because you will be working in close quarters. The Claymore is a classic because it is unrivaled in terms of damage per shot. The Wraith also does great damage. The reason you want damage per shot instead of damage per second is because you want to execute your combos as quickly as possible. This build isn't about sustained fire.

For just about any build, you're going to want the 'standard Warp'. That is, detonate, expose, and pierce. You get biotic explosions, a general debuff, and the armor debuff. Very useful on a weapon build.

Lash is an all or nothing power because you need shield penetration for higher difficulties. It's difficult to skip Lash since the Batarian cannot dodge and you need something to protect you from Phantoms and melee creatures in general. Since we're skipping Lash with this build, just be wary of Phantoms and keep your distance when possible.

Many players don't know the warning signs that a Phantom is primed for a sync-kill, so I'll go over what I know. A Phantom is primed for a sync-kill after her regular melee slash. This is when you want to keep your distance (unfortunately as a Batarian, there's not much you can do to get away but back up or shoot her). When she uses her palm cannon or tactical cloak, she is un-primed from her sync-kill. I'd have to double-check how her bubble shield affects her sync-kill but I think it also un-primes it. If you're cornered by a Phantom and don't have Lash, use Warp and blast her with your Claymore and hope for the best.

This build is about damage, damage, and more damage. When spec-ing Cluster Grenades we have to take into account different things like biotic priming and shrapnel. Damage & force for the first one is pretty obvious. Damage combo is skipped over too often because of poor description; the damage combo applies to all biotic-primed targets, not just lifted targets. I've read that only one shrapnel gets the damage bonus though, but it's still worth it. Then I take shrapnel because more grenades thrown equals more overall damage, assuming they all hit.

Looking at Batarian Enforcer, you may wonder why I take weapon damage and headshots if this is a power build. As you'll see later on, much of your damage will be from your weapon. Additionally, you're not using Warp and Cluster Grenades on everything, mostly hard targets. Your gun is still going to be your primary weapon for this build. For Fitness it's simply all health and shields to give you enough durability for close quarters combat. Voila.

-Grun7mas7er

Now that we've covered all the powers, let's look at the main combos for this build. You know what, I'm not even going to spoil it by explaining it. Just watch and learn. (Much thanks to Feneckus for the demonstration video, which pretty much inspired me to this whole build).



Also, check out Xcal's video guide.

Krogan Shaman Adept: 200 Waves Edition

What's up everyone. So I've spent a decent amount of time with the Krogan Shaman. In fact, I actually sat down with him for a brief interview. Here's how it went.

MACave11i: Hello Mr. Krogan Shaman. Welcome to ME3 multiplayer.

Krogan Shaman: Thanks. It's good to be here.

M: So tell us a little about yourself.

KS: I like to make things explode.

M: I see. Is that why you prefer Warp and Shockwave?

KS: Yeah. They make really good explosions.

M: There's some discussion on BSN about why you like Warp instead of Reave. Can you comment on this?

KS: Reave is for Drell.

M: Yes, but it can prime multiple targets for shockwave detonations and gives you additional damage reduction on top of Barrier.

KS: I'm Krogan. I don't need more damage reduction.

M: Fair enough. But Reave would make for really good synergy with the Krogan Vanguard. Reave and Biotic Charge would be awesome for crowd control.

KS: We're Krogan. We just kill things. Doesn't matter how.

M: Well that answers that. You heard it right here, folks. Thanks for being here with us on ME3 multiplayer, Mr. Krogan Shaman.

KS: Yeah, yeah. You humans talk too much. Now where's the free food you told me about?

And that's why the Krogan Shaman has Warp instead of Reave. Now... the glorious build.

Krogan Shaman
Barrier: 4-blast effect, 5-power synergy*
Shockwave: 4-radius, 5-detonate, 6-recharge speed
Warp: 4-detonate, 5-expose, 6-pierce
Krogan Battlemaster: 4-damage & capacity, 5-power damage, 6-weapon damage
Rage: 3*

*You can replace power synergy with durability if preferred. You can even take 5 ranks in Rage and 3 ranks in Barrier for faster shield regeneration. I've used that build on Platinum and I approve.

I recommend Warp Ammo or Incendiary Ammo
For your weapon, anything that is relatively lightweight. Preferably it is effective against shielded targets from Marauders to Preatorians, as your Warp-Shockwave combo is either inefficient or negated by their shield.


