Asari Dubstep by Wonder_Trunks

Build Title: Asari Dubstep

 

Class: Asari Adept

 

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Gold Gameplay; if you’re very familiar with the Asari dodge mechanics, you could go Platinum

 

Power Evolutions:
Stasis: (1), (2), (3)
Warp: (4) Detonate, (5) Expose, (6) Pierce
Throw: (4) Force, (5) Detonate, (6) Force & Damage
Asari Justicar: (4) Damage & Capacity, (5) Power Damage
Fitness: (4) Durability, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Fitness Expert

 

Weapons:
Any pistol, the harder hitting the better but you want to keep your recharge at 200%. Mods for the pistol should be the Power magnifier and (insert your preferred upgrade here, I use the High Caliber Barrel, just because).

 

Gear:
For the gear itself, Adaptive War Amp or anything that offers Biotic Power Damage or Power Damage. While not mandatory Warp Ammo will boost your damage significantly. You’re only using pistols so a Pistol Rail Amp for the weapon bonus, and either Cyclonic Modulators or Power Amplifier Modules for armor bonus.

 

Strategy:
Think of yourself as fast aggressive fire support, your big damage comes from your buffed detonations know your spawn points and pick a hiding spot with a clear view. you want to open each new mob with a shot from your pistol (with warp ammo) to soften them up, then warp-pistol or manoeuvre for CD, then pistol-throw to detonate. For smaller fare, pistol/throw kills anything without shields. You won’t be using Stasis a lot, it is more of an escape tool than attack or a tool for crowd control. also handy to stop that Phantom from wriggling about so you can shoot it in the face :P
the basic idea is you’re reasonably sturdy, so you don’t get one-shot killed by big ranged baddies, or if your jumped from behind (barring the usual sync-kill) you also stand a fair chance of actually getting out of the dog pile that inevitably converges on you when downed and on the bigger game found in Gold you can put out a good bit of damage.
Just remember; you can be quite aggressive with this build but cover is still your friend, try to keep a reasonable distance, keep moving and groove to your new Dubstep track generator.

 

Dubstep Sounds:
Pistol = ‘chiko’
Warp = ‘SHWWUORRRE’
Throw = ‘SHUDOM’
Stasis = ‘SHOwreeee
Detonation = ‘DOMBBOOEE’
Dodge = shwerer

Light unit (health only): chiko SHWWUORRRE shwerer or chiko SHUDOM shwerer or SHUDOM

Medium shielded target: chiko SHWWUORRRE shwerer shwerer chiko SHUDOMBBOOEE

Phantom or other slippery target: SHOwreeee chiko chiko chiko chiko SHUDOMBBOOEE chiko SHWWUORRRE chiko chiko SHUDOMBBOOEE

Heavily armoured unit / Heavily shielded unit: chiko SHWWUORRRE shwerer chiko chiko chiko SHUDOMBBOOEE shwerer (insert short running bursts then repeat as required)

Chaining together kills should get you some pretty phat beats :P

 

N00b Rating:
3.5 – Just for the fact you need to know when to back off and keep on the move while still being able to shoot-cast dodge/turn sprint spin-shoot-cast retain cover etc, can get a bit disorientating, especially if you start snapping to walls etc.

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Avatar of Vengeance – by JayneCobb88

Build Title: Avatar of Vengeance

Class: Awakened Collector Adept

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Platinum Gameplay.

Power Evolutions:
Dark Sphere: (4) Explosion Damage, (5) Recharge Speed, (6) Unstable Dark Sphere
Seeker Swarm: (4) Recharge Speed, (5) Damage Reduction
Dark Channel: (1), (2), (3)
Vengeful Ancient: (4) Damage & Capacity, (5) Power Damage, (6) Collector/Prothean Weapon Damage
Ancient Warrior: (4) Ascension Damage Bonus, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Fitness Expert

 

Weapons:
Prothean Particle Rifle with Extended Barrel and Magazine Upgrade or Collector Sniper Rifle with Extended Barrel and Piercing Mod. The Prothean Rifle has the advantage for boss killing and the Collector Sniper Rifle is better at shwacking mooks. As well as the Acolyte with Ultralight HP Materials and Power Magnifier for trashing boss barriers/shields. It’s not necessary to carry the Acolyte when using the Particle Rifle except when facing Phantoms.

