Category Archives: Human Infiltrator

*Click* “Hello.” – by Matt

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Build Title: 
*Click* “Hello.” – by Matt

(In honor of the Click Hello trope on TVTropes.org)

Class: 
Human Infiltrator

Power Evolutions:
Tactical Cloak: Damage (4), Recharge Speed (5), Bonus Power (6)
Cryo Blast: Radius OR Duration with Radius preferred personally (4), Cryo Explosion (5), Frozen Vulnerability (6)
Sticky Grenade: N/A
Alliance Training: Weapon Damage (4), Headshot Damage (5), Weapon Damage (6) (NOTE: Choosing Damage and Capacity (4) and Weapon Weight (6) can also be very viable, to allow you to use TC (and by extension Cyro Blast) more often, for its damage bonuses. Depending on your Claymore rank and playstyle, it’s up to you)
Fitness: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Fitness Expert (6)

Weapons:
Suggested: M-300 Claymore, with Extended Barrel and Smart Choke attachments. Spare Ammo attachment is also a good choice if you don’t want to constantly scramble around for ammo. Note that this weapon, especially with Smart Choke attached, is actually quite accurate out to medium (and a little further, even) range. Getting headshots on med-long is common. Reload Animation Cancelling is highly recommended with this weapon, especially if you can cancel out the animation with productive actions, like cloaking or meleeing (or taking cover). Additionally, the Claymore has absolutely insane burst damage when used with the TC/CryoBlast/Headshot/ExtendedBarrel setup, and since it hits with multiple pellets, the shield gate is somewhat negated, too!

Alternates: Geth Plasma Shotgun (though be prepared to work your cloak around the charge mechanic, and ammo could also be a problem), Graal (note that currently, projectiles might not appear/work properly due to bugs/netcode issues), and possibly Wraith.

 

NOTE: A Shuriken X or Predator X should not add to your weight penalty at all, if I remember correctly. I may have misremembered the final power evolution for AT, so the weight reduction of 20% of all weapons renders the already low weight of those weapons to 0. Having either of those as a backup weapon is VERY helpful, either for finishing off nearly-dead enemies, or a backup weapon when you can’t reach ammo. Or when taking out Swarmers.

Strategy: 
This is a surprisingly flexible build. There are a few roles it is particularly well suited for:

1) Assassination: Take out the “priority targets” by running right past the enemy, up to the target, hit it with Cryo Blast while cloaked, and follow it up with a point blank Claymore shot to the head. On Silver, this will kill all non-armored enemies in a single shot, including Phantoms. However, you don’t need to go point blank, either, for many enemies. Cloak, get to a good position, hit your target(s) with the Cryo Blast, and then fire that weapon from short-med at the head/neck, and get the kill.

2) Focusing Down High-Tier Enemies: This build is VERY good at taking down high-tier enemies, so long as one can avoid (or not have to deal with) other enemies simultaneously. Cloak, hit with Cryo Blast–which weakens their armor by 25%, and increases all damage done to them by 25% (!), hit with a Claymore headshot (or bodyshot if there aren’t any weakpoints). On Silver, even from medium range, I can use this tactic to kill a Brute in two shots (with only a Claymore 1, too). When your teammates help with you, boss-enemies go down FAST.

3) Medic: A common Infiltrator role, except that this build is well suited for close range combat to begin with (and is usually up close with the enemy anyway, and is thus usually close by), and the Cryo Blast (especially with Radius (4) can stagger multiple enemies to buy you time for reviving someone.

4) Objectives: You can disable/enable devices almost by yourself by cloaking, running to the objective undetected, and then cloaking again right next to the objective; you can complete it entirely before your cloak runs out. Additionally, you can combine #1 above with this to good effect.

5) Thin the Mob ranks: On Silver, at least, with a mere Claymore 1, I usually take out all Marauder-level enemies and below (including Geth Hunters, and possibly even Geth Pyros) in a single shot. When you get into a rhythm, you can oneshot all non-armored enemies, even from short/medium range. This helps to significantly thin the ranks of enemies over time, especially since you can often engage them on your own terms.

6) Power Efficiency: The reason I chose Bonus Power instead of Sniper Damage on TC-6 is because, aside from this being a shotgun infiltrator build, you can freely use cryo blast during your cloak, even multiple times,  and then pick your target, line up your shot, and take action on your own terms. I later learned that, as the debuffing/weakening of enemies with Cryo blast only works after it hits the enemy, you can effectively use the combo every time you cloak, and you don’t have to worry about reducing the recharge time of Cryo Blast as its cooldown time is overridden by TC’s cooldown time.

