Tag Archives: biotic

Biotic Annihilator – by x-Lee_666-x

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Build Title: Biotic Annihilator by x-Lee_666-x

 

Class: Asari Valkyrie Sentinel

 

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

 

Power Evolution:
Tech Armor: (4) Durability, (5) Power Damage, (6) Durability
Annihilation Field: (4) Impact Radius, (5) Movement Speed, (6) Drain
Warp: (4) Detonate
Asari Valkyrie: (4) Damage & Capacity
Fitness: (4) Durability, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Fitness Expert

 

Weapons:
N7 Piranha shotgun with Extended Barrel mod and Shotgun Shredder Mod. This works for both Gold and Platinum, as my Piranha is level X. Alternatives would include any powerful and lightweight weapon. I optimize for close range only with this build.

 

Gear:
Bronze/Silver/Gold: Structural Ergonomics V Gear mod. This is to counterbalance the weight of the Piranha, reducing cooldowns by 15%. Platinum: Structural Ergonomics V Gear mod, Cyclonic Modulator III Armor mod or Adrenaline Module III Armor mod, Warp Ammo IV Ammo mod, Shotgun Rail Amp III Weapon mod. This will be explained later.

 

Strategy:
Across all difficulty levels, the basic strategy with this character is to devastate enemies at close range. Activate Tech Armor, activate Annihilation Field, then run in close to enemies, hit them with Warp, parry with the Piranha, and repeat. This class is good for crowd control, and excels greatly in one-on-one close range combat. The Tech Armor is only to give the Biotic Annihilator an added 50% damage reduction bonus, essentially making your character twice as hard to kill. Because of this, the Tech Armor is really what makes Annihilation field usable, and is the basis of effectiveness with this character. I will have this on for the whole match, as the detonation of the Tech Armor is not very powerful, being ranked for damage reduction. The Tech Armor also slows power use, so rank six of the power can really go either way, I just prefer the added damage reduction over the alternative of increased power recharge time. To mitigate the added cooldown time of the Biotic Annihilator‘s powers, I always use the Structural Ergonomics V Gear mod. The Warp power does not need to be ranked too high, as it is only needed to detonate the biotic primer from Annihilation Field. I have Warp ranked to level 4 to get the 50% bonus to force and damage of biotic explosions. Annihilation Field is ranked to: have a larger radius, give the Biotic Annihilator added movement speed, have increased duration (90 seconds), drain the shields of enemies to replenish your own. Annihilation
Field’s increased movement speed will let you get enemies in and out of the Field’s enhanced radius quicker, for more biotic explosions, and plus, everyone likes to run faster. Having Tech Armor and Annihilation Field ranked this way adds to the durability of the Biotic Annihilator, making you much harder to kill due to damage reduction(Tech Armor) and quick shield regeneration(Annihilation Field). The increased radius also can set up more enemies for biotic explosions that are best detonated with a teammate with Shockwave. In general, the larger Field also makes priming BE easier. The equipment mods listed for Platinum difficulty are mainly to increase the effectiveness of the Piranha shotgun. The Shotgun Rail Amp III, and Warp Ammo IV make the Piranha much more powerful. Also, the added damage bonus from Warp Ammo will be in effect when firing on nearby enemies affected by the Annihilation Field. The Piranha is also used to fill the lengthened recharge speed of Warp after a Biotic Explosion. Step by step example: Lone Geth Pyro. With Tech Armor and Annihilation Field active, sprint over to the Pyro. Get close enough for Annihilation Field to take effect, and hit the Pyro with Warp. After the Biotic Explosion, move away so the Pyro is out of the Annihilation Field’s radius, and then move back in while bullying and stunning the Pyro with the Piranha until Warp recharges/magazine is empty. Finish off the Pyro with another Biotic Explosion or more Piranha shots. Only use melee to stun a single enemy when the Piranha needs to be reloaded. For a group of enemies, do the same thing as you would with a single enemy. The only difference would be to retreat when necessary to allow your shields to recharge. The Biotic Explosion will stun nearby enemies, making them all vulnerable to the Piranha, and depending on the amount of enemies in the group, you might not even need to move back and forth for the Annihilation Field to take effect, as you only lose the priming effect on the enemy detonated. This build is effective on all enemy types and all enemy characters, but is most effective against the Geth, as there is no risk of being sync-killed (except if you play on Platinum). Caution should be taken when playing Collector, because as a close range specialist, Praetorians and Possessed Abominations are dangerous and numerous. You could solo Gold with this build, but Platinum would be very difficult. The Biotic Annihilator is best used as the spearhead of a two man group, with your teammate covering you from nearby. This build is a driving force on Gold. The best support for the Biotic Annihilator would be a team of a Batarian Slasher, a Drell Vanguard or Adept, and character with throw or another Biotic Annihilator. If you can, avoid teammates with Tech Burst primer powers, as these can be a major troll on your flow, since tech powers take priority of detonation over biotic primers, causing you to waste Warp on a relatively weak Tech Burst instead of a powerful Biotic Explosion, potentially getting you killed. Seriously, Tech powers ccan get you killed! With the Biotic Annihilator, it is important to remember to be aggressive, but to be smart. DO NOT take on too many enemies or risk getting cornered or downed. Only experience can help you gauge the situation and the tactics needed with this character.