 

Gear:
Warp Ammo is a MUST and anything that increases Assault/Sniper Rifle damage, shield strength or power recharge also help.

 

Strategy:
The Avatar of Vengeance deals his damage not by spamming Dark Sphere for its explosions but for its biotic priming and following up with warp enhanced particle beams and Seeker Swam biotic explosions. That’s the strategy in a nutshell.
The complex version is this:
Dark Sphere operates in two stages. Stage One is casting in which the sphere is tossed out and sticks to walls without causing a cool-down. Once stuck to a wall the dissipation timer starts which is equal to the DOT duration, 7 sec for this build. At the end of that time the sphere is gone and another can be cast without triggering a cooldown. The Dark Sphere will cause DOT damage and bioticly prime enemies within a radius equal to the detonation radius, 7 meters for this build. Stage Two is initiated by casting the power a second time before the sphere has dissipated, setting off a large blast, causing massive damage and triggering the power’s cool-down. This means the player can use this power without ever triggering its horrendously long cool-down. The downside is no big blast. The upside is that right after throwing a Dark Sphere down a hall the player can immediately cast Dark Channel. Unfortunately, Dark Sphere is NOT a detonating power so a blast from Dark Sphere will not trigger a biotic explosion , only prime them. This leaves Seeker Swarms as the Collector Adept’s sole method of detonating biotic explosions. Rarely have I found myself tossing out more than 2 swarms and while 3 can happen, 4 almost never did. Additionally the total health gained is greater from Fitness Expert (6) than from an extra seeker 10% damage
reduction. The swarms also prime biotic explosions for the duration that they slow down the target, 4 sec with this build.
Since all abilities prime biotic explosions the collector is a natural team player for any other adept or vanguard. Collector dodges are similar to Turian jump jets which mean they can be used effectively for both dodging and locomotion. Ascension mode is an awesome tool but situational so not worth investing fully in. The Avatar of Vengeance is fast and has decent but not amazing shields so use this to your advantage by staying in cover to shoot and use dodges to reach new cover. Staying in cover provides 40% damage reduction and the Seeker Swarms brings that total to a beefy 70%. Using particle weapons frees the Avatar from having to make ammo runs. Lateral dodges can be used to cancel the Seeker Swarm animation.
Specific Tactics:
Single trooper – Dark Channel to stagger and start shooting with particle rifle/collector sniper rifle, if need be, toss a swarm to detonate the biotic explosions and stagger a second time if it doesn’t kill the enemy outright.
Single boss – Dark Channel, unload your weapon into them and watch ‘em melt. Do not detonate the Dark Channel with a Seeker Swarm before shooting. Doing so eliminates the biotic priming, preventing the warp ammo from doing “extra damage vs lifted target”
Multiple troopers – Dark Sphere into group, immediately cast Dark Channel, Ascension Mode heavy melee, detonate Dark Sphere if you wish, detonate biotic explosions with swarms, sprinkle weapons fire through out the process.
Multiple bosses – Ascension Mode heavy melee, Dark Channel, melt with weapon, Dark Channel and shoot next target.
Rushed by many enemies – Dark Sphere and immediately detonate to stagger, use forewing dodges to egress. If desired, turn and detonate biotic explosions with swarms.
Phantoms – Dark Sphere aimed at where the targets will be, hit one phantom with Dark Channel, shoot another with acolyte, detonate Dark Sphere to kill one phantom and drop the barriers of the second. Leave and let the combined DOTs do their thing.
Dragoons – Launching a Seeker Swarm is the fastest power that will both stagger and bioticly prime Dragoons, setting up follow on weapons fire.

