Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Strategy Guide

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Strategy Guide

While the rest of the world is cranky about the ending, we at Redhead Reviews are rocking the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. Here are some tips that we have come up with that are crucial in order to survive. Enjoy!

XBL:  mumfordian (CREDIT GOES TO HIM!)


Outline: (for those of you who already know this or that about ME3, may I reccommend you first scan the outline and go to whatever section you think will
be most helpful to you, since many of the things I will say pertain to many of the sections of the game I will go into, and the last thing I want to do is
take time away from your gaming)

1: Classes/Characters
a. Adept
1.Human
2.Asari
3.Drell
b. Soldier
1.Human
2.Krogan
3.Turian
4.Battlefield 3
c. Engineer
1.Human
2.Salarian
3.Quarian
d. Sentinel
1.Human
2.Turian
3.Krogan
e. Infiltrator
1.Human
2.Salarian
3.Quarian
f. Vanguard
1.Human
2.Drell
3.Adept
2.  Enemies
a. Reapers
1.Husks
2.Cannibals
3.Marauders
4.Reavers
5.Banshee
6.Brute
b. Cerberus
1.Assault Trooper
2.Centurion
3.Nemesis
4.Phantom
5.Combat Engineer
6.Atlas
c. Geth
1.Geth Trooper
2.Geth Rocket Trooper
3.Geth Pyro
4.Geth Hunter
5.Geth Prime
3. Miscelaneous Debris
4. My builds
5. ACDC9999/mumfordian strategy sparknotes
6. Petition for Bioware



There are three main reasons you would play Mass Effect 3's Multiplayer, since there are three things granted the player upon completion of a multiplayer
round: experience, credits, and prestige.  The first two are pretty straightforward, being the actual programming itself, wheras the last one comes with
the sense of accomplishment you feel having done something which you hadn't done before.  With these three reasons there are three different ways to play
the multiplayer in order to get the most out of what you want.  In this article, I will cover some strategies which will allow you to get the most out of
the Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer.





Section 1: Characters/Classes

There are six character classes.  Adept, Soldier, Engineer, Sentinel, Infiltrator, and Vanguard.  Some of the specific characters in each class are more
effective than others at specific battle types, such as quarian infiltrators vs. the Geth, whereas there are some suited for all-around missions.

Adept:

1.  The human adept is a straigtforward unit with basic human peculiarities: he roll dodges and has a general weapon proficiency.  For those of you who like
to experiment with weapons, this unit is all-around good with AT-6 decreasing the weight of all weapons by 20%.  You can choose between a weapon-oriented
human model and a power oriented human model.  I find that the weapon-oriented model is good for solo runs or runs with strangers, in which your teammates
can't be relied upon to support you and you have to fend for yourself.  If you're working with people you can communicate with and rely on them to revive
you when you go down, the power-oriented model is a better bet because it can do more damage in support roles by detonating biotic explosions.  The male
and female are effectively identical, the skin as aethetically personal as the armor color (neither one runs faster or is appreciably smaller than the
other).

Powers:  Singularity is good, again for general combat, since it easily flushes enemies from out of cover, lining them up for a series of shots
from the pistol.  It also launches Guardians, removing their shields.  It can be detonated by warp, but not easily detonated solo, since the singularity
cooldown is pretty long.  That being said, Warp is a pretty good biotic power as well, great for weakening barriers and armor, and great for setting up
a biotic explosion, though none of the other powers the human adept has can trigger the explosion, which means you will have to rely on your teammates
for that.  Shockwave is a pretty single-soldier power as well, going through barriers and walls to push and damage units, though to be fair, it doesn't
do much.  Shockwave also displaces the shield of the guardian, setting it up for a gun kill, though if you don't kill it in time, the shield will come
back down.

2.  The asari adept is the best adept if you're playing for powers.  She is the most self-sufficient of all of the adepts, since her powers can cause biotic
explosions without needing another person to arm or detonate them.  Some specific attributes of note are that when she quick moves in any direction she
comsumes a portion of her barrier, and thanks to some in game experimentation it has been proven to be precisely 1/10th of her barrier with each quick
move.  It does not continue to consume her health.  The other attribute of note is her heavy melee, an area attack rather than a maul.  The asari justicar
ability ends with a decreased weight of pistols, maximizing your cooldown without sacrificing the wallop of your weapon.

Powers:  The warp, as explained earlier, is an attack which you can curve and leaves a linger, allowing a biotic explosion.  Warp can also be used
to detonate fire explosions already primed by an incinerate.  She also has throw, which is a very quickly recharging biotic ability, making the asari a
biotic explosion force to be reckoned with.  Stasis is her other power, which is also great and is detonated by warp.  If you commit to stasis, rather
than the warp/throw combo, you are rewarded with a stasis bubble which traps foe after foe as it walks into the bubble.