 

The challenge is being aware of what your team needs most at any given time, and deciding how to do that most effectively. Thus, despite being a shotgun infiltrator build, you should NOT take unecessary risks unless the reward is quite high (and you think your teammates can bail you out/revive you, or you can revive yourself and get out of there). Remember, the Claymore with Smart Choke is just as effective at short range as it is at point blank, and it’s also quite effective at medium range.

So, make sure you always:

A) Keep aware of your surroundings and your team’s situation, and adapt accordingly.

B) No unnecessary risks.

C) Prioritize your targets.

D) Identify a way out of a situation/attack if things go wrong before attacking.

E) Don’t hesitate to retreat/hide if you start taking too much fire (or you’re about to) unless definitely necessary. You’re also a medic/objective runner.

N00b Rating:

4. Getting up close with the enemy is a must (but only sometimes), and using the Claymore makes every shot count. When you have to take on the boss enemies, this can be risky if something catches you off guard (like a Geth Hunter…), so you have to be very aware of the situation every time you engage at close range. Your aim has to be good, and your decision making has to also be quite good to really get the effectiveness out of this build. Remember: this build is far more about helping your team win than it is getting lots of kills.

Appearance: I suggest wearing visually distinct armor so that your teammates never confuse you with the enemy, especially since you’ll be randomly appearing near the enemy a lot, to them. Bright Pinks/Purples, Yellows/Oranges, Greens, etc.

Additional Notes:

Claymore 1 has 8 shots in reserve. Getting higher ranking Claymores is very helpful, not just because of the damage increases and weight reductions, but because the increase in the spare ammo–even with a spare ammo mod, every shot counts.

Thus, always be aware of your ammo count. You don’t want to find yourself out of ammo in the middle of a fight, or when you need to finish off a target. Ideally, you should be working your way towards additional ammo before you run out/get too low. That said, if an emergency, don’t hesitate to use the additional ammo consumable–it helps a LOT in a pinch.

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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Invisi-Sniper – by Cookiegobbler

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Build Title:
Invisi-Sniper – by Cookiegobbler

Power Evolutions:
Tactical Cloak: Damage (4), Recharge Speed (5), Sniper Damage (6)
Cryo Blast: (1), (2), (3)
Sticky Grenade: Radius (4), Armor Piercing (5)
Alliance Training: Weapon Damage (4), Headshots (5), Weapon Damage (6)
Fitness: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Durability (6)

Weapons:
Preferably one-hit-kill weapons of the highest level to minimize cooldowns combined with the Sniper Rifle Extended Barrel for extra damage.

M-92 Mantis
Your starter weapon. Any level will do since it already has a low weight value. I would recommend putting the Piercing Module on it till you get one of the better weapons so you can deal with enemies in cover and Cerberus Guardians.

M-98 Widow X
I recommend not using it till it is upgraded to level “X”. The reason for that will be explained in the strategy section below. Since this gun can pierce through cover and Cerberus Guardians, I would suggest using an Enhanced Scope for when you need to deal with fog while fighting Cerberus.

Black Widow X (Extremely rare!)
The Black Widow only improves upon the M-98 Widow. Although it has a lower damage rate (which is compensated by the Sniper Rifle Extended Barrel), it does have 3 bullets per clip. It is likely you can get all 3 shots off before the cloak “buff” wear off.

Javelin X (Extremely rare!)
This gun is superior to all the other in terms of usefulness. It’s not the most damaging, but it does have the most perks. Not only can the Javelin pierce through cover, it also has a build in Enhanced Scope. Meaning that with this gun you can (theoretically) have ALL the modules on one Sniper Rifle.

M-13 Raptor X
Not one of the strongest sniper rifles out there, but with this build it’s still pretty viable. I would suggest waiting till it’s upgraded to level X for full damage and put a piercing mod on it to help you kill armored units faster. Combined with cloak this weapon is simply devastating even on higher difficulty levels. Don’t forget this sniper rifle is Semi-Automatic, it shoots as fast as you can mash the fire button on your mouse.
Strategy:
The strategy is based around being a durable, but devastating sniper and is build utilizing Cloak to maximize your damage done. You will want to do the most amount of damage possible in a single shot while remaining cloaked ~50% of the match, that’s why it’s wise to use the weapon that gives you the least encumbrance.

Being a sniper also means you’ll want to keep your distance, but don’t worry you have a nifty CC ability in hand just in case. Use your Cryo Blast when an enemy tries to get close. Rank 3 should suffice.

When the enemy is grouped up, use a Sticky Grenade. The Sticky Grenade is the most accurate of all the nades since you can throw it against a wall near you target and it’ll stick (obviously), so even if you miss it’ll still hit (instead of bouncing of the wall and landing 700 miles away -_-).