 

N00b Rating:
3.5 – Takes some getting used to and requires some rare equipment but quickly melting through both bosses and crowds is just amazing. The hardest thing about Vengeance is knowing when it’s a good idea/safe to detonate Dark Sphere and suffer the recharge.
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THAT Time of the Month – by CoreyImperia

Build Title: THAT Time of the Month

Class: Human Female Adept

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Gold gameplay

Power Evolutions:
Singularity: (1), (2), (3)
Warp: (4) Detonate, (5) Expose, (6) Pierce
Shockwave: (4) Radius, (5) Detonate, (6) Recharge Speed
Alliance Training: (4) Damage & Capacity, (5) Power Damage
Fitness: (4) Melee Damage, (5) Martial Artist, (6) Weapon Synergy

 

Weapons:
You’ll want to take the N7 Hurricane with SMG Recoil Systems and High-Velocity Barrel and the Acolyte with Melee Stunner and High Caliber Barrel (Heavy Barrel if you have a high-leved Hurricane). You’ll be using the Acolyte constantly and falling back on the Hurricane for armored targets.

 

Gear:
In terms of gear: Incendiary, Warp or Armor-Piercing would be the way to go with this build. Incendiary primes Fire Explosions, Warp weakens armor and synergizes with biotics and Armor-Piercing deals extra damage to armor. Use Strength Enhancer for weapon bonus and Cyclonic Modulator for armor bonus. You could choose either Martial Biotic Amp for extra biotic damage and melee damage or Juggernaut Shield for extra melee damage and shields for your gear bonus.

 

Strategy:
All hail the mighty Human Female Melee Adept! This is one of the most unique and fun spins on the base human adept you could ever create, but by no means is it easy to use. Useable on Gold, this humble character uses the Human Adept Melee (which is really good) and biotics to draw things in, weaken them, knock them back and explode ‘em.
Leave Singularity at rank 3, while it is really good since the patch you are only using it to catch weaker enemies so you can keep your Melee Synergy going. Warp is a standard evolution; Detonate for stronger explosions, Expose for target weakening, and Pierce for boss damage. Shockwave is also pretty standard; Radius for a better chance to hit (because that extra 60cm is actually worth it), Detonate for incredible explosions and Recharge Speed for stagger spamming. You need full melee for the build’s Fitness. For the passive, take Damage & Capacity at Rank 4, this is to give faster recharge times since you’re carrying two weapons. Then more Power Damage.
You need to play this character in a certain way, as the difficulty rises her effectiveness lowers because melee is harder to pull off on Gold and very difficult on Platinum. You’ll find yourself using you melee up to wave six or seven and only against infantry (the except will be of course, Banshee’s or Primes on low armor). The thing that makes the Human Adept heavy melee awesome is that it does more damage against Shields, Barriers and Armour then Health, not many other characters can do that. Singularity is how you catch Abominations, Husks, Cannibals, Geth Troopers, Assault Troopers and Collector Troopers to begin your melee synergy. Your synergy enhances weapon damage, which we capitalize by using the Hurricane against bosses. Your Acolyte strips the shields of Maruaders, Collector Captains, Geth Hunters, Geth Rocket Troopers, Nemeses, Phantoms, Centurions and Combat Engineers so you can heavy melee them, or catch them with Singualrity and follow with Shockwave. Use Shockwave often to stagger enemies, its a lifeline and a comodity to the class.
Bosses require more… finesse. Heavy Melee attacks aren’t the best approach, even though yours does bonus damage, try to only use it as a finisher. Your explosions will get you through them (Warp and Shockwave). You can afford to finish Geth Pyros with heavy melee but avoid Ravagers in particular as their goo will shred you low shields and health. Brutes and Scions (and Ravagers) will succumb to explosions, but it is sometimes risky to use the heavy melee as a finisher. If you have a Weapon Synergy running, therefore the Hurricane should dispose of them quickly. The same goes for Altases, Primes, Banshees and Praetorians. You should be able to finish Banshees and Primes (as long as the Banshee is in its second stage (when it is throwing the warp-balls)) with heavy melee. Otherwise, stick with Hurricane and Explosions. Use the Acolyte to strip the Shields/Barriers first, then they should fall quickly.
This class is risky to say the least. Adepts often find themselves in close combat but this builds requires it at all times. She has Singularity to guard herself during objectives and can hold her own as long as you play carefully. She works well in teams of biotic users. The team can use explosions to stagger bigger enemies for her to finish off. You are very vulnerable, even with Cyclonics which at III bolster your shields to 1125 which is very low for Gold. You’re powerful, but fragile. So play it aggressive, but don’t throw yourself into the deep end without a exit strategy.