 

N00b Rating:
3.5 – It takes experience to effectively use the Biotic Annihilator effectively.
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A Volus with 4 (Biotic) Balls – by WadeVox

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Build Title: A Volus with 4 (Biotic) Balls

 

Class: Volus Protector Vanguard

 

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

 

Power Evolutions:
Biotic Charge: (4) Force and Damage, (5) Weapon Synergy, (6) Barrier
Shield Boost: (4) Shields, (5) Recharge Speed, (6) Protection
Biotic Orbs: (4) Damage, (5) Recharge Speed, (6) Orb Count
Volus Training*: (4) Damage and Capacity, (5) Power Damage
Fitness*: (1), (2), (3)

 

*If you need the comfort of additional shields, spec out of Volus Training and max out Fitness; also Shield Boost at rank 5 of Volus Training is ok, but not recommended

 

Weapons:
Anything that keeps power recharge close to 200%. I like the N7 Eagle with piercing and barrel mods; use whatever you want but keep the power recharge as close to 200% as possible.

 

Gear:
Juggernaut Shield, Adaptive War Amp, Commando package, Responder Loadout, Shield Booster, Stronghold Package, Survival Loadout; any of these work, I suggest using something to boost shields since you are frail. For Ammo, weapon and armor use whatever you are most comfortable with and whatever you have to use.

 

