Tag Archives: CQC

Flash of Greatness – by CoreyImperia

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Build Title: Flash of Greatness

Class: Alliance Infiltration Unit Infiltrator

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

Power Evolutions:
Tactical Cloak: (4) Damage, (5) Recharge Speed, (6) Shotgun Damage
Snap Freeze: (4) Reach, (5) Cryo Explosion, (6) Damage & Weakness
Repair Matrix: (4) Survivability, (5) Duration, (6) Enhanced Repair
Unshackled A.I: (4) Weapon Damage, (5) Headshots, (6) Weapon Damage
Fitness: N/A

 

Weapons:
You’ll want to utilize the M-300 Claymore, M-11 Wraith or the AT-12 Raider. For each of them, you’ll want High Velocity Barrel and Smart Choke. Recharge Speeds aren’t a pressing concern on this character. My personal favourite is the M-300 Claymore, but any are acceptable. The M-22 Eviscerator is a suitable substitute provided you don’t have any of these weapons.

 

Gear:
Armor-Piercing or Warp Rounds for your ammo bonus. Both apply high damage and either ignore or weaken armor. Shotgun Rail Amp for weapon bonus, Adrenaline Module or Cyclonic Modulator for armor bonus. Use Grenade Capacity or Shock Trooper Upgrade for gear. The choice comes down to how many Repair Matrices you think you’ll need.

 

Strategy:
I wasn’t impressed with EDI in the single player mode… but this Alliance Infiltration Unit is incredible. Finally! An infiltrator tailored to shotguns! This makes her so unbelievably powerful but we have to skip out on Fitness because of her talents. Fortunately, with Repair Matrix, she has so high survivability that a lack of fitness is normally not an issue, but you still shouldn’t be careless. She isn’t a Geth Juggernaut after all. I’ll go over the powers, then the enemies and then some issues you may experience.
I adore her Tactical Cloak; we final have Shotgun Damage which skyrockets her damage output. With Shotgun Rail Amp III, M-300 Claymore X with High Velocity Barrel V and a cloaked point-blank shot, you’ll cause a massive 6,081.12 damage! Rank 4 for Damage, recharge at 5 to mitigate the lack of weight and Shotgun Damage at rank 6. If you PuG a lot, perhaps Duration is better but without Damage you’ll deal 40.00% less damage. This is how I normally use Snap Freeze, it’s basically just for weakening targets. So many people argue about whether or not Tech Combo is bugged so I play it safe and choose Damage & Weakness at Rank 6 which, I swear is better. Especially since you’re focusing on weakening and not explosons. Reach allows you to maintain some distance (and your shotgun will still deal high damage due to Smart Choke), and Cryo Explosion weakens enemies you have used Snap Freeze on. Win and win. Repair Matrix is like Stimulant Pack, but in my personal opinion, much better. In addition to massive and constant shield regeneration, if you’re down while it’s active, it’ll revive you too! Survivability at rank 4 is handier than the shield option, as it gives you a chance to flee with the movement speed bonus and that damage reduction is great as long as you can keep those shields up during it. Duration is superior at rank 5 as security in case you get downed and Enhanced Repair Matrix gives you better bonuses in this case because you’re not focusing on it being a second medi-gel, you’re focusing on not going down when it’s attack. Standard weapon’s platform spec for the class passive and no points for fitness.
The class itself has little trouble against any faction because the strategy doesn’t change regardless. Snap Freeze is your tool for disabling annoy minions like abominations, husks, cannibals, collector troopers and so on. It’s other utilization is armor weakening which is specifically for any boss-tier enemy. Tactical Cloak is your key to getting around undetected and skyrockets the damage of your weapon. If you’re quick, you can pull of a Snap Freeze and a shotgun shot during the second it takes Tactical Cloak to fade. Repair Matrix is your backup, use it generously but remember to keep stock. If possible, play grenade maps. On Hazard Ghost, Repair Matrix will completely mitigate the damage from the acid rain. She has the most difficulty with minions and flanking, so don’t bite of more than you can chew. In saying this, her cloaked shotgun strike should kill most minions, usually including Phantoms or armored minions (Pyros or Dragoons) and bosses will take only a few shots. Be cautious of sync-kills also, that’s why we’ve got Smart Choke so you can maintain some distance and still be effective.
The Alliance Infiltration Unit is tailored to killing, not objectives. Her functionality with Escorts and Uploads improves as long as you can keep Defence Matrix up just purely because she is frail. Her better objectives are Devices because of Tactical Cloak and Delivery because of the movement speed bonus Repair Matrix supplies. The only issues you may face are been surrounded by umpteen Mauraders so the damage output is strong enough to overcome Repair Matrix, and having Repair Matrix revive you, only to be sync-killed a second later (trust me, Phantoms are evil). Take care to ensure her health stays high, as Repair Matrix won’t save you from much if you’re surrounded on low shields and low health. Overall she is a powerful and versatile class but if she’s caught in the wrong place at the wrong time or you bite of more than you can chew, she will go down and its then you’ll hope you’ve got Repair Matrix. After all, this is no Geth Juggernaut.