 

N00b Rating:
4.5 – Highly risky, and complicated. You need to know when to fight and when to flee, just because of your durability. You have weapons, biotics and melee to throw out at your enemies, it’s learning the right combination and when to use each. The risk factor increases when you play with randoms, and she works a lot better if worked into a team. Aside from that, she is an incredibly fun class to play, you can send Cannibals flying further than a Krogan Vanguard can!
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In Your Face Fury – by Dark Seraphim

Build Title: In Your Face Fury

Class: N7 Fury Adept

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Gold gameplay

Power Evolutions:
Annihilation Field: (4) Impact Radius, (5) Movement Speed, (6) Drain
Dark Channel: (4) Duration, *(5) Refer to Strategy, (6) Pierce
Throw: (4) Radius, (5) Detonate, (6) Force & Damage
N7 Fury: N/A
Fitness: (4) Durability, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Fitness Expert

 

Weapons:
As far as weapons go, my main rule is to keep above 190% cooldown.  Previously, my weapon of choice was an Acolyte with Damage mod, and Melee Stunner, along with Cryo ammo. This gave me a nice weapon that can be fired point blank to do nice AoE damage, along with a bit of crowd control from the cryo ammo. Since the shot isn’t a standard shot, I didn’t feel comfortable with a headshot modifier, and it was already light enough to ignore lightweight materials. While this weapon may seem in contention with the Drain ability of Annihilation Field, it does help quite a bit against bosses who have large shields, or for popping shields at long range to make sure your biotic explosions are extremely powerful.
Alternate weapon choices would be effectively anything you are comfortable with. An SMG would easily fill the hole, and I’ve seen many Fury’s using the N7 Hurricane (great damage, bad stability which can be mostly mitigated by SMG Recoil Systems) for their short range finisher. Depending on your weapon level and lightweight materials, one of the heavy pistols might be a good bet, such as the Carnifex or Paladin, to supplement your long range abilities (and go for the occasional ground shot execution).
I have seen the Wraith Shotgun becoming more and more prominent on Caster classes like this one, and it would complement the in your face play style extremely well, provided the weight is low enough to make sure you can throw often enough. The Wraith’s weight drops significantly at higher levels.

 

Gear:
Permanent Gear wise, I usually stick with the Commando Package, because it complements my Pistol (Acolyte) and the Biotic Damage of my abilities (but biotic explosions don’t benefit from it). Alternative choices would be an Expert Package, if you like SMGs due to the power recharge. Or Even Structural Ergonomics for the higher recharge.  It all really depends on your specific levels. In my case the Commando Package hit level 5 long before anything else did and gave me twice the numbers any other mod did. It’s really up the store and preference here.
Consumable wise, my favorite is the level 3 Adrenaline Module. With the move bonus on Annihilation Field stacked with this, you can give Usain Bolt a run for his money. That being said, it allows you to move in and out of combat extremely quickly, including running right THROUGH enemies to safety. However, if you are out or want a safer alternative, Cyclonic Modulators are always a safe bet on anyone. +100% shields means when you drain shields you will have just that much more bulk to survive and do more damage.  But I don’t put much stock in consumables, if the build won’t work without them (within reason), it’s simply not worth using.

 