3.  The drell adept is the only adept with grenades, which don't actually use cooldown and are replenished at ammo stations and with thermal clips
(somehow).  This fact makes a resourceful drell adept a more formidable opponent, since the cluster grenate can be used to detonate biotic explosions
after the drell has reaved or other adepts have stasis'd or warped.  The other dominant feature about the drell is his quickness, and his elaborated
melee system.  His pull biotic seems designed to set-up for a nice melee combo, though it's a feature of the game which I have not mastered.  The drell
assassin ability also caps with a decrease in pistol weight, which is great for the heavy pistol connosieurs who want to have a lower cooldown.

Powers:  The reave takes health from enemies and gives it to you, though not so quickly that you can stand in the middle of a crossfire.  Pull is
excellent for guardians, as it yanks the shield away, making it a talon-weilding trooper (easily dispached).  The cluster grenade is a biotic-charged
grenade which unfortunately does not cluster into smaller grenades, but instead you throw two different grenades, each of which detone independently.


Soldier:

1.  The human soldier is the closest port of a Halo/CoD-type infantry unit for anyone moving from a FPS such as those mentioned to this over-the-shoulder
Action/RPG game.  Unlike other classes, the bonus powers of the soldier don't accumulate over time to grant extra points during a wave.  These powers are
pretty much to simply make you more unstoppable, rather than to give you an advantage over any specific type of enemy.  As with the other humans, the
Alliance training power maxes at general weapon weight decrease, keeping your option open for whichever gun you might like with your preferred avatar.

Powers:  Adrenaline rush in the game dialated time, which thanks to the multiplayer aspect cannot be the executed in real time, so the Adrenaline
Rush simply makes the character more powerful in general; shot damage, power damage, shield strength, all based on your specifc play style.  The concussive
shot knocks enemies over, which is helpful in a suppression-fire capacity.  Also, at level six, the power takes on the attributes of whatever ammo power
you have, which is helpful.  Finally, there is the frag grenade, which is pretty straightforward and pretty helpful.  Also a general soldier technique,
the grenade can be used as you would expect, to flush out enemies from cover or damage armored units.

2.  The krogan soldier is a tank character in the finest sense of the word.  He has the highest health and shield, matched by the krogan sentinel, and also
has a rage characteristic which prevents some damage delt to the krogan when in rage mode.  Rage mode is engaged by sequential heavy melees, three before
you improve the rage power, potentially just two afterward.  The screen is gamma'd by rage mode, like Brick from Borderlands 2.  The krogan's heavy melee
is a running charge, which you can initiate from a run or from standing still.  It will move the character, so be careful during extraction.  The krogan
cannot roll dodge, and is a generally lethargic side-straffer.  Keep your enemies head-on and there will be no problem.  The krogan beserker prefers
shotgun and at level six will reduce the weight of shotguns by 30%.

Powers:  Fortification acts as another shield, absorbing some of the damage taken and preventing it from damaging your shield or your health.
Carnage is a curvable power shot which will cause enemies to explode if it kills and will damage them over time if it doesn't.  Inferno grenades are
short-distance incendiary grenades.  Thrown on a target already suffering from Incinerate, it will cause a fire explosion.  Carnage and Inferno grenade
do not cause a fire explosion, though each of them can detonate one.

3.  The turian soldier is less of a tank than the krogan, but it too can unfortunately not roll dodge.  The turian soldier prefers the assault rifle, with
a 30% decrease of weight at level six of Turian Veteran.  This character class seems to be for the gamer who is still stuck in a soldier-type role but who
wants to get more immersed in the aesthetic of the game, by using one of the iconic game skins.

Powers:  Marksman is used to passively improve your use of whichever weapon you've chosen to use, improving either accuracy, fire rate, or damage
done by the weapon.  Concussive shot, shared with the human soldier, flattens an enemy and can, if improved to level six, take on the attributes of which
ever ammo power you've chosen for the match.  The proximity mine can be used two ways, as a proximity mine might suggest.  It can be used to anticipate
the position of an enemy and deal preemptive damage, or it can be used as an instantaneous explosive damage when shot directly.

4.  The Battlefield 3 soldier given to any players with an EA Battlefield 3 account seems like the best soldier to me, with a great balance of human
agility and incredible powers.  Carnage does an incredible amount of damage in battle, and can be curved around buildings or over cover, and it also
looks damn cool when people explode into little pieces.  It also has the grenade, which fortunately are the easiest to use fragmentation grenades, as
well as adrenaline rush.  Being a human character, the Battlefield 3 soldier also has the alliance training to decrease weapon weight of all weapons.


Engineer:

1.  The human engineer is my default character, since his power base is so versatile against the entire gamut of enemies put before us in the Mass Effect
3 Multiplayer.  As with all humans, the engineer has Alliance training which maxes out with a decrease of all weapon weight by 20%.