 

N00b Rating:
2.5 – This character has an intense amount of survivability especially with the way Repair Matrix is evolved. Her shields restore at an insane pace and the bonuses to movement speed coupled with Adrenaline Module means she can fire her Claymore right in someones face and run off before any of the other enemies realise she’s been there. In saying all this, she is vulnerable to stagger and is weak defensively which is why you can’t be stingy with your Repair Matrices. If you learn the tricks, you can get through gold games easily without using any medi-gel or ops packs.
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Batarian Bully – by GordianKnot42

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Build Title:
Batarian Bully – by GordianKnot42

Class:
Batarian Sentinel

Power Evolutions:
Blade Armor: Melee Damage (4), Damage Returned (5), Durability (6)
Shockwave: (1), (2), (3)
Submission Net: Damage & Capacity (4), Damage & Slow (5), Shield & Barrier (6)
Batarian Enforcer: Damage & Capacity (4), Headshots (5)
Fitness: Melee Damage (4), Melee Spree (5), Melee Synergy (6)

Weapons:
Eviscerator only, modded with the Shotgun Blade Attachment and High Caliber Barrel. The Eviscerator gives you a little bit of added range to your shotgun attacks, even though the shotgun is truly a backup weapon. It’s also light enough to give you a good recharge time. The High Caliber Barrel offsets the lack of weapon bonuses in the power loadout.

Strategy:
Nothing can beat a Krogan in full Rage mode, but this guy can come pretty close. This is a more conservative melee player, tactical melee, if you will. Your purpose here is NOT to go crazy and melee everything in sight like a Krogan; the slowness of the Batarian Sentinel’s heavy melee attack doesn’t allow you to do that. Your job is instead to utilize your powers to help control the battlefield from close up in a more team support role.

While it’s no Tech Armor, you’re going to want Blade Armor up and running at all times. Submission Net and Shockwave are used to stagger and setup your melee attacks and point-blank shotgun attacks. The goal here is to get in close enough that the enemies will attempt to melee you, at which time 75% of their attack gets thrown right back in their faces. In fact, usually during the Batarian’s slow heavy melee setup they will get a hit on you, and you’ll see them take damage before you even throw the final punch, which finishes them off. Use Shockwave to stagger if there is a group, then if you do a heavy melee you will most likely be cooled down enough by the end of it to throw another Shockwave or Net. Be aware, though, that it appears you continue to take damage during the slow heavy melee setup, so this is not advisable to do against large groups or anything tougher than standard foot soldiers.

The tactical part comes in when the tougher opponents show up. The Submission Net is akin to a poor-man’s Stasis, but it’s a Stasis that slowly eats away defenses right before your eyes. This is an excellent tool to keep Nemeses & Phantoms or cloaked Geth off your team’s backs. Net them, watch as their barriers slowly disintegrate, then do a heavy melee when there’s only health left and they’re history. You need to get in somewhat close as the Submission Net is easily dodged, but you can usually sneak up on them as they take cover around a corner and Net them at near point-blank range. (But keep a safe amount of distance from the Phantom, or she’ll rip you to shreds before you can deploy the Net.) The Net will also help slow and wear down armored opponents. (Note: Submission Net does NOT incapacitate Atlases, turrets, Pyros or Banshees.) When it’s down to a handful of regular foot soldiers (Troopers, Centurions, Husks, Cannibals, Geth Troopers), then you can get in close and alternate shotgun blasts (aiming for the head for the sweet 20% Batarian Enforcer bonus) and heavy melees to clear them out. Even the faster, regular melee attacks are effective if you’re fighting partially damaged troops.

Shockwave is there for a bit of crowd control to stagger and also to be a slightly longer range attack than the shotgun (as opposed to carrying a second weapon, which would decimate your cooldown time). Also be on the lookout for enemies being Warped or under the effects of a tech attack, as Shockwave can detonate either of those. (You could theoretically detonate your own Submission Nets, but the shorter duration of the Net and the longer cooldown as a result of the Blade Armor all but precludes that.) Shockwave is also your primary means of disposing of Guardians. Get in as close as you can, throw a Shockwave, then if you IMMEDIATELY initiate a heavy melee you should be able to get the blow in before they get their riot shield raised again. Otherwise, you can get in one or two sucker punches (normal melee hits).

