Adept Guide (Mass Effect 2)

The Adept specializes in pure biotic abilities, primarily focusing on control but with damage to back it up. Though not the combat powerhouse that other classes can be, the Adept abilities can be devastating to unprotected enemies or those protected with barriers. To counterbalance this, shielded enemies are a major weakness.

Overview
The ME2 version of the Adept is more streamlined than the ME1 version of the Adept. It still has the same crowd control ability, but that ability is now condensed into 2 powers; singularity and pull. Warp was also changed from a debuff/DOT into a straight damage ability to compliment throw and provide options for damage abilities. Shockwave works as a bit of both, doing moderate damage and knocking people off their feet for a brief period. When combined, these abilities can wade through unprotected targets with very little return fire. The adept is indeed the best at killing enemies without even firing their weapons, but you have the weapons, so why not use them? Your starting weapons are not impressive, but you can take on another weapon talent later and choose an ammo power to compliment your biotics well.

However, this control comes with a significant drawback in the form of shields (and to a lesser extent, armor). The mechanics in ME2 were changed so that an enemy with any form of protection up cannot be controlled, and biotic abilities are very bad at burning through shields. This forces you to use your teammates or your unimpressive weapon damage to start on protected enemies, only using biotics to finish them off. Since most protected enemies come with unprotected friends an adept isn't negated in these situations, just not as impressive.

In the early game, Adepts aren't exactly the strongest on their own. Your powers will be too low of a level to cause much damage, you have lower health and shields compared to the other classes, and to top it off your starting weapons just don't cut it. Your situation will steadily improve as you have a chance to evolve your abilities, and your weapon problems will be solved once you get your hands on the Tempest SMG, Carnifex Hand Cannon, and a few heavy weapons. Later on, you'll be able to upgrade to use assault rifles, immediately making up for what you lack in mid range combat.

Crowd Control - Singularity and Pull
Singularity and Pull are both very similar talents, they lift enemies into the air and hold them to allow for damage combos or easier shots at them. The differences lie in their area of effect, duration, and recharge time.

Singularity is the best area of effect and can be placed like a mine to capture multiple charging enemies, but does not hold enemies as long and has a longer recharge time.

Pull is a single enemy (or a small area if you choose at max level), but holds them longer and recharges in 3 seconds instead of 4.5. Since the power cooldown is shared between all abilities, only choosing 1 of these powers is recommended.

In most cases enemies tend to die quickly when held by either of these powers, so Singularity is probably the better choice for most play styles and a wide area of effect is preferred for either max rank talents. Additionally, Singularity can affect enemies even if it hits the wrong side of their cover (as long as it can reach them) as its event horizon completely ignores obstacles. Finally, Singularity will continue to grab enemies that wander into the event horizon for the duration of the effect, so depending on the terrain and scenario the cooldown can become a trivial obstacle. For higher difficulties, Singularity becomes the better ability by far, because of its unique ability to "lock down" enemies with defenses. If you use it on an armored/shielded/barriered target, the power lasts for a shorter duration but prevents the target from moving or firing and does minor damage to the target's defenses.

It is worth noting that husks are insta-killed when crowd controlled (i.e. lifted off the ground, pulled into a singularity), so singularity and pull can trivialize the two main story missions with lots of husks. Singularity especially can be planted just in front of you, and kill several husks as they run towards you while you concentrate on non-husk enemies. Keep in mind that higher difficulties in which husks have armor make this tactic far less effective (especially pull, but singularity can still slow them long enough for you to nullify said defenses and kill them).

Damage - Warp and Throw
Warp and Throw are the damage abilities available for the Adept, and at least one of them should be taken.

Warp is incredibly important, as it is the adept's only method of dealing with armor and biotic barriers beyond their token weapons. It is also one of the most effective and satisfying abilities to combine with other biotic powers. An enemy that is under the effects of a biotic power or protected by a biotic barrier will detonate violently when impacted by warp. On lower difficulties, this detonation can instantly kill an unprotected target and any nearby unprotected enemies, but it is still highly efficient on any difficulty level. Additionally, Warp can be used simply to damage unprotected enemies individually, but this is considered a waste of its potential; it is far more effective when used on enemies already affected by biotic abilities such as singularity or pull (Detonating a singularity requires you hit a target that is still near the center, so make sure to aim your warp accordingly). Against armor, it isn't the most effective ability, but discounting bonus powers it is the only adept power capable of damaging armor at all.