Powers:  The combat drone is a great tool for the engineer, as it can be used at first as a distraction against enemies, and then later as a killer
in its own right.  The combat drone is very customizable as well, which means if you prefer to use it as a distraction you can amplify it's shock power and
give it chain lightning, which will disrupt the fire patterns of whole groups of enemies, or you can give it rockets and make it a surrogate engineer.
Either way, there are two important factors when using the combat drone.  Firstly, have an enemy reticle highlighted in your sights before you cast the
drone.  If you don't, the drone will materialize on you, whereas if you highlight the enemy the drone will materialize behind them, however far away you
can see them.  The second is that the drone will cast its lightning first thing, which will prompt the guardians to face it and put their vulnerable backs
to you, making the guardians easy kills.  The rest of the powers are pretty straight forward.  Incinerate sets up for a fire explosion and damages armor
while overload can detonate the incinerate and take down shields.  On the other hand, if a tech burst is more your speed, start with the overload and
detonate it with the incinerate.  Either way, the human engineer is a fairly self-sufficient soldier.

2.  The quarian engineer has some ups and downs compared to the human engineer.  The sentry turret can't move, but it is thrown like a grenade.  Instead
of having a tech burst with overload, she has a cryo-burst with cryo-blast/incinerate combo.  It is important to note that the quarian engineer is best
used with people who know about these extra-damage abilities, since freezing takes a second to set in and people will often use the frozen enemies as
easy kills, rather than wait for the true spoils of a well-used cryo blast which can freeze all of the enemies in an entire room.  As with other quarians,
the engineer cannot roll dodge, but like the salarians, she strafes like a deer.  Quarians prefer SMG's, and have a bonus weight reduction at level six
of their Quarian Defender mode.

Powers:  As I said, she has incinerate, cryo blast, and the sentry turret.  I find that the sentry turret is less effective than the combat drone
simply for the fact that it is stationary, and for the most part combat in ME3 moves around a lot.  The cooldown of the turret is fairly minimal, which
means you can deploy it all over the place, or let it do damage and attract aggro in one area.  It also is as effective as the combat drone for taking
down the Guardians, so there is a plus there.  The main feature and use of the quarian engineer is for her cryo-burst, which can be a little harder than
other abilities to use simply for the fact that it doesn't do damage directly, it only takes the enemies out of the battle temporarily.  With a great
team, in good communication, and designed to compliment the quarian engineer, this character can fascilitate some significant damage on the battlefield.

3.  The salarian engineer, like the quarian engineer, does not roll dodge, but rather he strafes like a deer.  He has energy drain, which works like a
weak overload, decoy, and incinerate.  The salarian's prefer sniper rifles.  His power combination is kind of weak, though this leads him to be a great
team player.  His incinerate can be triggered by a lot of the other character classes, his shield drain keeps him alive and can also be triggered, and
his decoy puts another character to be targeted by the enemy on the field, taking some pressure of the rest of the team.

Powers:  Energy drain is more effective than overload in that it restores your own shields, either half way or all the way depending on how much
you improve the skill.  It is less effective than overload in that it deals about half of the damage.  It seems to follow that however you could use
overload in a combo you can also use energy drain.  Energy drain is more effective against synthetics and shields than against health, barriers, or armor,
though it does damage health and barriers at least a little bit.  Decoy pretty effectively will distract a guardian or other enemy, though the onus to
get away will be on you.  It always deploys at a set distance and then remains stationary, which can be used for quick get-away or for distractionary
purposes.


Sentinel:

1.  The human sentinel is much like the human soldier, but rather than having grenades and carnage/concussion shot, it has biotic and tech powers to
compliment a team of adepts or engineers.  The human sentinel is for someone who likes to be the tank role on a team, and is also comfortable enough
with the mechanics of the game to put themselves in positions which would allow their biotic and tech powers to compliment their team mates.  Like the
other humans, they have Alliance training and therefore have 20% weight off all weapon types at level six.

Powers:  Tech armor is the main power of the sentinel, absorbing some of the damage received in combat and preventing the shields/health from
having to regenerate as much/as often.  The human's other powers only compliment biotics.  Warp and throw can be used in order to cause a biotic
explosion, as well as be used to cause either fire explosions with incinerate or biotic explosions with other biotic players.

2.  The turian sentinel is also a tank character, but is more balanced than the human in that his powers can set-up or detonate both a tech-burst and
a biotic explosion.  As a turian, his preferred weapon is the assault rifle.

Powers:  The turian also has tech armor which is mainly used for defense, but can be detonated for minor area-of-effect damage.  Warp can be used
to damage armor or biotic barriers, as well as either set up for a biotic explosion or to detonate a biotic explosion or a fire explosion.  Overload can
be similarly used to set up for a tech burst or to detonate a fire explosion.

3.  The krogan sentinel is more like the turian sentinel than like the human sentinel, in that neither character has great manuverability but both
characters are equally balanced in complimenting between biotic and tech damage.  Of all of the tank characters, this is the most tank-like, since it has
the highest shields and health.

