Mass Effect 3 Walkthrough

Shepard and the Crew

In Mass Effect 3 Shepard has access to six classes, all of which have appeared from the previous two games. Soldier specializes in use of weapons and combat, Engineer relies on expert tech skills, and Adept is a master of biotics. The three hybrid classes are Infiltrator that balances combat and tech, Vanguard that has both combat and biotics, and last Sentinel may access tech and biotics. There is no overall best class, it's all about personal taste. However, keep in mind that Soldiers can gain the largest weight capacity, the hybrid classes have mid weight, and both Adept and Engineer have low weight.

Shepard's companions depend on the choices imported from the previous two games. You will always have Liara, James and EDI as squad members. You can gain Ashley or Kaidan depending on who was left on Virmire during Mass Effect. Garrus and Tali may join only if they survived the suicide mission from Mass Effect 2. Last, you can gain Javik by buying DLC or owning the collector's edition of Mass Effect 3.

For both Shepard and your squad it's best to concentrate on one skill and max it out before moving onto a new one. Still, it is nice to spend a single point and unlock one or two abilities. Keep in mind that Shepard gains around double the skill points of other team members, allowing you much more flexibility.

Soldier

The Soldier class can use all ammo types, has access to frag grenades, and gains the highest weight limit. Among their special abilities include adrenaline rush to slow down time and the knock back attack concussive shot.

We recommend investing in a single ammo, either incendiary ammo to destroy pesky armor, or cryo ammo to keep the enemy slowed down. Disruptor ammo is good for shields, but there are many more abilities that can easily take those down. The second power you should heavily invest in is frag grenade, which does a huge amount of damage over a large area of effect. Just remember that you will need to restock grenades at ammo crates.

Once powering both ammo and grenades, go for either adrenaline rush to boost damage and accuracy, or combat mastery to help improve reputation. We don't recommend wasting points on concussive shot as it's more effective to simply kill the enemy instead of knocking them down; both Garrus and Ashley are better suited for this task.

Engineer

The Engineer has only tech abilities which in turn means no ammo, grenades, or biotics. Their two unique abilities include building combat drones and sentry turrets that will damage nearby enemies. The rest of their skills overlap with both the Infiltrator and Sentinel. Because you'll want to maintain low weight, consider carrying only a pistol and SMG.

The most devastating of the Engineer's abilities is Overload, which can quickly destroy both shields and barriers while doing a great amount of health damage. It is high damage, quickly deployed, and has a fast recharge. The second ability you should quickly invest in is Sabotage, first off for it's ability to disable enemy weapons, and second to hack turrets and geth.

You'll of course want to invest heavily in tech mastery for reputation and bonus damage, but don't neglect other skills. Sentry Turret dishes out a huge amount of damage and will keep the enemy distracted, making it much more potent than the weaker combat drone. Just remember that the turret has no mobility and you will need to summon it again to get in a better shot.

Adept

The Adept cannot use special ammo, but does have a unique grenade. The rest of their skills comprise of most of the major biotic abilities. Besides the lift grenade, the other Adept unique skill is singularity, which will suspend enemies in mid air as long as they don't have shields, armor, or barrier up. They have a low weight limit, and in turn should only use the lightest weapons.

Singularity should be your prime attack, but even with such a great skill you'll have to deal with enemy protection. This is why you should also invest a large amount of points of both cluster grenades and warp, which can be used to whittle down those pesky defenses.

With any remaining points boost biotic mastery for more powerful abilities and reputation. Alternately, (or if you get to a high enough level) star building up either throw or pull to help with biotic detonations set up from warp.

Infiltrator

The Infiltrator uses a mix of combat and tech. They can use both cryo and disruptor ammo, have stick grenades, and can cloak. While they have abilities to further boost sniper rifles, the Infiltrator can make use of all weapon types. In fact, there many be some tactical advantage to cloaking with a close range shotgun.

As with the Soldier you should quickly level up both cryo ammo and your special grenade. Afterwards you should start using points to gain enough sabotage to quickly hack and increase tactical cloak's duration.

As with every class, operational mastery is great to increase reputation early on. Because you'll most likely be using a powerful sniper rifle or shotgun that can dish out heavy damage, it's typically not worth the points to build up incinerate.

Vanguard

Vanguards can get in close and really cause trouble with their range of biotics. They are the glass cannon of the game: putting themselves in great danger to deal very high damage. While shotguns are a perfect match, any weapon will service.

Both the skills biotic charge and nova should be your bread and butter skills. You can use charge to get in very close to the enemy and then expend your barrier to smash a group with nova. The reverse is also true: first beat down a cluster of foes with nova, and then use charge to escape to safer ground.

After having those two biotics mastered, turn your attention to one of the ammo types. Vanguards lack other skills to break down shields and armor, so you'll need to rely on your ammo choice in those situations. Shields are typically not much a problem if you have a SMG, so stick to Incendiary ammo for tough armor.