As you can see, this build is all about Biotics. The Krogan Shaman actually has really good potential in terms of available powers. He's arguably the most well-rounded Adept in the game right now and I'll explain. If I were to make a custom Biotic character, I would pick Barrier (or Tech armor) for durability and power damage bonus, Warp for debuffing, and some kind of Biotic trigger, either Throw or Shockwave. Since Shockwave is generally better, this really is about as powerful as you can make an Adept. The other option is to take another debuffer instead of a detonator. This brings Annihilation Field to mind. And as you may have noticed, that would be the same power set as the upcoming Asari Valkyrie Sentinel, which I think will be more powerful than a lot of people realize.

Now that I've spent a good deal of time playing the Krogan Shaman, I've settled on the build above. As you can see, it's a power-oriented build rather than a pure weapons build. I have no qualms with a pure weapon build, but I like to play different characters...well...differently. I feel like the weapon build would be rather boring, but if that's your thing go ahead.

The question I sometimes have to ask myself is: why do I take Barrier if it slows down your biotic explosion combos? There are a few reasons and I think they justify the slightly slower recharge speed. One is the Barrier detonation, which is useful for CQC and compensates for your lack of mobility. When a Phantom gets up close and you can't get away, don't hesitate to detonate your Barrier and create some space between you and that Phantom while she is staggered. Shockwave can achieve this as well, but is not nearly as reliable. The second reason is the useful power synergy evolution, which boosts the damage & force of all your powers, including the Barrier detonation (I am told). Finally, the most obvious reason is the damage reduction. For this build, the math says you'll have 1800/1800 health/shields, which is essentially the same as if you had maxed Rage, but with the added power damage bonus. With a Cyclonic IV, you'll have 1800/3800. I'm reasonably sure that 3 ranks of Rage trumps 10% DR for the final evolution of Barrier. It is a whopping 35% health/shield bonus, after all.

Shockwave is just your standard detonator and mook killer. With all the power bonuses, Shockwave has rather good damage and force. It's also fairly spam-able. Apart from that, use it to detonate Warped targets. Remember that the power of your biotic explosions are determined by the rank of the powers used and any evolutions that specifically increase the damage & force of biotic explosions. For example, rank 6 Warp with detonate + rank 6 Shockwave with detonate does more damage & force per explosion than if Warp and Shockwave were only at rank 5. Currently, this is the most powerful biotic combo available.

I use the 'standard Warp' for this character. Rank 4 is detonate for obvious reasons. Next, I choose expose to debuff enemies and deal more weapon damage. Finally, I take pierce to weaken armored targets for even greater weapon damage. Nothing new here. I should note that using Warp ammo on targets affected by biotics gives you a significant weapon damage bonus, depending on the level of your ammo mod. Or you can use Incendiary ammo to set targets on fire, then trigger fire explosions with your biotics. Using these ammo mods can increase your damage output significantly.

For the passive bonuses, I take all power damage & force evolutions. Even though they don't affect biotic explosions, they give your biotics a decent boost in addition to Barrier's power synergy. Then I take weapon damage for the final evolution. When you step back and examine all of the offensive capabilities of this Krogan, you can see that this is a very diverse, very powerful character.

Last but not least, you have three ranks in Rage to give you a little bit of added durability. Believe me, the added health bonuses are quite useful. If you need some more health & shields, consider replacing rank 5 of Barrier for rank 4 of Rage. This is the closest to an Adept tank that you can get.

I hope you all found this guide somewhat helpful. Remember, if you like this you can check the like box. If you really like these guides you can subscribe. Either way, thanks for reading and have fun with the new builds. Peace.

-MACave11i
Grun7mas7er

Below is Stardusk's guide to the Krogan Shaman. Watch and learn.

First Impressions: Volus Adept

Ignore this build. I've recently tested the Volus Adept to see how he stacks up in the current state of the game. Simply put, he doesn't. If you want to use a Volus, go with the Engineer.

Ok, I have to admit that when I heard that Volus would be included in the new DLC, I thought that Bioware was trolling us with a joke character. But after unlocking the Ultra-Rare Volus Adept, I can tell you that while Volus are still kind of a joke, they are not joke characters. They definitely have their place on any team, any difficulty. Sure, they may be so short that you don't need to take cover. They may be so round that if they fall over, you can't tell the difference from when they're standing up. They may be more fragile than a Drell with the weapons capabilities of an Asari. But that's not the point. As Bioware said, the Volus are not frontline soldiers, but full-on support characters. If you're an altruistic soul who doesn't mind not topping the scoreboards, than you will love the Volus. Even if you're not the support type, playing as a Volus is a nice change of pace from all the shoot-all-the-things characters.

The Volus Adept has two major powers that can be evolved into two distinct play styles. As such, I have created two separate builds.