Powers:  The tech armor is mainly used for protection, but can be detonated for area-of-effect damage to get rid of a swarm of surrounding enemies.
Incinerate can be used to detonate a tech-burst, set up or detonate a fire explosion, or for curvable damage.  Lift grenades can be used to set up or
detonate a biotic explosion and don't require a cool down.  Lift grenades are restored by ammo containers or by thermal clips (somehow) but not by wave
end replenishes (for some reason).  Why Bioware thought this breakdown made any sense is beyond me.


Infiltrator:

1.  The human infiltrator shares the tactical cloak with the rest of the infiltrators, which is perhaps the most useful power in the entire multiplayer
game.  There are four main purposes for the tactical cloak: getting away from the enemies, dealing more damage than normal, reviving team mates, and
completing objectives unnoticed.  If the duration option is chosen at rank 4, the cloak will last longer than the time it takes to shut-down or start-up
any of the devices in the four device cash waves, meaning you will generally not be targeted while completing the objective.  This maximizes the amount
of money received by these wave missions by preventing you from having to break contact and deal with enemies, or (heaven forbid) being killed while in
contact.  Without this extra time the cloak is long enough for the entire revive, and with a higher cloak time, naturally, you have a better chance of
getting you and your team mate out of danger.  I often set up the infiltrator as a combat medic.  The alliance training, as with all other humans, grants
a rank six lowering by 20% of all types of weapons.

Powers:  The tactical cloak, as I discussed above, cannot be overstated for its value.  Cryo blast can set up cryo-bursts, which incapacitate
entire rooms, or could be used to freeze an enemy in place either for an easy shot or for an easy escape.  The sticky grenade is a counted grenade which
can only be replenished through thermal clips or ammo locations, and is not replenished through end-of-wave replenishment.

2.  The salarian and quarian infiltrators are better infiltrators than the human, once they are available through the random purchase system, each for
different reasons than the other.  The geth are popular targets for quick gold runs, making salarians and quarians helpful for this endeavor.  The energy
drain and sabotage are great, but really just for high-grade solo silver runs.  It's a mistake to bring these guys into random gold runs, since people
tend not to be paying attention.  You should be organized for moments like these, and the intensity of a silver run is the same as a gold, just more spread
out.

Powers:  Energy drain for high level cerberus troops, since mid-grade silver runs contain mostly shielded enemies.  It's easy enough to help while
invisible provided no one is really looking for you.  If you pop down shields, you'll be ignored and help the ghosts pluck off easy shots.


Vanguard:

1.  The human vanguard is a high-impact character type.  They work well in an mass-individual capacity, and not so well working more intimately with other
characters.  The majority of the vanguard's abilities facilitate point theft, which is useless thanks to the point-share.  On bronze runs, the vanguard is
an interesting class, since the invigoration of biotic charge and nova translates to the player.  The human vanguard also prevails as solo gold runners,
though I can't comprehend how to do so (I'm too much of a group player to do well as a self-contained vanguard).

Powers:  Biotic charge is a pretty incredible power.  If you can see it, you can hit it (as soon as the reticle appears, not just the character).
Nova works in tandem with Biotic charge, since every time you biotic charge you restore the barrier you use up in the nova.  It's common to nova, pause,
biotic charger, pause, nova.  This will take care of a general group of enemies, combined with whatever light pistol or SMG you've decided to bring with
your character.  The final power is shockwave, which is the only way for vanguards to deal with guardians.  It can also detonate some biotic explosions.

2.  The drell vanguard is still locked in my multiplayer, since Bioware thinks it's funny to give me Asari adepts now that I have all of the options unlocked
and the character capped at 20.  The general use of the drell follows the characteristics of the drell via the adept, which means he's quick, has different
melees from any other character, and dodges projectiles pretty well.  It also has the cluster grenades, which detonate biotic explosions and activate a
high-powered pull on all enemies caught up in the blast.

3.  The asari vanguard is for people who aren't so inclined to take the solo route, yet want to play as the vanguard.  With the removal of nova the asari
is much less vulnerable than the human vanguard, though this is tempered by the generally low health of the asari in the first place.


Section 2: Enemies

Reapers:

1.  The husks are pretty straightforward, and of all the basic infantry units they're the easiest to kill.  The only thing really of any note with these
troops is that they will grapple you and hold you in place.  Ordinarily this is no big deal, since they take down your shield and if you spam the B button
you smack them off and crush their heads.  The problem comes when they lope in unnoticed and hold you in place while a cannibal or a maruader mow you down
with their SMG, or when a ravager has you honed in with its rockets.  Don't underestimate these troops, and get rid of them as they come along, otherwise
they will make an easily handled situation end in you face down in the dirt.