Throw is more of a physics based attack, and depends a lot on the environment. It also shines when combined with singularity or pull, but is not as effective against armor or heavier enemies (unless they're floating). It also requires a bit more finesse for max damage, because the throw direction is dependent on the bolt arc as it hits the enemy. With practice you can throw enemies off cliffs or towards the roof with a properly directed throw, but inexperienced players might have trouble maximizing throw damage. Throw also has half the recharge time of warp, so it can be used much more often.

It isn't completely clear which damage talent is the "best" one. Warp does a lot more damage, and the combination with singularity and pull can do a lot of damage to groups. However, it has twice the cooldown of throw, which means you can Throw two enemies or Warp one. In situations with a cliff or environmental kill option (i.e. the final mission) throw can be much more devastating than Warp, but it tends to suffer in general use due to the low impact damage. It's a good idea to map at least one of these, so you can dish them out quickly without having to pause the game.

Shockwave
It is hard to classify shockwave into damage or control, since it works as a bit of both. It sends out a series of explosions in a straight line in the direction you're facing that knocks people around and does damage. These explosions can climb cliffs and hit people behind cover, but the direction they're thrown by the explosion is hard to control and you're much more likely to throw someone behind cover than you are to throw them out into the open. Enemies lying down behind cover are hard to hit, but they aren't going to be shooting back for a few seconds and this can give you a window to switch positions and flank them. The strength of the explosions is a bit more than half a throw of the same rank, but the number of explosions means that you can often catch multiple enemies, even if they are hiding behind different pieces of cover at different distances.

Shockwave is thus more of a utility talent than a damage or control talent, but can be devastating in the right situation. It is also worth noting that you have to put points into both singularity and pull to get to shockwave, making it cost 3 extra points if you were only planning on using singularity.

Note that some low-grade enemies such as Husks can be killed instantly just by being knocked over, making Shockwave devastatingly effective against them.

Biotic Mastery
While not terribly useful at low levels, the top tier of this power is a significant bonus for the end game. 20% faster recharge time combined with the cooldown reduction research removes some of the disadvantages of the slower abilities and can significantly improve your damage output. Nemesis specialization is recommended for most playstyles, since the duration bonus only really affects singularity and pull and both of those tend to last longer than the life of anyone hit by them.

Notable Bonus Powers
Most of the bonus powers work just fine with an Adept, but a couple are worth mentioning specifically. Also, ammo powers in general are good, because there is no conflict with any class based ammo. You can set up the ammo power on all your weapons at the start of the mission, and forget about it from then on (unless you use a mid-mission weapon stash).

Barrier / Fortification / Geth Shield Boost
The three shield boost powers. Barrier, being the biotic variant, is obviously the prefered version for Adepts, as it benefits from the biotic upgrades that you would already be focused on. While not as impressive in taking down enemies, it does wonders to increase survivablity, making you all but invicible even on the hardest difficulty levels. Instantly being able to throw up a barrier between you and enemy fire when you are critically low on health can easily mean the difference between finishing the fight, and having to start over. The Heavy Barrier is highly suggested, as its already long enough to last well past its cooldown, and offers a noticable increase in damage protection, which is more important as it is less likely to last to full duration during combat anyway.

Dominate
Only available after a renegade option late in the game (or on a second playthrough after a renegade game), this power has interesting synergy with warp. After rank 2, the controlled enemies get a barrier put on them, which can then be detonated with warp after the mind control wears off (or even during the mind control if desired). If unharmed the barrier absorbs most of the extra damage so it isn't often worth using on a single enemy, but in a group it can do a lot of damage and you get the attack from the mind controlled target and the distraction it provides as a bonus.

Warp Ammo
Warp Ammo gives a boost to weapon damage against barriers, armor, and health. Since adepts lack any sort of ammo ability, warp ammo is a good option. Since many of the kills you attain will be by shooting, the damage boost is quite helpful. Warp Ammo also does extra damage(2x ammo bonus damage - +100% instead of +50% for Heavy Warp Ammo) to enemies affected by biotics, so you can use it to finish off enemies that you've rendered helpless with Pull or Singularity.