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 being the easiest.)
Newcomers: 3
The sniper’s learning curve takes time to get used to, especially if you’re a newcomer to shooters. Best thing to do is to disable Enhanced Pointer Precision in the Windows Mouse Configurations menu, disable in-game Mouse Dampening and disable in-game Mouse Smoothing(*). Play around with the in-game Mouse Sensitivity until you’re satisfied. Your sensitivity should be low enough to allow you to “track” your opponent while also being high enough to enable you to turn 180° quickly. Mine for example is set to 15.

Experienced Player: 2
Knowing when to use and how to combine your abilities is crucial!
For example; If your cloaked and you throw a Sticky Grenade, it’ll do more damage.

Javelin Users: 3-4
3. If you’re an experienced player. The reason for this being is that the Javelin “powers up” it’s shot. Meaning when you press the mouse button you need to keep it pressed for ~0.5 seconds before the gun actually fires, this can cause enemies to jump away/turn around cover/suddenly change direction resulting in you missing the shot. However, because there is a time delay between the trigger and the shot, that also means you can “cancel” your shot if you’re not sure it’ll hit.
4. If you’re a newcomer. Since this gun “powers up” it’s shots it has a steeper learning curve then the other Sniper Rifles. It’s crucial that you know how to “track” your enemy till the gun actually fires.

Appearance:
Infiltrator, Female Human A16 A16 A16 3:C7 C1
(this creates an awesome Digital Camouflage effect.)

(*) IMPORTANT! (for the tentative reader)
Enhanced Pointer Precision is a build-in Windows feature that makes your mouse pointer react to the speed of the mouse being handled. Meaning if you make a quick jab into one direction with your mouse, your mouse pointer onscreen will move considerately faster and cover more area of your screen. Now in Windows, or maybe an RTS game, that’s not that big of a deal, but when playing a shooter it kind of messes with your in-game sensitivity. In a shooter you want consistent aiming!

Mouse Dampening is a feature in Mass Effect 3 that’s pretty much the opposite of Enhanced Pointer Precision. The slower you move your mouse, the slower your camera will move. This can cause enemies you’re trying to track to move/run faster than you can move your reticule. This feature also messes with your in-game sensitivity. Again(!) you want consistent aiming.

Mouse Smoothing is a feature that is present in most games that makes the mouse sensitivity react to your computer’s performance. What it does is it actively adjusts your in-game mouse sensitivity on the fly based on your current FPS (Frames Per Second) rating. Meaning the lower your Framerate, the higher the sensitivity. Because FPS is constantly shifting and changing while you play means your sensitivity will also be constantly shifting and changing. This is a very, very bad feature to have on if you’re looking to improve your aiming skills. However the only way to disable this in Mass Effect 3 is to use the Coalesced.Bin editing tool and change its value from “True” to “False”. You want consistant aiming, I cannot stress that enough.

 

“Hope this helps.” – Cookiegobbler

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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Invisible Cryo – by Draelexia

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Build Title:
Invisible Cryo – by Draelexia

Class:
Human Infiltrator

Power Evolutions:
Cryo Blast: Radius (4), Cryo Explosion (5), Frozen Vulnerability (6)
Tactical Cloak: Duration (4), Recharge (5), Bonus Power (6)
Sticky Grenade: N/A
Alliance Training: Weapon Damage (4), Headshots (5), Weapon Damage (6)
Fitness: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Durability (6)

Weapons:
My weapon of choice is the mattock. I prefer this weapon because if you can tap fast you can shoot fast and it has awesome stability so almost every shot can be a headshot. Even at long range it still is almost dead on.

Strategy:
Your main objective is to cloak and use Cryo Blast. With the skills you took in the tactical cloak tree, you can use one power and remain cloaked. Your cryo blast is spec’d to be useful against enemies with armor and health. It will freeze health enemies, so you can break them, and it will sometimes slow armored enemies, but it will always weaken them so they will take more damage.

Banshees – When it comes to these enemies, i suggest staying back and letting the big guys take the brunt of the damage as you spam Cryo blast and DPS her head as fast as possible. If she teleports to you and there are other teammates around, be sure to cloak and run. You want to make sure that their is always a ncie distance between you and a banshee.

Brute – Basically the same approach as the banshee because brutes are fast and hit hard. Cryo blast and aim for the head. If you are not in a good position to hit their head just hit their flesh. Make sure not to be to0 close as they will damage you when they die.

Atlas – These enemies are generally easy to take down. Find good cover, Pop up throw Cryo blast and Shoot with Mattock. No real skill involved with them because they move slow and are easy to dodge.

Phantom – These are pests. Always look for them cloaked if you spot them break their barrier and then hit them with Cryo blast. If you have a someone with overload or energy drain on your team they are 10x easier. Remember to keep your distance and keep hitting them with Cryo Blast.

Geth Prime – Try to stay at a ncie distance from this big guys. They have a big head so you can get easy headshots on them. Break their shield, hit them with cryo blast, and unload with mattock on their face. Try to watch for the rockets as they will hurt. I try to always be on the look out for the sentries also, because you cna drop them in a couple of shots.