2.  Cannibals are hulks with a human stitched to them as their right arms.  This human functions as a rapid-fire SMG, or perhaps assault rifle.  In large
groups this rifle can obliterate shields and chew low level characters down in a heart beat.  It is best to keep cover against this enemy, since it doesn't
take much to take them down.  A good shotgun or sniper rifle will take them down with ease.  Their heads are pretty much center mass, which makes heavy
pistol head shots pretty easy.  Also, their humps make them larger than cover, which makes them easy to pick off at a distance.

3.  Marauders are basic turian units with shields, which will put chitanous armor on husks and cannibals.  This armor tends to cover their heads, making it
necessary to double head shots, which is pretty easy to do.  This armor doesn't affect heavier weapons, which will still one-shot these enemies.

4.  Ravager are some of the most iritating enemies in the game, second to Geth hunters and banshees.  Ravagers will shoot a series of three rockets after
beading in a blue laser.  If you aren't paying attention, or if you're playing on gold, these can be lethal.  They are especially lethal with leftover husk
enemies roaming around to grab you and leave you vulnerable to attack.  These take some time to kill, and have a sweet spot right in the center, marked in
blue.  None of the guns can one shot them, though two amped widow shots can take one down.  As with all other armored units, the easiest take down is spam
biotic explosions, most easily accomplished with two asari or an asari and a drell in communication.  Five-seven seconds, should be dead with all of the
swarmers taken down by proxy.  This is helpful to keep these acid maggots from flanking you and killing you without noticing.

5.  Banshees are some of the most overpowered units in the game.  These are best taken care of by an asari (warp)/drell (reave) combo biotic explosion.
Normal biotic explosions cause damage, though each of both warp and reave weaken the armor and the barrier.  This counts for fewer explosions needed to
kill them.  It's been noted online that when a banshee grabs a player they can be freed by killing the banshee, though it's nigh impossible to fire a
missile in time to save them.  The best bet to dodge this insta-kill is to stay at least 10 feet away from them.  I tend to keep myself half a map away
from them, since their teleport is unpredictable and they can grab right after a port.  Her other notable attack is a white biotic ball.  It's a honing
missile which will hone in on you directly in sight.  If it's coming at you, try to put a wall between you and the attack.

6.  Brutes, once you understand how to kill them quickly, are more high-experience cash cows than they are a problem enemy.  If your characters are still
too weak to kill them quickly, be careful of the charge, which can span 10 or 20 feet and take down the full shield of anyone other than the sentinels or
the soldiers.  They're just armored units, which means warp/reave/incinerate/inferno grenades all work really well.  Be careful about getting too close to
the brutes, since they have a smash insta-kill much like atlas.


Cerberus:

1.  The assault troopers are easy infantry troops, with easy headshots and low health.  Other than coming in fairly large groups when deployed, the assault
trooper is the easiest unit to kill, alone or even in groups.

2.  The centurions are shielded assault troopers who pop smoke grenades.  Other than snipers with bonus scopes which allow them to see through the smoke,
this is a fairly significant deterrant.  If you can keep beads on people from before smoke grenades are popped you can get kills before the troops scatter.
Otherwise you'll have to grenade the area, spam some area power, or simply go around the smoke.  It is fairly dangerous, since the smoke itself is pretty
thick, to simply plow through it without a plan of attack, since the smoke has concealed the whole troop and made any kind of suppression fire worthless.

3.  The nemesis is a weak sniper who can down your entire shields with one shot, and if multiple nemeses have beaded in, it could spell trouble.  More
often, they will linger in the distance and pop down shields while the more resilient forces chew down your health while your shields are down.  More often
than not these enemies are left until the end of the waves.  In this case, they should be used for grabs, since each odd grab results in +500 points which
are often missed because people tend to get backed up by the enemy, in order to kill it.  A nemesis alone cannot kill you, unless you are a complete n00b.
Don't be that n00b that gets sniped too often by a lone nemesis.

4.  Phantoms are incredible enemies, since they also have insta-kills of stabbing you in the chest which they usually they'll do once your shield is down.
Even more than the banshees, you need to be wary of these enemies since they are quicker and have biotic shots from the palms of their hands, dealing more
damage over the time to close distance on you than the banshees.  Stasis works really well, since they can't do anything and it sets up for the biotic
explosion.  Also, high-powered snipers can get a head shot on them with some ease.

5.  Combat engineers are terrible for the fact that they will constantly set up turrets, which will decimate any player not paying attention to them.  The
backpacks on the backs of these engineers are explosive, and get deployed by the engineers.  This is not a one-time dispensery, so these engineers should
be a mid- to high-priority.  Also, if you destroy the turret while they're being deployed the engineer will be damaged.

6.  Atlases are generally last kill enemies, since they take so long to kill and it's easier to dodge it when the rest of the units are killed.  Later in
silver and gold runs, though, the atlas will come in twos and fours, which makes missiles better to have manned.  Gold runs amplify the atlas' shield and
the armor so that a single missile won't take them down, so don't waste them on undamaged Atlases.