I would strongly advise giving yourself an Adrenaline Module on your armor to boost your movement. Batarians are pretty slow, but the faster you can get in the enemies’ faces to subdue them and start your melee attacks the better.

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
4. The cornerstone of the tactical melee strategy – the Submission Net – needs to be timed and aimed very carefully. You will need to continue to aim on moving enemies as your Net deploys, and your aim has to be spot on in order to take out the deadlier enemies like the Phantom. Also, the temptation is going to be to heavy melee everything in sight (which is understandable… it’s truly awesome watching enemies’ head explode when you punch them). But you’re going to have to gauge when heavy melee is called for and when a couple of sucker punches will do the job (which will still pack a wallop given the melee-oriented power and weapon loadout).

And yet… you will have to bear in mind that you are NOT a tank. The only added durability comes with rank 6 of Blade Armor. So if you charge into a group of half a dozen troops, or charge around a corner only to find yourself face to face with a turret, you’re going to go down pretty fast on Silver. Also, like Turians & Krogans, the lack of mobility can be an issue, but this can be partially offset with the Adrenaline Module (although you still can’t dodge missiles…).

This guy plays really well on Silver playgrounds; never tried him on Gold so I’m not sure how viable he is there. You are not going to top leaderboards with this guy. You WILL get the unparalleled satisfaction of laying subdued Phantoms to waste with one hit.

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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Eyeball Salvation – by R.K.Eyeball

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Build Title:
Eyeball Salvation (Hunter Mode Haters Unite!) – by R.K.Eyeball

Class:
Geth Infiltrator

Power Evolutions:
Tactical Cloak: Damage (4) , Recharge Speed (5), Bonus Power (6)
Proximity Mine: Damage (4), Damage Taken (5), Damage (6)
Hunter Mode: N/A
Networked AI: Damage and Capacity (4), Power Damage (5), Weapon Damage (6)
Advanced Hardware: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Fitness Expert (6)

Weapons:
Claymore, with this power setup you get around a 5 second cooldown on tactical cloak if you use the full duration. This can be made much faster when fighting by staying in cloak short times and firing quickly. I believe the minimum recharge is 3 seconds or so if you fire immediately after entering cloak. The recharge speed on the mine is irrelevant because it is only used for free during cloak. This is the same type of recharge time as using the Widow. The reason for a shotgun over a sniper is mainly that the proxy mine is more accurate at mid to close range and the shotgun synergizes well with that. As far as mods go, I suggest the high caliber barrel and the shredder mod for more armor damage or smart choke for less spread.

Alternate loadouts: Geth Plasma Shotgun (I find the charge awkward with cloaking) or one or the widows.

Strategy:
The point of this build is to have a decent Geth infiltrator that entirely avoids hunter mode. I am sure I am not alone in my dislike of the visual effects, suffice it to say that headaches ensued when used. It is very useful but not worth it IMO.

Even though you are specced for mid to close range you are still always more effective as part of your team unit, therefore stay close to your team and fight enemies as they come in range, especially watching for flankers. Know that the proxy mine has no homing abilities like most powers so you have to aim it like a normal weapon. I found two effective ways to do this. First, you can use the shotgun ADS as a grenade launcher reticule of sorts and fire it then your claymore as a one two punch. (I believe it has a consistent drop to the left and down from center so aim just over and right of your target by a hair.) This fire mode is for mid range and ideal against larger foes (wonderful against brutes). Second, you can fire it at the feet of the enemy for an immediate explosion as it lands under them. This firing style works best for me from the hip for the added mobility. This style is for close range and works better on smaller targets than the first (great against phantoms). Also, you can use this to knock a target out of cover if you get it just around the edge leaving them more exposed for the shotgun blast.

All in all you do good damage with the proxy mine and massive damage with the claymore as well as setting up large targets for yourself and team with the 20% proxy mine damage taken increase. Your tactical cloak duration is just long enough to keep you invisible while disarming objectives if activated immediately before and you have more survivability than the hunter mode Geth. Just stick near your squishy teammates and when enemies get in close they’ll get a whole lot more than they bargained for.

Noob Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
3. This build is not too tough to play because it has good shields and the Claymore is far easier to aim than a sniper. However the proxy mine can be finicky to fire as a projectile weapon as described above so it is not easy either.

Appearence: Just use something that makes it easy to tell you apart from other geth for your teammates sakes.

-edits by Lucien Midnight

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