The Galleon

Mass Effect Classes And You

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 By Dylan Sauro

There are many ways to play Mass Effect 3, there’s a way for everyone and any play style. Some play styles are better than others, but are more risky. For instance, the Vanguard Class is a high risk, high reward playing style because it puts you right in the front of the action. The Adepts are your mid range player because they rely on their biotic powers mostly. They don’t have to be right in front of the fight or all the way in the back. The Infiltrator is your back player because he has the sniper. The Soldier can be both mid and close rang because of their high health and shields, as well as good mele damage. The Engineer can also be either a mid or a long range player on the count of they can also carry a sniper. The Sentinel class is best used at mid to close range because of their tech armor. There are also best races to use for each class. For example the Asari are in the Adept and Vanguard class because both classes rely heavily on biotic powers. Salariens are in the Infiltrator and Engineer class because both classes rely mostly on tech powers. Quariens are also best for the Engineer class because of their strong tech background. And you have your Krogan and Turian in your soldier class because of their predominate combat efficiency and there stronger health/shields. Just as there is the best class for your play style, there is a best character, or race, for said class. For the Vanguards, you are better off being a human male or female. For the Vanguard class, a high risk high reward play style, the best character/race to be is the human male or female. This is because you have biotic warp which allows you to shoot directly to your enemy staggering them back as well as dealing damage; using this power also recharges your shields. Then you can hit your enemy with nova witch deals massive damage across a big area, but, uses your shields to use. Plus if you have your biotic charge and nova at level 7 right after the nova you can use another biotic charge and another nova. Just keep in mind this puts you right in the fight so all the enemies are focused on you so watch your shields. Using nova also doesn’t affect your cool down timing for biotic warp and shockwave. The human Vanguard class is best used on bronze, still good but less useful on silver (because enemies are better and do more damage), and should never be used on gold. Well you can use it on gold but you will only have the shockwave power to use and you have to be relatively close for that one as well. Being on gold you need three useful powers to rely on, your weapon cannot do the work alone. It is also best to use a light weapon with the Vanguard class so you get a better power recharge bonus. Especially with the vanguard, the faster your powers recharge the more you can do. Biotic Charge 4 - Force & Damage, Increase damage and force by 30% 5 – Power Synergy, increase power damage and force by 25% for 15 sec after a successful Biotic Charge 6 – Barrier, increase barriers by an additional 15% after a successful Biotic Charge Recharge Speed – 3.45 sec Damage – 375 Force – 750N Barrier Restored – 100% Nova 4 - Force & Damage, increase damage and force by 40% 5 – Power Recharge, increase recharge speed of all powers by 25% for 15 sec 6 – Pierce, increase damage to barriers, shields, and armored targets by 100% Damage – 595 Force – 765 N Radius – 5 m For the infiltrator class most people think they should only use a sniper but there is another good option, a shotgun. Yes the infiltrator is not an up close and personal class but it can work very efficiently if you learn how to use it. Usually they use snipers because they deal a large amount of damage accurately from a distance, perfect for pop’in heads. A shotgun also deals a lot of gamage and combined with tactical cloak you geat the damage bonus and the enemy will never see you coming. I have seen this used and if you master it, it works remarkably well. This loadout can even hold its own on the gold challenge. The best shotgun to use for this tactic would be the Geth Plasma Shotgun. It is very accurate and deals a massive amount of damage, especially if you charge it. The Geth Plasma Shotgun (GPS) also has a higher rate of fire that sniper rifles. Also, the GPS is almost a sniper in its own on the count of its insanely good accuracy compared to all other shotguns. you will need to use the spare thermal chips mod because you burn through ammo fast; especially if you charge it which counts as two shots. You can also use the Javelin the strongest sniper but also one of the slowest at reloading, you only get one shot so make it count. But, instead, the Black Widow would be better because it still has high damage and you get 3 shots before you have to reload. Another good thing to remember is when you are in Hunter Mode your shields are cut in half so watch out!