Geth Pyro – Ugh. When it comes to fighting them stay very far away and basically snipe them with the mattock. Hit them with cryo blast so you can damage them more and hope they die before they burns you to ashes.

Bronze Note:

On bronze this build can stand alone pretty well. When it comes to armored enemies hit them with Cryo blast. Cryo blast will make them weaker to damage. Cryo blast is an amazing ability if you have someone with energy drain or overload on your team. They can remove shields/barriers and you can freeze/slow nearly everything without armor. With a good team on your side you will rip through bronze enemies.

Silver Note:

When it comes to silver you have to be a bit more cautious and take cover when it is necessary. Avoid being shot and think quicker on your feet. Cloak is very useful when saving your life or anyone elses. You can easily cloak run into a mob and rescue a fallen teammate. Most of your “kills” will be assists. remember you have a very powerful skill at your hands that will help you and your teammates survive to a full extraction.

Gold Note:

Gold is a different story… all I can suggest is don’t get shot and cloak often. You will be able to hit enemies with cryo even when cloaked because you have the bonus from Cryo Blast level 6 so stealth will be the key to your survival.

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
3. Because you are not generally a top player but you contribute to the team a lot.

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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Invisible Commando – by Giwigiwigiwigiwi

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Build Title: 
Invisible Commando – by Giwigiwigiwigiwi

Class:
Human Infiltrator

Power Evolutions:
Tactical Cloak: Damage (4), Recharge Speed (5), Bonus Power (6)
Cryo Blast: Radius (4), Cryo Explosion (5), Frozen Vulnerability (6)
Sticky Grenade: N/A
Alliance Training: Weapon Damage (4), Headshots (5), Weapon Weight (6)
Fitness: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Durability (6)

Weapons:
M-23 Katana/M-27 Scimitar. Why not claymore, like the cloaky claymore mentioned above? 1st, weight; 2nd, claymore has only one shot, if you lost it in a close combat (in case of a serious lag) it’ll be too dangerous for you to reload.

Strategy:
This invisible commando is similar to the cloaky claymore mentioned above, but more flexible. Tactics? Cloak, go find an enemy and use Cryo Blast, and afterwards with a instant shot into the heads, find some cover, wait for another round. If you killed an enemy and cause a cryo explosion, keep your rampage, either with shotgun or melee. There’s one thing I would like to mention, that cloak is not only a way getting close to your enemy, but also a way to easily achieve the “grab”. As you know, gold grab achievement only requires 5 grabs (silver 3 and bronze 1).
This build is for those who love close combat and hate camping somewhere with a sniper, scoping shooting and reloading. Also it explains how a infiltrator infiltrates. But of course you’re often surrounded by a bunch of enemies, so it is a little bit dangerous for players who’re not familiar with enemies and maps. Anyway, there is always some enemy difficult to handle, like Banshee, Phantom, Atlas, etc. This class lacks effective ways against armor, so you will need the help of armor-piercing ammo in certain situations.

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for anyone!)
4. This class can hardly get a team No.1 score, and requires a good understanding of cooldown, of maps and enemies. Once you get used to sniping this class will dominate. Blast the fragile world into pieces, do some damage!

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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Cloaky Claymore – by OblivionDawn

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Build Title:

Cloaky Claymore – by OblivionDawn

Power Evolutions:

Tactical Cloak: Damage (4), Recharge Speed (5), Bonus Power (6)
Cryo Blast: Radius (4), Cryo Explosion: (5), Recharge Speed (6)
Sticky Grenades: N/A (I have no points in Sticky Grenades, I find them fairly useless for this build.)
Alliance Training: Damage & Capacity (4), Power Damage (5), Optional (6)
Fitness: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Fitness Expert (6)
Weapons:

M-300 Claymore

Strategy:

Basically, you use your cloak, run right up to an enemy (preferably one of the tougher ones like the Centurion or Maruader, etc.), put your Claymore in his mouth, and pull the trigger. Then you do some evasive maneuvers until your cloak recharges. Rinse and repeat.

The beauty of this class is that the Claymore has a tendency to one-shot anything human-sized. Although it does take some practice to line up that perfect shot before your cloak runs out.

You can use Energy Drain or Cryo Blast (depending on the race) to stagger your enemy and give you time to line up a good shot. I’ve frequently gotten first place with this build. It takes some getting used to, and you have to be pretty ballsy to get to some of the more protected targets. This build really flourishes in the “High Value Targets” objectives. You just sneak behind enemy lines and blow them away in short order.

N00b Rating:

4.5. You likely won’t be much of a N00b by the time you get your Claymore. But I’d give it a 4 or 5. Like I said, it takes some getting used to and some pretty good situational awareness.

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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