Armor Piercing Ammo
While armor isn't a huge problem for an adept, it can be annoying enough that this ammo type is useful. Compared to warp ammo, it does no bonus damage vs. barriers and lifted targets, but does 70% instead of 50% bonus damage at max rank.

Energy Drain
This power can act as an Overload, sapping shields and damaging synthetics while boosting your own shields. This power can help clear defenses so your biotic powers can start affecting targets. Since there is no bonus ammo power that affects shields, this is the best way to improve the Adept's weakness against shielded enemies.

Weapons and Equipment
Small-Arms Weaponry



Since submachine guns will probably be the most used weapon for Adepts during combat situations, it is important to obtain the upgraded weapon as soon as possible. This means travelling to Haestrom to recruit Tali as soon as the mission becomes available.

Weapon Specialisation

During the mission aboard the Collector Cruiser, there will be the option of training in the usage of assault rifles, shotguns, or sniper rifles. Shotguns are arguably the least useful. Sniper rifles might be useful, but a squadmate can also fill the role of long range marksman. The assault rifle is arguably the most useful choice because it immediately solves the medium range combat weakness, at which most combat occurs.

If assault rifles are taken, the Collector Assault Rifle with Disruptor Ammo provided by a squad member is especially valuable against enemy shields, thereby compensating the only deficit Adepts may have in their innate abilities. If it is not available, the M-15 Vindicator Battle Rifle is a decent all-round and accurate weapon and the Geth Pulse Rifle is extremely effective at stripping shields and barriers. In combination with biotics and firepower from an assault rifle, an Adept is a force to be reckoned with.

Note: With the Kasumi: Stealing Memory DLC, comes the Kassa Fabrication's M-12 Locust, which matches the Geth Pulse Rifle and Collector Rifle in Damage and DPS. Therefore, it is an alternate option to an assault rifle, leaving you to pick either shotgun or sniper rifle instead. The sniper rifle will make up for your lack of long ranged weaponry, so that may be a good choice, but it mostly comes down to preference.

Heavy Weapons



For heavy weapons, anything that works well on shields, the protection of which Adept's are deficient in combating, is a good option. Both the Collector Particle Beam and the M-100 Grenade Launcher are good for this role. The ML-77 Missile Launcher, with its homing ability and large ammo capacity, is good for taking out individual targets. The Arc Projector has been proven to take down shields quickly, as well as impairing the movement of Husks. This, combined with Shockwave, allows for a very easy way to take down Husk hordes. The M-920 Cain has a demonstrated universal effectiveness for destroying the last heavily protected boss in a given mission, but is likely to possess only one shot.

Squad Members
There are two major roles you want for your team members; the ability to take down shields, and the ability to get kills at long range. When entering an unknown mission, you'll want at least one person who specialises in taking down shields. The long range requirement isn't as strict because most combat occurs within mid-range. Once those roles are filled, look for biotic abilities that complement your own and also abilities that can be stacked for additional damage.

Anti-Shield
Garrus, Miranda, Kasumi, and Zaeed all have powers that work against shields. Garrus, Kasumi and Miranda possess Overload and Zaeed has Disruptor Ammo. If you are unfamiliar with a mission or know that there will be a number of shielded enemies, one of these three should be in your squad at all times. Tali also becomes a viable option after you complete her loyalty mission and unlock Energy Drain.

Long Range
This is a bit more flexible requirement, since most enemies are not encountered at long range. In fact, you could save your heavy weapon for extreme ranges and go without any long range support entirely. However, having one member with either a sniper rifle or assault rifle is probably preferred. Garrus, Legion, Thane, and Zaeed have sniper rifles for full long ranged support, while Grunt's assault rifle is probably good enough.

Complementary Abilities
Having more than one other biotic on the team is not recommended due to the weakness against shields, but two biotics can pull off faster float/warp or float/throw combos and do significant damage to enemies quickly. Jacob, Samara, Morinth and Jack can all pull enemies for you to warp or throw, and Samara, Morinth, Miranda and Thane can all warp or throw targets you've lifted. Additionally, Jack's shockwave can toss enemies high enough for an arced warp to hit them from the top down after they land (for bonus fun, try timing a throw to hit while an enemy is at the top of their arc from Jack's shockwave).