Geth:

1.  Geth troopers, as well as any other geth units, are all succeptible to tech powers, and their health can be taken down as effectively as shields can by
overload/energy drain/disruptor ammo.  Geth in general are push-forward units, taking their ample health and armored units and running over the players.

2.  Geth rocket troopers have a signigicant rate of fire, the rockets from which are single-handedly the most irritating source of damage in the game.
These are units you should keep in sight or in mind, so as to not get flanked or surprised by these incredible units.  They're shielded and easy to grab,
but it is pretty hard to close in on them for the grab.

3.  Geth pyros, despite seeming to be able to kill you over cover, can be grabbed.  This should be a carefully taken care of, since they can do you an
incredible amount of damage if you miss the grab (enough so to probably kill you before you can get away).  These units too have shields, but the most
important thing about them is that the tanks on their back will explode, damage the pyro, and damage units around the pyros.

4.  Geth hunters have some notably terrible aspects.  They can remain cloaked for what seems to be an indefinite time period, though they don't seem to be
able to remain cloaked while using their shotguns.  This cloak is, however, extremely detrimental to the players since they are generally programmed to
flank the players while cloaked.  This can get you overwhelmed by a high number of beforehand unnoticed hunters, who can and will bear down and bead in
the shotgun.  I have noted some bad luck in that the hunter actually eats some missiles intended for primes.  Be careful not to have this happen, since it
will waste your missile and kill the hunter, yet now the prime has nothing between you and its rifle.

5.  Geth primes are simply smaller tank types which can easily get anywhere on the map.  Due to their small size they don't tend to get stuck as brutes or
an atlas might.  They constantly pump out turrets and drones, which will grant you many points due to are kills with overloads or energy drains, though it
won't contribute to any kill counts, either tech or overall, so it's pretty worthless.



Section 3: Miscelaneous Debris


The atlas does not rely upon centurions to pop smoke grenades, it can do this on its own.


Due to its incredible shield and health, a krogan can weather a grenade with no permenant damage.



My first solo bronze run was done with a salarian infiltrator with the talon pistol shotgun.  42:20 with complete gold.  (Cept revives of course, lol)


The competition should not consist of things more than what you might expect from normal competitive urges.  That is to
say that a portion of this article intends to form a community, in which more of these types of games are played with
what is expected of today's gamer in mind while playing.


It's always better that while playing to think of the characters as how they would be played in their own stories!


It may be a personal psychosis, or it may be genius programming, but the drell adept plays just like Thane Krios would were I able to control him personally,
rather than periferally though the single player.  That's the way I would program my multiplayer if I was in charge of making one.


Stay in the circle while uploading.  It grants points to everyone uploading, and more points the more people are uploading.  There isn't a reason to be out
of the upload area, except raging death within the area requiring a quick get-away.  If anyone can be in it, everyone should be in it.  The enemies aren't
going to just croak, they'll wait for the end of the upload, which if you follow this plan will grant more overall points and money when it comes down to
the end.



My Builds:


Polly No-Pants (Asari Adept Lvl 20)
-Stasis 6 (Strength/Bonus Power/Bubble)
-Warp 6 (Detonate/Expose/Pierce)
-Throw 3
-Justicar 6 (Damage and Capacity/Power Damage/Pistols)
-Fitness 5 (Durability/Shield Recharge)

Currently using: Disciple (shotgun)

The focus is stasis bubble/warp explosions for crowd control.  Warp is more versatile to detonate various types of explosions, including fire explosions by
engineers, so that got preferred over the throw.  Also, it's a linger damage.  With a relaible team the fitness could be taken down to amplify the throw,
but as it is the fitness is required to keep the lady alive through silver.  Good all around adept, fairly quick.  I know that the Justicar/Pistol seems
wasted on the Disciple, but the Disciple is an asari weapon and it seemed appropriate to have at least one of my asari with her inherent weapon.  Bioware
should include some asari pistol, so that I can keep coherence in my personal storylines (multi-lolz).


6 (Drell Adept Lvl 20)
-Reave 6 (Duration/Recharge Speed/Barriers and Armor)
-Pull 6 (Radius/Lift Damage/Duration and Combo)
-Cluster Grenade 3 (ran out of points to spend)
-Assassin 6 (Damage and Capacity/Headshots/Pistols)
-Fitness 5 (Durability/Martial Artist)

Currently using: Carnifex II (Scope/Barrel)

The name isn't so important; since the game thinks it is I put something in.  I haven't developed a personal story for this guy yet (too busy with the pure
unadulterated fun of pulling all of my opponents and leaving them to float around the room).  This, despite what the previous description of gameplay might
lead you to believe, is the best character I've played so far.  Really, really fast, with great synergy with biotics thanks to his grenades.  Pull/reave
makes him a stand-alone force, while reave and a conscious team mate can biotic explode any large enemy without breaking a sweat.  Tons of fun to play as.
Given six more points I would probably give him more melee damage.  Not likely to change his pistol since it's so powerful and with his bonuses he has
200% cooldown.  I would say Paladin, though it has a bit less damage for weight reduction I don't need on this character.


