Squad Members Guide (Mass Effect 3)

This Squad Members Guide details information and strategies corresponding to each of the squad members Shepard can acquire during the course of Mass Effect 3, including recommendations for use against particular enemy types and a quick reference table. Especially on harder difficulty levels, the proper selection and use of squad members can significantly affect the difficulty of a given mission or assignment.

EDI
EDI's powers make her a strong candidate for "best tank". Her class power, Unshackled AI, provides substantial benefits to her shields, health, and power damage. By focusing on defenses, she can potentially have +120% shields and health by rank 4. By focusing on power damage, she can amass a whopping +240% bonus by rank 6. Factor in Decoy and Defensive, and you have a character who can withstand great punishment on the frontlines.

The weapon options for EDI are SMG and heavy pistol, so EDI's offensive punch is largely based on judicious use of Overload and Incinerate. Thanks to her large bonuses to power damage, the former devastates shields and barriers, while the latter ravages health and armor. Note, however, that the Unshackled AI class power does not provide any power recharge reduction, and active use of Defensive Matrix and Decoy will put all of her powers into cooldown, so her offensive strikes must be well-timed.

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy
Thanks to the addition of a few new and improved abilities, Tali is far more flexible than in the second game. Her Energy Drain ability enables her to strip away enemy shields and barriers while recharging her own shields, while Sabotage is useful for disabling enemy weapons as well as turning enemy synthetics against each other! Tali's Combat Drone is useful for distracting enemies such as Atlas Mechs and Guardians. Overall, Tali functions similarly to the Engineer class. Unlike EDI however, Tali is able to use shotguns and can pack more of a punch. Her Defense Drone complements her close combat capabilities even further.

Tali is most effective when used against the Geth or Cerberus. Sabotage is particularly useful for turning Turrets, Geth Primes, and Atlas Mechs against their own. That being said, Tali is more than capable of dealing with Reaper enemies; her Energy Drain can be invaluable against Marauders and Banshees. Tali is best paired with a squadmate who can counter armor such as EDI, Kaidan, or Liara.

Garrus Vakarian
Garrus specializes in tech and combat, and is a good option for any class Shepard happens to be. Garrus offers superior ability to inflict damage with weapons. Max ranks in Turian Rebel can provide a total of up to +150% damage with his weapons of choice: Assault and Sniper Rifles. Combined with a weapon damage bonus from armor, the net effect would amount to almost triple damage on every shot he fires. Armor-Piercing Ammo contributes even more damage to health and armor, and with Overload peeling away shields and barriers, Garrus is well-equipped to attack all categories of defense.

Despite his sturdy, well-armored appearance, Garrus does not have strong defensive capabilities. Turian Rebel's damage bonuses comes at the price of relatively low shield and health bonuses (+40% maximum). Given this, it is often best to bring along another teammate suitable for tanking, such as James Vega or EDI.

James Vega
Vega is the quintessential meat shield, built explicitly for front-line combat. His unique Fortification power grants the capability to alternate between damage reduction and high buff to melee damage. Equipping him with a strong close-range shotgun with a blade mounted can make him brutally effective at holding the line. James' class power, Arms Master, potentially provides the highest bonus to shields and health of all squadmates, topping out at +140% at rank 6. Incendiary Ammor and Carnage provide a strong counter to armored enemies, particularly when they are combined to create a tech explosion, by hitting a burning opponent with Carnage. James does not possess shield or barrier-mitigating abilities.

Ashley Williams
Ashley packs truly impressive raw firepower. Her class ability, Alliance Officer, can increase her weapon damage dramatically, and while the bonuses are not quite as high as those Garrus receives, her unique ability Marksman can more than make up for it through the highly increased accuracy and rate of fire bonuses it affords. Equipping her with the M-76 Revenant is an ideal choice; Marksman easily offsets the Revenant's wide spread. In addition, Ashley also wields Disruptor Ammo, allowing her to quickly take down shielded enemies. Though Ashley has Inferno Grenade for dealing with armored opponents, there are better options for countering armor, particularly since Inferno Grenade has limited uses. Therefore, she should be paired with a squadmate who has abilities that target armour such as Warp or Incinerate.

Ashley receives fair bonuses to health and shields through Alliance Officer, to a maximum of +75% at rank four. This allows her to withstand some punishment, but does not put her in the same league with EDI or James Vega.

Liara/Garrus
This combination is a well-rounded option suited for most combat situations. Garrus provides firepower and overload for shields, while Liara provides crowd control with warp for armor/barriers. Liara's singularity can be used to rout unprotected enemies while her stasis can paralyze more powerful enemies (such as phantoms). If Shepard is a biotic, some interesting biotic combos can be made with singularity and stasis.

The main drawback of this combination is the lack of close range capability and survivability. This is easily offset if Shepard is a Vanguard, Soldier, or Sentinel however.

Default
These are the default outfits available for squad members.

Alternate
These are alternate outfits for squad members that are included in the game.

N7 Collector's Edition Pack Alternate
These are alternate outfits for squad members that are added by downloading the N7 Collector's Edition Pack.

From Ashes Alternate
These are alternate outfits for squad members that are added by downloading From Ashes.