Strategy:
Strategy wise, there’s little complexity. If you can run into a group without taking too long (so you don’t get shot at) do it and kill everything with biotic explosions every second and change. You will have to get a feel for how tough you are and that’s not something a blurb here will teach you. I will however, give a number of basic tips that I’ve learned, which make me a high scoring player. First: use corners, your biotic field extends through walls, so you can prime enemies from cover then blast their faces in. Second: your dodge can go through walls, it is generally faster to sidestep through walls but not all walls can be sidestepped.  If that’s the case, try a heavy melee, you can likely make it through that way. Smaller maps with lots of rooms and hallways are perfect for this trick, it will let you get to someone’s aid quickly, get out of trouble, and just generally be where you can do the most good. Thirdly: when in doubt run. With the HUGE movement speed bonuses and teleporting side steps, you can get in and out of all kinds of situations. It pays to learn how to do more than run straight away from an enemy. Lastly: there’s a fun little shuffle step that allows you to biotic explosion a single target constantly. With the move speed bonuses this is significantly easier. It simply involves moving the enemy in and out of your field and using throw once they re enter. This allows for extreme damage against targets like banshee/atlas/prime/brute, and often happens incidentally against enemies like dragoons and pyros since they get knocked back by your biotic eplxosions in the first place.
Some specific enemies that give problems to many close range characters are Brutes, Phantoms, and Pyros. In these cases, the Fury (and my build) are well suited to handling them.  Brutes give visual notice when they’re about to jump or charge, it is extremely easy to phase sidestep out of range and continue the biotic explosion parade. Phantoms which are normally scary, are extremely easy to handle. One shot from the acolyte (500% damage vs shield/barrier + 25% more from the barrel) will take out a phantom’s shields almost entirely on Gold. Then they are just one biotic explosion or two more Acolyte shots away from getting destroyed. In the case of Pyros, you generally want to open with a BE to steal their shields because they’ll likely start flaming you. Then I usually drop an acolyte shot and shuffle step to do the second BE which should kill them.  If there are more than one, you can BE the second one since he’ll be primed already (without having to do the shuffle step trick). This premise also applies to any enemy that survives one biotic explosion. Two Marauders for example, run up and explode the first one, then throw the second one to create the second explosion which will kill them both.

 

Rating:
3.5 - It is certainly easier to play than a Drell Vanguard Melee build, however you are always placing yourself in the thick of enemies and it is easy to bite off more than you can chew.  However, the mechanics are fairly easy, walk up to an enemy and use throw. The hardest parts are playing this build well, knowing when to go in and out of combat, how to back out of combat, and what tricks to use when. Once those tricks are down, this class is almost always a top scorer on Gold and generally safe to play.

 

Appearance:
A16, A14, A12, 3:A12, C2
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Squishy Reaver – by CoreyImperia

Build Title: Squishy Reaver

Class: Drell Adept

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Gold gameplay, Platinum may be possible as part of a strong team of biotics.

Power Evolutions:
Reave: (4) Radius, (5) Damage Reduction, (6) Damage & Duration
Pull: N/A
Cluster Grenade: (4) Force & Damage, (5) Damage Combo, (6) Shrapnel
Drell Assassin: (4) Damage & Capacity, (5) Power Damage, (6) Weapon Damage
Fitness: (4) Durability, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Fitness Expert

 

Weapons:
My recommendation is the Cerberus Harrier or the M-11 Wraith. You want heavy hitters, and these fulfil that definition. Both relatively close range, both excellent against armour and not bad against shields and barriers. Use the Extended Barrel and Extended Magazine on the Cerberus Harrier; and Smart Choke and High Velocity Barrel (For your knowledge: because it is a non-DLC weapon, it isn’t affected by the weight penalty but still receives the damage bonus/piercing bonus, BioWare is yet to fix this ‘bug’) on the M-11 Wraith. You can take the Acolyte with you as well for fear against Phantoms, use the Extended Barrel and Ultralight Materials/Extended Magazine on it. But even though it only adds a little weight at X, that slows your recharge speed, so if taking a low-level Harrier or Wraith, do not take the Acolyte with you. It synergizes much better with the Wraith and a steady Harrier can easily kill a Phantom.

 

Gear:
For this class, we only want to use Warp Ammo. This is because targets affected by it receive armor weakening which benefits the whole team and it does bonus damage to anything affected by biotics (Reave). It yields, at IV, the highest flat-damage bonus of all the ammo powers at +60%. Use Assault Rifle Rail Amp and either Ardenaline Module or Power Amplifier Module for the armor bonus; it depends on whether you want to exploit the Drell’s bonus to Movement Speed from +20% to +25%/+35%/+45% or a Power Damage bonus to Reave and Cluster Grenade by +10%/+20%/+30%/+50%. I recommend Adrenaline if you are playing with randoms and Power Amplifier Module if playing with a strong team. Always use Warfighter Package or Grenade Capacity for gear.