Edited 10/15/12

Shield Volus
Stasis: 4-stasis strength, 5-bonus power, 6-bubble
Biotic Orbs: 4-damage, recharge speed, 6-orb count
Shield Boost: 4-shields, 5-regeneration*, 6-protection
Volus Training: 4-damage & capacity, 5-shield boost
Fitness: 3

*If you choose to take a heavy weapon, it may be better to take recharge speed for evolution 5.

The Shield Volus focuses on Shield Boost, acting as a mobile shield pylon for the team. A good Shield Volus will be greatly appreciated by your team. They are particularly good for Escort and Upload objectives.

I would take Stasis because it is useful both offensively and defensively. You can use it for pesky Phantoms, mobs, etc. As a fragile Volus, you need to make sure your enemies can't shoot back, so this helps a lot with most enemies. Also, it synergizes well with Biotic Orbs, which I will explain in the next paragraph.

For this build, I spec Biotic Orbs for recharge speed, rather than debuffing. This lets you spam Stasis and Shield Boost more often. This recharge speed is especially important with Shield Boost, since you can generally recharge your shields whenever they go down. If you don't throw your orbs, you'll have a total of 60% recharge speed bonus for Stasis and Shield Boost. With a 200% cooldown and without choosing recharge speed for evolution 5, you'll have a 3 second recharge speed for both Stasis and Shield Boost. Maximum spam-ability.

With Shield Boost, I take the quick-boost approach, choosing shields and protection evolutions for maximum initial shield boost, and regeneration for faster shield recharge in case a teammate strays from your protective range. You can choose recharge speed instead, though. It's really a choice of shields now-or-later.

For Volus Training, I chose damage & capacity for more weapon weight. Normally, I would skip evolution 5 if it were a choice between headshots and power damage, but the Volus has Shield Boost instead of headshots. Definitely choose that.

Finally, I put 3 ranks into fitness. The Volus is pretty fragile, so it doesn't seem to matter much, but it's better than nothing. If you want, you can replace it with evolution 6 of Volus Training. Alternatively, you could skip Stasis and fill out Fitness. Your choice.

Debuffer Volus

Stasis: 4-stasis strength, 5-bonus power, 6-bubble

Biotic Orbs: 4-damage, 5-damage, 6-expose

Shield Boost: 4-shields

Volus Training: 4-damage & capacity, 5-shield boost, 6-weapon damage

Fitness: 4-durability

Whereas the Shield Volus focuses on Shield Boost and protecting teammates, the Debuffer Volus focuses on, well... debuffing enemies. You'll still be using Shield Boost, just not as often. As a result, I have chosen different evolutions to reflect this play style.

Stasis is the same. This is generally a good way to evolve Stasis.

For Biotic Orbs, we're going with all-out damage. With the expose evolution, each orb increases damage done to the enemy by 15% for 6 seconds, and this effect can stack up to three times, meaning that you can throw all three orbs at a target for a total of 45% damage bonus. That's like throwing three Warps in a row! The only downside is that the cooldown is pretty long for Biotic Orbs.

For this build, I spec Shield Boost for a more long-term effect, since you will be using it less often. I choose impact radius so that I can cover my allies better. With the Shield Volus, you don't need radius because you can run around spamming Shield Boost every three seconds. But with the Debuffer Volus, every Shield Boost has to count because you don't have the same cooldown. I choose recharge speed for evolution 5 just to improve the cooldown time a little. Finally, I choose duration for evolution 6. I know that the shield boost evolution looks a lot better than duration, but this way Shield Boost slowly regenerates your shields over time for 6 seconds instead of 3. It would be nice if Bioware buffed this to maybe 10 seconds, but regardless, this is a good evolution because you won't be using Shield Boost as much with this build so every one has to count. However, both are good choices. Ultimately, it's up to you. I promise I won't be mad if you choose protection instead.

*I've decided to max out Volus Training instead of Shield Boost. This allows you to have decent weapon damage and still maintain a strong shield boost. It's a little more selfish now, since you won't be covering your teammates as much, but this build was never meant to be a medic anyways.

For Volus Training, I take damage & capacity for weapon weight and to boost Biotic Orbs a little. Finally for Fitness, I go up to durability for evolution 4 to make up for less frequent shield boosts.

And some final tips for the Volus race in general. Voluses (Volusi?) don't have melee. It would be a pretty funny sight to see, but the melee button serves a different function. Tapping the melee button will give you a very short tactical cloak, great for reviving a teammate or avoiding enemy fire. Holding the melee button will give you a bubble shield. As someone on BSN said, it will make you assume pooping position. So you will squat down with this bubble shield, which I am told negates every other hit and damages enemies who get close. I'm not sure about the function, but it is not a Paladin Shield. In other words, don't squat in front of a Cerberus turret. You will die. I know from personal experience.