Strategy:
First a little about me, then my thoughts about the character, then the powers, then how to play him; I don’t have any friends that play this game any more so most of my builds are constructed around playing as the lone wolf on a team of randoms and surviving without relying on others to detonate my combos or deal damage after I prime something; If you want to play with me sometime my gamertag on XBOX Live is Pecos McCleod.
Ah, the Volus Vanguard; a powerful biotic bowling ball with shield boost to be the perfect teammate. Like all Volus this little guy can’t take cover, isn’t especially dangerous with weapon or power damage but gets the nice mini tactical cloak and biotic balls of fury. The biotic balls give him good recharge speed bonuses and combined with Volus training do some good damage themselves. For his biotic charge I take force and damage at rank 4 (if you want to choose hitting multiple targets that’s alright too), weapon synergy at 5 and barrier at 6. Since he can’t spam powers without affecting his recharge speeds, weapon damage allows him to fill the spaces between charges with lots and lots of bullets. Barrier allows each charge to restore your shields/barrier completely giving you great survivability. I evolved shield boost by taking shields at rank 4, recharge speed at 5 (since I don’t like the long recharge time and I am not a big fan of boosted shield restore rate) and protection at rank 6; when you shield boost to save a teammate you want max shield recharge and some damage protection. Since you will be spamming this to save yourself a lot having the quick recharge time is very necessary. The biotic orbs are evolved for damage at rank 4, recharge speed boost at rank 5 and additional orb at rank 6. These can do quite a nice bit of damage by themselves, but having 4 orbs all giving 15% recharge speed bonus lets you use biotic charge and shield boost very liberally; at your best moment you should be constantly charging and popping shield boost, saving teammates where appropriate and knocking enemies around. For Volus Training I took the power damage and capacity route through rank 5, but if you want a more powerful shield recharge choose shield boost at rank 5 at the expense of biotic damage. I think the damage outweighs 30% more shields recharged, especially when your shield boost is already so powerful (and gets a little help from the power damage tree too). Fitness is just three ranks; between the biotic charge and shield boost you can get away with less health and shields, however random teammates are stupid and having extra health at the expense of Volus training can keep you alive when they all go down on wave 3.
The strategy for the biotic bowling ball is to summon the biotic orbs at the beginning of the map then charge, fire, and shield boost until everything is dead. You can also stay behind teammates who work as a pair, healing shields and charging the stragglers. You are the consummate team player, or devastating lone wolf; your shields and health are small, but biotic charge completely restores barriers (while doing 860 damage and 1397.50 force) and improves your weapon damage too. It takes your favorite weapon and makes it more deadly while the power recharge boost from the biotic orbs lets you use shield boost and biotic charge with impunity since the recharge times are now next to nothing. It is very common to charge an enemy, stagger him, empty your weapon, and then charge again all before he gets a shot off. Since your weapon does extra damage after a successful charge you may not need to charge again allowing you to pop a shield boost to save yourself if surrounded, or find the next target to knock down and kill. The biotic orbs can be launched to do damage against barriers and armor along with detonating biotic primed enemies (which your charge does as well), but these are evolved for power recharge boost and with their slow recharge rate should only be launched as a last resort, or if you are very bored and want to spice up the battle. DO NOT CHARGE INTO GROUPS OF ENEMIES! On gold you will die very quickly. Against high DPS enemies (Geth Pyros) charge only when safe and empty weapon at every moment you aren’t shield boosting or charging; it is more prudent to cloak and escape to a safe distance while emptying your weapon. Against major boss enemies (Primes, Brutes, Banshee’s, Praetorian’s, Atlases) always be shooting and if possible move behind the enemy to biotic charge without the danger of being grab killed (the tactical cloak works wonders for this). If you face an enemy by yourself, use shield boost and keep firing while backing up, being mindful of not backing up into larger groups of enemies. Biotic chargers are always in danger of being grab or sync killed, this is especially true against Phantoms. Be careful, use shield boost a LOT, biotic charge smartly and know when to stick with the group or charge off by yourself and you should easily handle any enemy (except Collectors, I can’t seem to find other teammates who can stay alive versus Collectors).

 

N00b Rating:
4 – While you are very frail, your biotic charge and shield boost make you much more difficult to kill. It is tempting to biotic charge all the time, but when not careful you can easily end up in a situation not even endless shields and biotic charges can get you out of. Volus, in my opinion, aren’t suited for dominating and topping the scoreboard. They are team players and deadly warriors but work best when around stronger characters, or on well played teams.

 

Appearance: 
A16 A16 B16 3:C16 B1 A nice black, white and gray camo with red lights. ANGRY VOLUS!
Alternate design:  B4 A16 B9 1:B9 B1 Red, Yellow, and White; I call him McVolus!
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Big Brother – by TeaNinedy

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Build Title:
Big Brother – by TeaNinedy

Class:
N7 Slayer Vanguard

Power Evolutions:
Biotic charge: Damage and force(4), Power synergy(5), Barrier(6)
Phase disruptor: Damage(4), Efficient blast(5), Armor damage(6)
Biotic slash: (1), (2), (3)
N7 slayer: Damage and capacity(4), Power damage(5)
Fitness: Durability(4), Martial artist(5), Melee synergy(6)

Weapons:
Anything that hits hard, keeps the cooldown bonus close to 200%, and has a melee damage mod (pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles). The M-358 Talon modified with ultralight pistol materials and the meele stunner is excellent for this build.