Because you'll be in the thick of battle, boosting your defenses and melee damage via fitness is recommend. Still, don't forget about assault mastery, which further boosts weapon damage and the much needed reputation bonus.

Sentinel

Sentinels have some of the best defensive techs and biotics in the game. Using these in conjunction will allow you to survive the worst situations and become a master controller. Sentinels also have access to a special biotic grenade that deals fair damage, but is more to fling away weaker enemies.

The main offensive skill you should build up is overload, which deals a large amount of fast damage to shields, barriers, and health. Further pair this tech with biotic warp to have two abilities that crush all forms of enemy protection.

Now for more defensive abilities: you'll want a good score in tech armor to keep yourself well protected. You'll have boosted shields, but powers will take extra time to recharge. Because of this, you should either use very light weapons (SMG+pistol), or just go all out with both types of rifles.

Teammates

There are eight possible party members, though you can only gain a max of seven at a time (even it the DLC). Anderson will also join you temporarily at the start of the game, but it's for such a short amount that it's not worth covering his abilities.

James Vega

James is an Arms Master who hits hard and has a large amount of shields and health. He can use an assault rifle and shotgun. If you speak to him enough he will teach Shepard Carnage and Fortification.

James is mainly a heavy tank that can take a large amount of punishment. Because he starts out tough on his own it's actually better to balance him out with more offensive abilities. Start by investing in the deadly carnage skill, followed closely by frag grenades. Last, the remaining amount of points should go into the Arms Master passive skill.

Ashley Williams

Ashley is an Alliance Officer and will join you if she was saved on Virmire during the first Mass Effect (or picked this option on a new Shepard). She uses both sniper rifles and assault rifles, though some of her skills favor the latter. She can teach Shepard inferno grenade and marksman after speaking with her enough.

You should first invest in the powerful Marksman ability to increase her rate of fire, followed closely with concussive shot to allow her to knock down enemies. After that it's a good idea to boost her damage output through her Alliance Officer passive.

Kaiden Alenko

Kaidan was a L2 biotic that exploded all over Virmire. Oh wait, he lived for you? In that case he joins as an Alliance Officer in palce of Ashley. He uses pistols and assault rifles as his main weapons. He can teach Shepard to use Reave and Barrier.

Reave is Kaidan's most potent ability and should be the first you invest in. Alliance Officer passive should be leveled second in order to further bosst Kaidan's skills. For the remaining points go for Overload if non one elese on your team has it, otherwise Barrier will do nicely.

Liara T'Soni

Liara is a Pure Biotic that has access to some of the best biotic abilities. In turn she can only use puny light weight guns: the pistol and SMG. She can teach Shepard Stasis and Warp Ammo by talking to her.

As a biotic expert, you should first invest points into her powerful singularity to crowd control enemies and provide a small amount of damage. Next, boost Pure Biotic to make singularity even more powerful. You should have a good amount of points after that, so go ahead and purchase a few levels of stasis and increase its duration.

Garrus Vakarian

Garrus will join the team if he survived the events of Mass Effect 2. Much like an Infiltrator, Garrus uses a mix of combat and techs. His two weapons of choice are the sniper rifle and assault rifle, and many of his skills further boost sniping. He can teach Shepard armor piercing rounds and proximity mines.

As mentioned among Shepard's possible skills, overload is a great choice for Garrus. His armor piercing rounds are very powerful for taking down the worst enemies: atlas mechs, banshees, and brutes. Also don't discount proximity mines, as they deal heavy damage and can either be deployed quickly or set up as a trap.

EDI

EDI is one of the new characters who will join regardless of what save you imported. She uses a good array of techs and wields a SMG and pistol. She may teach Shepard defense matrix and decoy by talking to her.

If Shepard does not have overload themselves you should quickly acquire this powerful ability for EDI. Otherwise go straight for the armor damaging incinerate; unlike Shepard, EDI will not have the high damage weapons to make up for missing this tech. Decoy is also a great skill to keep the enemy busy. Last, unshackled AI should be taken over the last ditch defense matrix.

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy

Tali will return to your squad if you recruited her back in Mass Effect 2 and she survived the suicide mission. She is considered dead if she was not rescued in ME2. Her weapons in ME3 are the same as the last game: a shotgun and pistol. She can teach Shepard both energy drain and defense drone.

Sabotage should be her main skill as it can take out enemy weapons and control synthetic enemies. You should pick one of the two drones to invest in, namely the more offensive combat drone. Energy drain is a somewhat weaker version of overload that also steal shields; only go with this if for some reason you have no one else with overload. Last, her passive Quarian Machinist will add a lot to her skill output.

Javik

Javik is a cut character that can only be gained from DLC or the collector's editon. Either way you'll have to pay Bioware more money to use this character. He uses assault rifles and pistols. He can teak Shepard btoh Slam and Dark Channel after speaking to him enough.

Pull and Slam are Javik's strongest abilities. Stick to the former if you want to use him for utility, and the latter if you want pure chaos. Afterwards purchase Vengeful Ancient for more power and weapon damage.