Urdnot (Krogan Soldier Lvl 15)
-Fortification 4 (Durability)
-Carnage 5 (Damage/Incapacitate)
-Inferno grenade 2
-Krogan Beserker 3
Rage 6 (Durability/Martial Artist/Fitness Expert)

Currently using: M-11 Wraith (spectre shotgun: Clip/Barrel)

Probably going back to the Graal Spike Thrower, since it's the best shotgun for my wild swinging skills.  He's a tank character which I'm learning how to
use.  Nothing particularly special about him, not even a clever name.  Figured I'd go with the dominant clan since there aren't enough customization options
to recreate any of the characters we've seen in the game (good thing/bad thing).  I also don't know enough about the krogan lore to come up with anything
better.


Simon (Battlefield 3 Soldier Lvl 15)
-Adrenaline Rush 4 (Hardening)
-Carnage 5 (Radius/Incapacitate)
-Frag Grenade 2
-Alliance Training 3
-Fitness 6 (Durability/Shield Recharge/Fitness Expert)

Currently using: M-11 Wraith (previously and preferredly uses Vindicator/Geth Pulse Rifle)

Most likely the reason I'll get this class back up to level 20.  My favorite type of soldier, since the carnage is such an impressive ability (especially
on bronze runs)  Named after my favorite Battlefield 3 player, it also helps me to be able to say that Simon is playing Mass Effect 3 (the reality being
that I'm playing Simon playing Mass Effect 3, but that's far too complicated, convoluted, and boring; defeating the purpose).  Great for rolling, general
suppression and aggressive killing against weaker enemies.  Works well against complicated and difficult enemies as well, though I don't use him well in
this capacity, haha.  I could take down some of the health boosts if I could find more people to play with other than ACDC9999, but as it is we can only
cover each other's asses to a point, the rest of which covered by the health bonus.  Yada, yada.  Basic build, comfortable to play as.


Harold (Human Engineer Lvl 17)
-Combat drone 2
-Incinerate 6 (Radius/Burning Damage/Freeze Combo
-Overload 6 (Chain Overload/Recharge Speed/Chain Overload)
-Alliance Training 4 (Damage and Capacity)
-Fitness 4 (Durability)

Currently using: Carnifex II (Scope/Clip)

Earlier builds of the human engineer, my starter, were more self-sufficient and less team helpful.  This build still stands up to whatever comes across it,
able to handle shielded, armored, or barriered opponents without much difference in difficulty.  The combat drone used to be maxed out, with incinerate-
like rockets, but now is just used to turn around guardians or distract opponents in general.  With such a little improved combat drone, it seems kind of
fuck-off in attitude, providing little actual assistance and naturally floating away to whatever nearby enemies may be around.  Solid to play with whomever
where ever against whatever.


Tali'zorah (Quarian Engineer Lvl 17)
-Sentry turret 1
-Incinerate 6 (Radius/Burning Damage/Freeze Combo)
-Cryo blast 5 (Radius/Cryo Explosion)
-Defender 2
-Fitness 4 (Durability)

Currently using: Phalanx III (scope/clip)

I consider this build to be a failed experiment, since the quarian engineer is the only self-contained cryo-blast character.  I attempted to find the real
use for such a character in combat and found little use for it in my play style.  I've seen some of these builds floating around the multiplayer, with no
notable success in either self-sufficient point collection or in team-play.  They are a team-play oriented build, but it seems ironic to build a character
which requires your team to revolve around in order to make your support role in any way whatsoever supportive.  Ironic, and kind of irritating.  I have
sixteen points left over which I haven't assigned, and to be honest have no intention on assigning.  Quarians are supposed to be good against the Geth,
even in the game canon, and cryo blast/incinerate aren't particularly good against their mortal enemies.  This is more of a reaper oriented character class
and runt of the litter.  Left alone on the edge of Geth territory she'd be ripped to pieces.  Nothing aside from the hood design was particularly different
from the Tali build we see in the game, and what other Quarian do I really care at all about?


Mordin Lives (Salarian Engineer Lvl 17)
-Energy Drain 5 (Radius/Drain)
-Decoy 5 (Duration/Shock)
-Incinerate 6 (Damage/Burning Damage/Armor Damage)
-Salarian Operative 4 (Damage and Capacity)
-Fitness 4 (Durability)

Currently using: Scorpion

For geth-oriented runs whatsoever, this build is preferrable to any other engineer.  The shield drain affects all of the geth units allowing a more
aggressive play-style, and the incinerate is armor oriented, dealing the most damage one can deal.  Even though the salarians have a bonus for sniper
rifles, with this build I use a scorpion with a scope so that I can lay down a heavy line of explosives.  Doesn't work as well against the reapers, since
the shield drain only affects the two units (banshee/maurauder), but since the scorpion doesn't do immediate damage, the emphasis of this build against
reapers should be against the unshilded/unbarriered enemies, to splatter the husks and cannibals.