Gear:
This build uses the Slayers barrier as a resource, so dps relates directly to barrier strength and recharge rate. It is highly recommended to use either shield booster or the stronghold package. For this build, the extra damage offered on most gear doesn’t stack as well as the bonuses offered by the shield booster and the stronghold package.

Strategy:
There are few things more gratifying in this game than the heavy melee this build brings to the table. It hits very hard, same base damage as the Krogan heavy melee, and with martial artist active, you can use it to teleport though a wall and one shot a fully shielded nemesis.

The heavy melee takes time to master because of four main factors. Firstly, the targeting is very touchy, and downright frustrating at times. It only hits enemies in a target window from approx 5 to 10m from the player. You can however target enemies through walls, and on higher or lower levels in certain places. Secondly, the teleporting animation gets stuck on some ground features and is particularly glitchy on ramps. Thirdly, this ability uses a small amount of barriers to activate, and if you don’t have any, it uses health. You can commit suicide by using it at the wrong time. Lastly, the Slayer leaves his sword hanging after a strike. The activation animation is very quick, but after you slice the enemy with a crisp swing of your sword, the animation takes a moderate amount of time to reset. This leaves the Slayer exposed to fire at a bad time. These are the main challenges on the learning curve towards mastering the heavy melee.

The best strategy to increase survivability it to pick away at enemies on the flanks, or stragglers, while using charge and shooting between melee attacks. It is very risky to use the heavy melee twice in a row. The charge, shoot, heavy melee combo is fairly safe, and will kill any enemy (less bosses and ravagers) even without martial artist active. The charge power evolution 6 (barrier), ables the Slayer to sustain this for a while; however, he is not a tank, so be sure to take cover and re-asses your surrounding after having killed a few enemies.

Although the melee attack is by far the most appealing aspect of this build, the Slayer is far from a one hit wonder.

The charge can only one shot husks, but will stagger everything except a shielded atlas or banshee, and downright launch a Cerberus trooper in to outer space. As stated above, this power is also your life line to restore shields. Use it often; however, use it wisely… If you are being pinned down by fire, forget the charge, just be patient and let your barrier recharge. If you are killing something that can one shot you, immediately backwards teleport out of melee range after the charge, but this practice should only be used when cover isn’t a viable option.

Use phase disruptor on armor and targets out of your weapon range. The damage of phase disruptor is great, even higher after a charge or melee kill, and it’s AoE. It will kill a brute or ravager in about six well placed shots. It’s a targeted power, and not diminished by range. It can be used as a biotic sniper rifle in the hands of a good shooter. This is another power that uses the Slayers barriers. With power evolution Efficient blast (5) the Slayer can fire up to 3 shots before his barriers are consumed. If taking fire, be sure to only fire 1 or 2 before taking cover again, else you risk dipping in to your precious health bar. Pair this power with a charge to a close enemy, finish it off with your weapon, then quickly fire off another 3 round salvo to that ravager in the distance.

Biotic slash is a great skill with just 3 ranks. Its use is situational with this build, mainly to kill numerous enemies though a wall. The main drawback to this power, it cannot be used from under cover, and it has a long activation animation, so you’re best to only use it when no enemies have you in their line of sight.

Enemy shields and barriers on bosses are a problem for this build but it doesn’t feel like a problem in game. One easy way out is to equip disruptor ammo because the Talon’s base damage against shields is fair, with the ammo mod the damage is pretty good. Another option, is to go with the Disciple shotgun and Acolyte pistol weapon combo, which maintains a 200% cooldown at rank X. The damage and range of the Disciple is less than the M-358 Talon, but is good enough to be the Slayers go to weapon. Switch to the Acolyte pistol to quickly make short work of a banshee barrier or atlas shield. Last option, let your teammates do it. There are so many classes and weapons that strip shields, it rare to be in a group without one.

