..Mass Effect 3..

(Continuation)

Click on any of these shortcuts to see the different sections of our Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Guide:

• Introduction
• Choosing your Class
  • The Adept
  • The Soldier
  • The Infiltrator
  • The Engineer
  • The Sentinel
  • The Vanguard
• The Games
• The Opponents
  • Cerberus
  • Geth
  • Reapers
• Unlockables and Galactic Readiness

The Opponents

While most of the enemies are pretty easily taken down via the "hit them until they're dead" strategy, some of them tend to be a little more… dangerous. Here's a complete list of the baddies you'll encounter while facing each faction, and how to deal with them.

Cerberus

Personally, I find Cerberus to be the easiest faction to face. They've only got one "heavy" unit (the Atlas) and their basic troops aren't that tough.

Assault Trooper: Gun them down. They have no shield, and attack with assault rifles/machine guns. They may occasionally throw grenades. They're easily stunned, and easily killed. Shoot them in the head for massive damage.

Centurion: Equipped with energy shields, smoke grenades, and the M-96 Mattock Assault Rifle, Centurions hit a little harder than Assault Troopers, but still aren't anything special. Overload their shields, and gun them down. It's not that hard to predict where they're going through their smoke, either- if one tosses down a grenade, just shoot dead center in the smoke cloud- chances are good that you'll hit him.

Combat Engineer: These guys are fairly weak by themselves, but they can put down turrets and repair Atlas Mechs. If you see an engineer, there's a good chance he's got a turret nearby. Avoid running out in the open, and try to take him down from cover. Turrets are bloody dangerous- I've found they can do even more damage than an Atlas.

Thankfully, Engineers and their turrets are easily taken down by Overload / Warp / Shockwave. Or bullets. Bullets are good too.

Guardian: The Guardian is probably one of the most difficult Cerberus units to fight, depending on your class. Never mind the ATLAS, this guy's shield is deadly, and blocks almost every attack. If you're quick on the draw, you can pop him through the small slot in his shield. Alternatively, the Javelin, M-98 Widow or Black Widow ignore the shield.

Pull, Stasis, and Throw can all be used to disable a guardian (pull's my personal favorite, as it literally strips him of his shield), and explosives can be used to stagger him. Alternatively, flank him from behind, and gun him down while he's occupied with another player. Either way, stay out of melee range- that big slab of metal hurts.

Nemesis: This little lady is equipped with a sniper rifle, and full shields. She's fairly agile, to boot. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to avoid getting sniped by her- simply dodge to the side when you see the red light. If you're quick, you can shoot her between the eyes before she can hit you. The standard "overload-bullets" strategy works wonders, and there's not a whole lot else to say. Try to close the distance between the two of you, as a Nemesis isn't very effective at close range.

Phantom: Keep your distance, and keep moving. The Phantom is, by far, the deadliest enemy in Cerberus, possessing an instant kill attack.  Keep Warp, Overload, or Energy Drain Handy, and don't engage in melee, if you can help it. Adepts are a Phantom's worst nightmare- while they're deadly, they can't really take many hits. Stunning one pretty much ensures she won't be putting her sword through anyone any time soon.  If you find yourself face to face with a Phantom, roll backward when she attacks, and follow up with a power or weapon attack of your choice.

ATLAS: There's not much to say about this one. It's a big walker mech, with a deadly melee attack, a machine gun, and a rocket launcher. Stay in cover, kill any engineers you see around it, and spam overload to take down its shields. Once that's done, burn its armor to a crisp or crumple it with Warp. 

Geth

The Geth are more geared towards "swarm tactics" than Cerberus. While they have fewer troops in their army, the units they do have are much more effective in combat. Just the same, an engineer with a fully-upgraded Overload can make mincemeat of them- being fully synthetic has a few crippling disadvantages, after all. 

Disruptor rounds are a godsend against the Geth.

Geth Trooper: There's nothing to say about Geth Troopers. Make good use of Overload and Sabotage, don't let yourself get surrounded, and aim for the flashlights. Ammo does damage to synthetics. Adepts and other Biotics can bring to bear some very effective crowd control.

Geth Rocket Trooper: These guys are a bit nastier than the other Geth, mostly because of their explosives. All the same, it's pretty much the same strategy as with the Geth Troopers. Stay behind cover, don't let them get close, and gun them down when they're reloading between shots. Their rockets home in, but you can dodge them with a well-timed roll.

Once you get past their shields, their low health makes them an easy kill.