Here is some gameplay of a Debuffer-style Volus Adept, by INVADERONE.

I hope you all found this guide to be helpful. Now go out and have fun with the new Volus Adept! Peace.

-MACave11i

N7 Fury Adept: Master Level

Hello esteemed readers. This is an updated guide to the N7 Fury, which may be my favorite Adept in the game right now. I have played this build pretty extensively since the Earth DLC came out, so I though that I would share my experience. The Fury is much more aggressive than most other Adepts, but this allows her to do much more damage in a short period of time. She is a master of biotic explosions and spawn-nuking in the hands of a knowledgeable and skilled player. Also, the Fury is just a fun character to use. But for Shepard's sake, if you want to play this character aggressively, make sure you're host. You'll face significant lag when playing this character off-host, and you'll be effectively handicapped.

N7 Fury Adept
Annihilation Field: 4-radius, 5-damage taken, 6-drain
Dark Channel: 4-damage, 5-slow, 6-pierce
Throw: 4-radius, 5-detonate, 6-force & damage
N7 Fury: 4-damage & capacity
Fitness: 4-durability

You may consider speccing out of Dark Channel and maxing your passives and fitness. If you do this, you will be more reliant on weapons to deal with boss enemies.

Recommended ammo: Warp, and to a lesser extent, Incendiary
Recommended weapons: Always bring an Acolyte, which was made for casters like the Fury. Your secondary weapon should be relatively lightweight and do good damage per second. I like to use the Piranha, Wraith, and Hurricane with this build. I could also see the Collector SMG, Hornet, and Tempest as alternatives. You don't need a 200% recharge speed, but I recommend keeping it around 100%.

The strategy for this build is to get close to enemies and destroy them with biotic explosions, stunning and draining the shields of weaker enemies with the Acolyte. Against bosses, you can use repeated BEs by backing up after the first BE, then closing in again to reapply Annihilation Field followed by Throw.

The key to the Fury's power is Annihilation Field. The radius evolution gives you insane crowd control because weaker enemies panic when they are in the AF, so you can incapacitate them from further away. The damage taken evolution debuffs enemies within AF, which sets them up for BEs and your weapon. You can take movement speed if you prefer. It's pretty fun. Finally, the drain evolution increases your survivability against mid-level enemies like Marauders. When you run into crowds of enemies your shields won't last long on their own, but drain lets you absorb their shields, giving you the chance to set off your BEs. You're not invincible, nor are you a tank, but like the Vorcha you are very durable. And if you're ever backed into a corner by Phantoms, for whatever reason, you can detonate AF for massive damage and teleport out of there.

Speaking of the Fury's dodge move, you can teleport up and down ladders and even through some walls. Your heavy melee also functions as a teleport, if needed. On Firebase Glacier, try teleporting from the main room to the landing pad, or vice-versa.

If I take Dark Channel (sometimes I spec out of it), I use it for Phantoms, Banshees, and the like. It's an instant cast, so they can't dodge it. Sure, you can get up close and personal with the AF/Throw combo, but that's not always the safest way to go. Dark Channel/Throw is slower, but you don't have to be at close range to use it. Remember that detonating Dark Channel doesn't cancel the damage over time, but it can prime a close-by target for a BE. I take the slow evolution because it's very useful against things like Dragoons and Phantoms. Pierce is also very useful against mid-to-boss level enemies. I wouldn't rely on the damage over time to kill the enemy though, unless you don't mind slow games. If you're using Warp ammo, prime enemies with Dark Channel first to deal even greater weapon damage.

It's crucial to have Throw maxed out to make the most of you BEs, since higher-level biotics make more powerful explosions. Detonate is the most important evolution for the same reason. I like to take radius because it gives you slightly better crowd control. It can't detonate more than one BE, but it can hit multiple targets. I definitely prefer to take force & damage at the end because it makes Throw pretty good by itself against lesser enemies. Also, recharge speed is basically useless. If you're using an elemental ammo type, use Throw to trigger tech explosions.

For the passives, take damage & capacity to give you slightly better cooldown so you can hold two weapons. The extra power and weapon damage could be useful, but they don't affect your BEs. Yes, in case you didn't know, power damage bonuses do not affect BE damage. Finally, I take durability for slightly better survivability, which is a must when you're running through spawn zones. A Cyclonic Modulator helps too. Or consider an Adrenaline Module for better mobility.

That's about it for the guide. Try it out and see how you like it. If you do, consider checking the 'like' box below. If you don't, maybe leave an degrading comment and tell me how much of a n00b I am. So thanks for reading. Take care.

-Grun7mas7er

(Edit: N7 Link has since deleted his Fury videos)