Mobility on the battlefield is great. The quick strafe is a medium range teleport, works in all four directions, and blinks through cover and walls. This ability also uses the Slayers barriers as a resource, so it’s safest to use after a charge or prior to taking fire.

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
4. This build is fragile, and the powers and melee attacks are hard to master. There are vulnerability issues with the animations and in the Slayers barriers being used as a resource for the heavy melee, phase disruptor, and his quick strafe teleport. You have to take cover and be very aware of your health bar and surroundings before engaging in a teleporting, sword wielding, killing frenzy… but oh boy, do those moments ever feel good when timed properly. This build is completely viable for silver and gold missions in the hands of the right player. I have not tested this build on platinum.

Appearance:
Orange camo – it matches the Slayers sword and his M-358 Talon.
A16 B4 C16 3:B3 C1

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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Biotic Bubblegum – by SciFiDownBeat

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Build Title:
Biotic Bubblegum – by SciFiDownBeat

Class:
N7 Fury Adept

Power Evolutions:
Annihilation Field: Damage (4), Movement Speed (5), Drain (6)
Dark Channel: Duration (4), Slow (5), Pierce (6)
Throw: Radius (4), Detonate (5), Force & Damage (6)
N7 Fury: Damage & Capacity (4)
Fitness: Durability (4)

Weapons:
Anything that brings you close to 200%, but for this class even 100% is acceptable. 4 points in the class power gives you a few weight capacity points to give you some more wiggle room. I don’t recommend shotguns or sniper rifles as it’s important to be ready to fire at a moment’s notice, so slow-firing weapons won’t really help in tight situations.

Gear:
The Martial Biotic Amp, the Expert Package, and the Commando Package all gel well with this class, but a simple Shield Booster works too if you’re feeling squishy. Use your Armor Bonus to enhance your powers (with Power Efficiency Module or Power Amplifier Module). Ammo and Weapon Bonuses are to taste.

Strategy:
One thing right off the bat: the Dark Channel + Throw biotic combo (DCT) is, hands down, the best self-induced biotic combo in the game. Dark Channel is basically Warp 2.0, so normally you can spam DCT as you would Thwarp, though Dark Channel cannot set off biotic detonations; it only primes them. However, since Dark Channel jumps upon the death of its “host” (and primes a new biotic detonation upon jumping), you can send out one Dark Channel and potentially send out a handful of Throws. The only trick to DCT is that you shouldn’t waste too much time looking for the next Dark Channel jump. Only send out another Throw if you’re positive where your Dark Channel will jump to, or if you have a clear view of a bunch of enemies. One example of a good use of DCT is by camping out on the high ledge in Firebase London (where you get a bird’s eye view of the street) or the descending hallway in Firebase Glacier. From these areas you’ll be able to clearly see where your Dark Channel jumps to so you can rain down Throws and pull of a string of biotic detonations.

DCT is the bread of this build; the butter is Annihilation Field. At first, it seems like a pretty silly power, especially since its usefulness only comes into play at short range (and if you haven’t already figured it out, Adepts and Short Range don’t always mix very well). AF’s evolution tree is divided into two groups: offensive on top (all damage increases) and defensive on bottom. However, by its nature, AF should be used defensively when you are alone. When you get cornered, you can detonate the power itself or you can pop a Throw to set off the detonation primed by AF, but you shouldn’t actively run around trying to prime biotic detonations at short range with it (except on Bronze). This makes it really useful against assailing Phantoms and Hunters. However, when you have biotic teammates, AF becomes very useful offensively. Stand inside a Justicar’s Warp Bubble, continuously spam AF, and suddenly you’ve become an atomic bomb. Note that while AF has no power recharge penalty, it does not increase durability and it must be recast every minute or so. Recasting shouldn’t be an issue, since you should be detonating it every minute or so anyway to make the most of the power.

So, to recap: DCT is your primary combo, AF is your ace in the hole. Don’t forget to fire your weapon every once in a while.