 

Strategy:
I love both current (lets not forget we are awaiting a Drell Infiltrator) Drell classes, but of the two, my favourite is the Drell Adept. While both are just as aggressive, the Drell Adept has a clear advantage in staying alive; because he doesn’t have to use Biotic Charge to restore barriers which put him back into danger. Unfortunately, as with his Vanguard counterpart, he gets Pull as a power, which isn’t the greatest so we avoid it and get the things this class has to really shine. Particularly powerful on Gold, a well-played and smart Drell Adept can annihilate factions and top the scoreboard. I’ll go over the power evolutions, then the enemy stratgey and then the issues you may face while playing this class.
Reave is pretty much the standard spec you should use everytime. Always get Radius, 3m of Reave is nothing to scoff at and setting up multiple targets means well-aimed Cluster Grenades will get mutliple Biotic Explosions. On the Drell in particular, you need to go for maximum Damage Reduction to help mitigate and counter the poor defences he has. Avoid Pull, it isn’t need and isn’t worth investing into when you have better options. As for Cluster Grenades, Force and Damage will power up your grenades to deal more damage up-front, Damage Combo increases their damage by 100% against targets primed for Biotic Explosions (which you have Reave to do), the way they worded the power makes it sound useless, and you benefit more from 3 grenades for 3 separate explosions than 2 stronger grenades. Fitness is standard for Drell classes, you want the Movement Speed. As for Drell Assassin, you’re going for the 50% Power Damage Bonus and get, in the process, 22.50% Weapon Damage Bonus. Powerful to say the least.
As far as the class itself goes, it goes the best against Reapers and Collectors, simply because they are almost all Barriers and Armor. It, like most biotics, is less effective against Cerberus and I don’t recommend him for Geth because Reave has a 50% damage penalty against Shields. In saying that, against trooper level enemies he can deplete rooms to nothingness in a few Reaves and a grenade or two. Prime your targets with Reave and then detonate with Cluster Grenade. Fire off the Harrier/Wraith before your explosions and after your explosions to ensure maximum damage. Pyros and Bombers (without shields), Dragoons and Phantoms fall victim to Reave which annihilates Barriers and Armor and the explosion you can create with Cluster Grenade is insane. Cluster Grenades stagger all troopers and most bosses. Scions, Brutes and Ravagers aren’t difficult to kill either, sustained fire with Explosions and Reave will make quick work of them; quicker if you aim for the Tumors, Head and Sacks. Watch out for the Scion and Ravager cannons which easily down the Drell, as well as the Ravager slime and Swarmers. The bigger bosses are tougher, especially Primes whcih are the hardest for the Drell Adept to take out. Praetorians and Banshees are the easiest to dispose of because of the Barrier/Armor combination and Reave’s 100% damage bonus to Barriers and 50% damage bonus to Armor. Atlases are tougher than Banshees or Praetorians but stagger the easiest with explosions and Cluster Grenade. Just remember to fire your weapon, particularly at their weak points (Atlas Groin, Prime Head, Banshee Head, Praetorian Jaw). The Drell Adept is sort of the Jack Of All Trades when it comes to enemies; he is good at taking them all out but it isn’t a perfect road because their isn’t much room for error.
The Drell Adept is frail, even with Reave and max Fitness. There is more room for error than the Drell Vanguard but not much. Gold is still as unforgiving, especially if you make silly decisions. The Drell Adept can take down crowds, but it is easy to get overwhelmed very quickly, you’ll need the Movement Speed to get out of that. This Drell is very much a team player, working much better with other Biotics but is strong enough to be the only biotic on the team. He can assist with objectives but isn’t the best choice because of the lack of defence. The exception is the Object Recovery objective, where he moves faster than other classes. All in all, just watch your health or you’ll be down most of the match.

 

N00b Rating:
4 - The Drell Adept is still a Drell, but he is more forgiving than a Drell Vanguard because of Reave. It is literally the Drell’s best feature bar his Movement Speed bonuses and Power Damage passives. You still need to be very smart when playing a Drell because they are just so squishy. Your’e Movement Speed bonuses help, but you cannnot expect that to get you out of trouble every time. As said, easier than the Vanguard but almost just as unforgiving when you make a mistake. Try not to run out of Grenades mid-wave or if you can help it, play on Grenade heavy maps. I recommend Goddess, as it has 4 ammo-crates with 2 grenades in each and it is small in size. Unknwon/Unknwon viable (though tougher against Geth), Gold viable and useable as part of a biotic team on Platinum. Great class, but difficult to learn to play if you aren’t used to Drell characters.
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