Geth Pyro: Don't let them get close. Seriously… just don't. If one of your team has sabotage, make them use it and the Pyro should explode in a spectacular fashion. If their shields are down, try to aim for the fuel tank. Same deal, they'll explode. Ironically, Incinerate's highly effective on them, since they're protected by armor underneath their shield.

If they get close to you, dive behind cover. With any luck, they won't follow you, and will be easy prey for an instant-kill attack.

Warp works, as well. What you want to try to do is cause the Pyro to explode when it's still surrounded by its fellows.

Geth Hunter: Stealth and shotguns make the Geth Hunters a dangerous opponent. What's more, they're equipped with a considerably deadly melee attack. If you manage to see the shimmering outline of their stealth field, hit it with an overload to deplete the shields, or just shoot them. Once their shields are down, their stealth field drops, and they're that much easier to shoot.

As with the Pyros, trying to engage the Hunters in close combat is a very, very bad idea.

Your Engineer, Sentinel, or Infiltrator will be your best friend when it comes to fighting these guys. 

Geth Prime: The ‘cream of the crop' of the Geth forces, Geth Primes are equipped with powerful pulse rifles (which happen to also be able to fire rockets), can summon combat drones, can deploy Geth Turrets, and are equipped with both heavy armor and powerful shields. Oh, and they also explode when they die, just to add insult to injury.

This is an odd statement to make, but instead of fighting a Geth Prime right away… focus on its allies. Kill off the other Geth around it, THEN engage the Prime. Easier said than done, I know, but the other Geth can cause a great deal of harm to your squad if you ignore them in favor of the Prime.

As far as the Prime is concerned, stay behind cover, and make use of your abilities. Armor piercing rounds and disruptor rounds will work wonders. Unfortunately, biotics are going to be fairly useless against these juggernauts, since their armor protects them from most biotic abilities.

Interestingly enough, Geth Prime's can be sabotaged while at full armor and shields, turning them to the player's side for a short time.

Reapers

Hooooo, boy. Reapers. Hands down, this is the hardest faction to face. While their basic troops (husks and Cannibals) aren't anything special, everything else is enough to make even the most experienced players blanch. These guys are nasty, and it's easy to see why the Reapers are doing so well in the single-player campaign.

Husks: For all the interest that the Reapers evidently have in humanity; their "reaperized" variant is actually… rather pathetic. Their whole strategy (if it can really be called that) involves charging forward and flailing at you. They're vulnerable to pretty much every power in your arsenal, and a few well-placed shots takes one of them down in seconds.

Cannibals: Mutated Batarians; Cannibals are unique among the Reaper forces in that they'll often completely ignore combat in order to devour the corpse of one of their allies, granting them a bonus to health regeneration. They can also utilize cover, and wield a rapid-fire cannon coupled with a grenade launcher. They're not too difficult, so long as you're careful.

Marauder: The Turians make some nasty Reaper servants. Not only are they protected by shields, they wield powerful assault rifles and can both revive their allies and give them armor. When you see a group of Reaper forces, take out the Marauder first- otherwise, they've the potential to make your life very, very difficult.

Brutes: Big, angry, and fast, these things pack a powerful punch. It should go without saying that trying to engage a Brute in melee is suicide, and the fact that they often attack in tandem with other Reaper forces make them very, very difficult to deal with. Anything you have that shreds armor works wonders. If you can, try to have one person lead them around, while another aims for their spinal column- hitting them in the back will take off a considerable chunk of their armor.

Ravagers: The best description I can give of a Ravager is for you to imagine the results if someone were to take a spider's nest, turn the spiders into angry robots, turn the nest into a giant spider, then attach a mortar to it. That's a ravager. They're not too difficult to kill, so long as you have some means of damaging armor. Just avoid their attacks, and make sure you have some "area of effect" abilities to deal with the swarm of spider drones they tend to release. Shooting their pouches releases the drones, but appears to do a fair amount of damage. Also, avoid their corpses- they release noxious gas when they die.

Banshee: Never mind the Brutes and the Ravagers. These things, right here? THIS is why people online fear the Reapers. They're walking tanks with a powerful barrier, and can use Nova, some form of teleportation, a scream that removes your shields, and an instant-kill attack in which they impale an enemy on their claws. It's possible to interrupt their instant-kill attack with a well-placed biotic power or grenade.

There's no easy answer to how to fight a banshee. Make use of Overload. Utilize Biotic combos. Make sure you've got some way to get rid of their armor, and if you're the one the Banshee's decided it wants to kill… for the love of Shepard, keep moving. You're likely going to need to have your whole team focus on one of these monstrosities to take it down - a tall order, given that you'll be fighting other foes at the same time.

And if you're a sniper? Shoot it in the head.

(Continued on the Next Page...)