Other remarks:
-Heavy Melee’s animation is somewhat similar to the Asari’s except that you vanish and reappear a few meters in front of you and it targets enemies. If an enemy is right in your face then you don’t vanish or teleport.
-The Fury’s combat rolls cover a lot of distance, so it takes some getting used to when you try to roll into cover and you end up flying through it. The flip side is that if you roll into large objects, the game forces you forward until you hit solid ground or you hit the edge of the map, allowing you to cover great distances if you are lucky or skilled enough to manipulate it.
-Biotic attacks seem to have black/purple undertones along with blue. I just thought that was kinda cool.

N00b Rating: (scale of 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
3. Be aware of enemy positions and you know your way around the map so you can make a quick getaway if you need to. Otherwise, spam DCT and remember that with Drain AF, shielded enemies can provide a nice boost to your shields. Between your two primers (Annihilation Field and Dark Channel) and detonators (Annihilation Field and Throw), you should be popping off biotic combos like bubblegum.

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The Pulse – by SciFiDownBeat

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Build Title:
The Pulse – by SciFiDownBeat

Class:
Human Sentinel

Power Evolutions:
Tech Armor: Damage & Radius (4), Power Damage (5), Power Recharge (6)
Warp: Detonate (4), Expose (5), Pierce (6)
Throw: Force (4), Detonate (5), Force & Damage (6)
Alliance Training: Damage & Capacity (4), Power Damage (5)
Fitness: (1), (2), (3)

Weapons:
Anything that allows 200% Power Recharge, or as close to that as possible. That means SMGs and pistols only. Personally I find the Predator or the Phalanx pistols to suit my needs well, but if you don’t mind lowering your power recharge percentage, go ahead and use the Carnifex or the Paladin.

If you wanna go ballsy, reallocate your Fitness points to Weapon Weight (6) for Alliance Training and equip heavier guns, but this is not recommended unless you’re sure you’ll never get hit.

Strategy:
For those of you who claim that the Human Sentinel’s Tech Armor is absolute garbage, this is the answer. The idea behind this build is to sacrifice a little health and power recharge for another power, more power damage, and bigger biotic explosions.

You know the drill for the Human Sentinel: Warp, Throw, rinse, repeat. Aim for crowds, stick to cover, et cetera. The emphasis on this build is not just simply Thwarp, however. If you learn to use the Tech Armor well, it becomes a valuable resource in sticky situations.

One of the issues with the Human Sentinel is its glassiness of its glass-cannon quality. The Caster build (respec’ed with no Tech Armor) has 825/825 health/shields, which is certainly respectable. This build technically only has 625/625 h/s, but with the 25% damage reduction you get from Tech Armor, you get an effective h/s of 780/780, which is only a difference of 45 points (for a total of 90) between The Caster and The Pulse.

However, what happens when enemies approach you from where you can’t grab them? This is where The Pulse shines. The Caster can make a quick throw (which doesn’t save you from a swarm of enemies) and run, or try to set up a biotic detonation (which can take up a few precious seconds) and book it. Both of these things require you to peek from behind cover and expose yourself.

The Pulse can do both these things, but can also detonate Tech Armor. Detonating Tech Armor will save you when you need to make a quick getaway, and you don’t need to leave cover when you detonate. In fact, if you have low weapon weight, you can keep spamming the detonation and do reasonable damage and knockback, all without ever leaving cover.

In review:
- Warp-Throw to set up biotic explosions (aim for crowds)
- Stick to cover (!!!), and bring enemies out of it with Thwarp
- If you get swarmed, detonate Tech Armor behind cover

Remember, Tech Armor can be your friend if you let it. Get used to the split-second delay between Warp and Throw and you’ll have a ball.

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
3.5. You must consistently be getting off the Warp-Throw combos, and you must know when and when not to detonate your Tech Armor. As long as you play smart and keep aware of your surroundings, you should do fine.

Appearance:
A9 B9 A13 1:A16 C2

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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