Solo'd Bronze (Salarian Infiltrator lvl 20)
-Tactical cloak 6 (Damage/Recharge Speed/Sniper Damage)
-Proximity mine 3
-Energy Drain 6 (Damage/Drain/Damage)
-Operative 5 (Damage and Capacity/Headshots)
-Fitness 6 (Durability/Shield Recharge/Fitness Expert)

Currently using: Widow (used the Talon for the solo run)

The salarian infiltrator beat 10 waves of reapers with little actual trouble on bronze, due mostly to my attention and awareness of my position on the map
in conjuctions with the enemy's position.  Notably, the run took 42:20, which said after the fact seems like a long time for such a measly achievement, but
seems worth it for the lessons I learned while playing solo.  Firstly, I thought I would be killed pronto provided any uploads, since salarian infiltrators
are not known for their brawn and ability to hold off whole hordes of enemies.  At Firebase Giant, we complain often about how the upload location is one
of the most exposed of all the multiplayer maps.  On the far side of the area of the upload, however, it just barely covers the place where you would be in
cover, meaning I could remain in cover and get the objective done.  Ok.. The other notable point is that when running solo the time you actually need to be
in the upload is way WAY shorter.  It wouldn't be so much shorter in single player mode if everyone playing every time you did the upload mission would
actually stay in the upload area, but human nature brings out the worst in our competitive selves.  Before I go off on a rant about competition and
(co-op)eration, I'll stop there.  The beacon missions were obviously a breeze, the only difference between solo and multi runs being that no one died
between when I start the beacon and when I ended it.  Since the cloak lasts through the beacon, these missions are simple, and the talon takes care of
any stragglers who have wandered the map with zero aggro while you're cloaked.  I had no assassination missions, which may have complicated the run, so
from that there are two lessons: a)be prepared to use missiles to complete the run, and b)there are definately whole runs without assassinations, so if you
don't have missiles, don't want to use your missiles to complete a bronze run, or can't seem to win with or without missiles during assassination missions
by yourself, just restart; there will be others you can beat.  Hands down, by oneself against the reapers, the most terrible enemy and the one which gives
the most grief is the banshee, who needed to be de-barriered tons of times, contributing single-handedly the most to my over all time.  Perhaps a better
(or another) weapon more suited to her would improve the time, but I stand by the Talon as a solo weapon for its light-weight stopping power.  The majority
or the run was spent invisible and getting close enough for a finisher KA-POW! one shot, one kill and move on.  Takes a while, but good things come to
those who wait.  Or vanguards, apparently.




Covering the Strategy I use online:

1.  This strategy covers the get-rich-moderately-quickly and have-a-ton-of-fun gameplay.  Here's the breakdown of what's best/most desired for what kind of
things the game churns forth for the areas in which my teammate and I have a better tendency to play.

2.  Ordinary silver runs are pretty straight-forward, with some moderate influx of medium enemies.  The heavy enemies are plenty, though not overwhelming
as they are in the gold runs.

3.  The intention is, if it's a comfortable transition, to play on gold.

4.  The last week of random gold runs make it semi-necessary to be self-sufficient in battle.  Each challenge level up gives proportionally more health,
barriers, shields, and armor to the incoming enemies.

5.  The widow works best for higher level enemies, since it does just a cock-ton of damage.  Depending how lucky you are in your random generations you
might even get the black widow, which I of course prefer over the widow for its three bullet clip.  It has the same damage, more or less, and has the
punch we're looking for against guardians and quick-draws on people behind cover.

6.  If you're a better sniper, just use the Mantis, since it's the standard bolt-action rifle with half the weight of the widows.

7.  Infiltrators can be combat medics or objective accomplishers.  The combat medic works best with the talon, the paladin, or the carnifex.

8.  We only need one of the four as infiltrators, since with the cloak removes the aggro on the infiltrator.

9.  Notably, if three people are infiltrators and all cloak at the same time, only the person uncloaked will be targeted by enemies.  That's a lot of heat.

10. Asari and drell work great together, and especially against the reapers where you don't have to deal with shields.  One drell with two asaris is great.

11. If you're looking the other way, tech over biotic, the engineers work together pretty well.  Not as well as the adepts, but this comes back to comfort.



This brings us back to the root concept, the preference of reason to play.

1.  Money comes from gold runs and good team work.  Tech type characters vs the geth is enemy spam central, but thanks to the geth hunters could turn into
a shitstorm pretty early if you're not paying attention.

2.  Experience comes from quick bronze runs.  10 waves survived is 15000 exp, and so is full extraction.

3.  My teammate and I by ourselves can get a good 200,000 exp in one wild run, though that takes us about 20 minutes.

4.  With more people we can probably facilitate a quicker run.